Winnipeg woman's cancer treatment delayed due to misplaced COVID-19 test result
A Winnipeg woman's treatment at Cancer Care Manitoba was delayed after her COVID-19 test results were misplaced due to a data error.
It's been a tough week for Tammy Casper and her family.
While most people were getting ready to celebrate the holiday season, she was coming to terms with a troubling diagnosis.
"I'm 45, and I got cancer. And you're trying to digest that, and then you get COVID-19."
Casper was diagnosed with leukemia in early December, and catching COVID-19 the next week added some challenges surrounding her treatment of the disease.
She said even though she'd already tested positive, she had to get another COVID-19 test done so Cancer Care Manitoba could assess her levels to see if she was contagious. After taking her new test, the results never came back.
"I heard nothing over the weekend. I heard nothing at the beginning of the week. Cancer Care is going 'okay, well we need you in here on (Jan. 13), but we've got nothing to go on.'"
Casper said after five days, she called Health Links to find the test results she'd never received.
After days of calling, she was informed that her test had been placed in a different filing system for people whose health information had an error.
"I'm on the top of my health card, and my husband is under me," Explained Casper.
"(The testing site) put my husband's birthdate with my information, so my test sat there as a positive test in limbo without me being contacted."
On Wednesday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced two new COVID-19 testing sites were opening up in Winnipeg to address the backlog of test results.
"We're able to report today that we have no backlog and that results are being provided in under a day," said Gordon.
But Casper wonders how many others have had their test results shelved due to an error.
She was able to go to Cancer Care and get some initial tests done as a COVID-19 suspect patient in isolation. However, she's still waiting to hear back from an infectious disease specialist to see if she's contagious before she can have normal access to Cancer Care.
"I want to get this going, I have a treatable leukemia, and I want to get it going so that it doesn't get to the point where it's not treatable anymore."
In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for Cancer Care Manitoba (CCMB) said “Patients receiving treatment at CCMB are not generally tested prior to their appointment, although testing will be arranged if they are symptomatic. Patients requiring admission to hospital are tested upon admission, not in advance.”
Correction
The story has been updated to include more from Cancer Care Manitoba's statement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.