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But just as things were getting better, his health insurer hit him over the head.
"They didn't want to pay," Weaver said. "They said it was a pre-existing condition."
That was in 1986, when the Honey Brook native was in college in Kentucky and covered by his wife's insurance. Friends and churches helped as medical bills piled up and letters from collection agencies started arriving.
In time, the Weavers' appeal letters moved the insurer to pay part of the cost. "But it was a major headache," he said.
The exercise in aggravation offers a sharp contrast to Weaver's experience in Canada last year after doctors found tumors in his eye and brain.
Universal coverage
A resident of Red Lake, Ontario, since 1999, Weaver, 49, received prompt access to specialists and state-of-the-art technology including lasers and a gamma knife. Treatments are ongoing, but cost is not an issue.
"I understand these procedures would be quite pricey," said Weaver, communications director for Living Hope Native Ministries, but he's never gotten a bill or been asked for a co-pay. The government also pays Weaver's transportation and lodging expenses for appointments in Winnipeg, a six-hour drive.
On a visit to Lancaster County, Weaver got a second opinion. The ophthalmologist assured Weaver, "You're getting exactly the kind of treatment you need."
With Americans sharply divided over how to pay for health care, Weaver thinks he'll just stay in Canada. He has gotten the care he's needed when he needed it. And he never worries about loss of benefits because of unemployment or pre-existing conditions.
"Everybody has a health card," he said, "and you're covered no matter if you're a street person or prime minister."
Taxes are high because of Canada's single-payer system, but Weaver thinks they're worth the peace of mind.
"There are some (Canadians) who would complain, for sure," Weaver said. "But for the most part, I think they would be well satisfied when they look down to the States and hear about the hassles and those who aren't covered."
Nevertheless, Weaver suggested I call a friend in Red Lake who has experienced frustration as a cancer patient. He said her opinion of Canadian health care might differ from his.
Avoiding debt
Indeed, 67-year-old Melva Zook, an Oregon native, told me she had been upset that a spot on her liver that a doctor considered harmless in 2005 was found to be cancer three years later. Spots of cancer were then found on her kidney and lung.
She's spent the past 21 months undergoing scans, biopsies and major operations. She will soon start on a drug to shrink the kidney tumor to an operable size.
Zook wishes she had received a correct diagnosis in 2005, but she doesn't fault the government.
Over the years, her experience with Canadian health care has been positive. She said removal of a cancerous kidney in 2000 and five years of follow-up went "quite well." Gall bladder surgery in 2003 was another success. So was knee surgery in 2007.
"I'm not for big government," Zook said. "I think all of us should be seeing the bills to know the costs."
But she talked of improving Canada's single-payer system, not of abandoning it. And she's glad she doesn't have the problems family and friends face in the U.S.
They are in debt because of medical bills, Zook said, "and will be paying it back for years to come."
