Patients suffer ‘scanxiety’
Nicky Hambrook is patiently waiting.
The Feilding resident was scheduled for surgery in March to investigate masses on her remaining ovary. Thanks to the coronavirus lockdowns, that was pushed back to May. Now she’s had it, she’s waiting for the results. Hambrook’s surgeon told her everything looked benign but they found a few more masses than expected. They were removed and sent for a biopsy.
Hambrook, 34, hopes they are related to her endometriosis, but won’t know until later this month.
What has been a ‘‘waiting in limbo’’ situation for the mother-of-two took a toll. ‘‘The stress . . . if it had been bad news, it would have been very bad.
‘‘It would have been really infuriating [if they’d said it looked cancerous], but at the same time . . . I’m not sure if anything could’ve been done.’’
She doesn’t know what she’ll do if they turn up something unexpected. ‘‘That would be the only thing to make me go in to the angry category . . . I’m really hopeful though.’’
That agonising wait is familiar to Terre Nicholson. Seven years ago she was told she had 18 months to live. The environmental engineer from Te Kuiti, who lives with advanced breast cancer, relies on monthly blood marker tests to track her cancer but hasn’t had one since February. She went to a clinic last week but left because it was ‘‘packed full of people’’ and nobody was wearing face masks.
‘‘It’s always there in the back of your mind,’’ she says. ‘‘For the time you have to wait for results for some kind of lump or something, [you think] you’re dying of cancer, or you’re sitting around thinking: ‘Is this the cancer growing? Is treatment effective? Should I be planning my funeral?’ . . . It’s a constant level of anxiety that’s with you until you find out the answer.’’
Several of her friends in the Metavivors group also had scans postponed, with at least two having to switch treatments because their cancers had grown.
Breast cancer survivor Dana Wensley, a Tasman District councillor, faced a frustrating wait during lockdown for assessment and treatment at Nelson Hospital for lymphodema, which she developed last year after breast surgery.
‘‘My hand had blown up huge,’’ Wensley said. ‘‘I knew it could be solved quite easily if I could get a face-toface appointment.’’
Her lymphodema measurements started to climb in January after her second mastectomy. She was due to see a specialist on March 31, but that was cancelled and she had a phone appointment instead.
The specialist advised at home treatment but the swelling worsened.
During another phone consultation on May 11, the specialist said she still was not able to see anyone and recommended Wensley continue managing her lymphodema at home.
‘‘I believe she was doing her best’’ Wensley said.
When she finally saw the specialist in person on May 18 the swelling was worse, and her measurement was extremely high.
Bandaging and taping followed and Wensley is now waiting on a custom sleeve. The swelling has reduced in places.
‘‘It is my hope that my hand and wrist will return to their normal size but a risk of lymphodema is that the swelling becomes hard and permanent if the proteins . . . stay in the tissues,’’ she said.
Malcolm Mulholland, from advocacy group Patient Voice Aotearoa, said lives were at risk. ‘‘Each delay means the cancer has an opportunity to spread and potentially become a stage four disease.’’