Pierre Igott has learned to deal with and suffer from abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome – after all, the 54-year-old from Nova Scotia has had the disorder since his mid-teens.
But Igott has a hard time dealing with waiting for a colonoscopy to determine if the symptoms he started last November, for which he sought emergency care at least three times, are related to his condition or something more alarming.
“Because these are new symptoms I’ve never experienced before, I am, of course, worried that I have something more serious than my chronic condition – something more serious, such as Crohn’s disease or even bowel cancer.” Igot told CBC News.
“I can’t rule them out. The doctor can’t rule them out, and the only way to find out is to have a colonoscopy, so I’m worried that I have something serious that I can’t do anything about until I get a colonoscopy. “
The Annapolis Royal man is one of about 14,000 Scots who were on the waiting list for colonoscopy surgery last month. According to Nova Scotia Health, in April the average waiting time for someone to see a referral specialist was 74 days. The average wait from referral to procedure is 211 days.
This nine-and-a-half-month wait is an increase of approximately six months before the pandemic.
Another 1,720 Nova Scotians are awaiting a colonoscopy as blood is found in stool samples they have provided to the province as part of Nova Scotia’s home colon cancer screening program.
People aged 50 and over are regularly screened for colon cancer as part of the Ministry of Health’s early detection program.
The time to wait for the colonoscopy for this program is shorter than those directed for the procedure by a specialist.
According to Cancer Care, 90% of people who need a colonoscopy to rule out cancer as part of the program receive the procedure within five and a half months.
The number of colonoscopies performed in the province ranges from 24,767 in 2019 to 17,786 in 2020 to 24,562 last year.
During the first wave of the pandemic in April and May 2020, the number of procedures dropped to less than 150, approximately 10% of the usual monthly flow.
The number of procedures performed so far in 2022 is below normal levels.
“It’s a very long time to wait.”
This is a delay that makes the woman in charge of surgery in the central area of the province, Dr. Gail Darling, completely uncomfortable.
“It’s a very long wait,” Darling told CBC News. “It simply came to our notice then. This really burdened everyone – especially the patients who are waiting, and there is nothing worse than waiting.
“Even if you have an appointment in 10 months, it’s better than waiting without an appointment. The anxiety this creates is incredible.
Dr. Gail Darling is in charge of surgery in the central area of Nova Scotia. She says the waiting time for a colonoscopy is worrying for patients and doctors who are worried about how it could affect the prognosis. (health of Nova Scotia)
The breast surgeon said she and her colleagues were also worried about the effect of the long wait on the disease.
“The concern, of course, is that you’re taking a potentially injured, treatable cancer and that the cancer is becoming incurable during the nine months you’re waiting,” she said. “There are always concerns that we will miss the window of opportunity to treat these patients with treatable cancers.
Darling said the waiting time had increased in part because of worries that New Scots people feel about visiting their doctors or having to go to hospital during a pandemic. This delayed treatment means that people are now seeking help for more serious illnesses and diseases.
A centralized waiting list is being considered
“And that, in turn, has a domino effect on the hospital, which fills the beds with these very sick people,” Darling said. “And that, in turn, has affected operations. We’ve never seen anything like it.”
To try to ease the wait for colonoscopies, surgeons and administrators are discussing a centralized waiting list.
“One of the strategies we’re actively looking at is what’s called a single referral,” Darling said. “So you have one entry point. If you have 10 people who need a colonoscopy, they head to a central direction and they head to the place that can do them first.”
When it comes to when things can get better, Darling is not optimistic about a quick turnaround.
“I think the government would like them to improve in about six months or less,” she said. “We’re not sure we can deliver it.”
Darling recommends that patients and their family physicians keep in close contact with specialists and insist that their procedures be moved up the list if their condition worsens or they believe something more serious is happening to them.
Igot tries to stay positive.
“It may be that I have nothing serious and I will be very happy,” he said. “But until I find out, of course, I’ll be very worried that I have something serious.”
Add Comment