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Monday, 21 Feb 2022 22:00
Sharon Greaves says she's lucky to be alive after being diagnosed with breast cancer during the pandemic.
The Dublin woman registered with BreastCheck in early 2019 but the national screening service was suspended for seven months from March 2020.
Mrs Greaves finally got a letter with an appointment two weeks ago.
In the intervening time Mrs Greaves had booked a private mammogram resulting in the discovery of a tumour.
A follow up MRI revealed a second tumour.
"I had no symptoms, was probably the fittest I ever was, I was very healthy", she said.
An emotional Mrs Greaves added "If they had not been gotten in time I would not be sitting here with you.
"I would not have gotten the outcome I had".
Mrs Greaves has since had a full mastectomy and full reconstruction, followed by treatment.
"If I'd had it in 2019 the screen would have lit up and I may only have had one tumour, maybe I wouldn't have had the most harrowing of journeys."
She does feel lucky that she could afford to pay for a mammogram, conscious that many others can't.
"I probably saved my own life but there's a guilt around what about all the other people who are waiting.
"People like me who have no symptoms, I had zero symptoms."
Mrs Greaves spoke of her cancer journey today after figures were released showing a 20% reduction in the number of cancer surgeries carried out last year compared to 2019.
The data, reported in the Irish Examiner, also shows that the number of patients receiving radiation oncology for January-November 2021 is at 85% of 2019 activity.
Peadar TóibÃn, who received the information after submitting a parliamentary question, said cancer services need to be seen as "essential services".
Mr TóibÃn says he's now on the "right side of cancer".
The Aontú leader was diagnosed with skin cancer in May 2020.
But he had delayed going to the doctor for three or four months because of the pandemic.
"Like many people, I felt that the doctors were under enormous pressure, and it would be wrong for me, with a little mark on top of my head, to go into the doctor and waste their time while they were dealing with this pandemic."
State 'hasn't given enough'
He said the State "hasn't given enough" to deal with the number of new cancer cases.
The data shows that the number of GP referrals to cancer rapid access clinics in 2021 was 30% higher than in 2019.
"If we are talking about a 30% increase in individuals, we think there needs to be a 30% increase in the level of investment that has to go into this."
He says cancer screening and services needs "to be seen as essential service" even in times of difficulty.
"It can’t be closed down in the manner that it was."
The Irish Cancer society described the figures as "disturbing".
Chief Executive Officer, Averil Power, said "we know from the people coming to our services that many are being diagnosed with cancer at a much later stage than you would have expected pre-Covid and they really don't have time to wait for surgery."
The charity says there needs to be protective pathways so cancer services aren't disrupted by Covid or other emergencies.
Ms Power said around 2,000 people went undiagnosed during the pandemic and those people coming forward now.
"The onus is on the Government to make sure that help is there so they can get treatment and surgery for their cancer as soon as possible."
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Cyberattack
A leading oncologist has said the cyberattack on the HSE had a devastating effect on the health service, causing significant problems when catch-up programmes were being put in place last summer, and fears the tensions in Ukraine could lead to similiar attacks.
Professor Seamus O'Reilly, a consultant Medical Oncologist at CUH and Mercy University in Cork said the legacy of the cyber attack is still being felt eight months later.
The HSE was forced to shut down all of its IT systems last May following the ransomware attack, which focused on accessing data stored on central servers.
Professor O'Reilly said the cyber attack was more difficult than Covid to work through.
"Working in Covid is care without a compass, working during a cyberattack is care without a map."
He said the health system had reacted to delayed diagnosis arising from Covid restrictions but that was "harpooned by the cyber attack".
Professor O'Reilly said we can't blame everything on the cyberattack but "it had a significant impact".
He said some surgeries couldn't be carried out because without scans they didn't know where the tumours were.
"We can't look after patients without people and people can't look after patients without infrastructure."
He said recruitment of staff is an issue and it's really important that recruitment and retention be addressed.
He also said there needs to be a proper environment to provide care, and infrastructure needs to be infection control-proof in the future.
Additional reporting by Sharon Tobin