We know that this is
not an easy time for you. You may have faced many emotional shocks
and difficult decisions, sometimes within a very short period of time.
Things may seem to be happening very fast. Please know we will help
you as much as we can.
Manitoba is one of several
Provinces that does not
have a Pediatric Cardiac Surgical Program. If your child has a heart problem which
needs to be treated you may need to travel to another
province to have the surgery or treatment that he or she needs.
You will receive
help from the Manitoba government, arranged by the Variety Children's Heart
Centre staff, for the following items:
Air Travel
-
Round trip airfare for
your child and two parents, or one parent and one adult escort. If
your child is traveling by air ambulance, it may be possible for you to
travel with your child. If not, you will travel on the earliest commercial
flight.
-
Costs of any medical supports
or staff needed for your child during transport.
Ground Travel
-
Costs of the ambulance
from hospital to the airport in both cities.
-
Taxi costs to and from
the airport in the other city.
-
Mileage costs, if you
prefer to drive rather than fly, to the city where your child is having
surgery.
Accommodation
-
Hotel / Residence accommodation
in the other city for two adults.
Food
-
Food allowance for two
adults, and for your child covering any necessary outpatient stays out
of province.
If arrangements were
made for you and your child after regular working hours, the Nurse Clinician
or Social Worker
from Variety Children's Heart Centre will contact you
at the new hospital on the first working day after you arrive there.
Or we will make arrangements for staff in the new hospital to meet with
you and provide support or help should you need it.
You may have more questions or may just
want to talk. Please contact the
Social Worker
or Nurse Clinician
if you have further questions or concerns regarding your child's heart
surgery.
Links
Preparing
for your Child's Out of Province Heart Catheterization
Education
/ Information for Parents
(Variety
Children's Heart Centre)
Preparing
for your Child's Heart Surgery
Education
/ Information for Parents
(Variety
Children's Heart Centre)
If
Your Child Needs Surgery
Education
/ Information for Parents
(*
B.C. Heart & Soul - Your Guide to Congenital Heart Defects and
the
Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. & Yukon)
When
Your Child Needs a Heart Transplant
Education
/ Information for Parents
(The
Hospital for Sick Children / Toronto)
Amplatzer
Occlusion Devices
Congenital Cardiovascular Defects
(American
Heart Association)
CHD
Surgeries
Edwards
/ Heart Surgery
