Post-breast cancer treatment just became much easier for Yorkton area patients.
A common condition in breast cancer survivors is lymphedema. This painful potential outcome of both chemotherapy and removing underarm lymph tissue causes swelling, particularly in the arm and hand because fluids cannot properly drain.
Last week, the Health Foundation of East Central Saskatchewan announced it had purchased specialized equipment for the treatment of lymphedema.
"Having this service here means my husband and I don't have to drive to Regina three times a week for my treatment," said Sandra Dodd, who lives approximately 16 kilometres east of Yorkton. "Before The Health Foundation bought this equipment we'd drive to Regina. Sometimes it would be storming and we'd have to go the night before and stay in a hotel to be sure we could be there on time."
For funding of the project, the Health Foundation called on Breast Friends. Breast Friends is a group of Saskatchewan women who raise money for breast cancer treatment and research largely through sales of a highly successful line of cookbooks.
Breast Friends were catapulted to Canada-wide fame through their successful pitch on the popular CBC reality show Dragons' Den. This fall they were nominated for a special Dragons' Den Game Changer honour among 13 former innovative pitchers to the show.
"Once we became aware of the need for this service, everybody worked to put the service in place as soon as possible," said Ross Fisher, executive director of the Health Foundation. "I had a phone call from a patient who was traveling to Regina for this service. It took about four months from that phone call until we had the service in place."
There are 15 patients already using the service, he said.
Fisher also credited Sunrise Health Region staff for their dedication and hard work in putting the service in place as quickly as possible.
"The therapists at Cornerstone Therapies were more than willing to take the training needed," he explained. "They talked to the therapists delivering the service in Regina and made arrangement to go down and train with them; they also investigated the equipment we would need."
