A Cape Breton woman worried about dying while waiting for treatment for her rare disease, may be getting some answers since speaking out on our newscast Monday night.

Paulette Corbett saw a gastroenterologist Tuesday morning in Sydney, and has now been referred to the GI unit at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

The retired nurse lives with a rare condition called mesenteric ischemia, which restricts blood flow to the bowel.

“They wanted another referral sent because they claimed they didn’t receive the first one,” Corbett explains.

She says it’s painful for her to eat.

A dietitian thought a feeding tube would help ease her pain, but the local GI doctor didn’t agree, and that’s when a referral was requested to be sent to Halifax.

Corbett has also seen a vascular surgeon who she says said everything seemed fine, and the stent that has been placed inside her is doing what it should.

“My question is if they think it’s working, why am I so miserable and can’t eat?”

The Nova Scotia Health Authority wouldn’t comment on Corbett’s case, but says they have a qualified team of gastroenterologists already in Sydney.

“We have a robust GI service here in Cape Breton based in our facilities,” says health authority spokesperson Greg Boone, “and have a team of very capable GI specialists.”

Still, Corbett insists she needs to go to Halifax, and feels she’s running out of time because of rapid weight loss, down now to just 98 pounds.

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

“The current wait times in the central part of the Halifax based service exceed standards,” explains Boone. “However, there are GI specialists that are very experienced and capable working in Cape Breton who can also accept referrals for patients.”

Meanwhile, Corbett says a GI specialists in Sydney has referred her case as a very urgent one, still the wait will be nearly two weeks.

“Some people will say that’s not that long,” adds Corbett. “But when you’ve been miserable for two and a half years that seems like forever, it means I’ll weigh less when I get there, I guess.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.