COVID-19 fears cancel cancer surgeries, patients say

Some breast cancer surgeries in Ottawa are being postponed for at least a month because of novel coronavirus, say anxious patients.

Patients began receiving phone calls from surgeons this week telling them the news. One patient said her surgeon told her she had to call 47 people in one evening. “She was very frustrated.”

The news has added a new layer of stress for patients who worry their cancer will progress before they have surgery and that they will be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

The 62-year-old patient who spoke to this newspaper on condition of confidentiality said she is very anxious that her cancer, which is currently at Stage 2, will progress to Stage 3 by the time she has surgery.

Higher stages generally mean the cancer has spread further and is more difficult to treat. She was supposed to have a lumpectomy on April 1 and begin radiation treatment after that.

The decision comes as hospitals begin taking action to try to make room for an expected influx of COVID -19 patients by postponing elective and non-essential surgeries and treatments. The 62-yearold patient said she was told that all surgeons have been asked to postpone any surgery that can be done safely.

That includes any cancer surgery

I don’t think they are taking it lightly. They are meeting to review cases to see which ones can be safely postponed.

that can be safely postponed.

Another breast cancer patient said her scheduled April 8 surgery has not yet been postponed, but she has been told cases are being looked at on a “week-to-week, case-by-case basis.”

She has already had chemotherapy for a relatively aggressive form of breast cancer and worries about a possible delay and her vulnerability to COVID-19.

“I don’t think they are taking it lightly,” she said.

“They are meeting to review cases to see which ones can be safely postponed.”

Her anxiety is high.

“I went through six months of chemotherapy trying to stay healthy, thinking all I have to do is recover from chemo and have surgery, and then COVID-19 happens and you have to be even more diligent about not getting sick.”

Cancer Care Ontario has not yet responded to questions about the postponements.