B.C. Mother With Stage 4 Cancer Says Long Wait for Care Put Her at Risk

A mother of two from Port Moody, British Columbia, who was diagnosed with breast cancer, says that lengthy waits to see a specialist may have contributed to her disease advancing to Stage 4, underscoring deep frustrations with the province’s health-care system.

Sara Gillooly said that after discovering a lump and undergoing initial tests including a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy, she was told she would have to wait months before seeing an oncologist. During that time, she believes the cancer spread to her lungs and bones, a progression that has now left her with a terminal diagnosis.

Gillooly’s experience highlights what critics describe as systemic capacity issues in B.C.’s health system, where delayed appointments and long wait times for diagnostic imaging and specialist consultations can profoundly affect outcomes for patients with serious illnesses. Independent MLA Amelia Boultbee, a friend of Gillooly’s, has publicly cited her case to call for improvements, saying that patients are put at risk when critical care is delayed and that many British Columbians die while waiting for treatment.

According to Boultbee, backlog and stretched health-care resources have meant that some patients with confirmed cancer diagnoses wait longer than recommended to see oncologists and receive timely treatment planning. Gillooly said she was eventually given scans including CT, PET and MRI tests that confirmed metastatic disease after meeting with an oncologist, but she questions whether earlier intervention could have altered her prognosis.

In response to public concern about wait times, health officials in the province have said that efforts are underway to address diagnostic and treatment delays, but individual stories like Gillooly’s continue to fuel broader debate over access to timely cancer care in Canada’s publicly funded system.