'I'm at the mercy of a failing health-care system': B.C. cancer patient faces 6-month wait for biopsy
After testing positive for a gene that puts her at high risk for breast cancer, coupled with her family’s medical history, Jannelle Chemko says it’s not a matter of if she’ll get the disease, but when.
That’s how the 37-year-old ended up in BC Cancer’s hereditary screening program – which is why she’s in disbelief over the six-month wait she’s facing to get a biopsy for two suspicious spots in her breasts.
“If I had known back in August that it was going to be six months, I would have looked into alternative options right away,” said Chemko, three months after her mammogram identified the spots. “Instead I’m at the mercy of a health-care system that’s failing.”
On the day of the diagnosis, Chemko says she was told she’d get a biopsy appointment in two to three weeks. Weeks turned into months, until her doctors at the hereditary cancer program called to tell her the earliest appointment available to her was in February.
When escalation tactics by both her team at BC Cancer and her family doctor failed, the head of the hereditary cancer program advised her to write a letter to her MLA.
“My sister said ‘OK! We’ll email your MLA and anyone else we have to,’” Chemko said, referring to her older sibling, Jana Letain.
The pair lost their mother last year at age 59 to breast cancer, and their grandmother died of the same disease when she was 53 years old.
“My mom would be devastated to know she went through this a year ago and now my sister may be going through the journey but she can’t get the testing done to know if we should be worried about anything at this point,” says Letain.
After writing a letter to West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Karin Kirkpatrick, Health Minister Adrian Dix and B.C. Premier David Eby, Letain has only received one reply.
Having survived breast cancer herself, Kirkpatrick says she’ll do whatever it takes to help Chemko while acknowledging there’s only three sitting days left in the B.C. legislature this year.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to have that conversation and if not in the house then certainly directly with the health minister so we can help this young woman and other women in the same position as she is,” Kirkpatrick said.
In September, radiologists across B.C. penned a letter to Dix, calling for urgent action to address long waits for life-saving medical imaging.
Since then, the president of BC Radiological Society tells CTV News that the group has met with Dix to advocate for patients and propose solutions.
Proposed fixes include recruiting, training and retaining radiologists who specialize in breast imagining and expanding the supply of breast biopsies.
“Timely access to medical imaging saves lives,” said Dr. Dr. Charlotte Yong-Hing, adding, “the anxiety associated with waiting for medical imaging can also have adverse effects on mental health, which should not be underestimated.”
At this point, Chemko says she’ll do anything to be proactive to stay healthy for her two kids, who are ages one and three. That includes seeking costly treatment from a special clinic north of Seattle, which has offered her a biopsy next week, paperwork pending.
“My mom’s mom passed away when I was three weeks old, and my mom died when I was nine months pregnant. She never met my son, and I want it to stop here,” said a teary Chemko.
CTV News has reached out to the provincial Health Ministry, which says it is reviewing Chemko’s story and preparing a response.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.