Your Stories

Last fall I got very sick with ecoli. After the infection ran its course I lost 25 lbs and became very thin, due to the incredibly severe side effects. I was referred to the only gastroenterologist in Nanaimo. I was told I would be trialed and then heard nothing. Tests indicated that I had inflammation in the bowel but my doctor told me that I couldn’t be treated until I had a diagnosis. To get that diagnosis I needed a colonoscopy. I was told I’d have to wait 4 to 6 months and was on the surgeon’s waitlist. As I was feeling so unwell and continued to lose weight we decided to go to the only private clinic in Canada that does colonoscopy that hasn’t been shut down. We flew to Montreal to have the procedure. The surgeon did a biopsy in order to get a diagnosis. The biopsy confirmed that I had microscopic colitis. His office called with the results and he put me on a 12-week course of oral steroids that helped heal my gut. It was an expensive way to get a diagnosis other than parking myself in the ER until someone agreed to help me. It was the only option available to me.

I have been having breathing problems for many years. Tests show my lungs are clear and not the cause of the breathing issues. Last year they discovered it’s a heart problem. I was told that I needed an angiogram and would have to wait 3 – 4 months. It has now been 8 months with no communication about the test. I’ve contacted them but they still don’t have a date. Because I live in Nanaimo, I’ve learned that once a test is set, I have to spend up to 3 – 5 days in Victoria: one day before the test, the day of the test and one or more days after the test, depending on what they had to do. I don’t have friends or family in Victoria so that means staying in a hotel (or B&B). Since I can’t drive, and I can’t be alone after the test, my sister has to come down from Courtenay to drive me and stay with me. Neither my sister or I are employed (pensions) so the cost will be difficult to absorb.

I have been without a dedicated health provider since 2020 and have had to travel to the walk-in clinic in Nanaimo or Comox. Although I have been on the Registry, I am just one of thousands who are not provided a nurse practitioner or doctor as I don’t have any of the 4 health problems the powers that be determine are the most essential. But I have problems that I’m sure will lead to one of them!

March 14, 2024 I had coronary artery studies done in the USA (just as a precaution – I had no clinical signs). The very concerned radiologist called me and said I had Coronary Heart Disease with dangerous, “widow maker” soft plaque in the left main artery. I immediately saw a surgeon who wanted to do an angiogram the next day, and likely coronary bypass within the week. I elected to come back to Canada with this information, excited that I had discovered the issue BEFORE having an unexpected attack or sudden death. I live in Parksville. On May 28, I saw my cardiologist – Dr. Shetty – in Victoria. He said I was “semi urgent” and was on a 4 -20 week waiting list. He didn’t seem overly concerned, but gave me nitro in case I suffered crushing chest pain (meaning likely significant heart damage, which I had hoped to prevent). Every day all summer I checked the mail and waited for a phone call from Victoria. Week 17 of waiting (remember, I was “semi urgent…”) I was informed that the wait list in Victoria was growing due to unfinished “construction” and they would get me into Vancouver “right away”. Two weeks later, I have heard nothing from Vancouver. I am happy to help in any way. This has been a frightening, frustrating summer. I cannot believe that “semi urgent” in BC means 6+ months of waiting, not for a bypass, but just the angiogram.

Four years ago I was a patient at CVH with a heart condition. I was told that I would have to find someone to take me to Victoria for treatment. When I said I had no one that could take me the doctor responded “we are not a taxi service”. I actually felt sorry for the doctor. I feel he had been confronted with the same problem so many times , frustrated time and time again and had no acceptable answer. The past and continuing consolidation of medical services south of the Malahat is absolutely unacceptable. The startling statistical data comparing NRGH to the greater Victoria Area would also be comparable to Comox Valley, Campbell River and North. Fair healthcare requires/demands a more equitable distribution of healthcare infrastructure and services throughout the island.

I am writing this story today as my husband drives our 4 year old daughter to Victoria General Hospital after we waited for three hours in Nanaimo Regional Hospital with a quarter lodged in her esophagus. The only reason we were even seen in that timeline is that my daughter was literally screaming “Am I going to die?” hysterically for hours in the waiting area. Due to Nanaimo not having a pediatric surgeon, we were told we would have to go to VGH to see the surgeon there. However, no ambulance is available for at least three hours so we are now having to drive our daughter for two hours with a quarter stuck in her throat. God knows how long we’ll have to wait there. In the meantime, she hasn’t eaten since 10 am (it’s now 5 pm and we’re just leaving Nanaimo), and she’s not allowed to eat or drink until the quarter is removed. This is absolutely inhumane treatment of a child and unacceptable that this is happening in a City this size. We also should have a pediatric surgeon in Nanaimo and I am appalled that the government has allowed the health care situation in the mid island to deteriorate to this degree.

Husband and I are in our 70’s. We had a primary care-giver (GP) in Parksville until 2023, when our doctor downsized her caseload. Now when we have a health issue, we go through a process of determining where and how to access some form of support… Drive to walk-in clinic in Nanaimo, Port Alberni, or Courtenay? Urgent Care? NRGH Emerg? Call 811? Or find an ancillary care provider $$$? (Can’t even get in to see my podiatrist until 5 months away!). All of which is done when feeling unwell, stressed, and least able to take on such a task. There’s no continuity of care. No follow-up on diagnostics. No annual check-up. The lack of health care here is disgusting, especially for a population with a high number of elderly individuals, chronic metabolic disease, and disability. I grew up on the island and for some crazy reason just always assumed that health care would be there for me when I got old. Can’t believe the decline. I really think the whole health-care system needs to be redesigned. It’s currently inefficient and costly to everyone involved, both clinicians and patients. Should we expect that MAID will become an increasingly turned-to and accessible option, with the decline in available health care support? Feds or Prov, seem not to have this figured out. I’m so angry about this… which isn’t good for my health.

We have been on the health registry since June 21st 2021. Why has my family become one of the “have nots”? I am not seeing a tax rebate for the money I am paying to service healthcare for people who have jumped the cue or the person who moved from another province a year ago and has a family doctor. When I had a Doctor , I was being monitored every three months for a low white blood cell count , also routine ultrasounds as my younger sister died of ovarian cancer. Now with my Telus Doctors I can wait months to even talk to a Doctor. about anything . Today there were no appointments available three months out! I was given a referral by a Telus Dr. for a shoulder issue which was requesting ultrasound imaging. I went to the Oceanside Acute care Centre and was happy to see only myself and one other person at imaging. The nurse had my requisition but said unfortunately it was labeled non urgent by Telus? Therefore I was not going to get imaging on my shoulder as I was put on an eight month to a year wait list ! I couldn’t even dress myself. We found a private clinic and it was determined I had two tares in my rotator cuff. One significant which I was referred to a surgeon for. Not sure if Telus has continued to refer to my shoulder as non-urgent, but months have passed and not a word. We were told at a town hall meeting in Qualicum that without a family Doctor a diagnosis of Cancer would be just that, as without a family Doctor there is no way to be referred to the Canadian Cancer Society therefore no way to see an oncologist to start you on a treatment program. Again Why would I or my Husband not be deserving of lifesaving treatment like anyone else. I should, but will not have a mammogram in case I get a false positive which I have had in the past simply because I know without a Dr. I will be alone with no treatment or hope. I would rather not know than sit there wondering when I will die.

I live on Protection Island in Nanaimo and am so lucky to have my family nearby. My husband and I know that as time passes, our parents will need more care for their ongoing conditions. We lost my Mum to cancer 2 years ago, and her care required many trips to Victoria and weeks of accommodations there while she was in chemo and radiation. The time and costs were enormous, adding hugely to the trauma of losing her. Right now, our remaining three parents are relatively healthy, but between them, we have a cancer patient, a heart patient, and a Parkinson’s patient. We know that as time passes, we will all spend more of our time and money traveling to Victoria so that they can receive care that should be available closer to home. This travel time takes a huge toll on elderly patients who are trying to heal as well as on their caregivers and families. This is not an acceptable level of care.

My husband, is a healthy 90 year old who still mowed the lawn at the end of July, 2024 and took 5 lg. garbage cans full of weeds & grass clippings to DBL ‘weed dump.’ He has had a pacemaker for 30 years to correct a slow heartbeat and all the while maintained a Category 1 Medical for his commercial pilot’s license. He flew commercially till age 74 when we sold our aircraft charter business. No major health issues and took small doses of Blood Pressure and Cholesterol and a baby aspirin. In August, 2 weeks into our road trip, he said he felt tired and weak and wanted to go home, which we did. Wednesday, August 21, 2024, I took him to Urgent Care in Parksville, where doctors ordered a number of tests with no clear diagnosis. This doctor sent us to Nanaimo Emergency where an Internist was to be waiting. Dr. “A” met us around 7 pm and carried out more tests and decided to admit my husband. Thursday, August 22, 2024 the NRGH Doctor consulted with a cardiologist at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria who agreed that my husband should be sent down for an angiogram and if blockages were found, stents would be put in. The Doctor said my husband was No: 3 on the transfer list and then No: 1, and I would be called prior to the transfer. He gave us pamphlets on what to expect and a timeline of future visits and check-ups. We waited and waited, but nothing happened! Finally on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, we were told that my husband had been denied an angiogram 4 days ago! No one was informed of this decision including our original doctor, or me or my husband. Because they suspected a heart condition, my husband was put on blood thinners to prevent a stroke or other heart issues, but Monday, August 26, 2024, they discovered internal bleeding, suspecting the stomach. My husband’s hemoglobin dropped and he had 3 blood transfusions, and had to be on oxygen for several days and IV antibiotics. With all this trauma, he also got COVID and developed Hospital delirium, something I had never heard of before! Completely out of character he became agitated and had to be restrained because he tried to pull out the IV, oxygen mask, bandages and tried to get out of bed. Then they put him on antipsychotic

When we moved to Vancouver Island a decade ago we were invited to sign up with a doctor in Qualicum Beach who was taking on new clients. We did so and of course that meant that we lost our doctor in Vancouver. Not six months later the doctor we had signed on with chose to move away from family medicine. At the time it seemed selfish, but now many years later having had numerous interactions between family members and VIHA, we see that more likely it was out of sheer frustration on the doctors part with the health system on the Island. We still do not have a doctor. My wife who has needed care over the years gets nothing but a run around between doctors, specialists and VIHA. Her 94 year old mother, who is now in full time care, has had numerous trips to Nanaimo Hospital, to lay on a stretcher in the hallway or in a closet, the last time being released at 3am in the morning with no notice to us, or her care home. We are fed up with Mr. Dix, his stats on what a wonderful job he is doing, while Islanders go with out proper medical care.

My Mother has been in and out of the NRGH several times this year. The final time she was discharged she was taken by Medi-Van to her care home and then 7 hours later I found her bleeding out on the bathroom floor of her Care Home in Qualicum Beach. Her eye was dislodged and the skin torn from her face. No one knew she was there. I found her at 10 a.m. The Care Aids did not know she had returned and NRGH never notified me or the Care Home. Security Cameras at her Care Home show her being brought in at 3 a.m. to Assisted Living. She has severe dementia and would have no idea where she is or was. I have been waiting for a bed for her in fulltime care since December 2023. NRGH said they did not have a bed for her so she was discharged. Next, she was taken to Comox Hospital where she stayed for 2 months before a bed was found. The Nanaimo Hospital is over run there is no space. Nurses and Doctors are overworked and the care is lacking at all levels. The emergency room sometimes looks like a war zone. My mother underwent emergency surgery in Comox to attach her eye and then to Saanich to replace her skin. My mother is 94 years old. No one deserves this kind of treatment. Our medical system needs a full over haul. We need a new hospital in Nanaimo and we need one in the Parksville/ Qualicum Beach area. There is certainly enough population to warrant this. Spend the money where it is needed. The government is very good at making announcements on how wonderful they are but I do not see the money being put towards what is needed. Every day the NDP leaders are on the news saying all these wonderful things they are doing and every day more and more people are dying because of the neglect of the health care system. If there were enough beds and hospitals this would have saved thousands of dollars. My mother is only one of thousands of people this is happening to. If the government really wanted to help and they cared – they would be building hospitals, care homes, mental hospitals and rehab centers.