“i raised the alarm because i know that i am not the only one whose life has been endangered by systemic problems.”
ducluzeau, a victoria mother of two, ended up paying $200,000 out of pocket for surgery in the u.s. after a b.c. cancer oncologist told her she was not a candidate for the procedure that saved her life.
the 57-year-old realtor was diagnosed last december with stage-4 peritoneal carcinomatosis, a form of abdominal cancer. her family doctor told her that type of cancer is typically treated with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (hipec) surgery, a two-step procedure that includes surgery followed by targeted chemotherapy.
the next month, she was told by the consulting b.c. cancer surgeon that her cancer was inoperable, and since she had a life expectancy of between two months and two years, she should talk to her family about her end of life plan.
“the first surgeon told me, just basically go home and prepare to die,” she told postmedia. “telling my kids was the worst day of my life.”
through her own research, ducluzeau found medical clinics in the u.s. and taiwan willing to take her on as a patient. she ended up paying privately for the hipec surgery at the mercy medical center in baltimore, maryland, in february, two months after her diagnosis.