Woman faces brain surgery due to lengthy wait for MRI appointment
‘If I had my time back, I would have flown to Halifax and paid for an MRI’'
In the spring of 2022, Alanna Mcdonald (Earle) hopped in her truck to meet her husband, Jamie, for lunch.
But when she arrived at the restaurant and got out, Mcdonald started experiencing what she calls "kaleidoscope vision."
"I felt a little dizzy as it happened, but I brushed it off," she said. "It went away after 10 minutes, but then it happened again. And about three weeks later, it happened again."
Mcdonald went to see her family doctor, who suggested she see an optometrist.
Her optometrist said it was an ocular migraine.
"They told me they are generally pain-free, so I thought I'd be OK," she said.
From there, though, things rapidly got worse.
'SAVAGE MIGRAINES'
"I started getting these absolute savage migraines and they were debilitating," said Mcdonald.
"I would have to be in bed, lights off. I was even getting sick, like vomiting. And I said to myself, 'This isn't normal.'"
Mcdonald is a mother to three young children, ages three, five and seven. Her husband works offshore and is home for only six months of the year.
While her husband stepped up, she still felt an enormous amount of guilt.
"When I would lie down, I would only do so for about five minutes, I felt so bad about not being with them," said Mcdonald.
"I am the parent that is there, so when I am not there it's confusing for them and hard on me."
OFF BALANCE
Mcdonald also works fulltime as a chiropractor and her work began to take an even bigger toll.
"I had been more and more off balance, so, if I do an adjustment on someone where I lift one leg, I started to stabilize my grounding leg against the table, which you don't need to do technique-wise," said Mcdonald.
"I definitely changed the way I was treating people without even realizing it."
Even at home, her balance was getting worse. While she hasn't had a serious fall, she's had some near misses where she's had to catch herself on a few occasions.
Dealing with all of this left her worried for her and her family's future.
"I can't focus as well as I did once before. My ability to focus has changed and what I am focusing on has changed because of this," she said.
SPECIALIST
Mcdonald went back to see her family doctor in the fall of 2022 and was diagnosed with migraines.
Because she was experiencing more symptoms, including facial numbness, her doctor suggested seeing an ENT.
Mcdonald didn’t get in to see an ENT until January 2023, who suggested what she was experiencing was viral and she would be fine. But the doctor did recommend that, as a caution, Mcdonald have an MRI.
Mcdonald was told it would take two years to get in for an MRI.
Saltwire contacted NL Health Services on Monday, Feb. 26, for an interview or comment regarding MRI wait times. After three days, no response was given.
WORSENING SYMPTOMS
Eight months later, Mcdonald’s symptoms began escalating quickly.
“I would have a headache for two days, then that would turn into a two-week migraine,” said Mcdonald.
“We cycled through two or three types of meds and they helped, but it didn’t stop. Then, on top of it, I started getting tinnitus in my left ear. Sometimes it came on its own, and sometimes it brought a migraine.”
By the time she started experiencing tinnitus, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
She called to find out how long of a wait there was for her MRI, and from there, they offered to put her on a cancellation list.
That was in September 2023, and by January 2024, Mcdonald received her MRI.
That MRI brought her a life-altering diagnosis.
‘A MASS HAD BEEN GROWING IN MY HEAD’
“My family doctor called
me at 3:55 p.m. on Jan. 22. When I got there, she said it was a tumour, a mass had been growing in my head,” said Mcdonald.
She was shocked. Every person she had dealt with on the matter said it was just her age, the fact that she worked and had three kids, that her symptoms were normal.
“I felt like I was crazy for so long. While the diagnosis was shocking, there was part of me that knew,” said Mcdonald.
FACING SURGERY
Because of the length of time it took for her diagnosis, Mcdonald now faces a 16hour invasive brain surgery to remove the tumour.
It’s scheduled for March 19 in Halifax.
Mcdonald will be away for over a month. To help cover the costs of her accommodations and caring for her children, a friend started a Gofundme to help ease the financial burden.
DEAFNESS
During the surgery, Mcdonald said, doctors will make a large incision on the side of her head, peeling back her ear to access her skull. Because of the access point, after the surgery, she will be deaf in her left ear, which is already taking a toll on her.
“The other day, my kid went to whisper into my bad ear and I had to remind them, and it just sucked,” said Mcdonald.
Because of how close the tumour is to her carotid artery and vertebral artery, she is also at risk of having a stroke.
“I’m panicked about the surgery. I’m coming to accept the things that will come after, like the deafness and possible damage,” said Mcdonald.
“I had to start taking another anxiety medication to help me manage. I am scared, but I am trying not to focus on that.”
NO OTHER MEASURES
Because of the size of her tumour –– it measures 3 cm by 3 cm by 3 cm –– this is the only option Mcdonald has.
She added that if she hadn’t faced such a long wait time, there might have been other options available.
CONTRIBUTED
“If I had been diagnosed sooner, then I would have been able to avoid brain surgery,” said Mcdonald.
Now, she is left wondering what could have been if she had known earlier.
“In retrospect, if I had my time back, I would have flown to Halifax and paid for an MRI, which you have the ability to do,” said Mcdonald, referring to private MRI clinics that are available in Nova Scotia.
There are no private MRI services available in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“If I had known then what I know now, like how much of a time crunch this would be, I would have invested that money and gone there ahead of time.”