Patient says “thank you” for cancer care close to home

Doctor on stool and patient on bed smiling

At age 41, Melissa Hinze was a typically busy working mom, running a home business. But in October 2016, she visited PRHC’s Breast Assessment Centre with a suspicious lump. Scans revealed cancer in both breasts. She had biopsies and received an emergency diagnosis on the spot.

Melissa’s instinct was to fight. “What do we do next?” she asked. She met a patient navigator, received a referral for surgery, and shortly thereafter, had a double mastectomy. Since then, with her focus on living with cancer under the care of Dr. Neera Jeyabalan, Melissa has had hormone treatments, chemotherapy, further surgeries and hospital stays.

“PRHC is second to none,” she says about the donor-funded equipment and technology she’s so thankful for. She can’t imagine having to travel and stay elsewhere for treatment. Instead, all her care happens close to home.

Receiving care locally has been essential to Melissa’s ability to stay motivated. It’s allowed her to see life a little differently and notice what she calls “the silver linings” that come from having world-class cancer care close to home, thanks to donor generosity.

“Coming in here [to PRHC] and having great care is number one,” Melissa says, and for that she’s extremely grateful. “Because of this community, I have great care and the smartest, compassionate doctor. Even during COVID-19, I always feel safe coming to PRHC.” This allows her and her husband to focus on her care and healthy living at home, where she’s spending a lot more quality time with her kids.

“In the blink of an eye this was all taken away.”

Cancer patient Anthony Serracino-Inglott knows all about the power of gratitude and the impact that donations are having on patient care at your hospital.

Not that long ago he was a typical 16-year-old kid from Lindsay, going to school, playing hockey and hanging out with his friends. “In the blink of an eye this was all taken away from me when I found out I had Philadelphia-Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia,” he says.

Anthony spent months in a Toronto hospital bed, far away from friends and family. Now thanks to donors, Anthony and other pediatric cancer patients can receive their cancer treatment at PRHC, close enough that they can have time at home with friends and family and sleep in their own beds. “You know, normal stuff,” Anthony says. “I can fit my treatment into my life, not my life into my treatment.”

With the incredible support of donors, the PRHC Foundation was able to fund all of the new equipment and technology needed to operate the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) Satellite Clinic at PRHC, completing the hospital’s current funding needs for pediatric cancer care in our region. We’re so grateful for this…and so is Anthony: “Thank you to everyone who supported this project and helped make sure kids like me can get their cancer care close to home.”

Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival donates $55,449 for the next important step forward in PRHC’s chemotherapy program

Volunteers outdoors with Dragin boat paddles and large cheque

Each and every year we are overwhelmed by the outpouring of community support we receive through Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival. 2020 was no exception.

We are so grateful that even after the tough decision to cancel last summer’s Festival due to COVID-19, Survivors Abreast and the Festival Planning Committee still raised an incredible $55,449 in support of 2020’s important fundraising priority: Robotic Intravenous Automation (RIVA) technology.

This generous donation will help fund the next important step forward in PRHC’s chemotherapy program. RIVA is cutting-edge robotic technology that automates the process of preparing medicines for chemotherapy. The result? Faster, more accurate cancer treatment.

Our deepest thanks to Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival, Survivors Abreast, and all the volunteers, fundraisers and sponsors for their continued commitment, passion and dedication to ensuring breast cancer patients have access to the latest treatments, technology and world-class care at PRHC!