From Setback to Comeback
After living with osteoarthritis for almost a decade, Mark Spelliscy was noticing a distinct change in his mobility. He was in pain, there was no doubt. And painkillers, topical creams and patches no longer helped.
Mark, then 71, was referred to Langley Memorial Hospital orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Chiu, who offered the painful diagnosis: with no cartilage remaining, Mark’s knee bones were rubbing together.
This was disconcerting. Mark, his wife Bev and their two sons had spent a lifetime involved in exercise, sports, golf, long walks and outdoor activities. But over time, wear and tear from his active lifestyle left him with no cartilage to cushion the pressure on his knees when he climbed stairs or did everyday chores. “Dr. Chiu told me it was rubbing bone-on-bone,” Mark recalls.
But Dr. Chiu had other, more positive news for him. It turns out Mark was also the ideal candidate for a replacement of his knees - a repair that could last as long as 20 to 25 years.
That gave him confidence in the surgery, and in the future: he and his wife Bev had plans to travel to the United States to see their grandson and take their first cruise since the pandemic - which is exactly what they did. In the end, the confidence that Mark had in his knee replacement and recovery paid off. Today, he’s as active as he ever was.
Thanks to donors and sponsors at the Giving Hearts Gala on February 3, 2024, more patients like Mark Spelliscy will get the benefit of the equipment Dr. Chiu used to make his procedures so successful.
From Gala Donations to Matching Gifts
On February 3, 2024, donors, sponsors and guests at the Giving Hearts Gala gathered to raise $260,000 to help fund critical surgical equipment for Langley Memorial Hospital (LMH), such as ceiling lifts installed on a track system above the procedure tables which help surgical teams transport patients horizontally and vertically and help to reduce the risk of injury among medical staff.
Donors also helped support the Foundation’s purchase of surgical scopes that provide surgeons with clear and precise views during arthroscopies - procedures for diagnosing and treating joint problems like Mark’s, using fiber-optic video cameras that provide precise, accurate diagnoses and speed up recovery time.
The absence of ceiling lifts in four of the hospital’s operating rooms poses a potential hazard to caregivers who are often forced to move anesthetized or heavy patients from one surface to another, under their own strength.
Between 2018 and 2022, the health care and social services sector in BC saw an 85 per cent increase in total work days lost due to injuries they’ve incurred in the care setting. In contrast, all other sectors across the province experienced only a 20 per cent increase during the same period.
In the 2022/23 year, Langley surgeons provided care to 12,000 day care surgery patients and performed more than 2,500 inpatient procedures in the surgical unit’s five operating rooms.
A Giving, Growing Community
Gala donors dedicated to the purchase of surgical tools got another boost with a matching campaign to support the purchase of the new equipment. For every $25,000 donated toward the Foundation’s most urgent needs fund, a generous donor matched it, doubling the power of every gift.
“Helping our surgeons become more efficient in their work with state-of-the-art tools creates an immediate impact in patients’ lives,” says Heather Scott, the Foundation’s Executive Director.
Manjit Gill, co-founder with Balraj Mann of the Giving Hearts Gala, says the gala, which focuses on the local South Asian community’s philanthropy, is gradually growing in popularity. Since its inception, the Giving Hearts Gala donor community has raised a total of $1,165,000 for the local hospital’s urgent needs.
Manjit says she’s aware that it will take a while to cultivate more engagement among busy families who are dealing with full-time work, children and coping with the high cost of living. Still, awareness of the current issues is most likely to lead to more engagement or volunteering in the future, she suggests.
“There’s more of our (South Asian) community moving to Langley, so it’s important that people have the awareness. But, as long as we keep people aware and get them involved and they know how important it is to keep equipment and programs up to date at a hospital. It’s my mission to get more people involved, to see the fire in them and ignite it.”