2024-01-22 12:54:09
A 56-year-old man is furious with the health “system” that took two months to get a follow-up test even though he was suffering from aggressive brain cancer that tripled in size and left him today today a slim life expectancy.
“It’s hard to put my rage aside to manage the upcoming surgery,” admits Serge Couvrette. I don’t believe it yet. I don’t even have time to accept cancer, I have to fight.”
Aged 56, the Longueuil resident saw his life take a dramatic turn last November. Victim of a physical attack, he subsequently experienced dizziness and headaches. On November 4, the man who works in customer service had a scan, which revealed a mass on his brain.
His family doctor sent a request for a neurology consultation to a specialist. Worried, Mr. Couvrette then had to wait. Until January 3, Mr. Couvrette had never heard back.
Listen to the interview with Héloïse Archambault, health journalist at the Journal de Montréal on Alexandre Dubé’s show via QUB radio :
Two epileptic seizures
“Nothing was happening,” laments the patient. The system is sick.”
While washing the dishes, he then had an epileptic seizure. Followed by a second.
“My arm wouldn’t follow and my right side started to shaker“, he recalls.
Rushed to Charles-LeMoyne hospital in Longueuil, Mr. Couvrette learned the terrible news.
“The emergency doctor looked at the scan from November 4 and told me that it was probably cancer,” he remembers, still in shock. He couldn’t believe it was two months later!”
Hospitalized, the Longueuil resident underwent a range of tests which confirmed the worst scenario: aggressive phase 4 brain cancer (glioma).
“The tumor dates from October […] The mass had more than tripled in two months, says the patient who often struggles for words due to his illness. We need to get it out as quickly as possible.”
Serge Couvrette was met by Le Journal last year due to his symptoms of long COVID. He has still not had any follow-up with a specialist, after a year of waiting. HUGO DUCHAINE/LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI Photo Hugo Duchaine
Mr. Couvrette will finally be operated on next Thursday, January 25 in Charles-LeMoyne. The 10 to 14 hour surgery carries several risks: paralysis, infection and death.
“I’m still in survival mode. I am dedicated to fighting until the end, I am extremely resilient,” he swears, although he is already organizing his succession for his girlfriend.
“It’s execrable”
Despite his health problems, Mr. Couvrette agreed to tell his story in the hope of making things happen in the health network for future patients. Last week, a neurology clinic confirmed a first appointment for him on February 15 with a specialist… That is, three weeks after his operation.
“It’s execrable. It’s getting worse and worse and it’s more and more dangerous. It’s not the world or the doctors, it’s the bureaucracy, notes the one who has only good words for the hospital’s nursing staff. There are gaps and that’s why I’m in trouble right now.”
With an estimated life expectancy of between a few months and a year and a half, Mr. Couvrette hopes to beat the odds.
“I think about it all the time,” he said, adding that he also filed a complaint with the College of Physicians of Quebec.
Also suffering from long COVID for a year, Mr. Couvrette also denounces the long delays for clinical follow-ups for which he is still waiting.
“I will probably die before I have access to it,” he laments.
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