racingace
October 13th, 2009, 10:53 am
http://www.windsorstar.com/health/Teen+battling+cancer+feels+care+Ontario+life+risk/2094168/story.html
A Belle River teenager now getting chemotherapy in Michigan for acute leukemia feels Ontario’s health system has failed him and put his life at risk.
“If I hadn’t come here, I’d probably be dead,” said Wes Laporte, in a telephone interview from his hospital bed in Rochester, Mich.
Laporte, 18, said the message he’d been getting from his London, Ont., oncologists was to go home and wait for a bone marrow transplant.
Doctors in Michigan told him: “You’re going to die if we don’t start helping you now,” he said.
His family is now facing medical bills likely approaching $100,000 for treatment in the U.S., Laporte said.
Laporte checked into Crittenton Hospital in Rochester last Friday after he learned acute leukemia had developed.
Laporte said he was told he might be there for two or three weeks of chemotherapy.
He was interviewed after one treatment that left him feeling weak, but also bitter about years wasted in Ontario hospitals trying to get a diagnosis of his problems and early treatment.
“We’ve clearly wasted four or five years,” said his mother Maureen, who was at his bedside Monday.
“Now, he has acute leukemia.
“I’m a little bitter no one accepted responsibility (in Ontario) for his treatment,” Maureen said.
She said her son’s Windsor pediatrician, Dr. Mark Awuku, was a pillar of support over the years, and made referrals.
Her son has been to a string of hospitals and cancer clinics, including those in London, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Windsor Regional Hospital and the Windsor Cancer Clinic.
When Wes turned 18, it seemed like the Hospital for Sick Children felt he should go elsewhere, and the next stop was London, she said.
When his symptoms worsen he’s also gone to Windsor Regional’s emergency department or the local cancer clinic, she said.
But nothing effective in the way of treatment happened until they ended up in Michigan after contacting EcuMedical Resources International.
The five-year-old Windsor company finds drugs and procedures in the U.S. available without the wait times common in Canada.
Laporte had been diagnosed earlier this year with myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, a precursor to leukemia.
In August, EcuMedical had arranged for Laporte to go to a Rochester clinic to get the drug Vidaza, approved in the U.S. for treatment of MDS. He was told he couldn’t get the drug in Ontario.
To add to the family’s disillusionment with his treatment in Canada, his mother said she has since learned that Vidaza has been prescribed elsewhere in Ontario.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, Ron Foster, director of public affairs for Windsor Regional Hospital, said he couldn’t immediately explain why Laporte wasn’t having chemotherapy in Windsor rather than Michigan. He promised to look into the history of his treatment.
In general terms, if Laporte had been referred by his oncologist to the Windsor Cancer Clinic for chemotherapy, there was no question that it would happen here, Foster said.
Ultimately, Laporte needs a bone marrow transplant. No match has been found among his immediate family members.
The Laporte family has set up a foundation to raise money to help pay for his treatment in the U.S.
A variety of dinners, golf tournaments and car washes have raised over $10,000.
His aunt, Heather Goldring-Bechard, who lives in Paincourt, is taking pledges on his behalf for her run in Sunday’s Toronto marathon.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.helpweslaporte.com (http://www.helpweslaporte.com).
To find out how to join the Canadian bone marrow registry, visit www.onematch.ca (http://www.onematch.ca).
I live in Windsor(Canada), just a bridge or tunnel away from Detroit and these are very common stories. I cant speak for everybody but, I think for the most part, people here hope you don't get the free gov't ran health care.
A Belle River teenager now getting chemotherapy in Michigan for acute leukemia feels Ontario’s health system has failed him and put his life at risk.
“If I hadn’t come here, I’d probably be dead,” said Wes Laporte, in a telephone interview from his hospital bed in Rochester, Mich.
Laporte, 18, said the message he’d been getting from his London, Ont., oncologists was to go home and wait for a bone marrow transplant.
Doctors in Michigan told him: “You’re going to die if we don’t start helping you now,” he said.
His family is now facing medical bills likely approaching $100,000 for treatment in the U.S., Laporte said.
Laporte checked into Crittenton Hospital in Rochester last Friday after he learned acute leukemia had developed.
Laporte said he was told he might be there for two or three weeks of chemotherapy.
He was interviewed after one treatment that left him feeling weak, but also bitter about years wasted in Ontario hospitals trying to get a diagnosis of his problems and early treatment.
“We’ve clearly wasted four or five years,” said his mother Maureen, who was at his bedside Monday.
“Now, he has acute leukemia.
“I’m a little bitter no one accepted responsibility (in Ontario) for his treatment,” Maureen said.
She said her son’s Windsor pediatrician, Dr. Mark Awuku, was a pillar of support over the years, and made referrals.
Her son has been to a string of hospitals and cancer clinics, including those in London, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Windsor Regional Hospital and the Windsor Cancer Clinic.
When Wes turned 18, it seemed like the Hospital for Sick Children felt he should go elsewhere, and the next stop was London, she said.
When his symptoms worsen he’s also gone to Windsor Regional’s emergency department or the local cancer clinic, she said.
But nothing effective in the way of treatment happened until they ended up in Michigan after contacting EcuMedical Resources International.
The five-year-old Windsor company finds drugs and procedures in the U.S. available without the wait times common in Canada.
Laporte had been diagnosed earlier this year with myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, a precursor to leukemia.
In August, EcuMedical had arranged for Laporte to go to a Rochester clinic to get the drug Vidaza, approved in the U.S. for treatment of MDS. He was told he couldn’t get the drug in Ontario.
To add to the family’s disillusionment with his treatment in Canada, his mother said she has since learned that Vidaza has been prescribed elsewhere in Ontario.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, Ron Foster, director of public affairs for Windsor Regional Hospital, said he couldn’t immediately explain why Laporte wasn’t having chemotherapy in Windsor rather than Michigan. He promised to look into the history of his treatment.
In general terms, if Laporte had been referred by his oncologist to the Windsor Cancer Clinic for chemotherapy, there was no question that it would happen here, Foster said.
Ultimately, Laporte needs a bone marrow transplant. No match has been found among his immediate family members.
The Laporte family has set up a foundation to raise money to help pay for his treatment in the U.S.
A variety of dinners, golf tournaments and car washes have raised over $10,000.
His aunt, Heather Goldring-Bechard, who lives in Paincourt, is taking pledges on his behalf for her run in Sunday’s Toronto marathon.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.helpweslaporte.com (http://www.helpweslaporte.com).
To find out how to join the Canadian bone marrow registry, visit www.onematch.ca (http://www.onematch.ca).
I live in Windsor(Canada), just a bridge or tunnel away from Detroit and these are very common stories. I cant speak for everybody but, I think for the most part, people here hope you don't get the free gov't ran health care.