As Mark Leiren-Young lay writhing in pain in a hallway bed at Victoria General Hospital for days, doctors would look at his inflamed leg and tell him not to worry, he wouldn’t lose it.
“Dear Lewis Black, I don’t remember the exact jokes you made at your Victoria show about how terrifying it is to get sick in America and how awesome Canada’s health care is,” writes Leiren-Young on his substack.com site. Instead, he went to see a pharmacist, who advised taking painkillers and visiting a doctor if the pain didn’t resolve by morning.
He didn’t try calling 811 to talk to a nurse, because he felt their default recommendation is always to visit the ER, which could result in an hours-long wait. With no diagnosis and tickets to see one of his favourite comedians, Lewis Black, Leiren-Young decided he’d go to the show, using a cane, and assess afterwards.
The pain was excruciating, the medication was about as effective as “Coke Zero,” and there was no privacy in the hospital hallway, but Leiren-Young said once he was told he didn’t have flesh-eating disease, he felt he could tolerate anything. “I’m walking out of here with two legs — it’s a win,” he thought.