Looking for an MRI

Hi again! You can indeed have MRIs in Alberta (but not Manitoba) and pay for them. I don't know how much they charge, but I can give you a phone number to try. (I just happen to have a req for a mammogram on my desk...) The only private MRI in Edmonton operates out of College Plaza, a block or so from University Hospital. Their phone number is 1-888-880-1121. Give 'em a call.

Nope, the bum's okay. It's -5C right now, breezy but not horrible. We had a thaw for a few days and the highways, streets and sidewalks are all skating rinks. I bought two more buckets of ice melter today and used half of one just trying to keep the letter carrier safe! However, I am more than glad not to be in Winnipeg anymore. They always have monster snowbanks, but this year it's the worst I've ever seen. They're at least 8 feet tall and people are having the front ends of their cars sheared off at stop signs trying to see if anything's coming! I think Manitoba Public Insurance should be suing the city evey year to recoup some of the claims they pay out... Are you cold in Regina?

Good luck with your MRI and the subsequent treatment. Oh, and your dad could be right... or not.

Your dad's right about the shorter wait times, the higher wages and lower taxes. Our standard of living here is so much higher than it was in Winnipeg, and it has little to do with downsizing the family. But of course there has to be a downside, and that would be the way the government treats its neediest citizens. There are SO many layers of bureaucracy in every agency, and no one has the big picture... only parts. Our son, soon to be 22, is mentally and physically disabled and will never hold a job or live on his own. He receives Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped, which required a pre-application, an application, and an in-person visit to the office and now requires annual reviews (including copies of his income tax return, his bank statements, proof that he doesn't have any other sources of income and a review of his disabilities). He attends a day program funded by the Persons with Developmental Disabilities office; they also fund our respite. However, all dealings with the day program are kept separate from PDD and our respite is provided through a separate agency in St. Albert. We had to locate these programs and arrange intake on our own. He has four social workers. We had to obtain legal guardianship of him, which involved a cash outlay of $300, four trips to the courthouse and stacks of documentation, a process that has to be repeated every six years. In Manitoba, there was a case manager who handled all the details and we just filled out forms. So really, the grass may be greener in parts of the yard, but it has more to do with what's used for fertilizer!

Trust me, I've made my opinions well-known. Persons with Developmental Disabilities has sent me satisfaction-with-our-services surveys twice already (we've lived here 2 1/2 years) and I replied with the utmost honesty. Had to be careful not to be rude. Then this past fall, the government did a review of services to the disabled, particulary AISH. This allowance is $850 a month and is expected to cover all living expenses. (A group home we checked out charges $623 a month just for the room, which comes unfurnished. Utilities are split between residents; food, transportation, entertainment and clothing are extra.) A person may earn up to $200 a month before it's clawed back... if they're employable. The program has not been adjusted to inflation for more than 8 years. I filled out one of those surveys too, making no bones about my disgust at their continual need for documentary proof that we're not ripping off the system. What part of "permanent, profound cognitive and physical impairments" do they not get? I've also rattled some cages at our local agency over their lackadaisical approach to providing services. I've written letters to politicians about the unfairness in funding levels between like programs, over summer programming for children with severe handicaps, and over other funding inequities. I always get very polite replies, but nothing has changed so far. Not that I plan to stop. This is just too important. BTW, thanks for your concern.

I've used the media before very effectively. Years ago in Manitoba, the PC government was financially strapped, and decided to economize by giving each department a directive to decrease spending by a certain percentage. Family Services had a 10% roll back, I think it was. They decided that respite services was the soft target they were looking for. At the time we were getting 4 hours a week of in-home respite, which incidentally could not be used in the place of "day care" so that I could work. As for most govs, the fiscal year is 4/1 to 3/31, and we got a letter at the latter part of August telling us that effective immediately we were being cut back to 6 hours a month, retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year. (Do the math... 4x52=208. 12x6=72.) We had already used 60 hours of our year's supply, leaving us with 12 hours for the seven months to come. So I wrote a letter to the minister. I told her that she couldn't honestly believe that this plan would save the province any money, because overwhelmed and tired parents would just have their kids admitted to hospital when they needed a break. They couldn't expect families to take on the burdens of 24 hour care for their severely handicapped kids without providing them with some assistance. This plan ran directly in opposition to their shifting of health care into the community and it was doomed to blow up in their collective faces. I sent a copy to the Winnipeg Free Press. Two days later I was posing for a photographer from the paper because my letter was being printed as a guest column! The article appeared on a Saturday, and on Monday I got a call from our social worker. She said that what she had to tell me was going to sound fishy, but... even before my letter had appeared, the minister had rethought the whole thing and everyone's hours had been reinstated to their previous levels... that my letter had nothing to do with it. She didn't insult me by offering me any swamp land. As for what is happening here, I want to wait and see what the government comes up with when their review is completed. I probably will also make some noise about the guardianship business too, but it won't be until closer to the time we have to do it all again.

Nope, now I'm gearing up for a fight... or six. I'm planning to take on our unit administration over staffing and assignments from a professional responsibility angle. It'll be a prolonged fight, and probably very ugly, but so worth it!!!