What is wrong with our health system?

Daejeong, le 3 mars 2021

Stephanie and I have been living on Jeju-do since the summer of 2019. She is now 56 years old and I am 63. We carry small health issues. We have always been very proud to be from a country with a National Health Program accessible to all. Since in Korea, we have dealt with the health system for minor problems. Stephanie had a problem with a hip, I had plantar fasciitis, she fell off her bike. We both had great experiences with Korean health care. Let me tell you about today.

No need to write about what the problem was today except that is was in no way an emergency. I want to share about how it went.

A phone appointment was taken yesterday. We were given this appointment for today at 02:00 PM in a hospital. It is our first time in this hospital so, of course, we do not enter through the right door. After inquiring about where we should go we understand we are not in the right wing of the building. We are then accompanied, outside, all the way to the other end of the hospital and showed the proper door to enter. After having our temperature taken, the nice man at the reception brings us to the fifth floor to the department where Stephanie has her appointment.

It is now 02:05 PM.

Within five minutes we are sitting in front of the doctor in his office and talking about what the problem is and what the potential treatments could be. After making sure we understand his explanations, he says he will need to examine the patient and do blood tests and an ultrasound before he can be sure which treatment would be the best one. Of course, we now expect to have to come back and/or go somewhere else for those. We will surely need at least one another appointment. No, this can all happen immediately, right there on the spot.

The patient, Stephanie, is examined. We are then accompanied to two different rooms on another floor of the hospital for the two tests. Total waiting time, less than ten minutes. Back to the doctor’s office we are told we will have to wait at least 30 minutes for the test results. Less than fifteen minutes later we are called in to see the doctor. He has the results of the blood tests and the ultrasound on a large screen so we may see as he explains the treatment, possible side effects, consequences and the time factor. We decide to go for it. The treatment may start immediately. A prescription is ready and printed. A follow up appointment is taken for one month’s time. We graciously thank everybody, leave the hospital, cross the street to the pharmacy and return to our car, with the medication, ready to go for groceries to take back home.

It is not quite 04:00 PM.

This has been our experience with the South Korean Health system every time we have had to use it. Same for dentistry, same for physiotherapy, same for acupuncture.

I ask you, what is wrong with our health system in North America?

A Dinosaur

Le 2 mars 2021

For me, it’s not the writing. I think I can write a bundle. I have a ton of ideas and experiences to share. It’s all the technology. Getting this blog ready to start was murder. I am such a dinosaur with technology.

I think I’m smart enough to understand complex theories and problems but reading what are supposed to be “basic” instructions for a “simple” app or program for almost anything on the web is, well, almost always incomprehensible to me. I’m reading a sentence that is supposed to help me understand and go forward but I just don’t know what the terms mean. I invariably end up more mixed up. I have not been using enough of this technology and I have some kind of a blockage. After finding out how the Slice of Life Challenge site works and after setting up my blog on Word Press, I had to leave all the pages I thought I needed to operate open. I was too afraid that I would lose some of the stuff and not find it again and have to go through all the process again.

Another thing I have to do these days is communicate with the federal tax department. I have a couple of paper forms that I filled and have to send in. To send them electronically, I must go through the agency’s web site. The instructions make me feel so dumb and I’m afraid to hit the help button.

I used to go to one of my daughters, any one, and she would just do whatever had to be done for me. Fortunately, my wife is very patient with me even when I get so cranky with the computer. She has started explaining how to proceed instead of just doing. So, I get to do it. It’s slow but I seem to be progressing… I think.

Anyway, this is me, the Dinosaur.

An introduction

Bonjour, my name is Alain. I’m a French Canadian from the province of Québec now living on Jeju island in South Korea. I am retired and married to Stephanie for 25 years. We are the proud parents of five daughters and even prouder grand-parents of three.

Stephanie and I are on Jeju-do since the summer of 2019 and loving it. She is an English teacher in Branksome Hall Asia, an International all girls school where their goal is to “Empower Women”. She teaches middle school in grades 6, 8 and 9.

I have inherited the domestic chores, cleaning, washing, shopping, mostly everything ending in ing. I am on my bike almost every day. I also spend a lot of time in the school volunteering. I am in the library at least two days a week for a few hours. I also run a Bike Club for students. Accompanied by my friend Peter, also retired, we take the girls riding in the country side.

Peter and I, with a few others, are IMOLs (International Men Of Leisure). Our Bike Club is called the Burger Boys. Our riders come from the United States (California, New-York, Nevada), China, Australia, New-Zealand, the Netherlands, Britain, Scotland, Canada (Ontario, British-Columbia, Québec) and, of course, Korea. We like to ride our bikes for a few hours before stopping for lunch, including beer, and ride back for another while. Jeju-do is wonderful to ride a bike. It is a bit hilly but within about twenty minutes from where we live, we are on the sea shore. If we’re lucky, we see a bank of dolphins. Of course, while riding we tend to resolve the problems of the world. It’s good to be retired.

Writing a blog is a first for me. This is my very first post, ever. So, please be gentle with me. I am a newbe. Also, my mother tongue in French. I still need help with my English. While working in Montréal, I would write a lot, reports, memoirs, memos, but almost exclusively in French.

In this blog I would hope to share some stories, maybe some feelings. I’m also hoping to write about my daughters, grand-daughter and grand-sons. I would also like to share about our Korean experience. I am also looking forward to reading stories from other Slicers.

Voilà for my introduction!