HALIFAX -- Kathy Deagle has been nervously waiting for a colonoscopy for five months, ever since she began bleeding and having other symptoms last fall.

Now, the 62-year-old has been told her appointment, which was supposed to be Friday, has been cancelled.

“Yesterday…I got a call from the endoscopy unit at the VG at the Dickson Centre that they were cancelling my appointment," she says.

That call came just a few hours after she had received an automated call reminding her of her appointment on Friday.

She says she was given no specific explanation, other than it was “because of COVID-19.”

Deagle says she also was not given another appointment date.

“And I’m on the semi-urgent wait list and finally get my appointment,” she says. “And nobody has any idea now when it might happen? That’s the worst of it.”

All health authorities in the Maritimes are now restricting or suspending some medical services to prepare for potential patients of the novel coronavirus who may end up needing hospital care.

Elective outpatient visits, same-day and elective surgeries, and non-urgent diagnostic imaging are some of the services that have now all been put on hold.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority said urgent examinations and procedures will still go ahead.

“Cancer care imaging, PET scans, other time-sensitive exams,” said Dr. Brendan Carr. “Anything that has immediate clinical urgency will continue.”

The ever-changing situation around COVID-19 is also creating anxiety and uncertainty for those who haven’t had medical appointments cancelled yet but worry what the future could hold.

Expectant mother Jana McCarthy describes it as “nerve-wracking” as she awaits the arrival of her second child in May.

She hasn’t had any appointments cancelled, and she hopes it will stay that way as she waits for the results of a recent blood test.

“If there is anything, [if] I have to have another appointment, is it going to happen?” she worries. “And what am I going to be exposed to once I get [to the hospital].”

The health authorities are contacting patients who are affected by any cancellations. Several also have an extensive list online of affected services, including the Nova Scotia Health AuthorityHorizon Health Network, and Vitalité Health Network.

Kathy Deagle tried to reach her specialist to see if she will receive a new date for her colonoscopy, but the office is closed until tomorrow.

She hopes she won’t have to wait much longer.

“I could possibly be diagnosed with having a bowel tumor,” she says. “Delaying any possible treatment or follow-up could harm my health more than COVID.”

Deagle, who also works in the tourism industry, says she’s already dealing with enough uncertainty. She would like to know soon, whether she is also dealing with a cancer diagnosis.