Dear Editor:
In the recent past, there have been many negative stories about Burnaby Hospital. Here is an overdue happy one.
At the end of May 2013, my then 89-year-old mother developed right hip and leg pain that was initially misdiagnosed, which led to inappropriate and ineffective treatment. She quickly went from walking briskly at least two miles a day to being unable to move at all without extreme pain. The problem was exacerbated by the lengthy wait-time to see specialists. Our family is long-lived, and I was heartsick as I began to visualize my mother spending her last years disabled and in chronic pain with its accompanying depression.
Finally, my mother was referred to Dr. Graham Pate, an orthopedic surgeon who, in the spring of 2014, diagnosed a hairline hip fracture that had previously been missed. She went on a surgical waiting list in July 2014. We were braced for at least a six-month wait, but a sudden cancellation opened a spot, and her hip was replaced on Nov. 27 at the Burnaby Hospital.
Other than post-surgical soreness, my mother was immediately pain free, was home in a week and, after a course of physiotherapy at Burnaby Hospital, she was walking normally by February. At every level, the surgical team, staff, nurses, and physiotherapists were upbeat, encouraging and reassuring to my mother.
Despite 17 months of unrelenting pain and the tremendous pressure that exists these days on all medical professionals and hospital staff, my mother is pain free, has no limp, is physically independent and back to taking long walks every day. People who saw her when she was struggling are amazed at her recovery. Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Pate and the staff at Burnaby Hospital for giving my mother back her life.
Frances Bickerstaff, New Westminster
