Woman says she blacked out from pain during a nearly 20-hour wait at a Windsor ER

Chantel McNeil says she waited nearly 20 hours with unbearable back pain at a Windsor Regional Hospital emergency room before she finally saw a doctor.

Now she's telling her story as an example of a lengthy wait facing patients in Windsor and hospitals across the province.

In late June, 44-year-old McNeil went to a walk-in clinic after suffering intense back pain for about two weeks. From there, she was referred to the hospital's emergency room (ER).

Eight hours into her wait at the hospital's Metropolitan campus, McNeil says, hunger, exhaustion and that the sharp, throbbing pain in her back forced her to leave — even if she risked losing her spot in line.

But when she got into the car with her husband, she says, she blacked out and was taken back to the ER by ambulance. Back at the hospital, she says, health-care workers inserted an IV and took blood. Then they sent her back to the waiting room for another 11 hours.

"I shouldn't have had to sit for that long in pain," McNeil told CBC News.

She says she waited about a day in an emergency room bed before getting admitted into the hospital. After some tests, a doctor told her that she had a cancerous mass on her kidney and a blood clot in her lungs. 

McNeil says later that month, an oncologist diagnosed her with kidney cancer, some of which has spread to her lymph nodes. 

Reflecting back on her time in the ER, McNeil says, it seemed like there weren't many nurses around. Those who were there seemed "rushed" and "scattered." 

"They had other patients that looked like they needed more than I did," she said. "So I just let them go about what they had to do."

A spokesperson for Windsor Regional Hospital wouldn't comment on McNeil's story.

When asked generally about wait times, the hospital said they "are high all across the province."

On its website, the hospital warns patients that wait times mean "you will wait longer than normal to be seen." 

Some Ontario hospitals have temporarily closed their emergency rooms because of low staffing levels. Burnout and increased patient demand also add to the backlog.