Winnipeg man needs liver transplant, partner worries amid health care woes

Manitoba’s uphill conflict with health care continues, slowing wearing retired galore tangled successful the system.

Lisa Fiwchuk is 1 of those people, aft her spouse of 11 years, Craig Schaefer, was told helium needed a liver transplant conscionable implicit 1 twelvemonth ago.

“It was hard. I didn’t cognize however to process it. There was a batch of conscionable sitting successful the car aft getting location and conscionable sitting like, ‘What? What bash we do? What I don’t understand. I don’t cognize the steps,'” she said.

Schaefer is astatine the apical of the transplant list, and needs a liver from idiosyncratic with benignant O blood.

While helium has had uncommon opportunities for the procedure, Fiwchuk says they’ve ever fallen done — astir precocious owed to Schaefer falling portion astatine Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital.

“He falls. He’s confused. He’s incontinent. He wanders away. He’ll rotation distant successful a vehicle,” she said.

“I’m frightened for him. Every clip helium falls, there’s a accidental of infection. There’s a accidental of a caput injury. And each clip that happens, helium gets taken disconnected the database temporarily until he’s cleared and past backmost connected again. He doesn’t person a batch of time. There’s not a batch of livers retired determination for people”

Even so, she was told helium whitethorn beryllium sent home, without entree to 24-hour care.

Fiwchuk is distressed, and said she isn’t successful a presumption to attraction for Schaefer whose wellness is rapidly deteriorating.

“His liver does doesn’t filter retired (the toxins) successful his encephalon close now, and truthful helium has symptoms of dementia,” she said.

Symptoms that person gotten the beloved erstwhile Purolator worker into unsafe situations, causing much delays.

“How tin you discharge a idiosyncratic who has had falls successful the hospital? …I mean, erstwhile helium wants to get going, helium gets going. He’s wearing a rotation defender bracelet due to the fact that he’s escaped galore times from attraction from antithetic hospitals astir the city,” Fiwchuk said.

Yet, she said she doesn’t blasted the infirmary oregon staff.

“There are nary beds. No 24-hour beds available. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But helium needs one. And I cognize idiosyncratic needs his furniture that he’s successful now, I cognize that. And I privation that idiosyncratic to person a bed, and I privation (Schaefer) to person the 24-hour bed, and I privation each different radical that request his furniture and 24-hour beds to person them,” she said.

“I don’t cognize what to do. I don’t person the powerfulness to unfastened beds and prosecute much nurses. I don’t cognize what the reply is.”

But she said she knows, without one, helium isn’t safe. So a transplant whitethorn beryllium harder to secure, leaving his beingness astatine stake.

“There’s thing much that I privation than to person him with me, but I can’t instrumentality attraction of him,” she said.

An emailed connection from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said “if the patient’s acute aesculapian needs are met and they are discharged home, a lawsuit coordinator volition supply an appraisal to guarantee the due level of location attraction services are provided, which includes information risks erstwhile determination is nary idiosyncratic present. Anyone surviving successful the assemblage tin besides interaction the Home Care cardinal Intake Line and petition Home Care assessment.”

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It added, “while we are precise constricted successful what we tin remark connected successful idiosyncratic cases, we tin corroborate that the attraction squad astatine Grace Hospital is alert and delicate to the concerns raised by the patient’s caregivers successful this situation. The attraction squad continues to person conversations with caregivers connected confirming a harmless and sustainable program moving forward.”

In the meantime, Fiwchuk is exhausted, missing the antheral she met 11 years ago.

“He’s struggled medically for a long, agelong clip with his Crohn’s (Disease). He shouldn’t adjacent beryllium live close present with his illness. But helium fought hard. He fought unsocial until we recovered each other. He loves the radical astatine his work, his customers that helium sees each day. He inactive talks astir them. He hasn’t worked for rather a while, but helium misses them.” she said.

“He’s incredible. He’s plays guitar, helium sings — he’s got a beautiful, beauteous voice. He hasn’t played for truthful agelong due to the fact that of his tremors successful his hands and his dependable is gone. He can’t sing, but he’s got a beauteous voice. I privation him to play again.”

Knowing who helium is, she presses on.

“He’s softly strong. I cognize helium wouldn’t privation maine doing this for him, but I cognize he’d bash it for me, and he’d bash it 10 times harder for me. And he’d bash it for anybody else,” Fiwchuk said, with her resoluteness to advocator for those successful akin situations, growing.

“If you’re seen by a doctor, and you’re successful the hospital, past that should beryllium enough. Somebody other shouldn’t person to travel and combat to support you live oregon to support you cared for,” she said. “He needs to beryllium kept harmless until helium gets that liver.”