Linda and Don Mahar are grateful for the support they received from the QEII Health Sciences Centre prior to Linda’s spine surgery in January.
“I had pain in my lower lumbar area, and it went down my leg, the pain, right to my foot,” explains Linda.
Leading up to her surgery date, Linda’s medical team suggested the couple participate in a post-op education session at the infirmary.
“We know that there’s a lot of stress and anxiety that’s, you know, associated with surgery on patients and their families,” says Michelle Rowicki, nursing case manager for the spine program at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. “We are aiming to kind of do what we can to decrease that unnecessary stress to provide patients with the tools they need.”
“When we were at the session is when I realized, ‘Oh my gosh it’s in her back,’ I really hadn’t thought about it,” adds Linda’s husband Don. “It’s in her back and she can’t see it and what am I going to have to do? Thankfully they explained all that and they used the boards to show us that. They said this is kinda what it’s going to look like, and this is what you’re going to have to do.”
One of the resources involved in the program are incision boards – a new addition. The boards are aimed at simulating what the surgical incision could look like and how to care for it post-surgery.
“We were lucky enough to receive the money from the foundation in the fall and so at that time we purchased these incision boards and started incorporating them into our class,” explains Michelle. “It’s greatly impacted before and after surgery education.”
These days, Linda says her recovery is going well, and she’s happy to me moving again.
Both she and Don are thankful for the quality of care they received at the hospital and the fundraising efforts of the QEII Foundation.
“The whole program is great, really thankful that there’s a foundation out there that’s providing money to provide this kind of stuff for us because it just makes it much more simple,” says Don.
“It was a great help, and we also had a book, 30 pages I think, on what to bring to the hospital, what to expect, and showed pretty well everything that was going to happen,” adds Linda. “That was really helpful.”
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