Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams offers no apologies for opting to have heart surgery in the US. I can’t say I blame him. He had the choice of a sternotomy (basically having his sternum cracked open) in Canada, and a minimally invasive procedure in the US. Which would you prefer?
Canada Press: “This was my heart, my choice and my health,” Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.
“I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics.”
The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn’t closing properly, creating a leakage.
He said he was told at the time that the problem was “moderate” and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.
Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.
His doctors in Canada presented him with two options – a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would’ve required breaking bones, he said.
He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.
That’s where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.
Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn’t require any bone breakage.
“I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time,” the premier said.
For now we still have choices when it comes to our medical care here in the US. And I’m sure once ObamaCare passes we’ll continue to have decent surgeons – for a time. But eventually the top notch health care enjoyed by Americans will be a thing of the past. Something to tell our kids about when we reminisce over the days when America was still somewhat free.
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