I've been corresponding with Suzyq in Canada and she's been very helpful.
However, HRT is not covered by OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) which means that you have to pay for the drugs if you don't have a job with health benefits.
Also, in order to access it, you need to see a gynaecologist in the public health system or pay for it privately at a private menopause clinic.
Ontario has a shortage of Dr's so most people go to walk-in clinics to see a Dr (but you're not registered with them). These Dr's can't issue prescriptions for HRT.
So first step (if you want to go via the public health system to get HRT) is to find a family Dr to register with (which can be very very difficult as there's an impossible shortage of Dr's).
Next step is to get a referral from the Dr to a gynaecologist because the Dr you're registered with can't issue the HRT - it has to be the gynaecologist! And I've been told referrals can take up to 6 months to get. BTW you can't get a referral to a specialist like a gynaecologist without being first registered with a family Dr.
Alternatively, go the private clinic route. I've been emailing private clinics in Toronto as the city I was intending to move back to (2 hours away from Toronto) has no private menopause clinics - the only Dr offering HRT in that city is not taking on new patients and is getting out of offering HRT!
Suzyq told me that the cost of her HRT is around $70 a month but it's covered by her health plan.
So yep, Canada isn't Mongolia but it isn't the UK either! And I want to make damn sure, if I do move back, that I can (a) access the drugs and (b) pay for them.
BTW I am probably over thinking and panicking about it - but then I never thought I would get mentally ill from menopause! And I really don't want to get as ill ever ever again if I can help it.
A lot of jobs in Canada now are part-time or contract - it's a way for employers to avoid paying benefits like health benefits and EI (Employment Insurance) - so workers may have to work 2 or 3 p/t jobs in order to make a living and at the same time have no health benefits and no access to employment insurance if they lose the jobs. That's North American capitalism for you! Having said that, there are good jobs around as well - but it's hard getting them because of the high unemployment rate and the need to 'know' someone in order to get a good job.
On the plus side, renting in North America is generally cheaper and more professionally run than the UK (so you win some and you lose some).
I am hoping, if I continue to be well, to make a trip back to Canada before August to figure out what to do. As I no longer have my MSW place to take up in the Fall, I face the prospect of a year of working multiple minimum wage jobs in Ontario unless I'm prepared to move to a colder province (think minus 40, minus 50 in winter - and I would be moving somewhere where I wouldn't know a soul) in order to get a better paid job. And while working said minimum wage jobs I would have to reapply to get on the MSW all over again - and it's fiercely competitive - I got one of 25 places this year. Oh and I probably have to take a statistics course p/t too because a lot of the courses require a Canadian stats course and I couldn't rely on getting into the one institution that I got into this year which accepted my UK undergrad stats course (and I suck at stats!).
The alternative is to stay in the UK but possibly move North or somewhere much much cheaper with respect to housing - as I cannot afford to stay where I am unless I can get a job with at least 25K salary due to the very high rental costs.
Or I could move back into a bedroom in a shared house - but having experienced that last year and the rules around no heating until December - I think I would rather pass on that!
Or I could stay where I am, get a job and run my savings down until I qualify for housing benefit due to the very high rent.
I do like being in the UK more and more these days because people have been so very very kind to me - having no family support I've become very aware of the support and kindness I've had from complete strangers. Also I've always loved the English countryside and I missed it so much when I was in Canada. And the architecture here is also generally much nicer than in North America. And there are more benefits available here than in North American (Canadian's don't have housing benefit and have had Food Banks since the 80's). And people don't work as hard here in the UK - you have more holidays and shops aren't open 24 hours all the time like they tend to be in North America (or open much longer hours). But I hate the precarious private housing situation in the UK - I've had over 40 addresses over the years and have found UK renting intensely stressful. And North Americans have an uplifting can-do optimism which is nice. And it's easier to set yourself up in business there as self-employed.
But the original plan was to do an MSW and then get a very well paid job (30K UK pounds) and save for retirement at 70!
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do ... just taking it one step at a time. When I feel a bit low I tend to think - do I want to risk mental illness in North America or homelessness in the UK?! Fortunately most of the time I don't dwell on this - but it is at the back of my mind because Lord knows when the UK politicians are going to sort out the UK housing crisis and enable people to live in safe, secure, affordable housing.
Hurdity - my degrees are: BSc (Hons) Applied Consumer Sciences, MA Librarianship, Bachelor of Social Work (which is Canadian and quite different from UK social work degrees). I also have a British Wheel of Yoga Teaching Diploma.
I'd love to work in libraries and research again but having repetitive strain injury I can't spend all day on the computer.
The other thing I would love to do is to be some kind of health coach - perhaps do some fitness training and then combine that with my yoga, meditation and counselling skills. But in the short term I need to figure out the best way to earn some money! - so I can cover rent, food, council tax etc.
Since I posted this query I've actually started googling around on finding work when you've had time off for illness and you are quite right Hurdity - I don't need to say anything specific. And I don't think my last employer would need to mention my illness as I got ill after I left them.
One thing I am thinking of doing if I continue well is to sit down and start writing some articles about my most recent experiences - it would help to process the trauma and who knows, someone might be interested in publishing them and it might be another way to earn a little bit of money.
The mental health agency I have self referred to have also suggested that, if my health continues well, I should look into volunteer work - which I intend to do - which would give me more references to fall back on.
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Topic: Employment advice when you've taken time off for illness (Read 3253 times)