Gabriela Grosu’s frustrating, often harrowing, tangle with Canada’s health-care system began in 2016 when she was rushed to the hospital with an apparent heart attack. Although doctors ruled out any cardiac issues, the Montreal native, 46 at the time, complained of pain in her back on the left side. Suspecting a blood clot, the doctor ordered a CT scan, which showed a nodule on her right pulmonary lobe. She was quizzed about her lifestyle, including smoking history. She had never been a smoker and was otherwise fit and healthy. So she was told not to worry, and sent home with a recommendation to come back in six months for any follow-ups.
“I didn’t accept that,” says Grosu, who works in medical physics and knew something about the system she was navigating. “I insisted on seeing a pulmonologist.” The doctors and specialists initially ignored her concerns, telling her she was fine because she was not a smoker. Grosu kept pushing, phoning doctors and clinics, even showing up at one hospital when her calls went unanswered. She finally got an appointment with a pulmonologist, who ordered more testing, followed by ablation surgery to remove the node. The biopsy showed carcinoma. The lung cancer she was assured she didn’t have was there all along.
Subsequently, during treatment and follow-up screening, Grosu was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. And while her physical health is now stable, her emotional and mental health is still in recovery. To find out what more she — and frustrated advocates — have to say about a system with such astounding gaps, click here to read my story in Postmedia’s Healthing section.
Robin Roberts 