Mariah Mrakic-TenHave holds a photo of her mother, Heidi Smith, who died last summer of Stage 4 T-cell lymphoma. Mrakic-TenHave wants an easier way for patients to see a specialist so they can get a quicker cancer diagnosis.
Smith, who was already a breast cancer survivor, received a number of diagnostic tests over 15 months at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre . They included blood tests, MRIs, needle nose aspirations and other biopsies — but the results kept coming back inconclusive. Mrakic-TenHave said her mother underwent testing for more than a year in Thunder Bay. After that, Mrakic-TenHave contacted a surgeon in Toronto who had previously treated her mother's breast cancer 10 years before. Three weeks later, Smith had a sixth biopsy, which finally resulted in a cancer diagnosis, followed by chemotherapy in Toronto over the next five months.
A patient with a previous history of cancer gets to see a specialist when testing yields inconclusive results. There are two malignant hematologists at the TBRHSC. Both specialists are tasked with treating cancers, not diagnosing them.