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A previous writer commented: "By the way, if you only waited a month for an appt., count yourself lucky. My neuro is untouchable less than three months in advance, and I'm not a new patient. I'm sure our Canadian members can chime in on the subject of waiting for healthcare..." Waiting times for healthcare in Canada varies considerably and what they are, depends on many factors, not the least of which is who you talk to. It seems to be a function of where you live, what particular health problem you have, and how serious your symptoms are. In my case, my GP initially referred me to a neurologist when my symptoms were quite slight. The appointment was first scheduled for over five months later. A month or so passed and I went back to the GP when my symptoms were more evident and detailed some additional things I noticed that had been happening over time that I had not mentioned on my earlier visit. He said he would try to get me an appointment sooner. I ended up seeing a neurologist two weeks later. I am already booked for a six month follow-up with the neurologist, but he said I could see him sooner if I needed to. I live in the Okanagan Valley, a region of British Columbia with a mix of urban and rural/agricultural lifestyle. Because of it's mild climate it is popular with summer tourists and retirees. Maybe it is popular with the medical community also, or perhaps I have just been lucky in that I have never experienced excessive waiting periods for medical services. Now that I have PD, I guess I will have even more exposure to the system, but as I was only recently diagnosed, only time will tell. There are limited resources and a finite number of doctors, in both Canada and the USA, and from what I understand, we just ration the systems differently. Contrary to some stories that may be circulating, most Canadians want improvements to our medicare system, but very few want to scrap it or exchange it for a private system. It would be really interesting to hear from other PWP in Canada and elsewhere about their personal experiences with wait times relating to PD for surgery, drug costs, access to specialists and how they feel about the rapport they have with their doctors! -Terry ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn