This is another one of those posts where all I’m really trying to say is that I am so lucky to be looked after by the Canadian health care system in Alberta.

Yesterday at noon I managed to get out of the office, get to a local lab where I had made an appointment, had my blood taken, walked across the parking lot to the medical imaging clinic, and, without an appointment, had the x-rays of my right thigh done. I was back online, working, within one hour. And it cost me nothing more than my monthly healthcare premiums and time. Oh, wait… This is Alberta. There aren’t any healthcare premiums!

The blood work ordered included ‘general chemistry’ which apparently covers sodium, potassium, chloride and CO2. I have no idea why Dr. Williams needs to see that stuff… but hey, he’s the doctor. He also ordered a test of the creatinine in my blood as a way to check kidney function prior to having a chest CT scan done. Why? Well, if the kidneys are not functioning at optimal levels, they can’t give you any of the dyes, which may/may not diminish the usefulness of the scan.

And as a hedge, the doctor ordered a TSHB (TSH progressive testing) test just to ensure that the thyroid levels are where they need to be…

The x-ray was a truly wonderful thing: a walk-in experience that took half an hour from walking in the front door, to walking out again. The lab I used, which happens to be the lab that did the ultrasound on my neck which started this ride in the summer of 2007, has gone almost completely ‘digital’. There is no x-ray film. There are sensors build into the x-ray table which convert the radiation bombardment into video/computer imagery. The somewhat lively x-ray technician who took the shots of my knee/thigh/hip told me that it was actually possible that the results of the x-ray would be on my doctor’s computer desktop before I managed to get dressed and get back onto the street.

And once again, I have no complaints about how I am being handled in the healthcare system.