Drumheller man invests in his personal mobility
Rather than buying a new truck, Ian Morrison got one of his hips fixed.
“I worked for my money and I saved my money so I could do things,” says the 73-year-old pilot who does pipeline surveillance for oil companies, flying from a runway on his farm near Drumheller.
And doing things this June involved spending US$25,000 for surgery at Kalispell Regional Healthcare in Kalispell, Mont. — something he says was worth every penny to him.
“I am feeling really good now — the only challenge is to stop limping, not because I need to, but because I was so used to doing it.”
Morrison admits to “not being kind” to his hips during a life that involved skydiving while living in Australia and various accidents with horses.
Three years ago, in considerable pain and discomfort, he was referred to Red Deer for consultation on a hip replacement. During his one-and-a-half-year wait for that operation he required surgery for an intestinal problem, which meant he could no longer make the date for his hip procedure.
“I was told I couldn’t have the replacement within three months of the other surgery.”
When he phoned to find out his rescheduled date, he was told he had been completely taken off the hip list and would have to start the whole process over again.
Morrison tried booking with a doctor in Calgary, but the wait-list was two years just to see him.
A rancher friend had had his hips done in Kalispell, so Morrison decided to give the Montana health centre a call.
“They said, ‘can you be here in three weeks?’ I dug into my savings account and went.”
All his preliminary pre-operation X-rays and blood tests were done in Drumheller — “the doctors were very helpful” — and he and his wife headed for Montana.
Morrison’s recovery was quick. He stayed in Montana for a week during which time his surgeon did a followup check on him. He stayed mobile by walking up and down the halls of his hotel for three or four days before heading home. He spent three weeks with a cane, and did a return trip to Kalispell this past August for a further checkup.
“It just keeps getting better every day,” he says.
While Morrison has heard the comments about him “jumping the line” in the public health system by going to a private facility, he says the experience in Kalispell was nothing but positive.
“I was in bad shape and they really look after you there. I think my health was worth quite a bit more than a new truck.”
For a man who has no intention of retiring, but had trouble and pain getting in and out of his plane, he now can not only climb in with ease, he accompanies his wife on walks and shopping trips, instead of spending his time sitting on a bench.
“It’s the simple things but the important things. Before it was hurting all the time. It wears on you.”
And it wears on your relationships as well.
“You should talk to my wife — she said I was becoming unbearable. (Since the surgery) I am a lot more sociable.”