Giving is good medicine.
The Breast Friends group along with Harry Abtosway recently joined together to donate $6,696 for the purchase of a Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) pain medication infusion pump for the Sunrise Health Region.
The Patient Controlled Analgesia pump or PCA is a special computerized infusion pump that holds pain medication and delivers it through an intravenous line (IV). The pump enables the patient to give themselves pain medication and to control the amount of medication being received for pain relief. Pain control helps the natural healing process and decreases anxiety in the patient.
"We are very pleased to receive these donations, which will allow us to purchase one of the PCA pumps that we really need in the Regional Health Centre," comments Ross Fisher, Executive Director of The Health Foundation. "We have just started our fundraising campaign for these pumps, and we are very pleased with the strong support to help us purchase them."
PCA pumps have been in use since the early 1970's and have been the standard of care for patients with intense pain for the last eight years. Sunrise has had several of the pumps on trial in the regional health centre for the last few months and staff and patients have found them to be very effective.
"It is time we had this technology here and available to patients in the regional health centre," adds Fisher, "During the trial period, Sunrise determined that six pumps were needed.
"We are very grateful to the Breast Friends and to Harry Abtosway, and his family and friends who made donations for this pump in memory of Harry's wife Jean who recently passed away."
"We are very pleased to support the purchase of these pain medication pumps, they will clearly provide a benefit patients, increasing their comfort and assisting their recovery," says Jeannie Johnson, of Breast Friends. "In addition to better pain management for the patient, the PCA pumps will also help nurses by giving them the tools they need to give the patients the best care possible.
"It's important to all of us that we use proceeds from the sale of our cookbooks to improve the health care available locally as much as possible," continued Johnson. "We receive tremendous support from the residents in our area and we want to return that support when we can.
"This is the type of program people like to see supported. There is a clear benefit to cancer patients with these PCA pumps, but also they have a wider application and will be used by other patients in the regional health centre, not just cancer patients. That's what you want to see when you buy medical equipment; you want to know it will be used."
PCA can be used for both acute and chronic pain patients. The patient is the key to managing pain with the PCA pump because only the patient really knows how they feel. The PCA allows you to adjust your medication to provide a level of comfort that is right for you. The patients' doctor and nurse will set the medication levels with the patient.
It is important to note that research studies have shown that patients who utilize the PCA pump actually use less pain medication, concludes Fisher. "As the patient's condition improves and the pain lessens, the doctor will change the pain medications to be taken by mouth."
