https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6604129
Kylee Carnegie-Middlebrook, 30, says it was extremely difficult to hear that there was nothing more doctors in Canada could do for her. The Harrow, Ont., resident was diagnosed with cancer shortly after getting married four years ago. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)
For the last four years, Kylee Carnegie-Middlebrook has done everything she can to get rid of the cancer that's continued to grow inside of her.
But in February, she said, doctors told her the disease had spread beyond control and advised her to begin palliative treatments.
"It was like total devastation," Carnegie-Middlebrook, 30, and a resident of Harrow, Ont., told CBC News.
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"I felt like I had spent so much time telling myself that I never wanted to get to that point, and I heard the words and my whole world just fell apart."
Carnegie-Middlebrook was diagnosed with appendix cancer in 2018 shortly after getting married. She said Canadian doctors who treat this type of cancer have denied her the surgery she feels she needs to save her life.
It's my life. I know I'm just a patient to them, but 'no' was the answer. - Kylee Carnegie-Middlebrook on not being approved for cancer surgery in Canada
Carnegie-Middlebrook had already undergone cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) once before at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, two years after her diagnosis of this rare form of cancer. The procedure involves removing cancerous tumours from the abdominal cavity, which is then bathed in hot chemotherapy to kill any microscopic cancer cells. Her appendix was removed and the cancer had spread inside her abdomen.
Carnegie-Middlebrook said Canadian doctors have told her that her cancer is now inoperable, so they won't perform the CRS with HIPEC surgery again. But next month, Carnegie-Middlebrook plans to undergo the surgery at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Penn., at a cost of $100,000 Cdn.
"It's scary, honestly," Carnegie-Middlebrook said about travelling outside Canada for care.
"It's tough thinking you'll go into an enormous amount of debt to save your life."
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CBC News has also heard from one other person dealing with cancer at the time who had been denied the CRS with HIPEC surgery in Canada, but was able to get it in the United States. Two and a half years after this surgery, the person said they have "no evidence of progressive disease."