It was a pea-sized lump that forever changed Rita Warrian’s life.
And it was the expense involved in getting rid of that lump that prom-pted her to speak about the higher cost of health care for people in rural and northern Manitoba.
“I do believe quite strongly that the current system discriminates against rural people,” said Warrian, a former high school teacher from Dauphin, Man.
In 1993, she had a mammogram, just as she had done for the previous 10 years because of cystic breast disease.
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But this mammogram located a small cancerous lump.
Warrian then embarked on 12 “reasonably frugal” trips to Winnipeg for surgery and radiation.
She stayed in a lodge for cancer patients and made her own meals in the kitchen there, even though it meant constantly talking about cancer with other cancer patients.
In total, she spent $5,700 on travel expenses during her treatment.
She has since found that from Dauphin alone, about 70 percent of internal medicine patients and 25 percent of people requiring surgery travel 325 kilometres to Winnipeg for treatment.
In the past year, six people in her extended family have made 15 trips to Winnipeg for medical reasons, spending $3,000.
Medical appointments early or late in the day often require a stay overnight, and follow-up appointments are not scheduled with
driving time in mind, Warrian said.
It’s hard to make a trip to Winnipeg for less than $200, she said. A bus ticket is $64, a hotel room $70, and meals over two days $50.
These are costs that people who live in the city don’t have to pay.
Income tax deductions make little difference, said Warrian.
She thinks governments should rebate expenses for transportation, accommodation and meals incurred when people are forced to travel for medical treatment.
“That should cause the government to think about really providing regional services so we don’t have to travel,” said Warrian.
