Welcome to the warm, reassuring embrace of the Canadian healthcare system—where "you always have a choice".It is a lovely slogan that pairs beautifully with a six-to-eight week waiting list. It's rather like being offered a lifeboat on the Titanic, but being told the oars are on backorder. True, we won't go bankrupt seeking medical care; I suspect there's probably some risk/reward algorithm - if he's old enough, and sick enough...

When I was diagnosed with high-risk cribriform cancer here in Waterloo, I was promptly informed that I could, of course, seek a second opinion—if I had the luxury of time, and if I didn’t mind quietly withering away while waiting for someone with a medical degree and a functioning calendar. “You’re absolutely entitled to a second opinion,” they said, “and we’d be happy to schedule it just as soon as the snow melts and the maple syrup runs clear again.”

You see, it’s not that we don’t have choices here. We do. We just also have queues, forms, phone tag, and the subtle but ever-present fear that if we ask too many questions, our chart might mysteriously vanish into a filing cabinet marked Oh, He Was Difficult. Dr. Rachakondra, the treating radiation oncologist here, is a competent and cordial man, though I gather he’s more accustomed to acquiescence than inquiry

I do agree with the idea that doctors can be wonderful, systems can evolve, and patient advocacy is crucial. But in this corner of Ontario, being your own advocate often feels a bit like shouting into a snowbank. With mittens on. While your referral gets faxed. To the wrong department. ( yes, it happened)

So yes, you can get a second opinion. You just have to live long enough to hear it.