Is there an ME/CFS friendly emergency room in Vancouver, Canada?

[concepcion]

I have a friend here in Vancouver, Canada, whose daughter (26 yrs) has severe ME/CFS. She has developed irritable bowel and has recently become so fatigued she has to choose between eating and going to the bathroom. As a result she has lost 20 pounds in the last 2 months and is now down to 75 pounds (5'2", pre-illness weight = 110 pounds)). The new Complex Chronic Disease Clinic here in Vancouver is still not having doctors see patients. Does anyone have any positive experiences to tell of any of the hospitals in Vancouver?

 

[helen1]

St Paul's Hospital was quick and efficient when I went there with a leg injury 8 months ago. My physio told me to go there rather than Lion's Gate, which was closer, due to slowness and inefficiencies at LG. That had been her experience with her patients. I even got an MRI within a week! I know they see a lot of chronically ill people there, but have no knowledge of how they're treated.
Is your friend's daughter getting any help from a health practitioner? What treatments are they trying with her? It must be very frightening for her family to see her deteriorate so quickly. I wish her well.

 

[alice111]

Thanks so much Helen. My daughter has ME/CFS also, and when we have gone to the hospital they weren't helpful. My concern is that they will treat my friend's daughter as having a psychiatric illness. The medical profession is frighteningly ignorant about this illness

 

[Sushi]

I've found that it is better not to say you have ME/CFS but something like autonomic dysfunction and IBS. I recently had to go to the Emergency Room and they know about dysautonomia and treated me very appropriately.

Best wishes,
Sushi

 

[SOC]

I've found that it is better not to say you have ME/CFS but something like autonomic dysfunction and IBS. I recently had to go to the Emergency Room and they know about dysautonomia and treated me very appropriately.

Best wishes,
Sushi

I agree. You never know who you are going to see in the ER or what level their level of ignorance about ME is. Much better to only mention the specific symptom you are dealing with in the moment. A thin and sickly person with IBS should get appropriate attention, so adding the ME label is likely to only confound the medical professionals.