Deep Breath, Shake of the Head, Long Sad Sigh

October 26, 2011

First, a few words & caveat going forward:

At this point, I'm guessing many of you have read the ongoing comments "battle" - am I being too negative, am I being unfair, am I misleading, am I generalizing, am I an asshole?  At this point, I am no longer going to apologize for my opinions and I stand by my statement that Canada is not for me.  At this point, I have am tired of having to defend my views, and will not allow myself to engage in tit-for-tat arguments with readers.  This is my personal blog, chronicling my experiences here in Canada, and if you don't like what I have to say about life in Canada, then thank you for stopping by.  Otherwise, I thank those of you who have stuck with me, understand that I am simply reporting what I see and experience, and understand that this is an "entertainment" blog - not a guide, not a how-to, not an advocacy.  So from here on out, I simply write what I think, and the offended are welcome to leave.

So that being said, I have a  few things to share today about Kelowna...
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Let me start with today, because this op-ed in the local paper made me stop what I was doing and jump on the computer to share this with you.

I have long stated that Kelowna is a wealthy, unfriendly, insular community.  It is a city of country clubs, resorts, marinas, condos, and private communities.  The city is a notorious bastion of conservatism, and I have long known that the owners and editor of the Daily Courier (the local newspaper) are monarchical Tories.  But it was the managing editor's op-ed in today's paper that made me stop up short.  I am very seriously considering cancelling my subscription - mainly due to the blatant, unveiled hatred this man injects into what he calls "journalism"  (in fact, he allows a "reporter" to use terms like "liberal brown coats" in NON-EDITORIAL news reports as adjectives to describe a professor speaking on the article's subject.  This writer, who nearly always appears in the first 3 pages of Section A, constantly uses pejorative terms that color his articles in a FOX News -like slant.  For him to be called a "reporter" and not a "columnist" or "editor" or "commentator" is disingenuous and dishonest.  But that is not what upset me today).

Today, the following letter, written by Jon Manchester, Managing Editor of the Daily Courier, appeared at the top of the op-ed page:

It would be laughable, if the misguided few who called themselves Occupy Kelowna weren't so serious.  Not only are the agitators, complainers, and conspiracy theorists unable to put a finger on what exactly they want changed or how to go about it, they don't even know how to protest properly.
What kind of protester goes to City Hall and asks permission first?  Oooh... that'll really get those pinstriped Wall Street execs shaking in their Armani suits.
Assuming they even know or care where Kelowna is.
Mayor Sharon Shepard was right to dismiss the mob of about 30 from council chambers on Monday - and to deny them the right to camp in City Park.
The park's drug problems in summer months are well documented.  The last thing we need is a ramshackle tent city popping up there.
And since when can a literal handful of people claim to be the "99 percent?"  Thirty activists isn't even close to one percent of Kelowna's population.
We'd hazard a guess many of them are the same folks who've marched to legalize marijuana, railed against alleged police brutality and otherwise think the rest of us "normal" folk somehow try to keep them down.
Actually, we're busy trying to get ahead ourselves instead of sitting on our butts looking for handouts and demanding some vague "change".
On the bright side, winter is not far away, and we're sure the cold weather will disperse the mob soon enough.

Wow.  Where to begin.  I'm not even sure that it's necessary breaking this letter down into it's vulgar and prejudiced parts.  Something tells me that this letter and it's myriad of contradictions and hypocrisies speak for itself.  Just the fact that that this handout-seeking "mob" is ironically the 1% here in Kelowna is enough to make my case that this town is a haven for the rich.  Never mind the fact that a Canadian "mob" is polite enough, and law-abiding enough, to get a required permit.  But I'm guessing if they hadn't, Mr Manchester would be railing against those miscreants who chose not to follow the rule of law.  Never mind the unfounded assumptions as to the beliefs and make-up of the "mob" - those doobie-smoking pussies who deigned to take themselves so seriously.  This editor, this gate-keeper of information, this "pillar of society" is certainly making a great case for Kelowna, no?  Unless I am reading an Associated Press filing, how can I ever be sure that any "news" story I am reading in the Daily Courier is unbiased and fair?  I can't - not with a man like this at the helm.  Not with a man like this "speaking" for Kelowna.

Flabbergasted and insulted doesn't even begin to describe how I feel after reading that op-ed.

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I went to the doctor yesterday for a follow-up appointment.  This to the doctor who told me that I did not, in fact, have a rare auto-immune disorder and was simply allergic to cats.  He had taken me off of all my medications 5 weeks ago in order to get a baseline for my condition, as well as taken labs.  Honestly, I was already dreading the visit, as his bed-side manner is lacking in tact and compassion.  He had ignored the pile of letters, chart summations, and lab tests from my previous doctors that I had given him at our first visit.  He said my diagnosis was wrong and that I needed to "get rid of" my cats and I'd be perfectly fine.  When I told him I had cats long before getting sick, he simply ignored me and repeated that I needed to get rid of them.  I stressed that 6 different doctors had confirmed my diagnosis, here was the contact info for all of them (please call them), and my cats are members of my family and I would not just give them up.  He told me, then, that I was just making myself sick and asked if I was serious about considering them part of my family.  I should have walked out right then and there, but I figured after he talked to my old docs, conferred and took the time to examine my file and records, he might understand better.  Plus, going off my current meds would show him that I needed to be on them.

So I came back for my 5 week follow up.  He asked how I was feeling and I told him that I needed to be back on my old meds as I was experiencing exactly what those meds were designed to prevent (you know, the whole reason I was on them to begin with - and, I might add, after one of my old docs went to extraordinary lengths to secure this particular drug/treatment for me).  He looked at me like I was a 7 year old boy caught in a lie.  It was incredibly disconcerting.  He asked to see my skin, and when I showed him the irritations, he said it wasn't indicative of the level of discomfort I was describing.  Gritting my teeth, I asked him if he had spoken to my old docs.

"No."

"No?"

"I don't need to.  Your labs confirm you don't have CVID, like I said."  CVID is Common Variable Immunodeficiency, the condition I, in fact, DO have.

"Then you don't understand what CVID is, because one of the problems diagnosing and treating it is the unstable nature of the bloodwork.  That's why it took so long to get the diagnosis, and why I have had numerous doctors confirm it, and why my treatment options are ever-changing."

"No, I understand it, and you don't have it."

"But you won't call my docs to even talk about it?"

"I don't need to."

Mind you, folks, he's an allergist.

He decided that I should simply use steroid creams to treat my issues (which don't work on their own for me).  I had been dipping into my reserves of prednisone the last few weeks when my skin flared up, so I was forced to ask him for a refill, which he reluctantly agreed to.  But he refused to put me back on the steroids that had worked in the past.  I was allergic to cats, so if I refused to get rid of them, then I was just making myself sick, so why give me meds when the answer was so simple?  He actually told me, again, "if you just got rid of those cats, you'd be fine, but you just don't want to do that, so there's not much else I can do for you."

This man is not a doctor.  This man is an arrogant, self-important, and heartless charlatan with a God-complex.  As I left, the receptionist (who is actually very very kind) asked me if I wanted to make my next follow-up appointment.  I told her the only thing I was going to follow up with was the board of medicine.

So now, my last best hope is with the clinical dermatologist who I see in November (who I have been waiting to see since the end of June).  I just can't believe that a man who considers himself a doctor would refuse to confer with a patient's prior physicians, dismiss his medical file, and refuse to continue proven, effective treatments.  My doctor basically called me a liar.

This is my experience with Canadian health care.  This is why I am so angry and unhappy.  This is why I refuse to apologize for railing against the system here.  This is why I am now investigating the holistic clinics here in town and will be paying one a visit.  At this point, I have no where else to go, and nothing left to lose.













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