'A bit of a roller-coaster': Man whose cancer surgery was cancelled at last minute gets new surgery date

David Gaboury was told his surgery was cancelled after he had already arrived at the hospital and was being prepared by health-care staff for the procedure. (Source: Michelle Gerwing/CTV News Winnipeg)

A Winnipeg man who found out his prostate cancer surgery was cancelled mere hours before it was supposed to begin has now had his procedure rescheduled.

David Gaboury shared his story with CTV News Winnipeg on Tuesday, chronicling his frustrating experience at the Grace Hospital, where he was originally scheduled to have a prostatectomy on Dec. 16.

Gaboury, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer six months ago, went to the hospital a few hours before his surgery was scheduled to start. Staff began preparations, and he was told someone would come by to give him an IV.

After waiting three hours, he found out his surgery was cancelled because of a lack of beds. He couldn’t understand how one wasn’t put aside for him, as his surgery was not elective and had been on the books for months.

READ MORE: 'Emotionally, I am drained:' Winnipeg man's cancer surgery cancelled at last minute

After Gaboury shared his frustration and shock over the cancellation with CTV, he got a call Tuesday morning from his doctor’s office saying they could squeeze in his surgery on Friday.

“That was much sooner than I expected, for sure. From the indications that my doctor had given me last Friday was that the very soonest, it would be a few weeks,” he said.

“I’m surprised, shocked, kind of overwhelmed. It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride.”

Gaboury encourages others who find themselves in a similar situation to speak out.

“There was at least one other elderly lady who was at the same time as me there, whose surgery was cancelled, and I don't know if anybody's advocating for her,” he said.

“People need to speak up about this. I hope that this encourages more people to come out of the woodwork and tell their stories.”

CANCER SURGERY POSTPONEMENTS ‘EXCEEDINGLY RARE’: SHARED HEALTH

A spokesperson for Shared Health told CTV News on Tuesday it can appreciate that any surgical postponement is concerning for patients and their families, particularly for those experiencing cancer.

“This is why cancer surgeries continue to be prioritized by Manitoba’s surgical program, as they have been throughout the pandemic,” reads the written response.

The spokesperson also said postponements of cancer surgeries are exceedingly rare, with three occurring at Grace Hospital in the past seven months. They explained these postponements can happen due to a variety of reasons, like staff and bed availability, patient fitness and an unexpected surge in emergency surgeries – the latter of which happened last Friday at the Grace.

“There were more than 10 emergency patient admissions for surgery at the hospital on Friday. All but one elective procedure was postponed that day as a result in order to maintain inpatient capacity at the hospital, with surgeons at the Grace pivoting their focus to emergency patients and individuals with urgent cancer cases,” reads the statement.

Shared Health did not discuss specific cases but said generally, a postponement of a cancer case would only occur following consultation with the patient’s surgeon and the site lead for surgery, and both would need to agree that delaying the surgery would cause the patient no long-term negative medical outcomes.

Any delayed cancer surgery would normally be urgently rescheduled in consultation with the patient’s surgeon.

- With files from CTV’s Michelle Gerwing