Melanie Schmidt, a retired Calgary woman living with severe arthritis, faced significant challenges with joint pain despite leading an active lifestyle. After years of discomfort and ineffective treatments, she was finally deemed a candidate for knee replacements at age fifty-eight. However, the lengthy wait for surgery prompted her to explore private healthcare options, revealing the high costs involved, including $70,000 for surgery in Arizona. Schmidt's experience underscores the impact of healthcare delays on patients seeking timely relief from debilitating conditions.
Schmidt did all of this with bad arthritis in both knees and a shoulder. At fifty-one, she was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon at Foothills Medical Centre who told her she was too young for joint replacements.
Eventually, she had to sell her beloved Audi TT Roadster-the two-seater standard-shift convertible she drove even in winter with the top down and the heat on bust-because stomping on the clutch had become too much.
As the months passed and her pain and limitations worsened, she began looking at private options. To get her knees done in Arizona would cost her around $70,000 (US), including travel and accommodation.
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