We often hear about load shedding since the beginning of the pandemic, but its effects remain abstract. As hospitals face a critical lack of resources, The duty decided to put words and faces to statistics. Today, Michel’s story.
In November 2019, Michel Létourneau was operated on for pancreatic cancer. “It’s a fairly major operation, we open your stomach from top to bottom,” explains the 70-year-old man in an interview with the Duty. In the months that followed, an umbilical hernia began to develop. “I have been told that it is quite common after the operation I had had, especially because the healing process is compromised by the chemotherapy. It’s like the internal stitches have come loose. »
In the fall of 2020, after several steps, he found himself on a waiting list to operate on this hernia. He waited, and waited again. “Time passed and my hernia continued to grow all the while, to such an extent that it not only became aesthetically not very pleasing to the eye, but I could no longer wear shirts. It was not very pleasant, but a priori, it was not dangerous. »
Tired of fighting, a year later, the man turned to a private clinic. Against all expectation, she refused to take care of him because the operation was complex and required hospitalization. The private sector therefore referred it… to the public.
Living with a “second belly”
Today, Michel Létourneau’s hernia is the size of a tennis ball. He is again on a waiting list for the public, but he has no illusions: he suspects that he will not be operated on anytime soon. With lip service, he admits that he is beginning to worry because he has been advised that after a certain point, his hernia would no longer be operable. And he fears having to live for the rest of his life with what he calls his “second belly”.
“At the size it’s made, it’s a bit worrying, he admits. But I don’t want to worry too much, I’ve been through so much worse! I’m lucky to still be here and to be able to talk to you today. »
Fortunately, he is not in pain or dysfunctional. He continues to work and can lead a fairly normal life. “It’s more discomfort than pain,” he says.
He also has to be careful not to strain — especially when working out — and has seen physiotherapy to learn how to use his stomach muscles in another way to prevent the problem from getting worse.
“In all the horrors of load shedding, my story is more anecdotal,” he repeats. But the prospect of dragging it on for years and no longer being operable is still boring. »