Victoria mother given a “second chance at life” after 1% chance of survival

On the night of November 11, 2021, I put my six-year-old daughter to bed like I always do— but the hard part is that I don’t remember saying goodnight to her. I felt really tired and decided to go to sleep.

Then I woke up at 3:45 in the morning with a terrible headache, and I collapsed.

My husband Matt called an ambulance and I was transported to Victoria General Hospital. A nurse took him to the family room and gently told him, “I’m so sorry. Your wife has had a catastrophic brain hemorrhage and she’s not likely to make it. You need to start making some phone calls.”

As I was being prepped for brain surgery, my physician said that I had a 1% chance of survival—and even if I did survive, I was going to be in the hospital for six months, learning how to walk and talk again. They were unsure how much function I would regain. It was devastating news for my family.

Thankfully, I had an incredible surgeon, and she got me through the surgery, reporting afterwards that she was confident she got all of the blood out of my brain. It was a miracle.

After the surgery, I continued to get better and better. And the nurses were wonderful. They pushed me and challenged me through my recovery, and it was exactly what I needed. Incredibly,

‘‘The role of chemistry was crucial in Sara’s early care when she was in the Intensive Care Unit. Testing helped watch how her brain was reacting to her devastating injury and manage her fluids and her electrolytes while she couldn’t eat or drink. It was pivotal to making sure that her brain was recovering in a stable environment.”

I was talking immediately and walking within a couple of days. About three and a half weeks later, I was able to go home. Today, I am grateful to be part of a community that cares about healthcare. If it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone. If we want the healthcare that is going to save us, our community has to step up to advance the care we all rely on. I had a 99% chance of not being here, and that changes you. Every morning when I wake up, it’s a gift. There aren’t words to describe it. When I came home from the hospital and saw my daughter, it was just unbelievable to know that I was there holding her. I kept saying, “Mommy’s okay.” I can’t believe that I’m here and I get to experience life with her again. The care I received truly gave me a second chance.

Sara Brownlee

Grateful patient, Victoria resident, public servant, wife, and mother

Sara in the Intensive Care Unit after her life-saving surgery

Sara was unconscious before and after her surgery. Though she was unable to speak, her care teams were constantly responding to her needs by running tests in the background—including blood samples just like the ones that are processed through the Chemistry Line at Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH). Sara is just one of thousands of patients on Vancouver Island who require vital blood tests to monitor their status, sometimes as often as every 30 minutes.

You can help ensure these urgent requests are processed as quickly and as accurately as possible by helping fund a new $2.1 million Automated Chemistry Line for Royal Jubilee Hospital through the Emerge Stronger campaign by visiting victoriahf.ca/give-today or calling 250-519-1750.

‘‘Our current Chemistry Line is over 20 years old which means it needs a lot of maintenance. It does affect our patients. It does affect our time to get results. And it affects how our physicians can take care of our patients. The new automation line, being new and being more up-todate, will certainly get the samples to the analyzers much quicker.”

Diagnostics

Automated Chemistry Line Royal Jubilee Hospital $2,175,000

• Conducts tests on patient samples such as blood

• Will replace current 20 -year-old Chemistr y Line (most-used equipment in Island Health)

• Can run over 1,200 tests per hour (current system can run about 1,000 tests per day)

• Can complete an electrolyte panel 15 minutes faster than current system

• Equipped with an emergent test track to fast-track samples needing urgent results