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Guest Blog Post – 3

By Jenna Neville

January 2024, Newfoundland and Labrador

Imagine this: It’s the beginning of the 2000’s, you’re in your early 30’s, married with a young daughter. The time has come to go to your regularly scheduled Pap test appointment; while there, the doctor also performs a routine breast exam.

This appointment changes everything, because it is during this appointment that a lump is discovered.

Then, the next thing you know, you’re told you have stage 1 breast cancer, you will need radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. The cherry on top: some of these treatments are not available in your hometown. Instead, you have to leave all of your family support behind and travel 800 kilometers to receive those painful treatments alone.

Thankfully, because of that regularly scheduled appointment, your cancer was found early, your treatment regime worked, and you ended up cancer free.

But what if that breast exam wasn’t part of the protocol?

Though unfortunate in many ways, this was still a story of luck. It was the story of my mother, and it is not the reality for many.

As a young woman myself now, I also attend normally scheduled Pap test appointments. For me, in each appointment, a breast exam has been offered as an option, not given as a routine part of the appointment. Why? I suppose at some point through time the protocols changed, and now I fear for the young women who say no because they think they are too young to possibly have cancer.

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20 years later.

While other parts of the world advanced and innovated, we still rely on the same inaccessible treatment and equipment that we did 20 years ago.

People are still forced to leave their support to travel 100’s of kilometers away for specific cancer treatments. People are told that it could take months to years to see certain specialists. People are dismissed by their family doctors (if they’re lucky enough to have one) but scheduled for testing they might receive several months later.

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I can’t speak on what is experienced in of the rest of the world, but I can speak to the recent experience of my Spanish partner. A researcher in their late 20’s who moved from Spain to Newfoundland. For him, coming to Canada as a European was always talked about as being the ultimate experience; but he came to witness not only the limited housing, jobs, and fresh food, but unfortunately, the limited health care as well.

No one wants to find a new mysterious lump in their body. But if you ask me, what’s even more unfortunate, is he found it while living here. I say this because, in Spain, it is possible to have a doctor’s appointment, testing, and results all within 1 month. Here, you’re lucky if you can have all of that within 1 year.

6 months. That was the wait time given in order to just receive an ultrasound to assess the lump, and that is even considered a short wait time by most Newfoundlanders. But, instead of waiting anxiously during those months, he travelled back to Spain. Within 1 month, he had a doctor’s appointment, an ultrasound appointment, and another doctor’s appointment to receive the (thankfully non-cancerous) results. 1 month.      

There are a few important things to note here: first, this occurred through the private health care system in Spain. Second, I cannot know whether it would’ve taken more or less time through their public health system (but know their system statistically outranks ours). Third and most importantly, while there is controversy surrounding private health care systems, at least he had that option, something impossible for Newfoundlanders who are scared they may not have the time to wait.

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I think getting cancer is a universal fear, which I experience too. But, If I am ever to become sick, my biggest fear is that it happens while I still live in Newfoundland. Because the saying “my life is in your hands” holds little meaning here. My life isn’t in someone’s hands, just merely the hands of time. It is only if time allows, that my life may be put in a doctor’s hands. And it is only if time allows, for my condition to not have worsened to the point of it no longer mattering who’s hands my life may fall into.

But the most frightening and painful thing, for me, is not to have these fears, but to watch family members live them.

Disclaimer: Guest blogs are the purposes of education and/or sharing perspectives. The information shared by bloggers should not be interpreted as medical advice. All health information should be discussed with your health care provider. The website owners are not responsible for the contents of the guest blog posts.

This guest blog is a part of a public – scientist collaborative project led by the Public Interest Group on Cancer Research in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. For further information, please see here: mun.yaffle.ca/projects/15039.