Desiree’s Story: A Mother’s Fight to Drive Change for People in Canada Living with Cancer
For over three years, Rosan has been fighting relentlessly to share her daughter, Desiree’s story, who passed away two days before her 35th birthday due to a late-stage cancer diagnosis.
Desiree was first misdiagnosed in 2020. She initially went to her family doctor, complaining of heavy bleeding and excruciating pain in her uterus. For two years, she was continuously misdiagnosed with endometriosis. Despite their family history of cancer, her symptoms were overlooked due to her age – she was only 34.
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help Desiree’s situation. Unable to secure in-person appointments, Desiree’s consultations were all conducted over the phone and her physical condition was never officially examined until 2021. At this time, Desiree received an ultrasound revealing a 0.8mm polyp.
The technicians had recommended she urgently see a gynecologist, but the referral never came. A few months later, Desiree’s polyp had grown to 16mm, and her condition continued to worsen, yet it still took months to secure a referral, and only after she had been seen in the E.R numerous times.
To control her symptoms, Desiree was put on birth control, which only worsened her high blood pressure and depression. Multiple hospital visits later, a mass was finally discovered in her ovaries, thanks to Rosan’s relentless push for more tests.
By the end of 2022, Desiree was diagnosed with stage 3 endometrial cancer – a diagnosis that was given to her over the phone.
Desiree underwent five stages of chemotherapy, four stages of radiation and a hysterectomy, leaving her with a stint in her bladder after the surgeons cut into her bladder and she hemorrhaged. She was discharged from the hospital, only to be rushed back 72 hours later due to unbearable pain. This led to a two-day stay in the ICU, and days in the hospital, interfering with her much needed chemotherapy, during which her cancer spread aggressively.
Desiree began receiving radiation treatments for her pain, and she was preparing to start more rounds of chemotherapy. During one of her radiation visits, Desiree began complaining about severe pain in her leg and hip, only to be dismissed again, and Desiree could no longer bear weight on her leg. After an x-ray she was told that she was at risk for a pathologic fracture and was sent to see an orthopaedic surgeon. This surgeon scheduled surgery on her left hip despite being at risk for complications and infection and still recovering from her hysterectomy just a few weeks prior.
Almost immediately after surgery, Desiree started to show signs of infection. Despite Rosan’s demand for an explanation, she was not taken seriously by her surgical team.
Only five days later, when Desiree’s condition was declining rapidly did the doctors test for infection and found she had sepsis.
Due to these delays, Desiree passed away in the hospital only days away from her 35th birthday, and on the day of her 35th birthday which should have been a celebration, Rosan had to identify her deceased daughter’s body.
Throughout this ordeal, Rosan faced a dreadful choice between financial ruin or saving her daughter’s life. Immunotherapy was expensive, and the healthcare system offered little help. “The system failed my daughter and us, and she paid the ultimate price,” Rosan stated as she reflected on her daughter’s journey. Desiree’s journey from screening to late-stage diagnosis highlights a broken system. Endometrial cancer is curable at stages 1 and 2, but a broken system resulted in Desiree’s misdiagnoses and fractured medical system resulted in her late-stage diagnosis.
Rosan continues her fight, hoping that sharing Desiree’s story will bring about much-needed change in a system that failed them when they needed it most.
There are far too many similar stories as people in Canada are waiting to be a priority. Cancer Action Now is working to bring forward challenges experiences by people in Canada living with cancer in accessing timely, high-quality cancer care, and calling on policy makers to make cancer care a priority.
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