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Linda

Linda arrived at the CCHC in July 2007 with one foot stuck pointing straight down. She had broken her leg when a garage door chain snapped -- and after four months, five surgeries, serious complications and painful travel between Toronto and Lower Sackville, she was ready for some good news.

“I arrived in a wheelchair, and the therapists knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. I didn’t think I’d walk again,” Linda recalls. “But they said ‘It’ll be a long road, but you’ll do it!’”

Linda went to physiotherapy three times a week and her husband Edward helped her with the exercises at home. Treatment included balancing work, weights, and the treadmill.

Though she won’t regain the full use of her leg, Linda now walks proudly with a cane. She is back at work and driving again – and credits the CCHC physio team who never gave up on her: Suzanne, Cindy and Holly.

“If it wasn’t for the CCHC, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she says, “One of my neighbors had a dislocated shoulder and I told her, ‘Just go to Cobequid!’”

Madonna

Madonna has annual colonoscopies because of a family history of colon cancer. She has undergone the uncomfortable procedure at other facilities, but was relieved this year to have a more comfortable procedure, a virtual colonoscopy (VC) at the CCHC.

The CCHC offers virtual colonoscopies thanks in part to a CO2 insufflator bought with donations in 2007.  As a result, patients are spared the discomfort and cramping of a conventional colonoscopy.

“For my previous, conventional colonoscopies, the prep began more than a day before the test, and I had to consume an overwhelming amount of liquid laxative,” recalls Madonna. “With the VC, the prep is simple. Four tablets and a small amount of liquid laxative is all it takes – there’s no scope, so no need for a sedative.”

Madonna was delighted at how simple and painless the VC was. “The test took about 10 minutes in total, and I could drive myself home,” she said.  Patients who have polyps detected by the VC are then referred to CCHC’s new Endoscopy Suite for further investigation and treatment.

“If people only knew how easy the VC really is, they wouldn’t be afraid to be tested – more lives could be saved,” says Madonna.

Sandy

Sandy, a resident of Lower Sackville, started to come to the physiotherapy department after his first knee joint replacement on November 24, 2006.

He began at the Cobequid Multi-Service Centre and since his second knee surgery on January 31, 2008 he has started to come to the Cobequid Community Health Centre. Cindy and Pam were his physiotherapist for both of his treatments.

“The girls go out of their way to make you comfortable,” Sandy says.

Before the surgery his knee felt very painful. By trade he is a plasterer and the pounding of the stilts damaged his knee. Sandy comes to the centre twice a week and after each session he can feel the improvement.

“The CCHC is just a place you don’t mind coming to,” says Sandy. “You know you’ll be taken care of and you feel comfortable.”