Halifax woman calling out NSH after 7-year wait for MRI appointment

A Halifax woman said she was aghast after receiving an appointment for an MRI seven years after her specialist sent in a requisition for the test.

Jessica Leslie said it took so long to get the appointment, she had forgotten all about it.

She initially laughed.

"About an hour later, I got angry," she said. "I have friends in the endometriosis group that I'm a part of, for whom this has completely sidelined and put their lives on hold."

The requisition was sent by a specialist at the IWK's endometriosis clinic, which was just starting up.

Leslie said in July 2019, she was having increasingly painful cycles, and was desperate for answers.

She had an ultrasound, but her new doctor suggested a pelvic MRI would give them a better sense of the problem.

Leslie said the doctor prescribed her medication to see if that would be effective while they waited for the test. The specialist also sent her back to her family doctor for follow up care until the results arrived.

"Because the pandemic hit six months later, it completely left my mind. I knew it was going to be a multi-year wait anyway. I was expecting two years."

Leslie said she was lucky because her medication is effective. She decided to cancel the appointment to free it up for those who needed it urgently.

Leslie is a member of an endometriosis support group, and she told them about her seven year wait.

"Somebody else said I've been waiting five years, some said two to three," she said, pointing out that some of those women have stopped working because of their pain.

"I think, had I been in the type of pain I see some of my friends in, I would have been a lot louder a lot sooner."

Nova Scotia Health says Leslie's case is an exception.