A WOMAN WHO had stomach cancer had gone for surgery abroad after facing lengthy appointment delays in her care in Ireland, an inquest in Cork today has heard. 

Elena Shcherbakova (48), who was originally from Latvia and living in Castletownbere Co Cork, died in the Mercy Hospital in Cork on the 17th of December 2023, after going for surgery abroad in Latvia in the month prior.

Coroner Philip Comyn was told that Elena had faced lengthy delays in her care here in Ireland, which was a factor in her decision to go abroad for surgery.

Artjom Shcherbakova, Elena’s 16-year-old son, said today that his family moved to Cork when he was just four-year-old. 

He said that his mother first became ill – experiencing dizziness and fatigue – on a holiday to see their Russian family members last summer. 

Artjom said his mother went to her GP when they returned to Cork.

(A consultant who later saw Elena said the GP had referred Elena to a specialist for heavy period bleeding). 

Elena’s son said she was worried about how long it would take for her to see a specialist after a few months of waiting, so she went to see a specialist in her native Latvia instead. 

The Latvian doctors said that Elena needed a hysterectomy for her gynecological issues, which she underwent, but they also unexpectedly found that Elena had stage two stomach cancer. 

Artjom said his mother opted to have surgery to remove her stomach tumour, which also involved a resection of part of her bowel, while she was still in Latvia. 

In November, Elena went to see specialists in Cork, in order to arrange post-operative chemotherapy treatment in order to ensure that the cancer would not reoccur. 

On November 15th, she suffered a collapse at home, and she was admitted to the Mercy Hospital. 

Surgeon Gavin O’Brien, who managed Elena’s care from the second day of her admission onwards, said while Elena was in Latvia she was treated for a large uterine fibroid, and then a camera test also revealed aggressive stomach cancer – a diagnosis which she had not received in Ireland, as she was still on a waitlist to see a specialist. 

He said that when she presented to the Mercy, investigation revealed that she had an infection arising from a leak in the stitch line between her stomach and where it had been sown onto her downstream bowel. 

He said the infection, which came from bacteria found in the bowel, had tracked towards one of two crucial arteries that supply blood to a person’s bowel. 

It was deeply unfortunate, he said, that the other “backup” artery that performs this function had been tied off by the doctors in Latvia, as a means of preventing her stomach cancer from recurring. 

The remaining artery had become infected – meaning that its walls were “mushy” – making a bypass surgery near impossible until antibiotics got the infection under control. 

Dr O’Brien said that ultimately, surgery at that time would have been too risky. He saw her multiple times on the Saturday of that week, and they spoke via an interpreter. 

Unfortunately on the Sunday, Elena’s condition deteriorated, she hemorrhaged a large volume of blood, and her condition became so “catastrophic” it triggered a cardiac arrest alarm. 

He and his team attempted to repair the artery at that stage – x-rays showed it was bleeding back into her stomach – and no blood was progressing downstream to her bowel. 

“There is no surgical solution to this situation. 

“I am very sorry there was nothing more I could do to save her life,” Dr O’Brien told Elena’s husband and son today. 

The surgeon said that it is regrettable that the “large waitlists” in Ireland to see specialists can lead to patients seeking care abroad. 

The coroner questioned Dr O’Brien on whether it was usual for the surgeons in Latvia to have tied off the second artery in the course of her first surgery, and he said that it was. 

The coroner returned a verdict of death by a known complication of a medical procedure on the background of a complex medical history. 

The State Pathologist Margot Bolster said the cause of death was a hemorrhage due to rupture, a pseudoaneurysm, and sepsis due to perforation.