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The Willson's Story
 Thea and Phil Willson received three miracles in one. Their premature triplets, Daniella, Alexis and Gemma, were delivered at Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) by caesarean section on Leap Year Day. The fact that the naturally conceived sisters are identical is even more remarkable. The odds are one in 200 million! Thea was shocked the day she learned she was carrying triplets. At five months pregnant, she went for a routine ultrasound. With no history of multiples on her side of the family, Thea wasn’t even thinking about the possibility when the technician discovered three tiny hearts beating in her womb. “Before that moment, we had no idea that Royal Columbian even had a special neonatal unit,” says Thea.
RCH is a level three hospital for sick babies and one of only three hospitals in the province with a specialized neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to treat premature babies, multiple birth babies and those with serious health problems. On February 29, the operating room was full with three sets of paediatric teams: one assigned for each baby. Phil watched his tiny babies being delivered and took pictures for Thea. “I wasn’t able to see them,” she says. “But I heard them cry when they came out. They sounded just like little kittens.” Gemma was the smallest and weighed 2 lbs. 5 oz., Daniella and Alexis, who shared the same amniotic sac, weighed 2 lbs. 11 oz. and 3 lbs. 5 oz., respectively. The doctors were astounded. The two babies’ umbilical cords were so entwined they looked like they had been braided together. Miraculously, neither cord had compressed the other. Thea could not see her babies right away as they needed to be rushed to the NICU for oxygen and IV treatment. “I knew they were born but it wasn’t until I saw them that it finally became real.” In the NICU, the infants were prepped and had tubes put in their nose and throat for oxygen. Five days later, Thea held her babies for the first time. “They were so small, they could fit into one hand,”
she recalls.
 Since the triplets’ birth, the Willsons have developed a new routine as parents of three premature baby girls. Phil balances working full time with visiting the babies in the hospital, while Thea is with them every day. Still, life is an emotional rollercoaster for the Willsons. “It’s two steps forward and one step back,” Thea says. “Every time the babies reach a new milestone, we get really excited. But the next day, it can all change.” As the triplets grow, Thea and Phil try to make the small moments count, like when the babies hold their fingers and smile. The Willsons have a lot of support from their family and friends, and even their new “family” at RCH. “The nurses are all very good and compassionate,” says Thea. “I can’t emphasize enough how great they’ve been. We appreciate their care and are so thankful to Dr. Ubhi; he has been so personable and sincere.”
Read the full story in our Spring/Summer 2008 Caring Matters Newsletter.
Photos contributed by Karen Maloney
Chand's story
Thanks to Darshan Khosa's CPR training and the RCH cardiac care team, a Chilliwack grandfather is thriving post-heart attack.
 Darshan Khosa is a dedicated family man and long-distance truck driver. Last November, he also became a lifesaver. The father of five from Chilliwack had settled down in front of the television for the evening when his 72-year-old father Chand collapsed to the floor. Suddenly a father’s
life was in his son’s hands.
“He was pretty active earlier that day, and then all of a sudden he couldn’t breathe,” recalls Darshan. “I went to a CPR class 15 years ago but I still remembered what I had to do right away.” While Darshan provided the chest compressions he instructed his mother Kartar on how to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. “My mother and sister-in-law thought that he was gone but I never gave up.”
When the paramedics arrived they were able to shock the senior’s heart back into action before
rushing him to Chilliwack General. The ambulance service responded quickly, but every second that passed between the time Khosa Sr. collapsed and the paramedics arrived was crucial. Every minute without help decreases a heart attack patient’s chances of survival by 10 percent. “The doctor says if I wasn’t there that day there would have been no hope,” says Darshan.
 Although Chand Khosa survived the attack his recovery initially looked bleak. He was in a coma for two days at Chilliwack General but when he woke up physicians were able to stabilize his condition so he could be transferred to Royal Columbian Hospital. “He was brought here for his angiogram, which showed that nearly 99 percent of his artery was blocked,” explains Lil Drescher, Cardiac Surgery Coordinator at RCH. “Because of the degree of blockage and his presentation we decided to expedite his surgery.”
Khosa underwent successful bypass surgery to re-route the flow of blood around the clogged artery. “I wish more people knew how to perform CPR,” says Clinical Nurse Specialist Jocelyn Reimer-Kent, who works in the cardiac surgery department. “If more people in the community had even a general knowledge of what to do when they witness someone having a cardiac attack, they could be the first link in a chain” that ultimately saves a life.
Read the full story in the Spring issue of Your Health Matters.
Chantal's Story
Teamwork Is Critical - Chantal and Shane Dueck credit the specialized skills
of an RCH care team for saving baby Brielle
 “Royal Columbian is the only hospital in B.C. where this could have happened all under one roof,” says cardiac surgeon Dr. Tim Latham. “ Other hospitals specialize in high-risk maternity and newborn intensive care or cardiac surgery, but not both. This family was so fortunate to have access to all these highly specialized resources in one centre at RCH.”
The multidisciplinary team of nurses, doctors and other staff members assembled to handle the case accepted a challenge that was not merely medical, but also emotional. Repairing the heart of a woman who is 18 weeks pregnant involved not one life but two. As Clinical Nurse Specialist Jocelyn Reimer-Kent points out, “Fetal death is almost a certainty when an infected heart valve is added to the equation.”
The surgical team’s first goal was to save Chantal but team members modified some procedures to give the fetus a fighting chance.A specially trained cardiac anaesthetist, Dr. Michael Law, administered the anesthesia. To operate on the heart, surgeons have to administer a high potassium solution to stop it from beating. Once the procedure was complete the team tried to retrieve as much of the solution as possible to keep Chantal’s blood chemistry normal.
Chief perfusionist Don Trostheim increased the flow on the heart pump machine to keep her blood pressure higher than normal to ensure a good flow of blood across the placenta. Clinical pharmacist Dr. Wendy gordon ensured that the drugs they were using posed the least risk to the fetus. Dr. Duncan Farquharson, a neonatologist, researched ways to protect the baby’s health during the procedure and after. Cardiologist Dr. Marg Blackwell also found ways to adapt normal medical-surgical practices to suit the unusual circumstances.
The happy ending, with mother and baby in excellent health, makes them “ a walking statistic,” says Chantal, and definitely one for the medical journals.
The Duecks’ happy ending is already being written up in medical journals.
Baby McKenna's Story
A Story of Survival
 On a cold but beautiful winter morning, baby girl McKenna was delivered by Caesarian section at Peace Arch Hospital at 38 weeks. “I had some complications with my first delivery when my son Benjamin was born, so we had scheduled a C-section for McKenna,” says mom Koryna Kirkpatrick.
But it wasn’t long before doctors noticed that McKenna was having breathing problems.
“I was in the recovery room at Peach Arch Hospital when I heard that McKenna wasn’t breathing properly,” says Koryna, whose moment of joy quickly turned into fear. McKenna was assessed by staff in the Paediatric unit where the problem was discovered.
During delivery, not all of the fluid had cleared from McKenna’s tiny lungs. “Basically she was drowning.” Every breath was a struggle for her.
That night, Koryna and her husband Derek Kirkpatrick waited and worried. In the morning, they were told that McKenna’s condition had worsened and she had developed a tiny hole in her lung. It was not the news they had hoped for.
Because of McKenna’s serious condition, she was immediately transferred by ambulance to Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) for treatment in the hospital’s Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Koryna, still recovering from the C-section, sat next to her daughter’s incubator during the ride, while Derek drove separately to RCH in his own car. “It was so hard to be apart during that time,” shares Koryna.
At RCH, Koryna was sent to a postpartum recovery room while McKenna was taken to the NICU. She was treated with CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), a ventilator attached by prongs into her nose, leaving most of her face covered. “When McKenna came into the NICU, she was in respiratory distress and suffering from a collapsed lung, so we placed her on CPAP,” explains Coreen Claggett, Clinical Nurse Educator of NICU and Paediatrics. “It helped McKenna with her breathing while her lungs were recovering.”
Under the care of Dr. Todd Sorokan, the NICU staff also treated McKenna with antibiotics in order to prevent infection. “Once we were at Royal Columbian, we felt much calmer. The care was consistent and all of the nurses instilled a sense of confidence in us and their ability to care for McKenna,” says Koryna.
“I like to know everything that is going on and it was comforting to be in the NICU and learn all about the care that Mckenna received,” adds Derek. “We also saw a lot of success stories while we were there, so we felt confident leaving McKenna under their care because she was in such good hands.”
After the first day on CPAP, McKenna responded so well she was taken off the ventilator and was then treated with oxygen through nasal prongs. Jjust two days later, Koryna was finally able to hold McKenna in her arms for the first time. “We had such a nice cuddle,” says Koryna with a smile.
After seven days in the NICU, McKenna’s lung had healed and she was well enough to go home to meet her big brother Benjamin. “Dr. Sorokan was just incredible and we were impressed with the nurse Ruth Stevens, who was McKenna’s primary caregiver,” says Koryna. “She was really warm and understanding,” adds Derek. “She had a great sense of humour and was so compassionate and genuine, it made the entire experience as positive as it could be.”
 Today, McKenna is a little underweight for her age but is catching up quickly. It’s now a sunny spring day and the Kirkpatricks look back to those difficult days with bittersweet feelings.
“We are so grateful for the level of care McKenna received. We had no idea that RCH was a Level 3 hospital for sick babies,” says Derek. “Now because of our experience we let others know and enjoy sharing our own success story.”
David's Story
More
than a Miracle
 "They
call me the Miracle Man," said 60-year old David Woo, who
is still recuperating from life-threatening injuries when he was
hit by a car last summer. After a charity dinner, he was walking
across the street to where his car was parked. The restaurant was
just blocks from his long-time home in Burnaby. Normally David
would have walked, but that night a torrential rain was falling.
He decided to drive instead and parked his car across the street
from the restaurant. That decision changed his life.
As he crossed
the road, a car traveling 50mph struck David. All of his ribs were
broken, puncturing his lungs and causing them
to collapse. He also suffered a lacerated liver and kidneys, a
fractured hip, cuts, bruises and head trauma. His injuries were
so severe, David was taken immediately to the Royal Columbian Hospital — the
major trauma centre for the region. David had emergent surgery
to remove part of his lung before being admitted to the Intensive
Care Unit (ICU).
David’s wife Ming and daughters Jacquie and
Karen rushed to the hospital where they learned more about his
condition. "After
the surgery, they brought dad into the ICU. He was put on a special
oscillator ventilator to help him breathe. We learned there is
only one of these special ventilators at RCH," said Jacquie. "You
really have no idea how important it is to have this special equipment
and technology. If another patient already needed it that night,
Dad wouldn’t have made it."
In the morning, Dr. Gordon,
Intensivist, delivered the worst news to the Woo family. "All
the signs tell us that your father is probably not going to survive,
but we will do everything we
can to get him through this." As a last resort, the doctors
recommended additional interventions. The first was to insert a
monitor at the bedside to measure David’s brain pressures
and oxygen levels. This helped them to decide the best treatment
for his closed head injury. Dr. Keenan, Intensivist and Medical
Director of the ICU, ordered a second treatment: to turn David
over onto his stomach. This opened his lungs as much as possible
while he was on the oscillating ventilator. With several chest
tubes and IVs in his body, four nurses and two respiratory therapists
managed the difficult task. When David made it through the night,
everyone was surprised, including the doctors.
"Luckily for me, I had three beautiful women
looking after me 24 hours a day," said David with a twinkle
in his eyes. His wife and daughters, there day and night, were
supported by everyone
in the department. "The staff was all so caring and compassionate,
it was amazing," said Jacquie.
"While Dad was in the ICU, we always
felt comfortable leaving him there every night," said Jacquie.
"Even though it didn’t
feel natural or right, we knew that he was in good hands." After
over a month in the ICU, David was transferred to the Critical
Care Unit at RCH and eventually to one of the recovery units. Today,
David is happy to be home while he continues his rehabilitation
as an outpatient.
"They call me the Miracle Man, but I really feel
it was more than a miracle. My attitude helped me pull through.
It really pays to
treat people the way you want to be treated. It was also my wonderful
family and the high quality care we received at the Royal Columbian
ICU." Recently his family surprised him with a 60th birthday
party. Ninety of his family, friends and coworkers from Safeway — where
he managed the bakery before the accident — showed up to
celebrate and support him. Instead of gifts, guests brought donations
to help fund the new ICU under construction. The event raised $2110.
"We
are forever grateful for the outstanding team of doctors and
nurses who helped all of us through this very, very difficult time,
but especially what they did for our dad," said Karen.
Don's Story
With
only days to live, RCH gave a new lease on life.
 As
Don Higginson jokes with friends and co-workers, it’s easy
to see why he is an office favorite and cherished husband and father.
His energy and enthusiasm are even more precious to them because
it all nearly came to a sudden and tragic end four years ago.
"I was at a local sports field to coach my son’s
baseball team, but I had forgotten some equipment in the trunk,"
recalls Don. "And as I ran back to the car I suddenly felt
a tightness in my chest." He told his family doctor about the
symptoms, and that it was becoming more difficult to jog around
the field with the kids.
Don’s doctor sent him for a "stress test"
at his community hospital. After only 30 seconds on the diagnostic
machine, they made an urgent phone call to Royal Columbian Hospital.
"They wanted me to have an angiogram done," says Don.
"And I could hear them pressing to get me in as soon as possible."
Don was scheduled for an angiogram in RCH’s Cardiac
Catheterization Lab the next morning. There he met Dr. Mark Henderson,
an interventional cardiologist and Chief of Cardiology, who was
preparing to perform the procedure. Don remembers vividly what happened
next.
"A few minutes after the angiogram began, Dr.
Henderson turned to me and said, ‘Don, your main left coronary
artery is about 95% blocked. This calls for immediate surgery."
Without prompt intervention, Don was likely to suffer a life-threatening
heart-attack within days.
Less than an hour later, RCH’s cardiac surgery
team was performing a quadruple bypass on Don’s heart. The
procedure provided him with twice the average coronary blood flow,
and greatly reduced the risk of future problems. Following the surgery,
the cardiac team began working to minimize Don’s discomfort
and accelerate his recovery.
"What surprised me was how little pain there
was afterwards, and how quickly they began my physiotherapy,"
says Don. "The day after my surgery they had me sitting up
in bed, and on the second day I was taking short walks down the
hall."
RCH’s innovative approach to pain management
meant that Don, like most open heart surgery patients at RCH, was
ready to return home just five days later.
Dr. Henderson sees Don’s experience as an example
of how cardiac care should be delivered to achieve the best possible
outcomes for patients. "Our goal is to see that this level
of cardiac service is available at RCH for everyone in the region
who needs it."
"Without the amazing care that I received at
RCH, I would have missed out on a lot of great things… like
my children’s graduations," says Don with pride. "Life
isn’t a whole lot different, but you feel a whole lot better
in it."
Larissa and Abbey's Story
It was supposed to
be one of the happiest times of their lives.
 Larissa
was 29 years old when she and her husband Vaun had just found out
that they were expecting their first child. They were absolutely
thrilled and looking forward to starting a family.
But only one month after finding out that she was
pregnant, one of Larissa’s lungs collapsed. After many tests,
multiple lung collapses and painful chest tubes, she was diagnosed
with Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) –a frequently fatal, progressive
lung disease.
Larissa and Vaun were devastated. Pregnancy is thought
to accelerate LAM and many doctors advise against it. Larissa’s
doctors initially recommended ending the pregnancy but Larissa,
a laboratory technologist, and her husband, Vaun, a hospital biomedical
engineer, did their research and weighed the risks. Feeling this
was their only chance for a child, they decided to have their baby.
Larissa’s disease was already severe and she
was hospitalized for the rest of her pregnancy. She was on constant
oxygen, her other lung had started to collapse and she had multiple
chest tubes. At the time, the hospital Larissa was in didn’t
have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and she desperately needed
a hospital that could care for both her and her baby.
Vaun did some research and they decided to go to RCH.
They were so relieved after meeting with Dr. Beresford and the team
at Royal Columbian. After being admitted to maternity, Larissa was
transferred to a unit with specialists that could care for her respiratory
problems. The nurses from maternity would come to visit her and
for the first time in her pregnancy, Larissa felt that she was finally
getting the prenatal care that she needed.
At six months pregnant, Larissa weighed just 90 pounds
and could hardly breathe. Her condition was getting much worse.
Together with Larissa and Vaun, the team decided to schedule a c-section
at 28 weeks to give Larissa and her baby the best chance for survival.
The surgery went well and Abbey was born weighing just 2 pounds,
5 ounces. She was too small to breathe on her own and was immediately
whisked away to the NICU where she was hooked up to a ventilator
to help her breathe.
Three hours later Larissa and Vaun saw their baby
girl for the first time. Abbey was so tiny, it broke their hearts,
but she was a fighter and after 24 hours she was strong enough to
come off the ventilator and breathe on her own.
Five weeks later, Larissa was well enough to be released
from the hospital and 2 weeks later Larissa and Vaun finally took
Abbey home. They were absolutely ecstatic. Throughout the whole
process, they didn’t know if Abbey would be okay…and
to finally have their baby girl home with them was amazing.
Within a year Abbey had gained 20 pounds and
by age two had caught up developmentally to her peers. Larissa didn’t
return to work, dedicating her time to her child and family. She
received a single lung transplant in 2001. At the time of the transplant
she was given a 50/50 chance of surviving for five years –
that will be this August. Her energetic second grader with the beaming
smile is a daily reminder of the amazing care they received at RCH.
Karen's Story
Journey from Nurse to Patient and Back
 A
few hours into her shift on the neurology unit at Royal Columbian
Hospital registered nurse Karen knew something was terribly wrong.
“I had a splitting headache – a ten out
of ten – my vision was blurry, my right molars and ear throbbed
and my right eye became increasingly sensitive to light.”
Twelve hours later, at the end of her shift, Karen’s
right eye was completely closed. She went to Emergency for an assessment
and later a CT scan was ordered. Just before 7 am in the morning,
on her way to the CT scan she collapsed. “I remember
opening my purse to get something and then nothing.”
Karen had suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm – a
weak spot on the wall of one of her arteries had burst like a balloon.
Aneurysms form without warning from wear and tear on the arteries
and sometimes can form from injury, infection or inherited tendency.
Karen’s brain hemorrhage was ranked as a grade four on a
five grade scale. She had a 33% chance of survival.
Karen was rushed to an emergency CT scan which confirmed
her bleed. Then she was rushed to surgery. “My
colleagues tell me that I said ‘I’m too young to die’ but
I don’t remember.”
What Karen does remember is waking up after the surgery
surrounded by her family and her friends – the neurosurgical
team she worked with every day. “I remember thinking, I’m
safe, and I’m in good hands. I’m at Royal Columbian.
I now realize that I was at the right place at the right time.”
Karen spent 11 days as a patient on her unit, forcing
herself out of bed to walk just four days after the surgery. Within
14 weeks she was back on her neurosurgical unit – working
as a nurse again, part of the dedicated team that is the only one
of its kind in the region. The team at RCH provides highly specialized
treatment for critically ill patients with conditions such as brain
tumors, bleeds and brain injuries from trauma. They performed
more than 800 neurosurgeries last year and the 26 beds on their
unit are in constant demand.
“This experience has changed me in many ways.
I have a new appreciation for life and I better understand what
my patients are going through – I’ve been there. I
know what a relief it is for patients and their families if I can
hold their hands, share my story and take the time to explain what’s
going on and that we’re there to take care of them and their
loved ones.”
Karen is proud of the expert care and dedicated work
her neurosurgical team delivers everyday at RCH. “Your life
can change in an instant. Mine did. There are so many reasons to
give to the hospital…my life is just one of them.”
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