Melanie Leslie-Bernard describes their mom Zoe as a brave, adventurous woman who loved travel and the outdoors.
When she was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in December, it was a huge shock. Especially because they say Zoe had been to the doctor repeatedly, and was told her symptoms were nothing serious.
“At least four, maybe five doctors appointments from August to November,” says Melanie. “And in the November one, she’d had stomach pain, the constipation was ongoing, nausea, difficulty eating. She’d lost a lot of weight, like visibly, she’d lost a lot of weight.”
Zoe’s family says neither her GP nor doctors at walk-in clinics ordered her a colonoscopy or bloodwork. Zoe was only diagnosed after she’d switched to a different doctor.
She was originally told she had about three to five years to live, but further tests showed the cancer was extremely aggressive, growing multiple centimeters a month, and had spread to her liver. She required home care, then palliative care, before she died on Feb. 26.
Still reeling from the shock, Melanie didn’t expect this for their otherwise healthy 65-year-old mother.
“This was the type of thing that I pictured, maybe 15 years from now, my mom will need care, what will that look like, how will that affect my life,” they say. “I didn’t picture it happening now, when I’m expecting my first child.”
Melanie says Zoe was very dilligent about colon cancer screening. She had done ColonCheck tests every two years since she was 50, but had always gotten a negative result.
The CancerCare website states the test is only 78 per cent effective at detecting blood in stool. Both Melanie and Zoe believed this should be more widely known — Zoe even requested it to be included in her obituary.
“Zoe wanted to share some advice here. Please know that the biannual ColonCheck does not pick up all cancers, If you have persistent symptoms, keep insisting on further testing in order to get accurate answers from a doctor,” it reads.
Now, Melanie also wants to raise awareness for other patients who may have their concerns dismissed by a doctor.
Tara Horrill, a University of Manitoba professor who researches health care inequalities among cancer patients, says this is commonly reported among socially-disadvantaged groups, including women. She says it may be down to internalized biases, and increasing pressure on healthcare providers leading to less thorough assessments. .
“There are these subtle expectations that patients should know which symptoms are concerning and that they’re able to articulate their symptoms in a way healthcare providers can understand. That they can advocate strongly to receive care, and follow up when they don’t,” says Horrill.
Melanie will always wonder if Zoe may have had more time — time to meet her grandchild, or to take a last trip with her family — if the cancer was caught sooner.
“If you go back a few months, that’s potentially centimeters less of growth, of spread to the liver. There could have been so much more of a chance for chemo to be effective.”
They’re urging patients to advocate for themselves, hoping others can avoid the heartbreak their family is going through.
“I don’t know that I’ll ever be at peace with knowing this could have been prevented.”