B.C. man learns life-changing surgery delayed again while headed for hospital
A family in B.C.'s Comox Valley is devastated to be thrust back into limbo while waiting for a life-changing surgery.
They had made the trip to the Lower Mainland a day in advance and were on their way to the hospital when they found out the operation would be cancelled.
“I thought it was a joke at first,” says patient Ethan Baldwin. “Then it was real and it wasn’t a joke and so yeah, I accepted it. And let’s be honest, it was sh*t.”
The 19-year-old Courtenay man was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis as a child and became a candidate for spinal surgery when the curvature of his spine reached 50 degrees. If he were to do nothing, he says his spine would continue to rotate and could eventually puncture a lung.
The teen’s family says they've been waiting for seven years for him to get a corrective surgery, which has been complicated by delays borne out of the pandemic, along with another cancellation last year, too.
“It’s just deflating,” says Jennifer Lavoie, Ethan's mom. “I just feel like … the rug was out from under me again.”
BC Children’s Hospital’s chief surgeon can’t speak to the specifics of the patient's case.
“Any delay in care is something that everyone at BC Children’s Hospital feels deeply and takes seriously,” says Dr. Erik Skarsgard in a statement.
“The clinical decision-making to prioritize patients awaiting life-changing surgery is not taken lightly by leadership and has significant oversight by surgical specialists who carefully assess the evolving needs of patients, including their emotional well-being.”
The physician adds spinal surgeries are complex and can require more post-surgical care. Skarsgard says the team hopes to reschedule Ethan early in the new year.
B.C.’s health minister said on Wednesday he would look into the circumstances involving the delay.
“In the case of surgeries, we have a surgical renewal commitment, we’re doing a breathtaking number of surgeries this October, November and December in the midst of a very significant demand to healthcare. So we have increased dramatically, particularly in orthopedic surgeries and surgeries such as spinal surgeries,” says Adrian Dix.
An accountability group, BC Health Care Matters, says the Baldwin family deserves better.
“I’m really concerned as well when these kinds of very life-altering surgeries, which is what this is, are considered elective surgeries because the concern is that too often that’s used as an acceptable excuse for delays like this,” says founder Camille Currie.
Ethan’s mom says the cancellation fails to consider the expenses a family goes through to travel for such an operation. It’s grateful to have been supported by a charity for some of the costs but figures it’s out of pocket $8,000 when the parents factor in missed work, dog sitters and other expenses.
A GoFundMe is active to support the family as it hopes the next booking for Ethan’s surgery goes through.
“If I had to say what I was most frustrated about is the lack of consideration for the out of town people coming to the mainland,” says Lavoie. “It’s not just a waitlist. Their actions have consequences.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the millennial generation
Pope Francis paved the way for the canonization of the first saint of the millennial generation on Thursday, attributing a second miracle to a 15-year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006.
Milk sold in Canadian grocery stores tested for avian influenza; results released
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.
Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-nominated director of 'Super Size Me,' dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life's work, famously eating only at McDonald's for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
'A really bad car crash': Why health experts are raising concerns over surging syphilis cases
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) that was once thought to be a thing of the past is now a public health priority for North American doctors.
Top Russian military officials are being arrested. Why is it happening?
It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.
Leaving time on the table: Surveys show unused paid vacation, 'quiet vacationing'
'Quiet vacationing' is the latest new term to describe the rough edges of office culture, and survey data shows it's widespread among North American workers.
Toddler dies after being struck by recycling truck in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood
A toddler has died after being struck by a recycling truck in a Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon.
Helicopters, impersonations and squeezing through the fence: a brief history of Quebec prison escapes
Friday's warrant for prison inmate Yacine Zouaoui, 32, is the latest in hundreds of reported prison breaks in Quebec. Sometimes, they just walked away; sometimes they went through a fence, and twice they used a helicopter.