12 DAYS OF GIVING ~ GRATEFUL PATIENT SPOTLIGHT

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Mike Horvath’s extended stay highlighted by excellent care

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While recovering from a complicated medical crisis during an extended hospital stay, Mike Horvath observed a lot going on around him, and he was able to clearly recognize the compassion for patients and the commitment exhibited by staff at the Brant Community Healthcare System.

Mike spent 117 days over two years as a patient while being treated for pancreatitis and recovering from complications that developed with his case.

“I’ve certainly got a history with the Brantford General,” said Mike.

Prior to his own health crisis, Mike came to know staff at the Brantford General when his mother Pat fell and broke her hip at their home in Paris. Pat was admitted and spent seven weeks recovering and rehabilitating after her fracture.

Grateful Patient Mike Horvath — From left: Social Worker, Navigator Victoria Chippendale, RPN Tricia Boshell, RPN Lindsay Sayer, Grateful Patient Michael Horvath, RN Kylie Teggart and PSW Laura Johnston.

A year later, Pat suffered a ‘silent’ heart attack – one with either no symptoms or minimal symptoms. Even so, the cardiac event did its damage.

“The care she got in her last days was excellent,” said Mike, who said he wrote a thank-you note on the whiteboard in his mother’s room to acknowledge the nursing staff that cared for her.

It was the spring of 2016 when Mike became the patient.

He was suffering what he described as stabbing pains in his upper abdomen. He called an ambulance that transported him to the Brantford General, where an Emergency Department physician diagnosed him with acute pancreatitis.

Mike was admitted to the surgical ward where he would spend the next 40 days.

“I received professional and compassionate care,” he said.

Mike met surgeon Dr. Walter Pawliwec, who warned him there were further issues that could develop because of the pancreatitis, such as fluid build-up in his abdomen, or the formation of a pseudocyst, a mass of fibrous tissue filled with pancreatic fluid.

After he was discharged, Mike’s abdomen began to bulge due to a buildup of fluid as well as a pseudocyst that had developed. The pressure in his abdomen reached such a point that he also developed two hernias, one on each side of his groin.

To relieve the pressure, Mike was scheduled for a procedure called paracentesis, where a tube was inserted to allow the fluid to drain out. He had the procedure twice more within seven months, and one of those day surgery procedures resulted in more than seven litres of fluid being drained from Mike’s abdomen.

“I looked like I was pregnant with triplets,” he said of the size of his stomach, but once completed, he felt much relief.

From left: RPN Karen Macleod, Grateful Patient Michael Horvath and Physiotherapist Jillian Giacinti.

“I enjoyed the staff in Ambulatory Care when I had my paracentesis procedure. They were really good to me.”

After his third procedure, Mike was referred to another surgeon in the region to have a permanent drain placed in his abdomen. But another complication developed when Mike’s incision became infected.

“I had pain and I had a fever, and I couldn’t fight it,” he said. “So I was rushed back to the Brantford General.”

That time, Mike spent more than four weeks on a medical unit and an additional six weeks as a patient of the rehabilitation unit.

“The nurses and the personal support workers on B7 were fantastic and they were so good about answering all of my questions,” he said. “I found it very interesting.”

“I’m so grateful to Physiotherapist/Occupational Therapist Assistant Lisa Mantel and student Chelsea Balsom. They were a big part of my recovery on B7,” said Mike. “They would help me up and out of bed, cheer me up, and guide me so I could go up and down the hallway with a walker.”

When he was transferred to the Rehabilitation Unit on B2, Mike continued to feel he was receiving excellent care.

“The staff were very supportive if I was feeling a bit depressed, which I was,” he said about being in hospital for such an extended period of time.

Mike had been bed ridden for so much time that he had to retrain his brain to walk again. His regular Physiotherapist, Jillian Giacinti, described it to him as a de-conditioning of his muscles.

The first week of his rehabilitation involved moving around in a wheelchair, but by his second week, he was using a walker. The work involved basic exercises, lots of walking around and climbing stairs while wearing ankle weights.

From left: Dr. Walter Pawliwec and Grateful Patient Mike Horvath.

“By the time I was discharged, I was sometimes using a walker and other times a cane.”

Occupational Therapist Bryan DeMarchi had Mike performing regular household tasks in order to prepare him for being discharged and caring for himself in his own home.

“I wasn’t anxious to go home,” he said. “But I wanted to go home when I was ready to care for myself.”

Part of preparing to return home included learning what type of diet to eat in order to reduce the symptoms of pancreatitis, while also eating to regain some of the weight he had lost during his illness

During his stay at the Brantford General, Mike benefited from the services of Victoria Chippindale, a navigator who helped to arrange for Mike’s home to be moved from Paris to one in Brantford that better met his needs. The multi-skilled staff in the Navigation department has extensive knowledge of the community and the services available here. They can be involved is many areas of a patient’s discharge.

Though his stay at the Brantford General was extended and complex, Mike didn’t have one negative thing to say about his care or those who provided it.

“The difference here in Brant, I noticed, is the staff want to be the best. They don’t want to just do their job; they give the impression that they want to excel.”

As Mike has learned first-hand, when crisis or illness impacts you or a loved one, the Brant Community Healthcare System is here to offer you exceptional healthcare in your time of need.

Now is the time to make a difference, please consider making a gift today that is meaningful to you, and support a strong healthcare system for our community.

Your involvement, through a donation of any size, will allow the BCHS Foundation to purchase patient equipment not funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, provide essential resources to maintain the exceptional level of compassionate patient care, and invest in new and innovative technology.

To make a donation, visit the BCHS Foundation website at bchsysfoundation.org or call 519-751-5510.

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For more information on how you can make a donation or offer your support to the 12 Days of Giving campaign, please contact the BCHS Foundation at 519-751-5510 or by email at foundation@bchsys.org

NOW is the time to make a difference, please consider making a gift today that is meaningful to you, and support a strong healthcare system for our community.

Thank you to our many generous sponsors!

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When crisis or illness impacts you or a loved one, the BCHS is here for you in your time of need.

Your gift today could help save a life tomorrow.