‘My story is not unique’: London woman battling terminal cancer advocates for improvements to wait times in Ontario

Nadine Lalonde, 57, is battling pancreatic cancer. (Reta Ismail/CTV News)

A London woman with terminal cancer is advocating for improvements to wait times in the province, after she says it took too long for her to get diagnosed with cancer.

As she removes her hat and reveals her bare head, Nadine Lalonde says “I think I am actually rocking this hairdo; I have a reasonably nice shaped head.”

The 57-year-old hasn’t lost her sense of humour, despite the fact that she’s now undergoing chemo for end-stage pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed December 2024.

“Almost a year ago, I’d say, that I went to my family doctor and I said you know, hey something doesn’t seem right,” Lalonde recalled how she felt after experiencing unusual digestive symptoms.

Her family doctor ordered her an MRI in March of 2024. The radiologists who read those scans, suggested she be referred for further testing using an endoscopic ultrasound and a biopsy of cysts on her pancreas.

She says it took six months to get that testing done. “Once I had that test, then things were already, at a very serious point.”

Two days before her birthday she found out she had pancreatic cancer.

“The cancer part of the whole system is amazing; they really move fast,” Lalonde continued. “But then there was another hold up, with getting two more scans that were required an MRI and a CT so that they could more fully evaluate if it has spread.”

Lalonde says during the four weeks it took to get that further testing, her cancer invaded her stomach and spread to her liver.

“My story is not unique… people are waiting for scans and things like that for long time. Waiting for specialised procedures and scans are definitely killing people, quiet literally,” Lalonde said.

According Results for Diagnostic Imaging | Ontario Health, the MRI provincial average for patients scanned within target time is 32 per cent. London’s three major hospitals are coming in well below that target.

With St. Joseph’s Health Care at 15 per cent, University Hospital at 19 per cent, and Victoria Hospital at 23 per cent.

Lalonde says her father died from the same cancer at the age of 60. She’s volunteered to be apart of a genetic research study at Baker Center for Pancreatic Cancer.

“Hopefully in time for my kids, they can get genetic counselling now, because you know my dad had it and I had it, so hopefully for them, they’ll be able to be more on top of it.”

The mother of two has been given 12-18 months to live, she says chemo is just a time keeper.

Statement from London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London:

We know that waiting for an MRI scan can be stressful for patients and their families. Together, we are actively working to improve MRI wait times for patients at both London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s).

Every day, all patient referrals for MRI’s are reviewed and triaged by a team of Radiologists, physicians that specialize in imaging science, using criteria set by the Ministry of Health that identifies patients based on their urgency. There are 4 categories from priority 1-4 with 4 being the least urgent.

While LHSC and St. Joseph’s have performed a combined 30 per cent more MRI scans in 2024/2025 compared to 2023/2024, our referral volumes have continued to increase at the same time, impacting our wait times.

What is important to know is that there are several factors that contribute to MRI wait times such as; increasing pressure to serve growing volumes, staffing, the level of severity of patient conditions, equipment downtime for upgrades, maintenance and safety checks.

We’re pleased that over the past several years LHSC and St. Joseph’s have upgraded our MRI machines to improve imaging quality, efficiency and patient comfort. While these upgrades are necessary, wait times are impacted when these machines are temporarily offline. LHSC has also added a fifth unit to its MRI fleet in September 2024 that is dedicated to low priority scans to allow the remaining four units to focus on urgent priority cases.

In addition, to help to address the wait times, we have partnered with Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital and St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. We are also working with Ontario Health on a centralized referral project for the Southwest Region aimed at optimizing MRI services and directing patient referrals to hospitals with available MRI time across the region to provide equitable access to care.

Patient care is our top priority, and we are working as a team across our region to improve MRI wait times for everyone. We encourage patients and their families to contact patient relations if they have any concerns with their care.