Best Patient Care
Over the course of my discovery, treatment, management, and recovery from cancer, the staff at Juravinski have been truly world-class. They have embraced and cared for me like family from minute one. The expertise and experience of the doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals is unparalleled. This helps provide comfort and confidence in an otherwise difficult situation. The nursing staff have become cheerleaders and they stop by often with big smiles and kinds words. And we have become friends – likely beyond the treatment phase. Simply put – these people helped save my life. They did it with expertise, enthusiasm, and empathy. Sometimes with a bit of humour and constantly with my best interest in mind.
Juravinski as an organization has a corporate slogan – Best Patient Care and they truly believe this and embody this slogan – thank you. The nursing staff even shared a link to Cindy’s Badass Blood Drive and signed up themselves and family – how cool is that? So now it is my turn to give back to them, and I hope you can help.
How Can We Help?
Throughout this journey our family and friends have asked ‘how can we help?’. There are literally people all over the world who asked this question. Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, and across Canada and the USA. St Maarten & the Caribbean, Australia, Singapore, Europe. Requests and messages came from far and wide. And everyone jumped up immediately and encouraged with amazing notes of support, good vibrations, thoughts and prayers, and very soon, Cindy’s Badass Blood Drive. Just look at the comments on this blog alone – you guys are wonderful.
Many also inquired about whether they could help us financially. Fortunately Canada’s health care system is also world-class and our out-of-pocket expenses have been minimal for such an expensive and invasive treatment. Further, the hospital and staff worked to ensure we weren’t burdened with any unnecessary bills – best patient care again. What a truly humbling experience and one that won’t be forgotten.
Giving Back
I have found a way to give back directly to the hospital and people that mean so much to me. This is via a registered charitable organization called the “Juravinski Hospital & Cancer Centre Foundation“. Honour, Give, Transform is one of their programs and their logo/slogan is above. This program allows 100% of directed donations to specific areas within the hospital and in-honour of specific people who work there.
I have chosen to honour Dr. Tom Kouroukis, my oncologist, and Jenn Wiernikowski, my rock and Nurse Practitioner through this program.
Dr. Tom Kouroukis
Dr. Tom Kouroukis
Hematology Oncologist
Derek always says, “Dr. Kouroukis is the man with the plan”, and he is that. Dr. Kouroukis is the most patient and calming person you can talk to about cancer. He has answers to all the questions – and there were a LOT – while providing a quiet confidence in all aspects of treatment. One of the first things he said to me was “don’t worry, we’re going to fix this”.
He’d stop by often to just “check-in”, give little confidence boosts at the right times, and never worried about spending any amount of time with me. He was even on rotation over Christmas. His demeanour is only surpassed by his intellect – he’s extremely bright and dedicated to hematologic studies and research. Oh, and his funky glasses…pretty awesome!
Jenn Wiernikowski
Jenn Wiernikowski
Nurse Practitioner
As someone stated to me – Jenn is the tactician of this operation. She is the one helping to design and control many aspects of the individual treatment plan. Ensuring all the right things are happening at the right time. But she’s also the one who talks about how I’m going to feel, what the process will be like, and many of the softer day-to-day things.
She is a cheerleader, a voice of reason, and we connected immediately over this horrible disease. She would return emails long after-hours with answers to questions. With Jenn on the team, the battle seemed so much more winnable.
C4 & ODS
The specific areas to receive support are C4 and ODS. I dealt with many other areas and people, but these were the core two. C4 is the nickname of the Hematology Ward (hospital section C4 – the best ward in the hospital of course!) where my treatments were performed. Suspiciously close to my initials of C FORtuna too, eh? The ODS is Oncology Day Services area where outpatient recovery and support functions were performed many times a week. Needless to say I’ve spent a lot of time in these two places and with these people. And met some truly inspirational people along the way – both employees and patients – whose attitude and desire to overcome are unmatched.
I’m reminded of Jim – a gentleman undergoing extensive treatment many times a week who must make a roughly 1h:45m commute each way. He says often “if they want my life, they’re gonna have to come and take it, because I’m not giving it up”. The staff adores him and always stop by to chat and he’d always have a smile and funny greeting. Jim likes to note he was a “little draggy” this morning but he was going to be there no matter what. Inspiring attitude and it was infectious to all his ward-mates.
I truly hope you can see how much this hospital, these doctors and nurses, and the whole staff of Juravinski mean to me. As I noted above, they’ve literally helped save my life. If you could see it in your heart to make a donation to these fantastic people, no size is too small, it would mean the world to me. Thank you and I will catch up again soon in person. Love you all – Cindy
Special Note of Thanks
Below is a note I wanted to share. This was sent to the Head of Hamilton Health Sciences, Dr. Ralph Meyer. It was sent midway during my treatment and is a precursor to this fundraiser. I sent it to show appreciation and thanks for the tremendous effort these teams provide. The feedback was tremendous and heartfelt across the board.
Dear Dr. Meyer,
We want to pass along some thoughts, and a continued thanks, as we progress through a recent diagnosis and treatment at Juravinski. While the initial shock and disbelief of a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, and it certainly was for us, the teams at Juravinski have done absolutely everything possible to minimize this and ensure we receive all the relevant information and positive support. Thank you all!
Generally, we want to commend ALL the teams at Juravinski for contributing to such an amazing organizational experience. Personally, we are both products of years at large companies, and understand well that positive organizational morale and attitude is a holistic endeavour. Your teams have succeeded in this fabulously, and we know this requires top-to-bottom buy-in. We’ve engaged with many departments at Juravinski – including imaging, ODS, pharmacy, thrombosis, and of course hematology – all who treat us with friendliness, compassion, support, pride, and expertise.
More specifically, we have interacted with administrative staff (parking garage, admissions desk, ward administrators), support staff (environmental aids, janitorial, porters, security, food services), nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, and many others all who have made us their priority.
We want to pass along some individual commentary as well.
The core nursing team in Hematology, our de-facto home-away-from-home, has been wonderful with their care and patient attention – they deserve every honour received. They are a well-oiled and efficient machine. A machine with heart and compassion for every specific patient and their needs. They have entirely gone out of their way to make our experience at Juravinski exceptional in all facets.
Jenn Wiernikowski is our inpatient Nurse Practitioner and has been nothing short of extraordinary. There is never a question or concern too small with Jenn. She has provided mental and emotional support in every step of the process. Her guidance on treatment and understanding of the disease, and of course unbelievable medical background, make her our go-to day-to-day person. There are too many words, and no words at the same time, to describe how valuable a person and resource Jenn is to this organization.
Dr Kouroukis is the man with the plan (and some funky awesome glasses). His calm demeanour, patience, compassion, and deep medical competency immediately endeared him to us. We trust his judgement and direction unquestionably and he has created true confidence in the treatment plan. He took an overwhelming diagnosis and treatment schedule and made it something understandable and manageable.
While we are certainly aware there are no guarantees with this type of disease, we are hopeful and confident in a positive outcome as a result of the teams and treatment. We are blessed to have the best possible care, with the best possible teams, in the best possible hospital. We will fight like crazy because your teams do the same.
Dr Meyer – you should be immensely proud of your staff, your teams, and your entire organization. They completely believe in, and abide by, the core values we see written around the hospital, and embody the true spirit of it. They are truly world-class and make a huge difference to many people’s lives. Thank you all.