Time is of the essence for Elaine Foley, 67, who was diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer.
A Wasaga Beach, Ont., woman is running out of time left as the health care system struggles with long wait times.
Elaine is battling stage 4 cancer that has spread from her lungs to her brain, and doctors estimate she only has one to two years left to live.
She also suffers from a back injury she sustained 20 years ago while working as a prison officer, which has worsened and left her in extreme pain.
“I go to La-Z-Boy from my bedroom. When I have doctor’s appointments or chemotherapy, it hurts so much to try to walk, but I have to get there. So , I haven’t really left the house in six months, except to go to La-Z-Boy from my bedroom,” Elaine says.
Although her cancer cannot be cured, Elaine’s husband, Mike, said surgery could alleviate much of the pain.
But the couple say time is running out to fix her back problems so she can spend what time she has left with her family.
“I wanted to at least have some fun with them. That’s my ultimate goal, to spend time with my grandchildren. They live in Calgary, but it’s not possible to get there,” he said. It’s like being pushed onto a plane or pushed into a car and when you arrive you can only go from the front door to the back door. But I’ve had back surgery so I think I’ll be fine. At least I know I’ll be fine. I’m praying,” Elaine says.
Elaine (67 years old) and Mike Foley (66 years old) and two grandchildren.
Provided by Mike Foley
Mike said they were working on finally treating Elaine’s back injury when doctors discovered her cancer in August 2023.
He said doctors worked quickly to treat her cancer, but waited months for her first MRI scan and found problems with the treatment of her back injury.
“It’s not the doctors’ fault that things are moving at a glacial pace, it’s the Ontario health care system’s fault. The problem is that my wife has one to two years to live. We are trying to figure out the best way for her to live the rest of her life. We want to give her the best quality of life, but it has already taken more than half a year to reach the first square. ” he says.
She was able to get an MRI done last year, but the doctor she had previously seen asked for the wrong area to be scanned, she said.
Mike said there was a wait of more than five months because her back needed a new scan, but Elaine didn’t have to waste that time.
According to the Ministry of Health, only 34 per cent of patients in Ontario receive an MRI scan within the target period. In 2023, the average wait time for his MRI test at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Center in Barrie was 103 days for him, and at Orillia Soldiers Memorial Hospital he was 49 days.
The couple began considering other options, contacting private clinics in Quebec or Buffalo, New York, for private scans, which can cost between $2,000 and $3,500, but given the level of pain, Elaine would not go there. I wouldn’t be able to do that.
“We may be lucky enough to do that, but a lot of people don’t,” Mike says.
According to Mike, some women asked Elaine to schedule an MRI after hearing about her situation.
After months of searching, they found a private clinic in Mississauga that opened last week.
“Once they heard about Elaine’s situation, they were able to get things moving and eventually push us in. But it took eight months to a year after this started to get to the first step. ” says Mike.
Although the couple is one step closer, they are concerned that the wait will continue.
“Is there any chance for her to spend the last few months of her life with some kind of quality? I don’t know if what we’re doing and what we’re saying will help my wife, Elaine. But will it do anything for anyone else?” Mike told Global.
Mike said the next step is to meet with his doctor to review the results and wait to see his surgeon.
Fighting back tears, Mike says he feels terrible thinking that Elaine might die before she can be treated for her pain.
“It may be too late for Elaine, but there is no doubt that we need to make changes to our systems to accommodate people facing end of life. We are a caring society. We have to be more considerate,” he says.
They are grateful for the care Elaine received regarding her cancer from her GP and oncologist, who they say responded quickly once her cancer was discovered, but Elaine and others like her They say more needs to be done to help people lead better lives. Rapid access to life support and care.
“We don’t expect sympathy from the government or the Department of Health, because they are the government, but at the same time, there should be an exception in Elaine’s case,” Mike says.
“Our health care system is broken and needs to be fixed. For people who are essentially terminal, let’s make the last months of life as comfortable as possible.”
He says Elaine’s case is just one example of people falling through the cracks in the health care system.
“Our government knows that for too long, too many people have spent too much time navigating the health care system or trying to get care. We know the current situation is not working, which is why our government has launched Your Health, a plan to bring the care you need closer to home.” says spokeswoman Hannah Jensen.
Jensen said the government’s plan last year increased the department’s diagnostic imaging capabilities by increasing MRI operating hours by 97,767 hours and CT operating hours by 116,443 hours in 2023.
She said the state had also invested $40 million to add 49 new MRI machines to 42 hospitals across the state, including the Royal Victoria Health Center in Barrie.