The Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation is ramping up its fundraising drive for a high-tech camera that will help the hundreds of women who undergo post-mastectomy breast reconstruction surgery at the Port Moody hospital each year.
The SPY imaging technology provides digital images of the blood flow in the tissue under the skin, giving surgeons better information as they navigate both the mastectomy and reconstruction and reducing the rate of post-operative complications, infection and the chance of losing the reconstructed breast.
"The SPY doesn't lie but the naked eye does," said Charlene Giovannetti-King, ERHF executive director, of the SPY camera. "It's a transformational piece of equipment that really improves surgical outcomes."
About 30% of women who have breast reconstruction need to return for follow-up surgeries due to complications that often come from poor blood flow in the mastectomy skin flap, which then increases the risk of infection.
"The advantage of the SPY camera is not apparent to the patients," said Dr. Dao Nguyen, a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast reconstruction, but it can mean a world of difference to both the patient and surgeon. "In real time it can help guide me to what tissue will survive and what won't," and avoid the complications that can come with navigating with the naked eye.
Coquitlam resident Thu Tran, who appears in ERHF's fundraising material, said the months leading up to her mastectomy and reconstruction were fraught with anxiety over the surgical decisions that lay ahead and what would happen when she woke up.
Like other patients, she benefitted from Eagle Ridge's unique reputation as one of the few hospitals in Canada where both the mastectomy and reconstruction are scheduled together so that patients can wake up "whole" and immediately begin further treatment. But shortly after the surgery Thu Tran, who asked that her last name not be used, came down with a fever and spent several more days in hospital — the kind of complication the SPY camera could prevent.
Giovannetti-King said the campaign has so far raised about $120,000 for the SPY camera, which costs $325,000, and they hope to have the full amount this spring and the camera in early 2017.
• To donate to the SPY imaging technology campaign, visit www.erhf.ca.
[email protected]
@spayneTC
