Anemic Sask. woman worries as COVID-19 continues to delay non-urgent blood work

Tanya Strom has needed regular blood work for a little more than a year now.

Strom is severely anemic. When her body wouldn't absorb iron taken orally, she had to start getting infusions every month. She was due for another one right as measures to contain COVID-19 in Saskatchewan ramped up. 

"Instead of getting my infusions, I got a phone call and it said that I wouldn't be able to get my blood work and I wouldn't be getting my infusion," Strom, who lives in Regina, said. "Right now, I'm in limbo."

Her last blood work was done at the end of February. 

"We don't know how long I can go without the infusions, because they haven't been stopped since we started them," she said. "It's a little uneasy feeling not knowing how my body's going to react and not being able to be monitored more closely."

Right now, labs are only doing blood work that is considered urgent. Strom was mailed a requisition marked "Urgent for June," so she hopes that can still go ahead, but it could change at a moment's notice. 

"I'm concerned that if my levels do start going lower, that makes me even more susceptible to illness and side effects from COVID and anything else going around," she said. 

According to the World Health Organization's website, anemia is a condition where red blood cell count is lower than normal, or the haemoglobin amount contained in the red blood cells is too low.

"Haemoglobin is needed to carry oxygen and if you have too few or abnormal red blood cells, or not enough haemoglobin, there will be a decreased capacity of the blood to carry oxygen to the body's tissues," the website states. 

For Strom it shows up most prominently as exhaustion. 

"It got so bad that I couldn't walk across a room without getting short of breath. I'd be gasping for air," she said. 

Strom said that as a former health care worker she completely understands the pressures the health system and province are under. She said she's taking extra precautions to stay safe. 

"I'm trying to take a measured response to this happening to me, but on the other hand I need to stand up for myself as well and say, 'Hey, don't forget about us. Don't forget about me.'"

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said anyone with concerns about the timeliness of their blood work should contact their doctor and that it is continually reviewing services.