On Friday morning I woke up with extreme back pain. There was no apparent cause; everything was normal when I went to bed on Thursday. I now have the kind of empathy for people with chronic pain and disability that is impossible to attain as a purely intellectual exercise. The pain is so bad that I cannot sleep for very long, I cannot stand for more than a couple of minutes, and walking 15 feet is like a grueling hike.

On the first day of this experience I struggled into the CKNW studios and went ahead with my regular weekly debate, but after the show I had to stop and rest twice in order to walk one block to my car. That's when I went to see my physician hoping she would see me without an appointment. I was impressed that after a few simple tests she referred me to a chiropractor rather than reaching for her prescription pad. I am now receiving chiropractic treatment that will hopefully end the pain and eventually deal with the cause - the consequences of years of bad posture.

In my case, thanks to Gordon Campbell, the care I require is no longer covered by Medicare. Were I to visit my physician repeatedly for pain relief prescriptions, the public plan would pick up the bill, but it won't for the non-drug alternative. I'm lucky, despite my sleepless nights and urge to scream; at least I am receiving immediate treatment. Thousands of others are on waiting lists for hip replacements and other procedures even though they are in equal or worse pain. My dentist suffered enormously as he waited over a year for a hip replacement. Is that the "health care when and where you need it" that was promised by the Campbell government?

It is easy to cite the increased waiting lists, the elimination ("delisting") of insured services, and across the board budget cuts, such as the one recently announced by the Vancouver Island Health Authority, when quantifying cuts that have been made to health care. The government will respond with numbers about how much more it is spending, engaging in "money illusion" as if higher salaries mean more services. Some people are having their suffering prolonged by a government that will pay its Minister of Health Services a bonus if he comes in under budget, but won't offer a dime if he goes over budget to reduce the suffering for people on waiting lists.