Victoria Hospital Foundation

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

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A $10 million campaign to fund 200+ equipment pieces for Victoria hospitals

Produced in support of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

VICTORIAHF.CA/GIVE-TODAY

DONATIONS MATCHED FOR A LIMITED TIME YOUR GIFT TO HELP OUR HOSPITALS EMERGE STRONGER WILL BE DOUBLED WILL YOU JOIN US?

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Dr. Harold Hunt, OB-GYN (R) with Vanessa Scott-Kerr RN, BN, CPN., Operating Room Clinical Nurse Leader, Gynecology and Ophthalmology

HELP VICTORIA HOSPITALS EMERGE STRONGER FROM THE LASTING EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

YOU can make an impact by funding new and replacement equipment that will benefit Royal Jubilee, Victoria General, and Gorge Road hospitals.

Victoria Hospitals Can Emerge Stronger—But Only with Your Help Right now, we can all play a role in how Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals emerge from the greatest healthcare challenge of our generation. The pandemic has put incredible stress on Victoria hospitals and though the challenges they face today are complex, our Vancouver Island community can help.

Through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10 million Emerge Stronger fundraising campaign, donors can support the funding of more than 200 pieces of new and replacement equipment for Royal Jubilee, Victo-

ria General, and Gorge Road hospitals. Already, donations have poured in, and in just four months since launching, almost 2,400 donors have raised more than $3.4 million toward the $10 million fundraising goal. United, our community and the Victoria Hospitals Foundation are putting leading-edge equipment in the hands of talented, dedicated caregivers and hospital staff.

Through Emerge Stronger’s three phases—Recovery, Local Care, and Innovation, you can make a real impact.

You can help our hospitals recover from the effects and strain that the COVID-19 pandemic has put on our healthcare system. You can keep more Islanders close to home for diagnosis and treatment of complex illnesses. You can help our world-leading medical professionals stay at the forefront of innovation and technology. Together, we can help our hospitals recover from the continuous effects of the pandemic on everyday healthcare. Together, we can all emerge stronger.

THREE CAMPAIGN PHASES: RECOVERY: $ MILLION

LOCAL CARE: $ MILLION

INNOVATION: $ MILLION

Funding priority resources for essential hospital services impacted by the pandemic

Investing in Islandfirst advancement to keep care local and patients close to home

Transforming care through innovative technology and new research opportunities

Donations will be matched until Recovery phase is complete!

Surgical solution to Saanich woman’s severe bleeding highlights equipment need bleeding. She was even prescribed daily iron supplements to treat the eghan extreme fatigue caused by Durham-Afblood loss. fleck’s Despite the challenges, Gynecological Surgical Sets wedding in she managed to be a high 4 needed at $17,000 each 2019 was a achiever in both academbeautiful affair, but no one ics and sports in school.

• Allows for minimally invasive could tell what was happen“Most women don’t techniques for treatment of ing just below the surface. suffer the way the wombenign and cancerous In fact, the Saanich en in my family do,” gynecologic conditions. woman, who had long had Durham-Affleck said. “uncontrolled” menstrual “Regular women can go • About 750 patients from across cycles, was bleeding into through one box of tamVancouver Island will benefit her shoes. pons in a week, and I will from this equipment annually.

“It’s nothing new to go through one in a day.” me at that point,” said She talks openly with Durham-Affleck, who is her two daughters about telling her story to draw the situation, she said, and attention to the Victoria Hospitals Founda- wishes she had learned more about her tion’s Emerge Stronger campaign, which condition at a younger age. She said she hopes to raise $10 million for new hospital didn’t know for years that her grandequipment. mother had a hysterectomy at age 38 for The 40-year-old said the problem, the same problem — a surgery she would which afflicts other women in her family, ultimately have herself. began when she started menstruating at Awareness and dialogue about the the age of nine, three or four years before condition have improved since then, as most of her friends. has the medical technology to deal with, The accompanying pelvic pain continshe said. ued for years — she would have one good Her problems seemed to ease after she week followed by three with persistent gave birth to her first daughter at the age JEFF BELL Times Colonist

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SURGICAL SERV.

often get asked why a hospital foundation needs to exist. Isn’t healthcare free? It is, but its quality and the specialty services that our hospitals can provide rely heavily on donor support. The inspiring patient journeys you will Avery Brohman Executive Director, read in the following Victoria Hospitals Foundation pages, coupled by the life-changing care they received at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals, tell a profound story of how philanthropy helps advance care for us all.

My hope is that every Islander who can join our mission will—because all 850,000+ of us depend on the Island’s two largest hospitals. It is so important for all of us to know how we can help these specialty hospitals, and understand that without vital donor support, they simply cannot care for all of us the way they do today.

In fact, 40% of equipment at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General is funded by community members just like you. Can you imagine where we would be without donor support?

These days, the importance of excellent healthcare has never been more apparent. We all know just how vital our health is. The pandemic continues to put significant stress on our hospitals, yet we all need them. Any moment, any one of us might need care. They are there for us and we must be there for them. Over the past two years Island Health has asked for our Foundation’s support more than ever before – just last year our donors helped make a permanent High Acuity Unit (HAU) a reality. Without our donors, this new acute level of care at Royal Jubilee Hospital would have taken much longer to build. In fact, we were the only BC Health Authority without a permanent HAU. In response to Island Health’s priority needs, I am asking for the community to support the bold vision of our Emerge Stronger campaign: to fund over 200 pieces of new equipment in our hospitals.

Already, our Island community has responded and helped raise $3.4 million of our $10 million goal in just four months.

If you share our vision to transform helathcare here on the Island, please consider a gift to Emerge Stronger today. As we near completion of the campaign’s first phase, your gift today will be matched, dollar-for-dollar. I invite you to read on about our generous matching donors, Mike and Ethel. Will you join them?

It’s important to recognize that the patients and Island Health caregivers featured within represent just a few of the thousands of lives that are touched by our hospitals every day. I thank them for being brave and sharing their stories to inspire community support.

While I still have you, I want to convey how important it is to remember that in times of darkness, there is always light. There is so much good happening each day inside our hospitals–in every hospital on the Island.

I hope you will be inspired to join our family of 5,200 active donors on Vancouver Island. We need your support. There is truly no better investment in the health of our community.

Together, we can do so much.

Avery Brohman Executive Director, Victoria Hospitals Foundation

In the end, she decided a hysterectomy was the right step. “At that point, I thought, ‘I’m done my child-bearing years.’ ” Durham-Affleck’s surgery was done laparoscopically, so only small incisions were made in her abdomen and she was able to be discharged from the hospital the next day.

“The benefit of having laparoscopic surgery is there are three incisions, rather than opening your abdomen up and be Meghan Durham-Affleck at her acreage. stapled back together,” said Durham- AfShe says four new gynecological surgical fleck, who praised the postsurgery care. sets are an important part of the goal for “They were very, very good and if the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s Emerge there was anything I needed or any conStronger campaign, since the current sets cerns, they were there for me.” are more than 20 years old. DARREN STONE, Durham-Affleck said four new gyneTIMES COLONIST cological surgical sets are an important of 28, but routine tests revealed abnormal part of the goal for the Emerge Stronger cells on her cervix in 2019, as they had in campaign, since the current sets are more than 20 years old. her early 20s. Her massive bleeding had The new sets cost $17,000 each. also come back, and some days she could Hunt and his colleagues perform stand for only 30 minutes at a time. about 2,600 gynecological surgeries like Her energy was at a low ebb and she Durham-Affleck’s each year, but say they was bleeding heavily for two weeks at a need more and newer equipment to do time. It was hard to enjoy life. more such surgeries.

She said it wasn’t easy to manage it Durham-Affleck said her surgery has with two young daughters and her work in made a big difference to her life, improvthe family towing business.

She was referred to Dr. Harold Hunt, ing it “180 degrees.”

“I have the energy and time to enjoy OB-GYN at Victoria General Hospital — which serves as the Vancouver Island my life,” she said. “This is a long-term solution. It takes the worry out of develreferral centre for women’s health.

Durham-Affleck said she was worried oping cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer.” about what her condition could lead to jbell@timescolonist.com in the future, including osteoporosis and cancer, so she discussed with Hunt the To donate to the Emerge Stronger preventive step of a hysterectomy — recampaign, go to the Victoria Hospitals moval of the uterus.

Foundation website at victoriahf.ca “I really felt fortunate that we caught or call 250-519-1750. this, that there were measures to take.”

A8 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST

TIMES COLONIST | timescolonist.com

Produced in support of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

VICTORIAHF.CA /GIVE-TODAY

A retinal laser was used on her by Dr. Murray Erasmus.

“If I had not had that equipment availoni Smith has had eye issues able to me right then and there, the retina all her life, but her current could have detached and I could have healthcare journey began gone blind,” she said. “Once the retinas three years ago on a beaufully detach it becomes much more diffitiful summer day, when she cult to save the sight.” and husband, Gary, were planning a trip Despite it all, she was tended to quickup-Island to a friend’s cabin. ly and able to make the trip to the cabin.

“It was bizarre to me that all of that Things changed in an instant with an happened, all on a Friday, ophthalmologist appointand we were actually able ment bringing the news to go on that trip,” she said. she was facing perma“That’s how incredible this nent eye damage. procedure is, that the docThe situation began tor can repair the damage when her optometrist Retinal Laser right then and there, and discovered a tear in her $159,000 off you go to carry on with retina — which turned your life.” out to be related to her • Reliable treatment for patients The talk about her retiextreme nearsightedness with multiple retinal conditions nas— the membrane on the — along with several with reduced patient discomfort inner surface of the back of areas in both eyes where and treatment times. the eye — was new to her, more tears were possiSmith said. ble.

• About 20-25 laser treatments “When I learned how “It kind of threw me per week are provided to local to crawl I was crawling down a path that I’m and referred patients. straight into walls, so I was still dealing with,” Smith born with bad eyesight,” said. she said. “I always had Her family doctor issues with my eyes and confirmed the severity of things but I never really knew how comher condition and sent her to the ophthalpromised my retina was.” mologist, who told her she had to have Retinas change over time, said the surgery right away.

56-year-old.

Smith said the thought of emergency “They simply degenerate with age, eye surgery was frightening. so as I have gotten older my retinas have “It’s just not that much fun and it’s thinned. I honestly didn’t realize how scary, and thank heaven for the equipimportant this was until the degeneration ment that we have and the doctors that was detected,” Smith said. we have here in Victoria.”

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SURGICAL SERV.

“I honestly didn’t know that I had to watch this until this happened.”

One clue turned out to be that she was determined, about 10 years ago, not to be a candidate for a Lasik procedure, which would have allowed her to stop using glasses and contacts. She was told there was not enough tissue with her retinas.

“I thought: ‘That was disappointing,’ Toni Smith said the treatment she but still it didn’t register with me at all received through the retinal laser has that there was any impending issue.” been a godsend for her. VICTORIA HOSPITALS The retinal laser has been a godsend FOUNDATION for her, Smith said. “I can’t be thankful enough for that being available to me and the doctors basically dropping evHospitals Foundation’s Emerge Stronger erything to make sure my eye got fixed,” campaign is to fund a new retinal laser she said. at a cost of $159,000, which “It was incredible the means the current unit can great care I got.” be used as a backup.

Her procedures have That unit is 15 years old had a cumulative effect. and has no backup itself in “After all of the case it runs into problems. surgeries that I have “The retina machine had, I am left with a lot that the foundation is buyof flashing and spots that ing is so necessary,” Smith Dr. Erasmus with the kind of float in front of said. “How fantastic is that hospital’s current Retinal my eyes,” Smith said. to have two machines?”

Laser. VICTORIA HOSPITALS “It becomes a little She explained that the FOUNDATION more difficult for me to current technology can be tell when things are really bad or not, so I “uncomfortable and not pleasant” for have to get them checked regularly. patients.

“It’s something, unfortunately, I have “This new machine makes things to live with and be worried about.” certainly easier,” Smith said. “The downHer latest surgery was in January. time is minimal, as well, with it, which is The region’s retinal laser, which docamazing to me.” tors use to perform up to 25 laser treatments a week on people such as Smith, is To donate to Emerge Stronger go to aging and needs to be replaced. victoriahf.ca or call 250-519-1750.

One of the many goals of the Victoria jbell@timescolonist.com

Saving puppy leads to serious leg injury for Salt Spring resident, support for fundraiser urged VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

Robyn Rhea did a baseball slide into a mirror after trying to stop it from dropping on her puppy, and severely lacerated her leg in the process. She praises health-care workers who treated her, and is urging support for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10-million Emerge Stronger campaign, which is raising money for more than 200 pieces of equipment.

JEFF BELL Times Colonist

I

t started out as a special Sunday last month for Robyn Rhea.

She and her partner were planning to celebrate the start of Rhea’s new life-coaching business — and the signing of her first client of the year.

The plan was to take their dogs for a walk, then get takeout for dinner.

“I thought it was going to be a lot more of a positive day than it was,” she said.

But that changed when Rhea was

taking an afternoon shower and happened to notice a mirror that had been leaning against the wall was falling toward one of the dogs, a five-month-old puppy named Petey. She jumped out of the shower — then slipped on the floor and crashed into the mirror.

Petey was out of harm’s way, but the 29-year-old’s right leg was seriously lacerated.

“My partner describes it as a baseball slide into the mirror,” she said. “I felt blood trickling down. I didn’t feel the actual laceration.”

One look at the leg, though, and it was clear she had to go to the hospital. The muscle on her shin was cut right to the bone.

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, to say the least,” Rhea said.

She said the treatment she would receive — first at Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island and then Victoria General Hospital — was outstanding, which inspired her to go public with her experience and urge people to support the ongoing $10-million Emerge Stronger campaign, established by the Victoria Hospitals Foundation to raise money for over 200 pieces of much-needed equipment.

She was treated in the emergency department with an electrosurgical unit, which uses high-frequency electric current for a range of treatments on damaged tissue — and to control bleeding, as in Rhea’s case. A new $80,000 electrosurgical unit is among the items planned for purchase through the campaign.

Rhea said she was in shock for some time after the accident. “It felt like a strange dream.”

After the trip to Lady Minto, Rhea was transported to Victoria General by ambulance. A helicopter transfer wasn’t possible due to wind.

“I was oddly excited to go in a helicopter,” said Rhea, who has done her best to keep up her spirits and optimism.

She had hoped to be sent from Victoria to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, near her family, but was told the trauma was too severe for the move. That drove home the seriousness of the situation.

“I had honestly thought that I would just go the hospital and get a few stitches and come home.”

The reality was that she was facing 12 weeks of healing.

Rhea praised all of the hospital staff she has encountered. “Everyone is just so kind and comforting, and they kept

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Produced in support of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

VICTORIAHF.CA /GIVE-TODAY

Bladder-cancer survivor praises equipment that made surgery less invasive

Woman grateful for retinal laser treatment JEFF BELL Times Colonist

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION SEEKING DONATIONS TO BUY MORE URETEROSCOPES JEFF BELL Times Colonist

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ionel Polard was excited to be headed for hip-replacement surgery a few years ago.

“I’d been living in a lot of pain with my hips,” he said. “I was going in with a big smile on my face, and then the next thing I hear is sorry it’s been cancelled.”

A routine pre-operative scan had turned up cancer in his bladder, which had to take precedence.

“It came as an extreme shock to me,” said the 59-year-old, who said he had no symptoms.

There were three tumours in total, he said, but they were caught early. “My GP and urologist told me that I was very, very lucky to get it caught when I did.”

Polard comes from an active background — he even did bull riding as a teenager in Saskatchewan. He went on to become a bodybuilder and met his wife, Collette, onstage at a competition where he was named Mr. Saskatchewan and she was named Mrs. Saskatchewan.

He said he loves Victoria, which he first saw during a holiday in 1980. “Victoria was always calling my name,” he said.

“My life has been wonderful here.”

His wife, a registered nurse, told him he was in good hands with the local medical system. “She said: ‘Now we’ve just got to deal with this. You and I will deal with this together.’ ” Within two weeks of the diagnosis, Polard underwent surgery performed by Dr. Iain McAuley. Thanks to a specialized surgical scope, he had a minimally invasive procedure and was discharged the same day.

Such scopes are used for for conditions that involve the urinary tract, including the bladder and ureter — tubes that connect the bladder to the kidney.

“The fact of the matter is that without that equipment, they’d have had to cut me open. I would have probably been in the hospital for a week rather than a day,” Polard said. “The healing process is so much faster.”

Ureteroscopes are used to treat about 1,800 patients a year in the Island Health region.

calling me a hero because I saved the mirror from smashing on the puppy,” she said. “For the traumatic experience that it was, I think it was made a lot more positive because everyone was just so great.”

Rhea said she hopes to start physiotherapy soon and to start hiking again in the spring and summer with the dogs on Salt Spring, where she has lived since September 2020 after a move from Nanaimo.

She said she is taking what happened as “a blessing in disguise” and using some of her down time to take online courses.

Rhea said it’s tough not being as active as she usually is. The accident has driven home how quickly things can happen and how much people can take things for granted, she said.

She said she is interested in maybe running a race later this year to support Emerge Stronger — “any way that I can pay it forward and I can help spread awareness.”

McAuley calls the ureteroscope a “workhorse” instrument. The hope is to acquire 12 more at a total cost of $155,000 through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s ongoing Emerge Stronger campaign.

Polard urges people to support the campaign.

“If you asked me to go the top of the mountain and scream that out loud I would do that,” he said. “This equipment is so important in helping people to get diagnosed properly and to get the situation dealt with quickly.”

Polard had to undergo more treatment recently when a second tumour was located in his ureter. It was removed in December. He said the thought of a second round of treatment was “dejecting” because he thought the cancer was behind him.

“Everything was going in the right direction,” Polard said.

“I was back to golfing.”

He is now on the mend, and said McAuley deserves a lot of praise for what he has done for him. “Aside from being a great surgeon he’s an amazing person,”

Lionel Polard urges people to support the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10-million Emerge Stronger campaign, aimed at raising funds to buy new equipment, including a diagnostic and surgical device called a ureteroscope.

VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

he said. “He kept me apprised of every step that we were taking.

“I can’t say enough about him.”

Polard now goes for check-ups every three months, and will do so for the rest of his life.

He said cancer is “a very ugly word.”

“I never, ever expected to hear that word for myself,” he said.

“It completely caught me off-guard, but the truth be known you’ve got to deal with it. I was fortunate enough I had good doctors around me.”

To donate to Emerge Stronger, go to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation website or call 250-519-1750. jbell@timescolonist.com

Breast cancer survivor touts campaign for new hospital equipment

To donate to Emerge Stronger, go to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation website at victoriahf.ca or call 250-519-1750. bell@timescolonist.com

Messages from Our Caregivers

CANCER CARE

CAROLYN CRAMPTON HAS HAD A LONG CAREER IN THE MEDICAL FIELD, SO SHE KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER.

Breast Imaging Software $99,000 • Improves

breast cancer detection.

• Helps high-risk patients and challenging diagnostic cases.

• Almost 15,000 breast imaging procedures at VGH yearly.

Carolyn Crampton, a retired ultrasound technician who worked in breast imaging, had breast cancer diagnosed five years ago after noticing some abnormalities.

DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

‘‘

Currently, if our Retinal Laser needs repair and is down for a week, there could be multiple patients who don’t receive the urgent care they need.

A new Retinal Laser will allow us to use the one we have now as a critical back-up.”

Dr. Murray Erasmus, Ophthalmologist, RJH

‘‘

Through each outcome for every patient, we can rest assured when we know we’ve provided the best possible care. And frankly, that would not be possible without proper equipment.”

Dr. Jill Kelly, Emergency Physician at RJH & VGH, Medical Lead, Emergency RJH

‘‘

When our care teams are well-equipped to treat a patient’s condition, we have the ability to make a profound difference in their quality of life — I see it frequently in the OR.” Dr. Harold Hunt Obstetrician-Gynecologist, South Island

‘‘

JEFF BELL Times Colonist

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Our future goals include arolyn Crampton has had a long career in further improvement in wait times and the medical field, so she knew what to expect expansion of echocardiography services when she had breast cancer diagnosed. to regions where it is currently unavailCrampton, a retired ultrasound technician able. The continued generosity of VHF who worked in breast imaging, said it all goes donors will go a long way to help making to show that people just don’t know what is going to hapthis goal achievable.” pen with their health.

In total, the 57-year-old worked for Island Health for Dr. Karan Shetty 25 years before retiring three weeks ago. Her work with Island Health Echocardiography breast imaging was at Victoria General Hospital, the Medical Lead Island’s referral centre for mammograms and women’s health, and she found that the field fit her personality.

“There’s a lot of teaching and counselling on top of just doing the actual tests, and that suited me.”

Crampton’s case unfolded five years ago when she noticed an abnormality, a dimpling or puckering, on one of her breasts.

“I knew that was a sign that you need to get things checked, so I did,” she said. It turned out to be cancer.

She said her condition had not shown up on her regu-

lar mammograms because her breasts are dense. Tissue fibres can overlap in dense breasts and keep things hidden, Crampton said.

That’s where the work of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation comes in, she said. The foundation’s Emerge Stronger campaign is raising $10 million for more than 200 pieces of equipment that have been prioritized for Victoria General, Royal Jubilee and Gorge Road hospitals.

“Now they’re getting some equipment funded by the foundation, and it’s a mammogram machine that will help with the problem of breast density,” she said.

“That’s quite a hot topic right now for women, their breast density, because it’s unique for each person.

“Women are very curious about their own breast density and what is the best way to monitor their own breasts.”

Crampton’s cancer was diagnosed by radiologist Dr. Brent Lee using an ultrasound machine and a biopsy.

After that, Dr. Alison Ross performed a lumpectomy — also called a partial mastectomy — and also removed a lymph node from an armpit to check for spreading.

There was none.

“So I was lucky I didn’t have to have chemotherapy,”

said Crampton, who had four weeks of radiation and takes a hormone-blocking medication. “I think I got off pretty easy.”

Among the equipment being funded by the Victoria Hospitals Foundation are a $31,000 high-resolution mammography monitor, an $87,000 ultrasound machine and $99,000 breast-imaging, computer-aided detection software.

The software lets radiologists use MRI scans to diagnose breast cancers that are small and early-stage. “It helps them read a breast MRI, which is really important,” Crampton said.

She said the high-resolution monitor will help in reading mammograms.

The fact her cancer was missed doesn’t mean mammograms aren’t needed every two years, Crampton said.

“That’s the very first step in the investigation, a mammogram,” she said. “You want to see any changes over time.”

To donate to the Emerge Stronger campaign, go to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation website at victoriahf.ca or call 250-519-1750. jbell@timescolonist.com

A8 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST

TIMES COLONIST | timescolonist.com

Produced in support of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

VICTORIAHF.CA /GIVE-TODAY

A retinal laser was used on her by Dr. Murray Erasmus.

“If I had not had that equipment availoni Smith has had eye issues able to me right then and there, the retina all her life, but her current could have detached and I could have healthcare journey began gone blind,” she said. “Once the retinas three years ago on a beaufully detach it becomes much more diffitiful summer day, when she cult to save the sight.” and husband, Gary, were planning a trip Despite it all, she was tended to quickup-Island to a friend’s cabin. ly and able to make the trip to the cabin.

“It was bizarre to me that all of that Things changed in an instant with an happened, all on a Friday, ophthalmologist appointand we were actually able ment bringing the news to go on that trip,” she said. she was facing perma“That’s how incredible this nent eye damage. procedure is, that the docThe situation began tor can repair the damage when her optometrist Retinal Laser right then and there, and discovered a tear in her $159,000 off you go to carry on with retina — which turned your life.” out to be related to her • Reliable treatment for patients The talk about her retiextreme nearsightedness with multiple retinal conditions nas— the membrane on the — along with several with reduced patient discomfort inner surface of the back of areas in both eyes where and treatment times. the eye — was new to her, more tears were possiSmith said. ble.

• About 20-25 laser treatments “When I learned how “It kind of threw me per week are provided to local to crawl I was crawling down a path that I’m and referred patients. straight into walls, so I was still dealing with,” Smith born with bad eyesight,” said. she said. “I always had Her family doctor issues with my eyes and confirmed the severity of things but I never really knew how comher condition and sent her to the ophthalpromised my retina was.” mologist, who told her she had to have Retinas change over time, said the surgery right away.

56-year-old.

Smith said the thought of emergency “They simply degenerate with age, eye surgery was frightening. so as I have gotten older my retinas have “It’s just not that much fun and it’s thinned. I honestly didn’t realize how scary, and thank heaven for the equipimportant this was until the degeneration ment that we have and the doctors that was detected,” Smith said. we have here in Victoria.”

T

SURGICAL SERV.

“I honestly didn’t know that I had to watch this until this happened.”

One clue turned out to be that she was determined, about 10 years ago, not to be a candidate for a Lasik procedure, which would have allowed her to stop using glasses and contacts. She was told there was not enough tissue with her retinas.

“I thought: ‘That was disappointing,’ Toni Smith said the treatment she but still it didn’t register with me at all received through the retinal laser has that there was any impending issue.” been a godsend for her. VICTORIA HOSPITALS The retinal laser has been a godsend FOUNDATION for her, Smith said. “I can’t be thankful enough for that being available to me and the doctors basically dropping evHospitals Foundation’s Emerge Stronger erything to make sure my eye got fixed,” campaign is to fund a new retinal laser she said. at a cost of $159,000, which “It was incredible the means the current unit can great care I got.” be used as a backup.

Her procedures have That unit is 15 years old had a cumulative effect. and has no backup itself in “After all of the case it runs into problems. surgeries that I have “The retina machine had, I am left with a lot that the foundation is buyof flashing and spots that ing is so necessary,” Smith Dr. Erasmus with the kind of float in front of said. “How fantastic is that hospital’s current Retinal my eyes,” Smith said. to have two machines?”

Laser. VICTORIA HOSPITALS “It becomes a little She explained that the FOUNDATION more difficult for me to current technology can be tell when things are really bad or not, so I “uncomfortable and not pleasant” for have to get them checked regularly. patients.

“It’s something, unfortunately, I have “This new machine makes things to live with and be worried about.” certainly easier,” Smith said. “The downHer latest surgery was in January. time is minimal, as well, with it, which is The region’s retinal laser, which docamazing to me.” tors use to perform up to 25 laser treatments a week on people such as Smith, is To donate to Emerge Stronger go to aging and needs to be replaced. victoriahf.ca or call 250-519-1750.

One of the many goals of the Victoria jbell@timescolonist.com

Saving puppy leads to serious leg injury for Salt Spring resident, support for fundraiser urged VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

Robyn Rhea did a baseball slide into a mirror after trying to stop it from dropping on her puppy, and severely lacerated her leg in the process. She praises health-care workers who treated her, and is urging support for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10-million Emerge Stronger campaign, which is raising money for more than 200 pieces of equipment.

JEFF BELL Times Colonist

I

t started out as a special Sunday last month for Robyn Rhea.

She and her partner were planning to celebrate the start of Rhea’s new life-coaching business — and the signing of her first client of the year.

The plan was to take their dogs for a walk, then get takeout for dinner.

“I thought it was going to be a lot more of a positive day than it was,” she said.

But that changed when Rhea was

taking an afternoon shower and happened to notice a mirror that had been leaning against the wall was falling toward one of the dogs, a five-month-old puppy named Petey. She jumped out of the shower — then slipped on the floor and crashed into the mirror.

Petey was out of harm’s way, but the 29-year-old’s right leg was seriously lacerated.

“My partner describes it as a baseball slide into the mirror,” she said. “I felt blood trickling down. I didn’t feel the actual laceration.”

One look at the leg, though, and it was clear she had to go to the hospital. The muscle on her shin was cut right to the bone.

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, to say the least,” Rhea said.

She said the treatment she would receive — first at Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island and then Victoria General Hospital — was outstanding, which inspired her to go public with her experience and urge people to support the ongoing $10-million Emerge Stronger campaign, established by the Victoria Hospitals Foundation to raise money for over 200 pieces of much-needed equipment.

She was treated in the emergency department with an electrosurgical unit, which uses high-frequency electric current for a range of treatments on damaged tissue — and to control bleeding, as in Rhea’s case. A new $80,000 electrosurgical unit is among the items planned for purchase through the campaign.

Rhea said she was in shock for some time after the accident. “It felt like a strange dream.”

After the trip to Lady Minto, Rhea was transported to Victoria General by ambulance. A helicopter transfer wasn’t possible due to wind.

“I was oddly excited to go in a helicopter,” said Rhea, who has done her best to keep up her spirits and optimism.

She had hoped to be sent from Victoria to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, near her family, but was told the trauma was too severe for the move. That drove home the seriousness of the situation.

“I had honestly thought that I would just go the hospital and get a few stitches and come home.”

The reality was that she was facing 12 weeks of healing.

Rhea praised all of the hospital staff she has encountered. “Everyone is just so kind and comforting, and they kept

A9

Produced in support of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

VICTORIAHF.CA /GIVE-TODAY

Bladder-cancer survivor praises equipment that made surgery less invasive

Woman grateful for retinal laser treatment JEFF BELL Times Colonist

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION SEEKING DONATIONS TO BUY MORE URETEROSCOPES JEFF BELL Times Colonist

L

ionel Polard was excited to be headed for hip-replacement surgery a few years ago.

“I’d been living in a lot of pain with my hips,” he said. “I was going in with a big smile on my face, and then the next thing I hear is sorry it’s been cancelled.”

A routine pre-operative scan had turned up cancer in his bladder, which had to take precedence.

“It came as an extreme shock to me,” said the 59-year-old, who said he had no symptoms.

There were three tumours in total, he said, but they were caught early. “My GP and urologist told me that I was very, very lucky to get it caught when I did.”

Polard comes from an active background — he even did bull riding as a teenager in Saskatchewan. He went on to become a bodybuilder and met his wife, Collette, onstage at a competition where he was named Mr. Saskatchewan and she was named Mrs. Saskatchewan.

He said he loves Victoria, which he first saw during a holiday in 1980. “Victoria was always calling my name,” he said.

“My life has been wonderful here.”

His wife, a registered nurse, told him he was in good hands with the local medical system. “She said: ‘Now we’ve just got to deal with this. You and I will deal with this together.’ ” Within two weeks of the diagnosis, Polard underwent surgery performed by Dr. Iain McAuley. Thanks to a specialized surgical scope, he had a minimally invasive procedure and was discharged the same day.

Such scopes are used for for conditions that involve the urinary tract, including the bladder and ureter — tubes that connect the bladder to the kidney.

“The fact of the matter is that without that equipment, they’d have had to cut me open. I would have probably been in the hospital for a week rather than a day,” Polard said. “The healing process is so much faster.”

Ureteroscopes are used to treat about 1,800 patients a year in the Island Health region.

calling me a hero because I saved the mirror from smashing on the puppy,” she said. “For the traumatic experience that it was, I think it was made a lot more positive because everyone was just so great.”

Rhea said she hopes to start physiotherapy soon and to start hiking again in the spring and summer with the dogs on Salt Spring, where she has lived since September 2020 after a move from Nanaimo.

She said she is taking what happened as “a blessing in disguise” and using some of her down time to take online courses.

Rhea said it’s tough not being as active as she usually is. The accident has driven home how quickly things can happen and how much people can take things for granted, she said.

She said she is interested in maybe running a race later this year to support Emerge Stronger — “any way that I can pay it forward and I can help spread awareness.”

McAuley calls the ureteroscope a “workhorse” instrument. The hope is to acquire 12 more at a total cost of $155,000 through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s ongoing Emerge Stronger campaign.

Polard urges people to support the campaign.

“If you asked me to go the top of the mountain and scream that out loud I would do that,” he said. “This equipment is so important in helping people to get diagnosed properly and to get the situation dealt with quickly.”

Polard had to undergo more treatment recently when a second tumour was located in his ureter. It was removed in December. He said the thought of a second round of treatment was “dejecting” because he thought the cancer was behind him.

“Everything was going in the right direction,” Polard said.

“I was back to golfing.”

He is now on the mend, and said McAuley deserves a lot of praise for what he has done for him. “Aside from being a great surgeon he’s an amazing person,”

Lionel Polard urges people to support the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10-million Emerge Stronger campaign, aimed at raising funds to buy new equipment, including a diagnostic and surgical device called a ureteroscope.

VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

he said. “He kept me apprised of every step that we were taking.

“I can’t say enough about him.”

Polard now goes for check-ups every three months, and will do so for the rest of his life.

He said cancer is “a very ugly word.”

“I never, ever expected to hear that word for myself,” he said.

“It completely caught me off-guard, but the truth be known you’ve got to deal with it. I was fortunate enough I had good doctors around me.”

To donate to Emerge Stronger, go to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation website or call 250-519-1750. jbell@timescolonist.com

Breast cancer survivor touts campaign for new hospital equipment

To donate to Emerge Stronger, go to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation website at victoriahf.ca or call 250-519-1750. bell@timescolonist.com

Messages from Our Caregivers

CANCER CARE

CAROLYN CRAMPTON HAS HAD A LONG CAREER IN THE MEDICAL FIELD, SO SHE KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER.

Breast Imaging Software $99,000 • Improves

breast cancer detection.

• Helps high-risk patients and challenging diagnostic cases.

• Almost 15,000 breast imaging procedures at VGH yearly.

Carolyn Crampton, a retired ultrasound technician who worked in breast imaging, had breast cancer diagnosed five years ago after noticing some abnormalities.

DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

‘‘

Currently, if our Retinal Laser needs repair and is down for a week, there could be multiple patients who don’t receive the urgent care they need.

A new Retinal Laser will allow us to use the one we have now as a critical back-up.”

Dr. Murray Erasmus, Ophthalmologist, RJH

‘‘

Through each outcome for every patient, we can rest assured when we know we’ve provided the best possible care. And frankly, that would not be possible without proper equipment.”

Dr. Jill Kelly, Emergency Physician at RJH & VGH, Medical Lead, Emergency RJH

‘‘

When our care teams are well-equipped to treat a patient’s condition, we have the ability to make a profound difference in their quality of life — I see it frequently in the OR.” Dr. Harold Hunt Obstetrician-Gynecologist, South Island

‘‘

JEFF BELL Times Colonist

C

Our future goals include arolyn Crampton has had a long career in further improvement in wait times and the medical field, so she knew what to expect expansion of echocardiography services when she had breast cancer diagnosed. to regions where it is currently unavailCrampton, a retired ultrasound technician able. The continued generosity of VHF who worked in breast imaging, said it all goes donors will go a long way to help making to show that people just don’t know what is going to hapthis goal achievable.” pen with their health.

In total, the 57-year-old worked for Island Health for Dr. Karan Shetty 25 years before retiring three weeks ago. Her work with Island Health Echocardiography breast imaging was at Victoria General Hospital, the Medical Lead Island’s referral centre for mammograms and women’s health, and she found that the field fit her personality.

“There’s a lot of teaching and counselling on top of just doing the actual tests, and that suited me.”

Crampton’s case unfolded five years ago when she noticed an abnormality, a dimpling or puckering, on one of her breasts.

“I knew that was a sign that you need to get things checked, so I did,” she said. It turned out to be cancer.

She said her condition had not shown up on her regu-

lar mammograms because her breasts are dense. Tissue fibres can overlap in dense breasts and keep things hidden, Crampton said.

That’s where the work of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation comes in, she said. The foundation’s Emerge Stronger campaign is raising $10 million for more than 200 pieces of equipment that have been prioritized for Victoria General, Royal Jubilee and Gorge Road hospitals.

“Now they’re getting some equipment funded by the foundation, and it’s a mammogram machine that will help with the problem of breast density,” she said.

“That’s quite a hot topic right now for women, their breast density, because it’s unique for each person.

“Women are very curious about their own breast density and what is the best way to monitor their own breasts.”

Crampton’s cancer was diagnosed by radiologist Dr. Brent Lee using an ultrasound machine and a biopsy.

After that, Dr. Alison Ross performed a lumpectomy — also called a partial mastectomy — and also removed a lymph node from an armpit to check for spreading.

There was none.

“So I was lucky I didn’t have to have chemotherapy,”

said Crampton, who had four weeks of radiation and takes a hormone-blocking medication. “I think I got off pretty easy.”

Among the equipment being funded by the Victoria Hospitals Foundation are a $31,000 high-resolution mammography monitor, an $87,000 ultrasound machine and $99,000 breast-imaging, computer-aided detection software.

The software lets radiologists use MRI scans to diagnose breast cancers that are small and early-stage. “It helps them read a breast MRI, which is really important,” Crampton said.

She said the high-resolution monitor will help in reading mammograms.

The fact her cancer was missed doesn’t mean mammograms aren’t needed every two years, Crampton said.

“That’s the very first step in the investigation, a mammogram,” she said. “You want to see any changes over time.”

To donate to the Emerge Stronger campaign, go to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation website at victoriahf.ca or call 250-519-1750. jbell@timescolonist.com

A10 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST

Produced in support of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

Snorkelling scare shows couple importance of ECG machines Ethel and Mike Marley. VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION JEFF BELL Times Colonist

F

our years ago, Mike and Ethel Marley were snorkelling in Barbados when Ethel noticed her husband couldn’t lift his head out of the water.

“He was grey and he couldn’t breathe properly, so I had to drag him out,” said Ethel, a retired critical-care nurse.

She got him to a doctor, who did an echocardiogram — a cardiac ultrasound — that revealed a leaky heart valve.

Once back in Victoria, Mike went to see cardiologist Dr. Karan Shetty, Island Health’s medical lead for echocardiography. He went through a battery of tests and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Last summer, he started retaining fluid and was admitted to Royal Jubilee Hospital, where he spent two weeks in the cardiac unit before returning home.

The problems continued, however, until one day he be-

F

came unresponsive and Ethel had to call 911, which she says she had never had to do “in all my life as a nurse. It was very frightening.”

ably good job,” he said. “I need them for the future, too.”

At 79, Jamaican-born Mike said with a laugh that he is coming to terms with the fact that his body parts are all past their “best-before date.”

Ethel also offered praise for the health-care system, which she said has been excellent despite the difficulties of working through a pandemic.

Mike and Ethel Marley take comfort in the excellent care Mike received throughout his medical journey and have been inspired to generously support the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s Emerge Stronger campaign. With $600,000 left to reach the Recovery Phase goal, all gifts to the campaign will be matched

by Mike and Ethel until this phase is complete.

Mike was readmitted to hospital and found to have an irregular heartbeat. In October, he underwent a cardioversion, a procedure that shocks the heart in an effort to restore regular rhythm. Fortunately, it worked.

To date, Mike has had six echocardiograms — the most recent one in January.

He said his experience is an example of what the healthcare system can do. It has also helped him deal with Parkinson’s.

“They have done a remark-

The Victoria Hospitals Foundation hopes to buy six echocardiogram machines as part of its ongoing Emerge Stronger fundraising campaign, and the Marleys hope their experience will show the importance of the machines.

“I definitely want to urge all

the people to support this cause — it’s an exceptional system,” said Mike, a former developer who has sat on the boards of several charities.

Emerge Stronger aims to generate $10 million to fund more than 200 pieces of equipment, including the echocardiogram machines. Shetty, who has been at Royal Jubilee for seven and a half years, says the machines are much-needed.

At the beginning of the pandemic, he said, many elective echocardiograms were deferred or cancelled by referring physicians to keep their patients out of the hospital, which has increased wait times for echocardiograms across the Island. The waits have come down in recent

months and will hopefully drop further with more equipment, Shetty said.

He described an echocardiogram as “an indispensable tool that provides cardiologists with lots of valuable information about the cardiac muscle and valves.”

Shetty said the machine emits high-frequency sound waves that bounce off the heart and the blood flowing through it.

The returning sound waves are processed to generate images of the heart that help cardiologists understand its structure and function.

To donate to Emerge Stronger, go to victoriahf. ca or call 250- 519-1750. jbell@timescolonist.com

The need for new and updated equipment has never been greater as our hospitals emerge from the pandemic. Your gift will have double the impact today and provide healthcare teams with the equipment they need to care for Islanders like Mike—and thousands of others. “We’re privileged to have the best care, but only because we all support our hospitals,” says Ethel. Please give generously.

ABOUT THE VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

or over 30 years, donors to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation (VHF) have been making a difference in the health and care of patients across Vancouver Island. As Island Health’s charitable partner, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation works to enable donations to every area of care at Royal Jubilee, Victoria General, and Gorge Road hospitals.

The Foundation runs fundraising campaigns to inspire community giving in order to replace and fund

new equipment and technology, build new hospital units, develop new programs, train staff, and ultimately improve the health of the community. When the community unites together for Victoria hospitals, local care teams can use state-of-the-art equipment much sooner than if we relied on government funding alone, resulting in better delivery of care and patient journeys. It also ensures that patients can stay on the Island for the treatment and care they rely on. The best equipment means local hospitals can attract the best talent from around the world.

VHF is proud that Vancouver Island hospitals can provide world-class care to the community, thanks to donors. This truly embodies VHF’s vision that “giving makes us all better.” Thanks to the generosity of community donors, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation has raised more than $163 million to benefit our hospitals since 1989. To learn more about the Victoria Hospitals Foundation visit victoriahf.ca.

Donations of all sizes make an impact—an impact that Victoria hospitals, local caregivers and all 850,000+ Vancouver Islanders will value for years to come. We invite you to join our donor family, a group of passionate individuals who are driven to advance local healthcare. Please donate today.

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT: FOR A LIMITED TIME, YOUR GIFT TO HELP OUR HOSPITALS EMERGE STRONGER WILL BE MATCHED

Make a difference for local healthcare—donate today!

Make a difference for local healthcare—donate today!

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Gifts to Emerge Stronger will be matched for a limited time!

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victoriahf.ca/give-today Victoria Hospitals Foundation Call to make a Wilson Block secure donation.

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