Sask. breast cancer patient still waiting for surgeon consultation 5 months after finding lump
CBC
A mother of two from Weyburn, Sask., has known since early December that she has breast cancer. But by the time she sees a surgeon for a consultation, it will have been two and a half months since she got the diagnosis and more than five months since she first found a lump.
Lisa Vick, 48, is one of many women in the province facing bottlenecks in the health-care system due to a shortage of radiologists and surgeons with breast specializations. Vick cannot discuss a treatment plan for her cancer until a surgeon consultation has been completed.
Vick said she has good support from her family, but long wait times and scarce communication have taken a toll on her mental health.
"I'm usually very healthy, but the mental anguish of just not knowing … I got very sick and I had several trips to the emergency room to get treated," said Vick.
Vick found a lump in her right breast in September 2023. She tried to book an appointment with her family doctor, but it would have been a month-long wait, so she saw a different doctor who put in a referral for a mammogram and ultrasound. She then had to wait two months for those procedures.
Vick said she has felt the lump grow since she first detected it in September.
"It's starting to cause me some discomfort and [impede] on my movement. Just knowing that it's there…" Vick paused, touching her hand to her chest.
It's been a little over two months since the province announced it would send patients to a clinic in Calgary to tackle breast cancer testing backlogs. After Vick was officially diagnosed with breast cancer on Dec. 4, a doctor deemed her case urgent and referred her to Calgary for a breast biopsy.
The procedure would determine exactly what kind of breast cancer she has. She travelled to the clinic on Jan. 10 and received the pathology results on her MySaskHealthRecord a week later, but said the results have not been clearly explained to her. All she knows is she has invasive and in-situ ductal carcinoma. Now she is waiting for her surgeon consultation, scheduled for Feb. 20.
Dr. Adam Ogielglo, a family physician in Saskatoon, said Vick's long wait for a consultation with a surgeon is concerning.
"This patient felt their breast lump in September and here we are in February, five months later, and we still haven't done anything for the patient in terms of treatment," said Ogieglo.
"All that leads to more advanced cases, more difficult recovery times, more challenging prognosis for patient [and] more costs to the health-care system in dealing with more advanced cancers."
Vick said this weighs heavy on her mind. She thinks of the many other women who are a part of the same online breast cancer advocacy groups.
"How many women are going from a curable cancer to an incurable, metastatic cancer? They've been waiting for treatment, and now their treatment options are fewer. They have to fight it way more aggressively, and their lives are at risk. All because [of] the waiting, the waiting, the waiting."
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