Speaker: George
Tell us a little bit about yourself
George: Hello, I'm George. My age being 82 plus nine months. Occupation. I worked at Mcdonald Douglas aircraft in Toronto for 17 and well, 17.5 years as a foreman over production control and tooling, so on. My interests being cards such as Euchre, Crib, and Rummy 500.
Tell us about your diagnosis
George: Ok. Yeah, congested heart failure was, I found was a, prior to 2009 and then, they put me on water pills. And, I went to Florida, Florida and, it didn't really do anything. So we went to a doctor and they put me on a different type of pill which had to be changed again when I got home. I was worried, I didn't, that's how I felt because I didn't know what to look forward to. And, now I'm pretty well.
How has your life changed since your diagnosis?
George: My life has changed, enormously one being that, it started out with worn out fatigue and I felt that, maybe because of the condition, the challenges were going to be rough and not able to do as much as I would like. And these changes or these life changes were quite enormously enormous one time and then the next time they were very little. There were some ups and downs. Ups and downs. Yeah. And, I really felt that I would love to get back into walking, golfing. You name it, but it's just impossible with the way the, diagnosis as there are challenges as put on.
How has Best Care impacted your life?
George: Best Care has impacted my life by the confidence that I have in myself of knowing that I can control my own health. And peace of mind, knowing someone is available when I need them. It's hard to find a cardiologist in the North as they are so few and far between. Best Care provides support to those people who can't find a cardiologist right away. I learned more about my medication and actually understood what they were used for. We also made changes when necessary.
Do you have a message for others about the Best Care program?
George: Doctors should get involved with this program. It can make a big difference for your patients. They should, the doctors and the cardiologists are overwhelmed and they don't have time to provide proper care and support to patients. We need more Best Care educators to help take some pressure off the system. And the doctors should be requesting to the local council and see if we cannot get more backing for the, for funding for this program.
