A Winnipeg woman fighting a rare form of cancer claims her doctor should have identified the disease months sooner after surgery, radiation, and months of misery.
“It doesn’t feel nice to be missing half of my skull. I don’t have any hair, therefore I feel like a piece of myself is missing “Rachael Sawka, a 23-year-old criminology student at the University of Manitoba, agreed.
Sawka went to Seven Oaks Hospital in January after seeing a toonie-sized bump on the back of her neck.
Sawka said the doctor told her it was a cyst and scheduled her for surgery in April to remove it.
The lump grew and throbbed in the weeks that followed.
“Because it was so terrible, I couldn’t sleep at night and had to sleep on the couch. Because it hurt so much, I kept going back “she stated
Over time, the discomfort became more intense. In the months coming up to the surgery, Sawka scheduled five or six follow-up sessions with her doctor, she claimed.
She also went to the ER twice, including the Misericordia Health Centre, where an emergency physician requested an ultrasound.
The ultrasound results from the Misericordia on February 5 were submitted to Sawka’s doctor at Seven Oaks Hospital, along with a recommendation for a needle biopsy.
“A spherical mass can be seen…. It appears that there is some vascular flow…. Biopsy with a fine needle aspirator should be considered “According to the document sent to Sawka’s doctor at Seven Oaks,
According to Sawka, the proposals were never implemented.
‘No one intervened.’
She began to feel helpless.
“No one intervened,” she claimed.
Sawka went to Seven Oaks Hospital on April 4 for cyst removal surgery, according to her doctor.
“He cut me open and told me it was too huge to take out,” she added, adding that the tumor was the size of a softball and protruded around five centimetres from the back of her head at the time.
“He sewed me up and told me to go home,” Sawka explained. “I was freaking out on the table, like, ‘What do you mean?'”
Sawka returned home and says she received a call from the surgeon about a week later.
“‘You have skin cancer,’ he told me over the phone. I’d want to refer you to CancerCare.’ Click.”
Everything changed after that recommendation.
“It’s a completely different universe; it’s far superior. Everything is in order, and everyone is in touch “Oncologists and other medical specialists met with her right away and on a regular basis, she said. She had the impression that she was being well looked for.
‘It smelled bad.’
Sawka underwent 25 rounds of radiation therapy in May, despite the fact that doctors were still determining what form of cancer she had. Since the surgeon cut into it in April, the lump had nearly tripled in size, she added.
The cancer is now thought to be an uncommon kind of tissue sarcoma, according to doctors.
Sawka required five blood transfusions during her radiation treatment since the tumor bled abundantly multiple times.
“I couldn’t stand it any longer. It had gotten out of hand… and it was painful, “she stated
“It came out of the back of my skull like tissue. It appeared to be a brain protruding from the back of my head. It stank, it was dark, and it was revolting…. It smelled like rotting meat.”
The radiation caused the tumor to shrink to the point where it could be removed by doctors in July.
She was severely exhausted when she awoke after the 10-hour procedure.
She described herself as “half-dead.”
Surgeons removed pieces of Sawka’s skull, skin, and muscular tissue in the process of removing the tumor.
Surgeons grafted skin from her leg over the afflicted area and transplanted muscle from her shoulder into her neck.
What’s next?
Sawka spent $8,000 on egg freezing in preparation for a six-month round of chemotherapy that begins on Oct. 24.
Until then, she’ll have to ponder what life will be like after that. Nerve and back discomfort could be a part of her life for the rest of her life, and she already has limited head and neck mobility.
Her hair on the back of her head and neck will never grow back.
Mobility limitations may limit what she can accomplish. She may have to give up ringette, a sport she adores.
She also speculates on what might have been done differently.
“I believe things would have turned out differently if they had just done that needle biopsy. Things would’ve been a lot better for me if things had gone my way “Through tears, she expressed herself.
“It seems like there were a lot of mistakes committed that shouldn’t have happened.”
Sawka said she has a strong network of relatives and friends who have been supportive throughout the process.
“I’m not sure how I managed to get through it. It was a disaster “she stated “I feel like I’ll never be the same again, but I’m still here, so that’s all that matters.”
A review of the WRHA is in underway.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, according to a spokeswoman, is looking into Sawka’s situation and has reached out to her to hear her concerns. According to a representative for the health authority, the doctors involved will not be discussing the issue.
“We’re heartbroken to learn of this patient’s prognosis. We take all complaints and allegations about care received at the WRHA very seriously “In a statement, the spokeswoman added. “We pledge our support to her as she continues to receive care.”
Sawka was advised that there is a 50% possibility that cancer will return and spread.
She believes that the WRHA inquiry will result in more stringent standards and procedures so that others do not have to go through what she did.
“Take the extra time and effort to check things out, especially with lumps and bumps,” she advised, “and make sure you advocate for yourself to get the care you need.”
“If you don’t, you might as well die.”