Your Stories

A story of two friends. Friend one has had hip problems for years. She is 78 years old and until about six months ago was an active hiker, golfer, and gardener. In the fall of 2023, it was recommended she see an Orthopedic surgeon. After months of waiting she got in to see the surgeon on January 31st, 2024. Surgeon confirmed her hip was bone on bone and that she needed a replacement. He told her he had a light wait list as he was new and she would probably get in either May or June for surgery. Friend two developed hip issues very suddenly in December 2023. She too is 78 years old and very active with several hiking groups. Her decline was more sudden than friend one and she saw a surgeon in February 2024. She was told the wait would be long, so she researched and found a clinic in Calgary that would take her on April 28th for $30,000 plus hotel and airfare. In the meantime, she was also given a surgery date in June of 2024 here in Nanaimo. She was literally unable to walk without a walker so she took the $30,000 route, flew to Calgary, got her surgery, and flew home again two days later, literally pain-free. She is now hiking again in July. Friend one decided to go the same route and was given a surgery date of June 28th in Calgary. She saw the surgeon in Nanaimo to see if perhaps she could get a surgery date here and she was told it was out of his hands but he scared her into not going to Alberta with the threat of possible complications. She cancelled Calgary thinking she would get into Nanaimo soon. This week (2nd week of July 2024) she was told she is number 28 on the list and that the surgeon does about ten surgeries a month, so that puts her into about October. She greatly regrets canceling the Calgary surgery. She is nearly housebound, barely able to get around, and living in constant pain. Why did friend two get offered an early surgery date in June and friend one still does not have one, even though she has been on the list longer. This is so unfair. People should not have to live in pain when they have looked after themselves, kept in shape, and done everything they have been

We have lived in Nanaimo for the last 20 years. Coming from Hamilton, Ont., we were spoiled with the health services we had there with 5 major hospitals & walk-in clinics. When we first arrived, the issue at the time was the emergency dept. It was addressed in a couple of years to be a functioning department for our size population. l understand it is the busiest on the island. The major concern we have is the patient tower. It has been in operation since 1964. It is 60 years old, showing its age & is not adequate for the needs of a growing population such as ours. The people that work there are doing the best they can. In the meantime, we wait to see if they can do anything to the structure. They need to replace the original windows, install shutters on the windows that get the sun all day, and improve the AC on the sixth floor most likely due to being next to the roof. Because of it’s age, there are most likely many other things that can be done as well. Thank you for being a voice for the voice-less.

I am lucky to have a family doctor but he is older and I fear his retirement. There won’t be one to replace him. Last September I had a TIA in Ontario so my initial assessment took place there. When I got back there was a follow-up to do. I still didn’t know the cause of the TIA. It took me till January to see a cardiologist who turned out to be a GP doing cardiology work because we don’t have enough cardiologists in Nanaimo. Then it took me till the beginning of July to get all the tests. I have never sat down with anyone to discuss any strategy other than medication now that I have a potential heart condition. No one has time. When your healthcare providers are working under such stress, you feel you must not bother them unless you have a dire situation. It takes 2-3 weeks to get in to see my GP and if I don’t have a good reason the appointment has to be over the phone.

I am a heart attack survivor from Nanaimo. But it was sheer luck, not science, that allowed me to wait for proper cardiac care that was not available in Nanaimo.On January 16th, 2009 I suffered a heart attack while attending my weekly aquacise class. I presented with pressure on my sternum, no typical sweating, no shortness of pain, and a brief wave of extreme pain that radiated up into my jaw, and my upper arms through to my upper back. At NRGH my condition was kept stable overnight until I was taken by ambulance to Royal Jubilee in Victoria. To better understand I learned that once a woman has a heart attack, she is at high risk of having another one within the next 24 hours., which can be fatal. At Royal Jubilee, I received proper cardiac care which included an angioplasty to insert three stents into my blocked right coronary artery.I stayed for follow-up care and observation for three nights, thenreturned home to Nanaimo.A week later I started experiencing the same pressure in the chest which took me back to the ER at NRGH. It was a Friday. I was kept in the hospital until Monday under observation. I was then taken by ambulance back to Royal Jubilee in Victoria. I was taken to the Cath lab where a second angiogram confirmed that the stents were still in place. With a sense of relief, I was discharged and returned to my home in Nanaimo.To my disappointment, I soon discovered that there was no cardiac rehabilitation available in Nanaimo. There was no cardiologist in Nanaimo. Since then, I have traveled to Royal Jubilee in Victoria for follow-up testing as NRGH does not have the appropriate equipment. I have blood work and yearly appointments with a local internist.I experienced a “miracle” in 2009 as I survived my first heart attack. Every day I give thanks, but every day I worry about future heart challenges I may experience. All residents on Vancouver Island must have equal access to appropriate cardiac care. We must not rely on luck or miracles, but the proven science.

In June 2022 my father started having a fever and was constantly tired. His family doctor treated him for a urinary tract infection for two months. His symptoms were on the back burner while my mom was reading his blood trying to diagnose him herself. We were constantly waiting for tests to be done. My dad went to the hospital for a blood clot in his leg, three days later he was gone. We still don’t know his initial diagnosis other than doctors telling us he had acute carcinoma. Long story short we were enjoying life together in June by September he was dead. He was healthy, happy, and filled with life.

My father was admitted to NRGH emergency on May 4 with extreme pain in his right knee. He was admitted to the ER and diagnosed with Pseudomonas Bacteria and put on IV antibiotics. An orthopedic surgeon was called in to wash the knee to remove as much of the bacteria as possible. The bacteria was not subsiding with the antibiotics so a second wash was done on his knee and they discovered a torn meniscus, so removed the fragments at the same time. He was in the orthopedic ward for several weeks and finally moved to the Low-Intensity Rehab unit for rehabilitation so that he could eventually go home. It has been over 5 weeks now, and he is still in hospital, without daily scheduled rehab or physio or movement out of his bed. He is now plagued with bed sores on his backside and the heel of his good leg and has yet to get out of bed to walk. This is a result of a lack of movement and assistance to get out of bed. He is rarely moved out of his bed into a chair and physio is inconsistent and sporadic.NRGH is grossly understaffed with no consistency of nursing staff on any floor, resulting in a catch-up each time someone new is on staff. We commonly hear “We are doing the best we can, we are understaffed”. They are all trying their best and you can tell are getting frustrated as well. While Dad is in the Low-Intensity Rehab unit, there is no focus on rehabilitation to get patients home. Many of the patients remain in bed all day and are waiting for placement into other facilities. There is no consistency with physiotherapy and no plan to move Dad out of bed to get stronger. They have given Dad regular pain medication and a quick-release pain medication just before physio so he can endure the pain, and at times there has been no medication available on the floor, so physio has been sent away, only to show up another day, if we are lucky! There are limited staff to assist him in getting out of bed, and as Dad is over 6 feet, he needed a wheelchair with leg extenders so he could raise his leg and knee. They ordered him a wheelchair and it has been broken for over a week! So he just stays in bed, only to

Have been without a doctor for 2 & 1/2 years. Am 77 years old and have health problems. I spend my retirement trying to get virtual care appointments and going to Urgent Care but they do not work well. Virtual Care does not have your records and Urgent Care cannot refer you to a specialist. I’ve tried the walk-in clinic (the one and only) for over 140,000 people, but live 50 minutes from it and when I get there they’ve told me to try back at 5 PM. When I manage to go to the US I pay for my blood tests and see specialists. We do not have a sound medical system and people are dying because of the lack of one. Of all the socialist medical countries Canada rates last. My suggestion is to fix it.

My husband and I moved from Ontario to Ladysmith in the summer of 2022 and registered at BC Health Connect for a family doctor immediately. We have been waiting to be assigned to a healthcare provider ever since and have no way of knowing when one will be available to us. In the meantime, we have to wake up early and line up for 3 hrs in the only walk-in clinic open in the area in Duncan. This situation is unacceptable and causing us stress.

On April 8, 2024 (9 weeks ago) I was hospitalized overnight with a TIA that was brought on by an anxiety attack. I had an MRI and CT Scan before I was discharged from the hospital on April 9th. I was given prescriptions for the largest dose of atorvastatin (80 mg per day 20 times what I had been taking every second day) that can be administered to a patient and a significant increase in blood pressure medication as well as a blood thinner, Apo-Clopidogrel. The side effects of these particular medications scare me and cause stress which is a trigger to a TIA. I needed explanations about the medications as well as interpretations of the MRI and CT scans. Still, I am waiting for my follow-up appointment with a neurologist/heart specialist. I was told by our Rapid Stroke Clinic here in Nanaimo that after I did my week holter test they would make an appointment for me. After many phone calls to the Stroke Clinic, they then said they didn’t have a referral from a doctor. My doctor said he had submitted a referral on April 9th. My doctor’s receptionist was unable to get through to the Stroke Clinic to see when I could have a Follow-Up appointment. Once it was the month of May and one could not get any answer at the Hospital Stroke Clinic and it doesn’t allow one to leave a voice message, I decided to go to Emergency. They could get through to the Stroke Clinic on the phone and explained my situation. Two days later I did receive a call from the Stroke Clinic but the doctor who I was to see was going on holiday for two weeks in a week so no appointment could be made until after that. Through persistence I now have my Follow-Up appointment on June 25th – twelve weeks or 3 months after the original TIA. The cause of my TIAs is STRESS and anxiety. All I have got from our present Heart Health system is MORE STRESS!

On December 1, 2023, I was working from home. I had just finished a work call and went to grab a cup of tea. I felt a compressed feeling in my chest which then radiated to my upper back and shoulders becoming a severe pain. I began to sweat profusely. I knew I was having a heart attack. My husband called 911. The fire department and paramedics were at my home in less than 5 minutes. I was at the Nanaimo emergency room quickly. I had a STEMI heart attack with 100% blockage on the right side of my heart. I was given the only drug treatment available at the hospital to attempt to open the clot-blocked artery attempting to stabilize me for transport to Victoria. In my case I was lucky and the drugs partially worked. Once at Vic Jubilee, I had the first of two angioplasties. Two stents on the right side. Six weeks later two more stents on the left side of my heart with additional blockages we are now keeping an eye on. I will live with heart muscle damage and reduced life expectancy not because I didn’t have good care but because I wasn’t able to receive the care I needed (cath lab and angioplasty within 90 minutes of the heart attack) in the narrow window of time that we heart failure patients have to maximize our chances of recovery and improved outcomes. I am a 58-year-old female and know how lucky I was. If we had a cardiac cath lab in Nanaimo it would be life-saving.

My mother was having chest pains and was sent by ambulance to NRGH in Feb of 2022. She sat in the emergency room for 3.5 hours while she was having a heart attack and in excruciating pain. I went to the nurse’s station 3 times to ask for help and they were very rude and dismissive, told me they put a sticky on my mom’s file. Finally, they got her in for some blood work and that is when they told us she actually had a heart attack. She could have died in the emergency room while she was having one. The care was just unbelievable for someone who came in by ambulance having chest issues.

I am 84 years old and have had several visits to the emergency room at NRGH during the past year. I feel I am in a good position to assess our healthcare system. My visits to the emergency room were due to Afib episodes. During my visits, I spent between 3.5 and 9 hours waiting in a very uncomfortable seat till all my tests were done and I could get to see the doctor. In all three cases, I had numerous tests done to assess my condition. In 2 of the cases, I was able to end the Afib episode without being cardioverted. Still, the tests were done and a thorough review was done by the doctor. I feel that the doctors and nurses provided excellent care even though they were under obvious stress. The wait times were excessive and very uncomfortable. In the last case, I was still testing positive for COVID-19 yet was sitting with over 100 other people in the waiting room. During my visits, I was able to talk to the nursing staff. The younger nurses are struggling not only with overwhelming working conditions but also large debts from training and struggling to find accommodations within their budgets. The older nurses were approaching burnout due to the exhausting workloads. This being said all the nursing staff were very pleasant and thorough in their work. On the other side of the coin when seeing a doctor they have a full understanding of the patient’s history when they meet. During my visits, the doctors were very thorough and prepared to answer any questions even though they were heavily backlogged.