It's a Draw

 

I can write about hydroelectricity, accordions, historical ruins and a host of other subjects that I know nothing about.  But describing this visit is rather intimidating.  Is it because I worked for Health Canada for so many years?  Perhaps because I feel I have to develop a treatise, research a scientific report, make a comparative study?  No!

 

Oh good.  I just have to describe an experience that happened to me.

  

Centre Hospitalier de Tulle

I started taking an anti-coagulant, Warfarin, several years ago after a TIA (mini stroke).  I need to get my blood checked every month to ensure that my readings are stable.  Being in France for two months means that I have to get this blood draw at the mid point, especially because I may have changed my diet: more wine, more salads that increase Vitamin K, different levels of exercise, etc. 

I spent a good while with my iPad trying to translate some medical terminology.  Although I speak French fluently, I'm not familiar with a vocabulary that I never use.  Prélèvement sanguin, Rapport international normalisé, hématocrite, flacon de sang, tube à vide scellée.  I hoped I could make myself understood.

First stop - Tourist Information.  Was there a Medical Lab in town?  It was determined that a hospital would be better equipped to deal with a foreigner.  So off I went to "Le Centre Hospitalier de Tulle", a public hospital up on a hill with limited parking.  Karl dropped me off and waited for me in the car.

Clean, efficient, friendly.  That about sums it up. 

The hospital is not new and it is showing its age, but it is spotlessly clean.  At the entrance there is a big "Accueil", a welcome centre with a woman who listened to my needs and told me what I had to do next.  To the left, a small room with a computerized "number dispenser".  You have 3 choices: it's an emergency, you have a doctor's appointment, or you are here for a consultation.  I pressed consultation and was number 60.  I didn't even have time to sit in the waiting room that my number was blinking on an overhead screen.  I made my way to the reception/administration, desk #2.

I got registered, but realized I was woefully unprepared.  I didn't know the address or phone number of my rental accommodation.  I hadn't brought my Passport for ID.  When I said I was staying at La Roche-Canillac, they figured it was such a small town that the "livreur des postes" would know where to find me.  In the end, they took my Canadian address, but decided they would send me the invoice by email. 

Up to the lab on the 5th floor I went.  It was 4:30 p.m., the perfect time to show up since the rush was over and it was quiet.  I showed the lab tech my requisition, which I now realize wasn't much of a requisition...  It had no doctor's name, no address or telephone number to reach her, no background information on me.  What was I thinking!  What was my doctor in Canada thinking!  It's one of those sheets that you tear off a pad with a place to check off what test needs to be done, but nothing more personal written in.  I keep wondering whether a Canadian hospital would have turned me away at this point.  But then again, how many people are trying to infiltrate foreign hospitals to get their blood drawn.

A very friendly doctor came to talk to me.  Not a secretary, not a lab tech - a doctor.  Was I a curiosity, an animal species outside its habitat?  She listened to my broken effort to explain why I was there and what I needed and she understood perfectly.  She did say, however, that they do not have the same citrate adjustment for the hematocrit and that the readings would not be the same as in Canada, but separate.  We were ready to proceed.

The lab room was large, sunny with a huge window, and all the tubes were organized by colour and lined up perfectly.  It looked like someone had staged the room just for me!  I mentioned what finicky little veins I have: collapsing, fleeting, with some scar tissue.  I'm a "difficult draw".  She called a mature woman whom she trusted as the best person to draw from difficult veins, and sure enough, she was fantastic.  She put on a little rubber cuff on my bicep, prodded with her finger for a good while, rubbed alcohol at least three times, did not use a butterfly needle but a longer, very thin "blue needle", and drew blood on the first try.  She took two vials - one for the INR and one for the hematocrit.  After she left, it was the doctor who gently pressed a gauze on my arm for about 3 minutes to ensure I would coagulate.  All the while, she talked about Canada and how her daughter had worked in Montreal one year.  I told her to come to Canada again and visit the west coast, see the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.  Before I left, she put the tiniest little gauze I've ever seen where the needle had gone in.  She had to take that little alcohol soaked gauze out of a vial with tweezers it was so small.  She then put a tape on top and I was ready to go.

My results arrived by email this morning, as promised.  A full page report with my results alongside the normal acceptable ranges.   I forwarded the results to my doctor in Canada.  I was told I would receive the invoice for this service within 12 days.

10 euros.  I could get reimbursed by my insurance, but it's probably not worth the hassle.  I'll just pay cash.

I'm not comparing this experience with Canada.   I can say, however, that I was treated with incredible courtesy, attention and efficiency.  I felt in competent hands and would not worry if I had to be in the French health care system for something more serious. 

When Karl had a detached retina and needed emergency surgery in Italy a few years back, his experience with the Italian health care system was also very positive.

There are wonderful health care systems beyond our Canadian borders, for a reasonable price.

When travelling, and when you're of a certain age, foreign health care is a big concern.  I know people who no longer travel because they are afraid something will happen and they won't be home to get the proper treatment.  They may also be scared that their insurance won't cover the costs, but that's another issue.  I simply would reassure people that, based on our experience, there should be no hesitation to travel within the European Union.  Get adequate health insurance coverage and pack your bags - should the need arise, you will be in good hands.

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