Now, health care is failing me

I wrote to Health Minister Eric Hoskins a year and a half ago to declare my outrage when a close friend was having great difficulty navigating our health system. The answer was to send this person to the U.S. (paying with our Canadian dollars) for treatment that should have been available, and less expensive, here at home.

Ultimately, at the last minute and after having gone through huge stress, he received treatment at Juravinski hospital in Hamilton, but this is far from his home in Toronto, just a hop, skip and a jump from Princess Margaret. Seems our health system wasn’t there for him as it should have been.

Now our lack of effective and prompt treatment is affecting me directly. In early May, I was diagnosed with probable ovarian cancer. It was determined that I require surgery and I was put in the system for a date. I was given July 27, which is nine weeks from the date of my appointment at Sunnybrook. Outrageous!

I feel like a hostage of our health system. I can’t explain how angry I am about the inadequacies of our system and how some of the most vulnerable of us are being treated. I am on a roller coaster of emotions as I wait for surgery, the outcome of which will determine what continuing treatment I may need.

As I wait, I am also physically affected, as I often feel unwell and am becoming physically restricted with the large mass that continues to grow inside me. My emotional well-being is being challenged, as the waiting becomes unbearable. The combination of the stress screams out for immediate treatment.

I am told the lack of surgical space is due to Cancer Care Ontario, as it controls all operating room hours, and doctors feel helpless to do their work properly. As we delve more deeply into understanding our health care in Ontario, we’re learning that the negative realities about our system are way worse than is generally known. Gisele Ackland, Toronto