Key Points
Stephanie Faure, a Saskatoon woman, discovered a surgical screw protruding from her skull 14 months after brain cancer surgery.
She visited the Royal University Hospital emergency department but says the doctor dismissed the protrusion as a cyst after a five and a half hour wait.
After returning home, Faure’s boyfriend removed the screw using tweezers.
Faure plans to file a formal complaint, while the Saskatchewan Health Authority says patients can raise concerns through its official process.
A woman in Saskatoon, Canada, says a surgical screw began pushing out of her skull more than a year after she underwent brain cancer surgery, raising concerns about both post surgical complications and the response she received in the emergency department.
Stephanie Faure said she woke up on March 8 with severe pressure in her head and soon realized that a metal screw was protruding through her scalp. The screw had been placed during a craniotomy performed 14 months earlier to remove brain tumors, when surgeons used metal plates and screws to secure her skull after the procedure.
Faure, who continues to take daily medication for brain cancer, said the screw had likely loosened over time and gradually worked its way outward. She described the sensation as feeling like her head was “being scraped from the inside.”
Concerned about the complication, Faure went to the emergency department at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon seeking medical help.
According to Faure, she waited about five and a half hours before being examined by a doctor. When she was finally seen, she said the physician dismissed the object protruding from her head as a cyst rather than a surgical screw and told her to go home.
Faure said she requested to be evaluated by another doctor or nurse but was told that the physician had other patients to attend to and she could not see anyone else.
After returning home, the situation took an unusual turn. Faure’s boyfriend removed the screw using tweezers.
She said the screw had loosened enough that it was relatively easy to pull out. “It definitely wanted to come out,” Faure explained, adding that it had been moving throughout the day.
The screw had originally been implanted to secure the skull following the tumor removal surgery, a standard technique used in craniotomy procedures.
Faure said the experience left her frustrated and concerned about how her symptoms were handled in the emergency department. She plans to file a formal complaint about the incident.
She also recalled a previous situation in which her symptoms from colitis were dismissed by a healthcare provider as simply a “tummy ache,” which she said added to her frustration with the healthcare system.
“You can see, very clearly, what’s happening,” Faure said while describing the screw protruding from her head, adding that it was frustrating to feel ignored.
In response to the incident, a representative for the Saskatchewan Health Authority said the organization takes patient concerns seriously and encourages individuals to report issues through its formal complaint process.
The authority noted that it has a confidential, patient centered service through Client Concern Specialists to help patients and families address problems with care. However, due to privacy laws, the organization said it could not comment on specific cases or individuals.
(Rh/ARC)
