Still waiting

Eastern Health expects its hyperbaric chamber to be ready to treat patients by the end of January - and it can't come soon enough for one patient.

Daphne Robertson - who has been waiting for hyperbaric oxygen treatment since her doctor recommended it in August - is hoping it's up and running sooner.

The 42-year-old's life has been on hold while awaiting the specialized treatment, and she will likely need a couple of months of sessions in the hyperbaric chamber.

"I'm just afraid that the end of January is going to come and go, and it's not going to be up and running. Then, we're into February," she said Tuesday.

"I've heard so many dates the last six months that, you know, I'm just really frustrated."

Eastern Health said it will accept its first patient once the chamber is fully operational.

"We're on target in terms of having the hyperbaric chamber operational by the end of January. That's our target date," said Norma Baker, Eastern Health's chief operating officer of adult acute care in St. John's.

"It may be earlier ... depending on how quickly we can get our staff retrained."

Robertson needs hyperbaric treatment to heal the lining of her bladder. Otherwise, she risks losing the organ.

In the fall, she had four surgeries to cauterize bleeding in her bladder and received 15 units of blood. The last surgery worked following a four-week stay in hospital, and she's stabilized, for now.

In the meantime, she waits.

"I'm just afraid any day that it's going to start all over again," Robertson said.

"Give me a couple of months' treatment and hopefully I should be on the mend. I'm hoping that after three or four weeks of treatment I'll be able to go back to work."

Hyperbaric therapy delivers high concentrations of oxygen to patients in a pressurized chamber. It's used to treat decompression illness in divers, carbon monoxide poisoning, diabetic foot ulcers and tissue damage from cancer radiation treatment.

In Robertson's case, it will promote faster heeling in the lining of her bladder, which has been damaged by low-dose chemotherapy drugs to treat Wegener's granulomatosis.

She was diagnosed with that disease 15 years ago.

Wegener's causes inflammation of the blood vessels, which limits the flow of blood to organs - damaging the organs and destroying tissue.

The disease mainly affects the respiratory system and kidneys. Its cause is unknown.

Robertson is no longer taking the chemotherapy drugs to prevent further bleeding, but that means Wegener's is flaring up again.

Her doctor has recommended another drug, Rituxan, which is used to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis. But that treatment is very expensive, and neither her nor husband's health insurance will cover the drug.

"They said it's not indicated for my disease."

She said MHA Tom Osborne is trying to help her qualify for some coverage through the provincial government.

On Tuesday, Eastern Health said all maintenance and repairs to its hyperbaric chamber have been completed, and that will allow the training of staff, such as respiratory therapists and nurses, to begin.

"We are commencing our process of retraining staff who work in the hyperbaric chamber," Baker said. "We'll commence that process now early in January."

The hyperbaric chamber has not operated since February, when the lone technician went on leave. He returned to work Oct. 5.

Baker also said two assistant technicians "who are in their training or orientation process at this moment" were recently hired.

She said the goal is to develop an on-call schedule for all three chamber technicians.

Additional hiring is also planned.

"We're looking to have a clinical co-ordinator ... as well as clerical staff to assist in that area.

"As well, we will be recruiting staff members within the organization who are interested in training in hyperbaric therapy and working in the chamber itself. Our plan is to develop an on-call schedule."

Eastern Health also wants to increase the number of staff capable of working in the chamber. They work in other areas, such as intensive-care units, operating rooms and emergency departments.

Typically, Baker said three staff are on hand for hyperbaric treatments.

A diving supervisor, who is the full-time technician, oversees the hyperbaric treatment; another dive specialist operates the chamber panel; and a health-care professional, such as a respiratory therapist or nurse, goes inside with the patient.

Depending on the patient's illness, another nurse may also be on hand outside the chamber.

"A critically ill patient, of course, requires more staff," Baker said.

Ownership of the facility was transferred Nov. 18 from Memorial University to Eastern Health.

The health-care corporation paid $2 million for the hyperbaric chamber and assumed responsibility for staffing the facility and maintaining the equipment. Memorial will continue to use the facility for research.

mbaird@thetelegram.com