N.S. woman who had rare illness worried others might wait as long she did for care

A woman worried about dying while waiting for treatment for her rare disease, says she's better and back home, but only after speaking out publicly.

Paulette Corbett says she spent more than two years in pain, and no answers as to why.

She is back home now, after spending more than three months in hospital, but it's the time it took to receive the care she needed that has her worried for others.

“I was down to 93 pounds,” Corbett says. “I lost all of my lean fat. I was just bones, skin over bones is what I was. I felt terrible, no energy. I literally felt like I was going to die.”

Corbett says it wasn't until she spoke out publicly that she started to receive answers she wasn't able to get for months.

The retired nurse had a rare condition called mesenteric ischemia, which restricts blood flow to the bowel and made it painful for her to eat.

“I ended up having my gallbladder removed, which took care of that problem,” Corbett said. “And with the mesenteric ischemia,they put me on two medications which has made the world of difference.”

According to a website From Dalhousie University, the wait time for the GI unit in Halifax for urgent care is 12 days, semi-urgent is 215 days and non-urgent 300 days.

“For anybody out there that's struggling trying to get through this maze of health care, they really have to be their own advocate,” Corbett says.

She says wait times are too long and the fact the Nova Scotia Health Authority is controlled out of Halifax, while most of her doctors are here in Cape Breton, added to the confusion.

“It's wait times to have these tests done,” Corbett says. “You'll see a doctor and they'll order tests, then you have to wait weeks. After that, you’re referred to a specialist and again you're waiting weeks, if not months. It's a continuous path of waiting. You're either going to get better or you're going to be dead before they ever settle a problem.”

It’s a problem that Corbett feels will exist for others, but she's now just happy to have her life back.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.