In the past six months, Misti-Starr James has been rushed to hospital twice for what she calls "minor" heart attacks.
"The first time that it happened, they actually had to come out with a special machine and shock me and re-start my heart so it would beat at a regular rate, because it was going over 200 beats per minute," she said.
"The second time it was a little bit easier for them to deal with... but… they had to send me to the hospital to make sure it hadn't damaged my heart any more than it had last time."
A long-term Northern Territory resident, Ms James has been waiting almost six months for an elective surgery to correct a problem with her heart, which she was initially told should happen within six months.
She has also spent eight months on a six-month wait list for a different elective surgery, to fix a damaged elbow ligament that causes her "constant pain".
On Friday, Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced elective surgeries in NT were being put on hold to cope with an expected high demand for ICU beds as COVID-19 cases approach a peak.
It was the latest in a series of elective surgery deferrals in the NT in the past year.
In November, category 2 and 3 surgeries were deferred across both Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) and Palmerston Regional Hospital as a local COVID-19 outbreak in the Territory worsened.
And throughout 2021 RDH was forced to call four "code yellow" emergencies, meaning category 2 and 3 elective surgeries were postponed, due to the hospital reaching capacity.
A NT Health spokeswoman said the decision to postpone elective surgeries had been made to ease pressures on the NT health system.
"This strategy will ensure the resources required to manage acute COVID-19 cases in hospitals are maintained during the current outbreak, and that Territorians can continue to access critical care," the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said the average wait time for postponed surgeries "will vary according to clinical urgency".
Elective surgery patients the ones 'missing out'
Australian Medical Association NT president Robert Parker said NT hospitals had been "incredibly pressured" even before the pandemic, and the spread of Omicron in the Territory had only added to that.
He said anyone in urgent need of hospital care could still get it, but it was elective surgery patients that had been the most affected.
"The people who are missing out at the moment are the people who do require elective surgery," he told ABC Radio Darwin on Tuesday.
"They've often got significant, chronic, painful conditions, and … potentially issues that may escalate into other problems, such as people who need colonoscopes because they may have a developing bowel cancer.
He said having their surgeries repeatedly postponed was exacerbating the stress patients were under.
A NT Health spokeswoman confirmed that all emergency surgeries were still happening in the NT.
More measures to relieve stress on hospitals a possibility
The Chief Minister has flagged that there could be even more changes to come to relieve the strain on the NT health system.
On Tuesday, Mr Gunner said COVID-19 hospitalisation numbers – which typically lag behind case numbers – were expected to peak within the next two weeks.
He said if admissions continued to rise as expected, more measures could be needed to ensure hospitals could cope.
"We're expressing concern then, but we still haven't triggered a decision.
"We'll work closely with the hospitals about if there needs to be a code declared or any other decisions made. At this stage, I'm not getting that representation."
Patients fear for health as delays stretch on
NT Health was asked how many patients had had their surgeries postponed since the Chief Minister's announcement, but did not answer the question.
The department were also asked when elective surgeries would resume, but did not answer.
"The pause in elective surgery will be monitored and adjusted as needed in accordance with the COVID-19 response," the NT Health spokeswoman said.
Ms James said long delays could have serious health consequences for elective surgery patients like herself
"I've just got to hope that I'm going to be there for my children, and be able to get the surgery done before anything serious happens," she said.
She also acknowledged the issue was not all due to COVID-19.
"[Years ago] I was supposed to have a major surgery and I was on a six-month waiting list, and it took nearly five years to have the operation," she said.
"That affected my life a lot, because there were a lot of things that I actually... couldn't do any more.
