It took just one year and more than 2,100 donors to raise the $5 million needed to bring a world-class PET/CT scanner to the B.C. Interior.
The BC Cancer Foundation announced Wednesday that the critical tool in cancer diagnosis will be built in the next 18 months between the Kelowna General Hospital and the BC Cancer Kelowna building on Royal Avenue.
91裸聊视频淚t is going to be a beautiful facility with the scanner and a waiting room and exam rooms. This is a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool that tells the physicians where your cancer is,91裸聊视频� explains Sarah Roth, president and CEO of the BC Cancer Foundation.
She says this technology will affect the more than 1,000 B.C. Interior patients who are currently forced to go the Lower Mainland 91裸聊视频� where the province91裸聊视频檚 only two publicly-funded PET/CT scanners are located 91裸聊视频� for a scan.
91裸聊视频淚magine you91裸聊视频檙e sick and you have to make that trip, stay overnight sometimes, sometimes you have to go back for a second scan, you91裸聊视频檝e left your children at home. It is very disruptive for families,91裸聊视频� adds Roth.
91裸聊视频淣ow that will be closer to home in your own regional cancer centre.91裸聊视频�
PET/CT is proven in many circumstances as the most effective tool for obtaining a complete picture of a patient91裸聊视频檚 cancer, with an ability to detect cancer cells at an early stage 91裸聊视频� even before a tumour has formed.
Kelowna regional medical director for BC Cancer, Dr. Ross Halperin, says this scanner could be life or death for some his patients who are unable to make it the Lower Mainland for a scan.
91裸聊视频淧ET/CT technology enables us to make the more accurate diagnosis and provide the best treatment,91裸聊视频� he says.
91裸聊视频淎 PET/CT scanner in the Interior means patients will benefit having access to crucial care much closer to home.91裸聊视频�
He adds that this technology can save patients from unnecessary radiation treatment, chemotherapy, surgery and biopsies.
Kelowna couple Shane and Lisa Worman share a life together, share children and they also once had to share an oncologist. Shortly after Shane won his fight against cancer, his wife was diagnosed. She also battled it and won.
They are now both cancer survivors who call Kelowna home and felt they had to donate to this cause.
91裸聊视频淪upporting cancer research and care is paramount to us,91裸聊视频� says Shane. 91裸聊视频淲ithout it, Lisa and I wouldn91裸聊视频檛 be here today and we are proud to be to be able to help patients in our community have access to the best in cancer care right here in Kelowna.91裸聊视频�
With one in two British Columbians being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, the purchase of the PET/CT scanners will ensure patients have access to the 91裸聊视频済old standard in cancer imagining91裸聊视频� and world-class cancer care.
91裸聊视频淭hanks to thousands of generous donors, we are proud to say this vital technology will be closer to home for cancer patients across the Interior,91裸聊视频� says Roth.
91裸聊视频淲e are so incredibly grateful to our supporters for helping to lessen the burden for families facing a cancer diagnosis.91裸聊视频�
Constructions is set to being in the spring of 2019.
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