At this point I’ve written to my MPP and my MP, but haven’t heard back from either of them.

But there has been some small measure of progress. I got a letter from my doctor’s office yesterday. They’ve referred me to a neurosurgeon, who, apparently has accepted the referral. His office will be contacting me to set up an appointment (”Your patience would be appreciated,” the letter says, “as wait times vary.”)

So now I’m waiting to get an appointment with a specific neurosurgeon. I have no idea how long his waiting list is, either for initial appointments or for surgery.

I’ve learned quite a bit about wait times over the past few days. Each doctor has their own wait list. Wait times are calculated, as one commenter pointed out, from the day the specialist deems that you need surgery, until the day you have surgery. In other words, my waiting period hasn’t even started yet, even though I’ve had this problem for almost five months and have been seeing my doctor about it for four months.

I’m not sure what kind of doc you need, but Ottawa’s wait times are not good. (In fact , they are consistently the worst in the province.) Certainly asking your oncologist to go to bat for you is a fabulous idea.

With the emphasis on hips and knees, fewer other surgeries are being done. However, if you don’t need specialized care — leaving the Ottawa area might get you surgery faster. Check the site, if you go to a 250K you can see some pretty low wait times. (This is also dependent on the complexity of the case — if this straight forward a smaller community hospital might be able to handle it.) Smithsfall and Brockville are close-ish.
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/transformation/wait_times/public/wt_public_mn.html#

Now, the two year wait list does not apply to all orthopods, ask for a bigger list. There is no registry, so call around. Some newer docs can see you much more quickly. It sounds like your doctor doesn’t know how to navigate the system. I know former NDP candidate Marlene Rivier used to act as a “health care consultant” and help people navigate the system. (No contact info.) She might have some advice as well.

If it wasn’t for the stress of the breast cancer diagnosis and wait for treatment your back might not have gotten this bad so quickly.

If it wasn’t for the back pain and wearing down of your immune system through chronic pain your breast cancer treatment would be easier to get through.

Dr. Aranout is asscociated with the QCH? S’s third hip replacement was done there; it was a complicated affair and done with better than expected results. Though at this point you might go 500 steps in a cat carrier for a chance at surgery.