Canada: Brain Surgery Postponed Six Times!

Woman's 6 nixed surgeries draw fire
NDP's Dix says 'human example' shows 'there isn't enough capacity'

Don Harrison, with a file from John Bermingham
The Province

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Mary Lou Frye, 64, has had her brain surgery postponed six times.
CREDIT: Les Bazso, The Province
Mary Lou Frye, 64, has had her brain surgery postponed six times.

A woman whose brain surgery has been cancelled six times is a victim of the chaos at Royal Columbian Hospital, NDP health critic Adrian Dix said yesterday.

"This is a human example of what we mean when [we say] there isn't enough capacity," Dix said.

"The number of surgeries that have been cancelled has become epidemic at Royal Columbian."

In March 2006, Mary Lou Frye had a seizure and drove off the Fraser Highway into a ditch.

A CAT scan revealed a golf ball-sized tumour behind her left eye. She had surgery in May 2006, but bleeding cut the operation short, leaving part of the tumour.

She now has two tumours in her brain, but since January Frye has had her surgery postponed six times, the latest last Friday when four other neurosurgery cases were also postponed.

The previous day, four neurosurgery cases were postponed due to a lack of beds.

Meanwhile, Frye, 64, who raised three kids as a single mom, is failing. Doctors have declared her urgent because of headaches, loss of balance and walking difficulty. She's slated for surgery this Friday.

She must stop her medication a week in advance each time surgery is set, which means pain and discomfort. Then comes fear and a major mental letdown after another postponement.

"We've talked to hospital administrators, but it [being passed from one official to another] just gets ridiculous," said son Joe Frye.

Health Minister George Abbott said he regrets elective-surgery postponements, but said there are more urgent cases.

"There are periodically occasions when there will be a rash of serious injuries or illnesses that have to be given precedence within the surgical slate," he said.

But Frye, noting the power that Abbott and health bureaucrats wield, said: "Should I be able to sit behind a desk and decide who lives or dies?"

Last week, the chief of surgery at Royal Columbian said he had cancelled more than 70 elective surgeries this month.

A capacity crisis was predicted in 2004 by such diverse groups as health unions, the New West Chamber of Commerce and the St. Peter's Catholic Women's League after the Liberals closed nearby St. Mary's Hospital.

Dr. Irwin Stewart, the former chief of surgical staff at St. Mary's and a recipient of the Order of Canada, said the hospital had "the most efficient operating theatre in B.C. We should be cloning it, not shutting it down."

Colin Hansen, who was health minister at the time, said the decision to kill St. Mary's, with its 200-acute-bed capacity and emergency ward, was to "protect patients' interests."

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