Tens of thousands of people are still in limbo as they wait for surgeries in Saskatchewan, including Jolene Van Alstine.
Alstine suffers from parathyroid hyperplasia, and for the last six years, she’s been forced to live with daily bouts of excruciating pain and other symptoms.
“I have never felt so sick in my life. It is feels like a combination of morning sickness when you’re pregnant and the stomach flu,” she said.
“Just some days, it just doesn’t feel like life is worth living.”
Before she got sick, she lived a fairly normal life. Alstine would go out for coffee with friends, go grocery shopping, bake and cook, clean the house and spend time with her son. But since she got sick, she can’t do any of those things now.
Alstine has undergone two surgeries, but she is currently on a waitlist for a third operation. She said her diagnosis will eventually be terminal, if not treated.
“We have no idea how long we’re going to wait. My surgeon has just told us that he’s only being given three half-days a month for the foreseeable future in order to do surgeries,” she said.
“Of course, his cancer patients have to come first, which is understandable. But where does that leave me?”
In an emailed statement from the province, government officials stated the waitlists are 10 per cent shorter than they were at the height of the pandemic.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health stated that it’s gone from 36,000 to 32,400.
“Surgical wait times may be negatively affected by the demand for a specific procedure, the urgency of procedures and the surgical capacity available,” the statement read.
Ideally, the province wants to get it down to 25,000 next year. That’s how many people were waiting for surgery pre-COVID.
Not knowing when Alstine will receive her surgery, every day is a waiting game.
“Every day is the same. It’s like Groundhog Day. I lay on this couch every day and wish for it to be over,” she said.
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