Diagnostics & Laboratory
Your generosity funds lifesaving diagnostic equipment for our region and helps to provide over 990,000 laboratory tests per year here at BGH.
The majority of patients at Belleville General Hospital will interact with laboratory medicine along with diagnostic imaging.
Diagnostics provide BGH medical staff with the information they need for patient diagnosis and treatment here at the hospital. Our diagnostic departments are often equipment intensive since these specialized machines help create visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis. Medical imaging seeks to reveal internal structures hidden by the skin and bones, which make it possible to identify abnormalities within patients. Your financial support means that we can continue advancements in technology and help our medical teams make informed decisions faster.
Laboratory tests, such as blood tests, are essential to your health. They are an important way for our physicians to screen for disease, diagnose, treat and monitor medical conditions. Consequently, our lab technicians here at Belleville General Hospital need high powered microscopes and a variety of specialist equipment pieces to provide histological analysis of specimens, transfusion medicine and hematology services.
“Early and accurate diagnosis is critically important for a patient’s chances of recovery and future quality of life”
– Dr. Negar Chooback, BGH oncologist.
Your Regional Hospital
As a hospital serving a catchment area of over 7,000 km, that includes a diverse community, we need to ensure our medical professionals have the best tools. Quinte Health Belleville General Hospital houses advanced diagnostics as part of its regional services to patients:
- MRI
- CT
- Cardiopulmonary
- Bone Mineral Density
- Nuclear Medicine
- Lab – Interventional Radiology
Donating today helps us to continuously improve these important regional services to deliver the highest possible care.
Kristen’s story
I am no longer curable. That message has been tattooed on my mind since somehow, cancer found a way back into my life. Every single day, that little voice inside my head challenges me to make a choice. Worry that every little ache or pain is another tumor? Or live today on MY terms, have some fun and enjoy another day full of adventure?
Belleville General Hospital continues to help me choose to live life to the fullest. I have relied on our community hospital to help me fight this battle for over nine years now and I can assure you, they have been great to me!
When YOUR health, or the health of someone you love is at risk, you want to know that your local hospital will be there for you too. You want to be diagnosed quickly and get answers to the questions that start whirling around in your head.
This is where the diagnostic department helped save my life.
In my particular case, I need this equipment every three months. My diagnosis is stage IV metastatic breast cancer. I still can’t believe that ugly disease resurfaced in my lungs seven years after my original diagnosis and treatment. Following two recent surgeries and now daily meds, I’m grateful my cancer is in remission. However, I’m on close watch and early detection is critical to my survival.
It’s actually frightening to me how quickly my health situation changed, not once but twice and on both occasions, diagnostic imaging became the norm. Routine scans can be life-saving. Trust me, we all need every piece of diagnostic imaging equipment functioning at 100% accuracy.
When my journey with cancer began in 2009, I had no idea about the excellent care right here in our backyard including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, staff and many types of equipment. I remember the day this nightmare began like it was yesterday.
During a routine physical, my doctor located a lump in my right breast about the size of a marble and I just knew by the look on her face that it wasn’t good. I was 43 years old. A quick trip to Belleville General Hospital led to several tests in Diagnostic Imaging including a needle biopsy. Within a week, I was sitting in front of Dr. Francesco Barnabi, learning that I had breast cancer. He recommended a mastectomy of my right breast which occurred a few weeks later.
The entire experience was surreal from the onset. I had just completed my first full marathon in Long Beach, California and I was feeling strong and healthy. How could this be? Shortly after my surgery, I began chemotherapy treatments which meant a surgically implanted port-a-cath.
As I reflect on that time period, I realize much of my determination and strength came from my boys, Brady and Colby who were only 10 and 8 years old at the time. My number one priority was to keep their lives as normal as possible while navigating through the unknown. Single parenting is a challenge at the best of times…and cancer had added another layer of complexity.
And then there was my Mom…my caregiver and my number one cheerleader through everything! During what I thought to be at the time, my ultimate fight for survival, my Mom was my ROCK. She was beside me all the way and I will be forever grateful!
Five months of chemo that came with a long list of side effects, (I’ll spare you the details) an entire summer driving back and forth to Kingston every day for radiation and regular visits to Diagnostic Imaging at BGH – exhausting and life changing.
Now, thanks to donors like you, that procedure can be done right in our community at BGH.
Fast forward to June 23, 2015, I was released from the care of Oncology. I clearly recall jumping into my vehicle, opening the sunroof, feeling the sun on my face and shouting out a loud WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!! Talk about euphoric! I’m sure anyone in the parking lot at BGH that day thought I was a bit crazy. I felt like ME again!
For the next two years, I continued with routine MRI’s and mammograms to chart my health progress. On May 18th, 2017, my MRI detected some issues and the team at BGH came through for me once again. Back into Diagnostic Imaging for a CT scan followed by a lung biopsy to confirm breast cancer was back…metastasis to my right lung. Honestly, a cancer survivor’s worst nightmare!
The idea of having a section of my lung removed was extremely frightening and the entire process including surgery was NOT a pleasant experience, one I am thankful to have behind me. As my breast cancer is receptive to estrogen, I have also had my ovaries removed. Once again, I’m thankful to doctors, nurses and staff who have given me excellent care and compassion on this journey.
Now, I visit BGH every three months for imaging. My Mom often giggles when she accompanies me to my appointments at BGH because it’s like bellying up to the bar at Cheers…everybody knows your name!
My latest images have revealed NO VISIBLE OR MEASURABLE DISEASE!
This is the news I pray for every three months when I visit Dr. Roger Levesque in Oncology. Right now, my cancer is in remission!
Happy…happy…happy…happy…relieved…grateful…yep, that’s me doing a happy dance!
So, what does this mean for me?
The reality is, things have changed…I’ve changed. I’ve been given this gift of cancer, if you can get your head around calling cancer a gift. The gift is another chance. A day? A month? A year? Ten years? Twenty?
All I know for certain is that today, I’m here…I’M ALIVE! I know I have today, so I plan on living it on MY terms.
I’ve always sought out adventure…it brings me ALIVE! This journey has helped me realize for certain that I want to LAUGH more…I mean those big belly laughs that take you right to your knees and bring tears to your eyes!
I have no interest in rushing around anymore on the treadmill of life, running like crazy, going nowhere and feeling like the things and people that are most important to me are so far away. I want to LOVE more…I mean really LOVE!
Today, with the support of community people like you, and like me, we can keep Belleville General Hospital ready to help the ones we love.
Start Your Own Online Fundraising Page
Now, more than ever, the future of our community’s health depends on what leaders like you do today.
With just a few clicks, you can set up your own fundraiser on CanadaHelps.org to engage your network and help raise donations for local cancer care.