‘People Like Me Should Have Died’: Survey Describes Pandemic’s Impact on Heart Disease and Stroke – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

A new survey sheds light on the terrible impact the pandemic has had on those living with heart disease or stroke.

A heart and stroke survey of 370 healthcare professionals nationwide found that the pandemic has created difficult-to-access care, delayed diagnosis and treatment, increased inequalities, led to more serious outcomes, and critical heart and stroke research has stalled.

The survey found that nine out of 10 healthcare professionals and researchers were concerned that the health of people living with heart disease or stroke had worsened during the pandemic, and eight out of 10 said the delay in diagnosis or treatment was the biggest problem inflicted by the pandemic. .

“This is all very concerning,” said Patrice Lindsay, director of health systems for Heart and Stroke, in an interview with Global News.

“People who see our patients every day (and) see these changes, they see sicker patients, patients who are not going to have the same kind of recovery that they would have otherwise,” Lindsay said.

“And having that validated by our front-line healthcare professionals is very alarming and we are only looking at the tip of the iceberg. We believe that the true magnitude, we will not know for several months or years to come. “

Lindsay said that even patients without heart disease or stroke who contract COVID-19 are likely to have negative effects on their heart and brain health.

“Those who already had healthy hearts and healthy brains, but contracted COVID along the way, probably have damage to their hearts or brains that they will now have to deal with in the long term,” he said, adding that the pandemic has caused many People ignore the symptoms and delay getting to the hospital, which has often resulted in more serious results.

The survey also revealed that nearly half of the experts surveyed had concerns that those living with heart disease or stroke who were vulnerable to social and economic inequalities before the pandemic were now at even greater risk. It also highlighted the strain on healthcare workers and halted critical investigation.

“(We need) to really encourage people who have symptoms, our general public who have symptoms of heart disease and stroke, to come to the hospital right away, don’t wait, don’t be (worried) that they might get COVID,” Lindsay said.

“Really fund the research and get answers to start studying what some of these impacts are; we really need to do that. Sharing information about which drugs and treatments work and which don’t really need to be implemented with the support of the government. “

“People like me should have died”

Courtney Chartrand, 26, is one of many people who have first-hand experience of how the pandemic affected those living with heart disease and stroke.

Chartrand suffered a stroke in May 2020 when he was just 24 years old.

“I was at my parents’ house. I was helping my sister pack her room, they were moving in, she left the room and then she came back and I was stuck on the floor, “Chartrand told Global News.

“So they called the ambulance and everything, since I have no seizures, and they took me to the hospital and found out that I had had a stroke.”

After days in intensive care, doctors removed half of Chartrand’s skull due to severe swelling and bleeding in his brain.

He lived without half of his skull for the next three months, partly due to the severity of his brain swelling and partly due to pandemic-related delays in the healthcare system. Chartrand was able to return home approximately three weeks after that period, wearing a helmet at all times. She says that although she was grateful to be home and not in the hospital, those three months were a difficult time.

“That was a lot of stress and anxiety because I couldn’t lie on the right side of my head at any point, I couldn’t drive alone, I couldn’t do a lot of things, so I was really looking forward to that skull piece to come,” he said, adding that She was constantly concerned that her procedure could be further delayed due to the pandemic.

“I was constantly worried until I was literally in the operating room that I was going to be beaten for not being important enough.”

Chartrand still faced pandemic-related shocks even after her procedure, as she had to attend follow-up appointments alone.

“Here I am without half a skull, or when I recovered it, my brain was still swollen or bleeding, and I cannot understand what the doctors tell me, and I am forced to remember (that) to pass on to my family later,” he said. . “So it was torture for me to have to use my broken brain in a way that everyone else uses their working brain, just because I look good.”

Chartrand says that he now lives from day to day, but every day is an improvement. She is focusing on strengthening her brain and moving her body, even recently competing in a mini-triathlon. It also has a clear message for those who choose not to get vaccinated.

“If you can get a vaccine, it is necessary. People like me should have died. And if it had been a different time and a different place and I couldn’t get the care I needed, I would have died, like I wasn’t here statistically, ”Chartrand said.

“So I would like people who take beds just because of a decision they have made, to just know that their choice could be life or death for someone.”