'I won't be here next year': Canadians robbed of life by delayed diagnoses amid pandemic

Several Canadians who reached out to CTVNews.ca say their diagnoses of cancers, autoimmune disorders and incurable conditions could have been caught sooner and possibly prevented from advancing to late stages had the COVID-19 pandemic not delayed their annual screenings and checkups.

With a history of breast cancer in her family, the 73-year-old from Kemptville, Ont. understands the importance of getting her regular screens so any abnormalities are caught early, before becoming untreatable.

"I have been religious about going for my physicals," Robinson said in a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday.

However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, medical screenings including mammograms, PAP smears, MRIs endoscopies, among others, were put on hold to deal with the outbreak of virus cases that overwhelmed hospitals across the country.

Robinson said her left breast became dense in September 2020, and called her family doctor asking for a mammogram, realizing she was not notified of her yearly checkup months earlier. She was not able to get an appointment for a mammogram until January 2021. Her results came back abnormal and a second mammogram, done in February, confirmed she had Stage 4 breast cancer.