The Citizen, 2008-05-22, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008.In an effort to ensure the safearrival of Huron County’s first CTScanner, Bill Thibert is putting his
own head on the line.
The Alexandra Marine and
General Hospital (AMGH) CEO has
agreed to a public head-shaving
event slated for late June if the
fundraising effort successfully
produces $2,500 for the digital
imaging equipment. ‘Wild Bill,’ as
his AMGH senior management
peers have dubbed him, is scheduled
to the CEO vs. shears showdown
event at high-noon on June 25.
“We’ve come up with wanted-style posters to publicize the event ina Wild West fashion,” said AMGHdirector of patient services CherylTaylor. “People will see them acrossthe community to play-up the
fundraiser and have some fun with
it.”
Though the salt and peppered
CEO currently boasts a lustrous
mane, he said that its removal is a
small price to pay if it helps to bring
in the much-needed CT scanner to
the county. But that’s not the only
landscape of lush follicles that are
currently being eyed up by the
hospital management team. It’s been
mentioned that if the effort surpasses
its goal, the moustache may befallthe same fate.“There are possibilities of otherthings taking place,” Thibert saidslyly. “My much beloved moustachemay be next, if the price is right.”
This latest fundraising initiative in
support of the CT Scanner for Huron
County campaign is following a
steady stream of similar efforts from
within the hospital during the past
year. Different departments at
AMGH have been hosting their own
popular fundraisers, including the
Doggy Wash last June which helped
to raise $2,000 alone.
The public shave-off will take
place at 12 p.m. at AMGH on June
25, and AMGH has invited everyonein the community to stop by to takeit in. To make a donation toward the public shaving of Thibert, contactthe AMGH Foundation office at519-524-8689 Ext. 5349.‘Wild Bill’ puts head on the line for scanner
Hop for heart
Jump Rope for Heart was in full swing on Friday at East
Wawanosh Public School. Whether it was a solo affair,
pairs or a full group, everyone was up and down, pounding
the pavement for a good cause. From left: Brett Glousher,
Jeff Hallahan and Curtis Weber. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Tissue donation in crisis mode
Some of the physicians at the
Alexandra Marine and General
Hospital (AMGH) got an earful of
eye information last Wednesday as
Linda Sharpen, manager of the Eye
Bank of Canada(Ontario Division)
paid a visit to remind the hospital of
the importance of eyes.
“There is no tissue in the province,
we’re in a crisis mode,” said Sharpen.
“Donations rates have plummeted.”
But it isn’t only an ocular crisis.
According to Sharpen, the province is
in dire need of all type of tissue
donation. Her visit, Sharpen said, was
designed to resurrect and reinvent the
eye donation program here at
AMGH.
“People think of donation as organ
donation, but that’s only part of it,”
said Sharpen. “Tissue donation is just
as important for patients awaiting a
transplant that could mean the
difference between seeing their loved
ones and not.”
Tissue donation includes bone,
tendon and valve donation and,
unlike organ donation, tissues can be
taken from patients of all ages and
medical backgrounds.
Even if a donor couldn’t see
through their eyes at the end of their
life, their donation can give the gift of
sight to another, Sharpen said.
“Some people have said that they
assume that they can’t donate
because of diabetes, or the fact that
they wear glasses,” Sharpen said.
“Most eye tissue donation has to do
with the cornea, and most patients do
not have a corneal disease.”
The process of eye harvesting,
Sharpen said, preserves the ‘shell’ of
the eye to be used again as patching.
She said that the most common types
of injuries that result in the need for
patching come as the result of sports
injuries. A blade to the eye during a
hockey game, she said is common, as
is squash related injuries. She added
that one rural hospital treats 10 to 12
punctured corneas per year that come
as the result of a gardening mishap.
“It’s so common to see patients
with rose thorns or small trees that
have caught their eyes,” she said.
“Sunnybrook [hospital] sees at least
10 per year.”
But still there are those who may
believe that donation is not an option
for various reasons, she added.
Religion, for example, is often cited
as an inhibiter for those otherwise
capable of becoming a donor.
“There is no religion that prohibits
tissue donation,” Sharpen said. “And
I encourage anyone to seek the
advice of their religious leader to
inquire.”
When asked why tissue donation
rates have gone steadily downhill
during the past few years, Sharpen
was left only to speculate, but she did
say that a lot of the stigma behind
donation may lay behind cultural
lines.
“Here in Ontario there is more
cultural diversity which may be
posing an issue because there are
some who are not familiar with
donation and something is being lost
in translation,” she said.
There, too, are a lot of people who
Sharpen believes may think that
disease may prevent donation. On the
contrary, Sharpen said, 95 per cent of
all people are eligible for donation.
““What we’d like to do is organize
more ‘wellness’ days during which
all types of health professionals could
come together and educate people
and help them to become more aware
of what kind of options are out there
for them.”
She said that recently the sclera,
commonly known as "the white of
the eye," has been successfully
transferred from a 104-year-old
donor to restore the sight of a toddler.
The Eye Bank of Canada is
currently working with various
school boards to initiate awareness
programs in high schools; some are
currently being developed in the
London, Orillia andOttawa areas.
The wait time for a cornea
transplant in Ontario is currently
between one to three years.
“That should not be happening,”
Sharpen said. “We got ourselves into
a crisis situation that has caused so
many lives to be put on hold for too
long. We shouldn’t need to do that.”
What can we do in the meantime?
Sign donor cards, Sharpen said
emphatically. “Sign them— let your
family and doctors know that this is
something that you want to do.”
It’s a sentiment that Dr. Stan
Spacek echoed. Spacek is one of only
two physicians currently at AMGH
who are trained in eye harvesting.
“Our numbers are small but by Linda
rejuvenating the program, the pieces
are coming together,” he said.
Eye harvesting is particularly
important at AMGH, as it’s the only
tissue that can be extracted currently
on-site at AMGH. According to
Spacek, the procedure requires little-
a private and clean area and less than
an hour of a physician’s time.
“We look forward to the time that
bone and heart valve work can be
done here, but there is currently no
funding available for that,” Spacek
said. “You need to have an operating
room available, and that’s not
possible right now at AMGH.”
Spacek said that by creating more
public awareness of tissue donation,
it will be easier for physicians and
health care providers to discuss the
options with their patients.
“Seventy-five per cent of all eye
tissue donations come from small
hospitals like ours,” Spacek said. “It’s
a hard topic to bring up during such a
time of significant personal loss with
family members, but we’d like people
to think of this as a positive thing in a
time of such sadness.”
The mission of the Eye Bank of
Canada is "to restore vision and
improve quality of life through eye
donations". It acts as a processing
and distribution centre for donated
eyes from all health care centres in
the province.
The Eye Bank provides ocular
tissue for surgical use to Ontario
health care centres and institutions as
well as emergency tissue to any
hospital in Canada. Currently wait
times for cornea transplants in
Ontario vary from several weeks up
to three years.
To learn more about tissue
donation, visit the Trillium Gift of
Life Network Web site at
www.giftoflife.on.ca.
404 Queen St.,
Blyth
519-523-4792
541 Turnberry St.,
Brussels
519-887-9114
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