A Well-Oiled Machine in Delivering Care

Dr. Allen Lam (left) was part of the healthcare team that cared for Darlene Jewer (right), helping ensure she received the timely surgeries she needed at Brantford General Hospital. 

Darlene Jewer is no stranger to the healthcare world or Brantford General Hospital (BGH). As a Personal Support Worker at a local nursing home, the Brantford resident is passionate about caring for people. But when the tables turned after some tests, she was the one being cared for by staff across the hospital, particularly in the surgical unit.

A couple months ago, Darlene came to the hospital as she felt things were a bit off, and as a strong believer in advocating for your own health, she wanted to have some tests done. “It is so important to be a strong advocate for yourself,” says Darlene. “Whenever you know something isn’t right, it’s important to look into things.” After a couple of tests, scans, and ultrasounds, including a fecal immunochemical test (FIT test), her results came back abnormal.

Darlene was referred to Dr. Haralambos Liaconis, a General Surgeon at BGH who performed a colonoscopy and surgical consultation. It was determined that she required bowel surgery to remove a large colonic polyp, suspected to be cancerous.

Before Darlene could undergo this surgery, it was discovered that she also had several sizable polyps on her vocal cords that posed a significant issue and needed to have them removed first.

 “Everybody was amazing and on-top of their game, I couldn’t believe how fast I was in for surgery, and then scheduled for another.” 

Dr. Anna Rozenberg, an Anesthesiologist, Intensivist and Chief & Medical Director of Critical Care at BGH, assessed Darlene's situation and helped develop a plan. "Darlene had significant voice symptoms, and we agreed that this issue needed to be addressed prior to her bowel surgery," says Dr. Rozenberg. "Vocal cord pathology, such as a polyp, can significantly increase the patient's anesthetic risk, as it may make it difficult to insert the breathing tube required for general anesthesia. The safest approach was to evaluate and address this issue with an ENT specialist first." At the same time, it was important to ensure her bowel surgery moved ahead without major delays.

Dr. Allen Lam, an Ear, Nose, Throat, (ENT) Head & Neck surgeon at BGH, assessed Darlene for severe hoarseness and discovered the large vocal cord polyps that were obstructing her airway. With her upcoming surgery at risk due to potential complications with intubation, Dr. Lam performed laser surgery just days after discovering the polyps using new technology recently acquired by the hospital.

“We are one of the few community hospitals in Canada with laser laryngeal surgery capabilities,” says Dr. Lam. “A service I’ve been able to provide to this community since arriving in 2004, as the hospital was willing to make this invaluable initial investment.”

On May 23, Darlene successfully had her polyps removed in her throat and coordinated with the team to get her bowel surgery done shortly after. “Everybody was amazing and on-top of their game, I couldn’t believe how fast I was in for surgery, and then scheduled for another,” says Darlene. Once Darlene was ready and recovered from her throat surgery, she came back to BGH on June 12 to have her bowel resection surgery.

“It was like a well-oiled machine, and it was incredibly amazing to see all these people working together to provide me the care I needed.”

“Following Darlene’s first surgery with Dr. Lam, she subsequently had bowel surgery that determined the large colonic polyp was indeed an early colon cancer,” says Dr. Liaconis, who performed the surgery. “She has recovered well from both of her surgical procedures.”

From diagnosis to treatment, Darlene says every aspect of her care was coordinated with impressive speed and professionalism.

“I was blown away at how all these doctors working within the hospital, from across all different types of fields, looked after me so fast,” says Darlene. “It was like a well-oiled machine, and it was incredibly amazing to see all these people working together to provide me the care I needed.”

Darlene couldn’t express enough how Dr. Liaconis along with every staff member involved in her care were incredibly patient and always having conversations with her to ensure she knew what was happening, every step of the way. “I was treated like a human being, not a wristband,” states Darlene. “From the incredible night-shift nurses to the anesthesiologists and surgical staff, I knew at any point if I needed anything, I was always in good hands and people were looking out for me.”

BGH recently made advancements within the oncology unit and is vigorously working to integrate better cancer care for its patients. In the past year alone, the hospital has seen over 11,300 oncology-related visits reflecting the growing demand for cancer care in the region, which helped drive the recent addition of a new oncologist to the roster. For patients like Darlene, this growth makes a world of difference.

“It’s nice to see you don’t need to travel far distances to get the care you need,” says Darlene. “Having cancer care in the heart of Brantford is a huge step forward in getting what you need, right where you live.”

Darlene’s connection to BGH runs deep. She gave birth to both of her daughters at the hospital nearly 30 years ago, and Brantford has been her home since she was young.

“This hospital has made such tremendous strides and have really stepped up their game,” says Darlene. “I’m proud to tell everyone about my wonderful experience with the hospital. When you really need our BGH, they have your back.”