WE ARE NOT JUST NUMBERS. Attempting to get an appointment to see a gynecologists and urogynecologist in Toronto is practically impossible. That is saying a lot for the few in the population who have access to a primary care physician who will write the referral.
Women struggle to make sense of their physical ailments and illnesses. The fear of mentioning anything keeps us quiet. If they speak up, they are labelled as “hysterical” – a mania that Freud associated, chauvinistically, with women only. Unfortunately, among medical professionals – female and male alike – this stereotype still exists. Their diagnoses too commonly utter “perimenopause”; “it is normal for your age”; “everyone is suffering – it is weather related”.
Women need strong leadership and a stronger voice to advocate not just for change in attitude to health care, its administration, the elimination of barriers to [free] access to practitioners and specialists and quick turn around time associated with diagnosis, testing, results and treatment.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) policy guidelines for patient care require “that physicians acknowledge referrals in a timely manner, urgently if necessary, but no later than 14 days.” Media reports paint a different reality.
Women have waited at least three months for communication after a referral. Sometimes only to be advised that the specialist “will be scheduling appointments in nine months time”. Some are denied immediately. Some denial come with disclaimers stating “there is a long wait list. If a patient is still in need in twelve months, refer again”.
Ovarian, Cervical, Colorectal and Pancreatic cancers are four of the six group of cancers known as the “silent killers”. Doctors specializing in this area of the body, for females, are those for which it is virtually impossible to confirm appointments.
Many ovarian cancer-treatment hospitals note common symptoms such as abdominal bloating or swelling, fatigue, backpain and pelvic discomfort as symptoms of ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, these symptoms are common and frequent among many women.
Cancer Care Ontario’s (CCO) website indicates that, “In 2020, 1,277 people in Ontario are expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, making it the eighth most common cancer in women. With an expected 723 deaths, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women”. These numbers did not look good five years ago. With the decline in access to medical care; those numbers cannot be expected to improve. (see https://www.uhn.ca/PrincessMargaret/Annual_Report#overview for comparisons)
CCO goes on, “Of all the major gynecological cancers, ovarian cancer causes the most deaths and has the lowest survival rate”. That is not refreshing news. There is more. CCO alerts us that high-risk groups are females with an immediate female family member previously diagnosed. We cannot do anything about that. However, the prevention strategies cited include avoidance of exposure to the all the common culprits (alcohol, smoking, drugs a sedentary lifestyle) and “exposure to asbestos”!
Thank you, Government of Ontario and Health Canada. In the upcoming elections we cannot allow them to trivialize the condition.
Talc Powder Products brought Johnson & Johnson into a class action lawsuit, in both Canada and the United States, for marketing products known to cause ovarian cancer. Our governments have allowed all of us to attend and work in institutions that were built with asbestos as an insulator.
The solution to not becoming a number on the wrong side of the Ovarian Equation is to increase access to a primary care provider. Studies, published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (December 2023), and cited by Ovarian Cancer Organization show that, in nine peer countries with primary care attachment, individuals who are in contact with and monitored by a GP or Family Doctor have higher survival rates following cancer diagnosis.
It is time we all begin to rethink the importance of medical and health care in Ontario. We all have daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and grandmothers affected by these diseases. They pay taxes, and their governments’ health care policy is allowing Ontario’s Physicians to play with their health, their time and their lives.
Letizia V.
Photo by Tung Nguyen from Pixabay
