'A constant worry': Regina woman still waiting for cancer diagnosis nearly 1 year later
CBC
A Regina woman is going on 45 weeks of wondering if she may have breast cancer.
Nadine Baker has been experiencing breast cancer symptoms since March 2023. Due to a high volume of screening wait times in Saskatchewan, she still hasn't been screened for cancer or received a diagnosis.
"It's a constant worry," Baker said at a press conference Monday alongside NDP Leader Carla Beck. "I saw my mom go through breast cancer. So I know what the picture looks like, the sooner you get diagnosed, the better your outcome."
Baker was referred for a diagnostic mammogram back in March and didn't receive a call regarding the mammogram until Jan. 5.
During that phone call, Baker was asked if she would consider travelling out of province to receive the mammogram.
"I said, 'yes, absolutely, 100 per cent.' I don't care where I've got to go," Baker said. "The option I was given was Calgary, but they still don't have an appointment, just asked if I would be willing."
In November 2023, the Saskatchewan government announced it would begin sending people to Calgary to receive a breast cancer diagnostic procedure, due to a limited capacity to offer the procedure in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan government contracted Clearpoint, a private health company in Calgary, for Saskatchewan residents on an urgent wait list to receive a diagnosis.
"We have had a number of people, several hundred have been contacted and provided with the option and the contact continues to this day where teams are reaching out to women who are on this list," Saskatchewan Health Minister Everett Hindley said Monday.
"It's my understanding that 45 patients have already had their diagnostic procedures done in Calgary."
Hindley said 148 women have been contacted from the list for their availability to book an appointment and make the trip to Calgary.
Training additional radiologists in Regina would help speed up the process, Hindley said. However, Regina only has three surgeons who perform surgeries for breast cancer patients.
"The work is being undertaken by the teams to ensure that we're working to recruit those positions," he said.
"I've asked the teams if they can reach out to other radiologists who may perhaps be interested in whatever it is taking that training, if necessary, in order to be able to offer this service."
From the Detroit Lions losing to Apple iPhones that spontaneously update, Windsorites had things that bugged them this year.
Calgary emergency rooms are “in a state of critical overcapacity” ahead of the anticipated peak of flu season — and to cope with the surge and wait-room crowding, officials are urging doctors to speed up their decisions on whether to admit patients, according to a memo obtained by CBC News.
Northern Ontario's highway system needs improvements in order to make travel safer, a highway safety advocate said.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.
Even before Gwen Healey Akearok began her new role as Nunavut’s Minister of Family Services, she was tuning into the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) hearings on the state of the Family Services department.
The racial reckoning of the COVID era saw Canada grapple with its checkered past — a process that led to statues of some foundational figures being removed, in some instances by force.
Holiday traditions are front and centre for many people at this time of year. But one Uxbridge family's Christmas tradition goes above and beyond the standard Christmas carols or holiday party.
A pedestrian is dead, and police are investigating following a collision in a north London parking lot on Tuesday afternoon.
Police have lifted a shelter-in-place order for parts of St. John's.
Nova Scotia Power is providing more information about the cyberattack on the utility earlier this year and its response in the months that followed.
A rare old-growth forest in Quebec’s Mauricie region is at the centre of a growing conflict between conservation advocates and the provincial government, after forestry roadwork was authorized in an area currently under review for protected status.