Excellent and timely responses by health-care professionals here and in Vancouver led to a positive outcome for Tracey Loslo, whose carotid artery was almost completely blocked.
The qathet region resident said she experienced what is called a vision curtain, where there is vision loss, which can last for a few minutes, to days.
“I wondered if I was having a retinal detachment, which runs in the family, so I called my sister, who had one, and she was insisting I get to an optometrist,” said Loslo. “I phoned for an appointment and they got me in the very next day to see Dr. [John] Wyse.
“They did all of the normal eye tests. I got into his office and he said he wasn’t seeing anything, but he said he was going to send me into emergency [at qathet General Hospital].”
Loslo said she went straight to the emergency department and some blood work was taken. A CT scan was also performed. The doctors in the hospital conferred and wanted to be sure about what was happening, so an angiogram was scheduled for the next day, using medical imaging to visualize her cardiovascular system.
“The medical staff in Powell River are extraordinary,” said Loslo. “They always go the extra mile.
“I got the call to come in from the technician in radiology, and she had done my CT scan the day before. I was told there was a host of doctors waiting for me.”
Loslo had the procedure done and was waiting in an emergency bed for the results, which had to be sent to Lion’s Gate Hospital in the Lower Mainland for a radiologist to review. The attending physician at qathet General Hospital had a conversation with the radiologist, who outlined that Loslo had a major restriction in one of her carotid arteries, and that she would have to be flown to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) for surgery.
Loslo said the event that triggered her visit to the optometrist was short-lived, and if not for the retinal problems in her family, she would have thought nothing of it and would not have checked it out.
“It was a piece of plaque that loosened from my carotid artery and it went up into my right eye, or it could have gone straight up to the brain,” said Loslo. “Fortunately, for me, it was a small piece of plaque and so it was not persistent, but it did last long enough that I noticed it.
“These things are just so easy to ignore, but it’s super-duper serious. The doctors in Powell River and the stroke specialist in Vancouver both said Dr. Wyse probably saved my life. It’s incredibly serious stuff for something that was so easy to ignore.”
Loslo said she was given a diagnosis of amaurosis fugax for her eye problem, which, according to a website called MedlinePlus, is a temporary loss of vision in one or both eyes due to a lack of blood flow to the retina.
Loslo said when she arrived at VGH, she made her way to the eighth floor of the Jim Pattison Pavilion, which is a vascular floor. She said she had surgery scheduled for carotid artery stenosis, which is a narrowing of the artery.
“They operated on that where they actually take the narrowing out,” said Loslo. “It was 90 per cent narrow. They operated on me on a Thursday and I was out on the Saturday morning.”
Loslo said it was her and husband Dan’s 10th anniversary on December 26 and they had a cabin booked in Ucluelet. They were supposed to have arrived on December 22 but arrived on Christmas Eve because of the procedure.
“I was given the best Christmas present in the world by Dr. Wyse, and the surgeon and his team gave us the best anniversary gift in the world,” added Loslo. “We had a fabulous time away with lots of storm watching, which was amazing.”
Loslo said she appreciated a visit from her general practitioner Dr. Katayoun Bahadori while she was in the local hospital on a Sunday morning.
“My experience with health care in Powell River is fantastic,” said Loslo. “They deserve our great appreciation for all their hard work.”
Loslo urged people not to ignore symptoms, to pay attention to any anomalies, and to seek medical help for them.
Wyse said it was evident when Loslo made the phone call that she needed to be seen and she was able to be scheduled for an appointment the day after contacting the optometrist’s office.
“I think a big part of this was Tracey’s sister, who pressed her to be seen,” said Wyse. “That was probably the most important piece in all of this. From what Tracey told me, she was not thinking of doing too much because her vision bounced back. It was her sister who pushed her to speak to somebody about that and I just happened to be that person who she spoke to.”
Wyse said local physicians Dr. Sasha Uhlmann, the internist, and Dr. Louis Botha, the ophthalmologist, have coordinated to create a channel for patients streaming from optometrists’ offices to go to the emergency department at qathet General Hospital.
“That was the track that Tracey went down and it worked out perfectly, with the best possible outcome for Tracey.” said Wyse. “I’m happy that this part of the coordination worked out as it did for her.
“Tracey faced a medical emergency, not an eye emergency, and it’s a little outside the scope of optometry to manage that. Certainly, to get people pointed in the right direction, it’s our role. All the links in the chain joined up and it worked out perfectly in terms of Tracey’s experience.”
