Key takeaways:
- After months of waiting, two women in desperate need of new kidneys are still unsure if they will be able to receive them.
- Jessica Bailey’s diagnosis is less complicated, but it is more serious. She has been on dialysis for three years and is 36 years old.
- The new suite will allow for 1,000 more surgeries per year, according to a statement, reducing wait times in Regina.
After months of waiting, two women who desperately need new kidneys still don’t know if they’ll get them.
Eden Janzen, 25, is dealing with various health issues, including a recent tumour, a broken leg, and parathyroid issues.
She will have been receiving dialysis for five years in a few months.
“It’s bigger than my birthday…,” says the narrator. “Everyone comes out for that (celebration),” she explained.
“It’s my dial-a-versary,” she says.
Jessica Bailey’s diagnosis is more straightforward, but it’s also more serious. She is 36 years old and has been on dialysis for three years.
Her doctors informed her five months ago that she is in palliative care, which means she has less than a year to live.
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Last year, they were on the transplant waiting list. Still, the Saskatchewan Health Authority postponed all transfusion operations in September so that staff could be redeployed to help with the fourth COVID-19 wave.
Since then, Janzen’s and Bailey’s health has deteriorated, and they are no longer on the list.
“The longer we wait, the worse my health will deteriorate,” Bailey explained.
“And the worsening of my health makes it less likely that I’ll be on the list.”
You must be healthy enough to receive a transplant to be on the list.
Bailey had to recover for months after complications from day surgery.
Janzen’s parathyroid must now be removed before receiving a new kidney.
The organ transplant program has resumed, and the Saskatchewan government has declared plans to expand surgery capacity, including launching a new radiology unit at Pasqua Hospital in Regina on Tuesday.
According to a statement, the new suite will allow for 1,000 more surgeries per year, reducing wait times in Regina.
However, there is still a significant backlog.
On Tuesday, outside of the question period, health minister Paul Merriman told reporters that around 35,000 surgeries were still on hold. However, the SHA had cleared 90% of the surgeries that had been postponed previously.
He advised Janzen and Bailey to speak with their doctors.
“I would encourage them to work with their physicians or healthcare team to get the information they require on when their procedure might be scheduled,” he said.
Officials from the government stated that 26,000 surgeries had been postponed between March 15, 2020, and October 9, 2021.
In a statement to Global News on Tuesday, the health ministry stated that between March 15, 2020, and February 19, 2022, 31,000 fewer procedures were performed than during the same period before the pandemic. Elective (non-emergency) procedures are included in this total.
Jennifer Graham, a spokesperson for the ministry, said in a statement that the ministry does not keep track of whether specific patients whose surgery was postponed have now received their surgery.
She also stated that 119 people are currently on the kidney transplant waiting list.
Janzen and Bailey said they hadn’t received any word on when they might be re-added to the waiting list. Even if they do, it will mean more time waiting for surgery.
“With the current wait times, it’s difficult for people like me who need life-saving surgery to even get healthy enough to get it,” Bailey said.
Source: Global News
