Between a Covid rock and a Covid place

Post date: 2021-01-26 06:06:23

I need an endoscopy - do I get it done at a specialty clinic in a month or at a hospital in a week? (Toronto edition)

I've had mysterious abdominal pain for a few months, it's impacting my life in that I've had to subsist on an extreme low-FODMAP and low-fat diet and some days it's painful to sit, which stops me from working. The pain is slowly getting worse.

I've been referred to two doctors, both of which recommended doing a gastroscopy and colonoscopy on the same day. One of them is at Michael Garron Hospital and she can see me next week, and the other is at a specialty endoscopy clinic and is only available in a month. Which do I choose? Some considerations:

QUALITY OF PROCEDURE
- the hospital doctor has mostly good reviews, a few reviews that she's too focused on filling in slots, one review of a colonoscopy gone bad
- Michael Garron Hospital itself doesn't have the best reviews - it's old, cramped, seemingly disorganized
- the clinic doctor has entirely outstanding reviews
- the clinic itself has pretty good reviews, lots of people saying it's the best colonoscopy they've had lol

CLINIC COVID RISK
- with a gastroscopy, I will be unmasked with my mouth open
- the clinic requires that all patients take a Covid test 4 days before the endoscopy, the hospital doesn't

CITY COVID RISK
- right now Toronto has had declining Covid cases for a few weeks, we've recovered from our holiday bump but it's still higher than mid-December. ICU numbers haven't declined yet, so the endoscopy goes wrong, I'm worried about needing space.
- if I wait until February, however, I'm worried that the combination of the new international variants and the possibility of schools opening back up will lead to another third wave

FRIEND RISK
- I'll need a friend to take me back home after the procedure, and this is another worrying variable. I recently moved to Toronto, and I only really have one friend, who I don't really know that well.
- I haven't discussed this issue with him yet, but I assume some considerations for him are overall city covid numbers, and that he's within walking distance to the clinic but he'd have to take an Uber to Michael Garron

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