Migraines turned out to be tumour for Newfoundland mom
Waited two years for MRI scan
A chiropractor who faced a two-year wait for an MRI scan after presenting symptoms of an acoustic neuroma is frustrated with the pace of medical care in her home province of Newfoundland.
“There were delays along the way,” Alanna Mcdonald told National Post. “Pretty much at every step. My tumour is three centimetres. If we’d gotten a diagnosis sooner I would have had other treatment options. But because it’s so big now I have to have surgery.”
Mcdonald, who works in St. John’s and is president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Chiropractic Association, started having migraines almost two years ago. She went to her family doctor, who initially couldn’t find anything amiss.
“In Newfoundland family doctors can’t send for an MRI,” Mcdonald said. “It has to be through a specialist. So my family doctor did what she could do, and when I started to get some facial numbness she sent me to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist) because he could send for more testing. But of course there’s a wait time to get in to see the ENT, so that took me a couple of months.”
That doctor was able to send her for an MRI scan, but the wait time for that, since her condition still wasn’t considered urgent, was on the order of two years.
A recent report by the Fraser Institute highlights the issue of MRI wait lists. It found that, across Canada, wait lists for MRI scans had a median of 12.9 weeks, which was two weeks longer than the previous year, and the longest on record in at least a decade.
Much of that has to do with simple supply and demand. The same report found that, in 2019 (the latest year of available data) Canada placed 25th out of 29 similarly developed countries, with 10.3 MRI units per million population, well below the average of 18.3 per million, and far behind leaders such as Japan, Korea and Germany, which had more than 30 per million.
“So after about a year my symptoms were getting worse and my family doctor said you need to call booking and see when you’re getting in,” Mcdonald said. “I called and they said I’d be getting in this May or June.”
She also went back to the ENT, letting him know that she was now experiencing one-sided hearing loss and tinnitus. But because the MRI had already been booked, she was told there wasn’t anything more to be done.
Mcdonald then joined a cancellation wait list and was eventually able to get a slot for an MRI scan last month.
“Jan. 22 I had my MRI, and I got a call two days later,” she recalled. Her family doctor informed her that she had a tumour in her head. A week later, she met with a neurosurgeon who explained that acoustic neuroma are typically benign, but that the size and location made surgery her only option.
“Once I got diagnosed things moved pretty fast, although it feels like forever between getting diagnosed and getting my surgery because time has slowed down with me not being at work.” Mcdonald, a wife and mother of three, had to take time away from her practice as her symptoms worsened.
She is now scheduled for retro sigmoid brain surgery on March 19. It’s a gruelling procedure that’s expected to take between 14 and 16 hours, and she’s been informed she’ll be deaf in one ear afterward. She’ll also need at least a week in hospital to begin her recovery, followed by several more months off work back home.
The surgery is taking place in Halifax, a two-hour flight from St. John’s. “Technically they could do that surgery here but they don’t have that same specialized equipment,” she said. And because she’ll need a new MRI and CT scan before the surgery, she’s booked to fly out on March 14.
The family has found short-term accommodation in Halifax, and the province’s Medical Care Plan is covering part of the travel costs, but Mcdonald and her husband will still be facing numerous costs. A friend set up a Gofundme page last week to help, and it has already exceeded its goal.
Asked how she feels about the upcoming surgery, Mcdonald was blunt. “Terrified,” she said. “It sounds awful. I’m going to lose my whole vestibular system in my left side, so my right side will have to take over. It’ll basically be like sitting around on a boat for a couple of days, being extremely seasick and nauseous.”
Mcdonald is adamant that her concerns are with the health care system as a whole and not anyone personally.
“My family doctor was really pushing hard for me, and doing anything that she could do,” she said. “But because her tool belt doesn’t have all the necessary things, it was really lacking. I feel like family doctors really need an extra push to be able to send for MRIS and get better diagnoses for their patients.”
And she remains hopeful. “Now that we know what’s happening we have a plan. I can deal with it better for sure.”
MY FAMILY DOCTOR WAS REALLY PUSHING HARD FOR ME.