2 Regina women frustrated with long waiting lists for biopsies

Two Regina women recently met with the Saskatchewan health minister to talk about the long wait-lists in the province for those in need of biopsies.

Two women from Regina have one thing in common: Cheryl Harvey and Lindsay Rogers both say the wait-list for a biopsy in Saskatchewan is long.

Rogers is 35 years old and has a family history of breast cancer. She is currently waiting for a biopsy. Harvey is a 59-year-old breast cancer survivor who has been recently diagnosed with breast cancer again.

These two women have been closer as they’ve joined together to voice the same concern: that Saskatchewan’s wait-list for biopsies is astounding.

“We’re going through the same thing. And we were brought together by a mutual friend after she was telling me a story about her friend and what her friend was going through,” Rogers said. “I told her, ‘Hey, that sounds like my story.'”

In April, Rogers found a lump on her left breast. Her doctor examined her in June and found a lump in her right breast as well. She was sent for an ultrasound and received her results in August. Due to her results, Rogers’ new family doctor sent a referral for her to receive a biopsy and to this day, she is still waiting for an appointment for a biopsy.

“I was first told one to two weeks, then three to four, then five to six and two months, two and a half months. Now we’re at three-plus (months) for the third or fourth week in November,” Rogers said. “Based on past experiences, every time I get close to a date, it gets extended. So, we’ll see if that’s actually a reality.”

Harvey was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. She started treatments at a cancer clinic and was even invited to join clinical trials, which she accepted. One of the policies for that particular clinical trial is that they follow you for 15 years after. So, every year since, Harvey has met with the team every October and she would receive a mammogram every August.

“Since then, I’ve been clear. Except for this year, any regular mammogram came up, and the very next day the cancer clinic contacted me and said, ‘We’re going to send in a requisition for a biopsy,'” Harvey said.