Christopher's Profile

I have had a series of events over the almost 40 years. I was initially diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation following an explosion. The attempt to stop the AFib was a disaster when the surgical team forgot to sheath the scalpel that was used to go into my heart from my groin. When they removed the equipment that was used to try and treat the AFib I bled out. The result was a period of 3 months in a coma at the hospital. When I came out of the coma I had to learn to breath again on my own. The next surgery was the installation of the first of my pacemakers. Three years ago I suffered a loss of kidney function and was not expected to live, I recovered to the point where I was able to stop dialysis but they discovered an enlarged tricuspid valve while I was on dialysis. I was referred to St.Paul’s Hospital where they conducted several tests including a TEE. The examination of my tricuspid valve showed the pacemaker lead has adhered to the leaflet in the tricuspid valve which made me ineligible for a valve repair or replacement. The alternative was a Transcatheter procedure with a TRICVALVE (Caval procedure).it is not available in my province although it is in Ontario and Quebec. The Federal Health System will not support my transfer to the available hospitals so I have now been placed on Palliative Care and been told to prepare to die even though a TRICVALVE procedure would save my life. Welcome to Universal Health Care in Canada.