Lyndia Kakakaway, a twice diagnosed cancer patient, says Saskatchewan should have breast cancer assessment services in the province.
She was diagnosed twice in 1986 and 2002 and now she has a lump on her chest, which has yet to be diagnosed.
To decrease wait times, the province has contracted a private clinic in Calgary to perform 1000 scans, but Kakakaway declined going to Alberta. She has other health issues. Kakakaway said she requires a knee replacement and making the eight-hour drive is too uncomfortable.
“I don’t know why I should when the services are offered here in Regina,” Kakakaway said. “I’m just worried. How long will I have to wait? And what’s going to happen in that time?”
The New Democrats, who raised the issue of breast cancer services in the Legislature Monday, said women will have to wait at least another year before the Breast Cancer Center actually opens.
“Thousands of Saskatchewan residents are waiting. They’re waiting for cancer care. They’re waiting for surgeries. This is not a good-news story. Women in Regina will have to wait another year, minimum, before the Breast Cancer Centre actually opens its doors. It’s cold comfort to women like Lyndia. How did it get to this point? This certainly didn’t happen overnight,” said Regina MLA Meara Conway.
Health Minister Everett Hindley said the province is investing more resources to address cancer screening, diagnostics and treatment. “There has been some work being done by the SHA and by the ministry to bring in more staff. The SHA has indicated that additional surgeons with the ability to focus on breast cancer speciality have been recruited for Regina to be starting that employment here in the next number of months, In addition to that, there have been some short-term contracts provided to other surgeons in Regina to have them increase the number of breast cancer patients that they accept,” Hindley explained.