Gaye Horn is thrilled that her husband Lee’s long wait of almost three years for a hip replacement is finally over. Lee says he’s doing well after his surgery last week and he’s already planning work he hopes to do in the garden later this spring. (Richard McGuire photo)
Lee Horn is now recovering at home in Osoyoos from a hip replacement that he waited nearly three years to get.
He’s happy and relieved that the long wait is finally over after getting out of hospital in Kelowna on Thursday, two days after his operation.
But he and his wife Gaye, who took his case to the B.C. Legislature to draw attention to it, are also frustrated with B.C.’s health system – that makes people endure long waits for surgery without knowing how far down the list they are.
“I’ve not felt any problems with my hip at all,” Lee said of his time at home since the operation.
There is, however, bruising and soreness lower down where the surgeon had to cut through muscle to add an artificial ball and socket to replace his worn-out hip.
Still, he’s already planning work in his yard that he plans to do when he’s healed enough, including building a pergola over a new flowerbed and creating a patio sitting area.
By the end of summer perhaps?
“I don’t think it takes that long,” Lee responded. “I’m anticipating being pretty active by the end of May. That’s two months. I should be OK.”
Gaye’s jaw dropped.
“What?” she asked. “What?”
She admitted though that Lee’s determination to get back on his feet didn’t really surprise her, knowing her husband.
Once a college football player, Lee was always active. He hiked, kayaked, gardened, bird watched and ran photography tours until his failing hip left him confined to a chair in excruciating pain.
Coincidence or not, it was only after Gaye travelled to the Legislature in Victoria and raised Lee’s case through NDP Health Critic Judy Darcy that the wheels began to turn.
The case drew widespread media attention and called attention to surgery wait times in B.C., which for hip replacements are the second worst in Canada, only better than Nova Scotia.
“It’s a broken system,” said Gaye.
“I’m a little bit disgusted with the system,” said Lee, who added he was nonetheless happy with the staff and facility in Kelowna where he eventually got his operation.
Part of the problem was that he had to wait eight months for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and then the problem was misdiagnosed. That added to his wait.
Lee believes it would ease the anxiety of people in his situation if they had access to information about where they were on the waiting list.
“If you’ve been bumped, you should be able to find out why,” he said. “I realize there are emergencies and people fall down and break their hips and that kind of thing happens (to change the list order), but 16 and a half months is a long waiting time.”
Such a list could let patients make decisions about going to another location for surgery. Lee noted that Gaye went to Trail for a knee operation, though the travel distance over mountain passes and the need for follow-ups didn’t make this ideal.
Meanwhile, Gaye, who is unable to drive long distances because of a vision problem, said the experience made her more aware of the difficulties patients face when their operations are done in locations like Kelowna.
The Horns only managed with the help of their friend, Brenda Dorosz, who drove Lee both ways.
Gaye said when her husband recovers, she’s going to volunteer him to take people to the hospital for operations.
“I don’t know how people who don’t have a support system get to and from,” she said. “I’m going to make darn sure if somebody here needs a ride to a doctor or hospital for an operation and a way to get home that they get it, including having Lee do it.”
Lee is impressed with Gaye for going to bat for him and others.
“She’s always been a fighter,” he said. “I’m very impressed. She’s absolutely great. She’s a force to be reckoned with.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
