‘She’s a fighter:’ Regina man pushing for mother’s treatment in province

Brayden Dutchak’s mom, Tamara Heppner, already managed to beat cancer — she’s in remission — but now she’s in a Regina hospital, needing care for the damage the cancer treatment did.

That’s why Dutchak is doing everything he can think of to have the hyperbaric oxygen chamber in Moose Jaw opened back up.

“(The doctor) basically said hyperbaric oxygen is our best bet and he hopes we can get in. If not, she’s going to know a life of blood transfusions and constant irrigation of the bladder,” said Dutchak.

“She’s a fighter. That’s really where we’re at with this, and that’s really the option she’s got. It’s fight or nothing, and all we really need is a fighter’s chance.”

Tamara Heppner is in need of therapy in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to recover from her cancer treatment, and her son is trying to get the health authority to reopen the chamber in Moose Jaw instead of attempting the trek to Calgary for treatment in her weakened state. (Submitted)

In 2016, the hyperbaric chamber opened at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw. Originally the provincial government wasn’t going to include the chamber in the new hospital, but the community fought and fundraised for it and the government changed its mind.

According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), respiratory therapists were in high demand during the pandemic and in 2021, therapists were moved around in the Moose Jaw hospital, which closed down the chamber.

It has been closed ever since.

The hospital in Moose Jaw has two respiratory therapists now and a third was recently hired, but the SHA said four are needed before the chamber can be put into operation again.

For Heppner, getting treatment in a chamber is both a quality of life and a survival issue. She has been approved to get treatment at a chamber in Calgary, but in her current condition, Dutchak said that travel isn’t an option.

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“It’s an outpatient procedure and, from the bleeding, she’s hooked up to a whole bunch of different medical devices,” he explained.

Dutchak has been reaching out to whoever he can think of to get help but hasn’t had any luck. He heard from the Health Minister Everett Hindley’s office that he was sorry about the situation, but the chamber couldn’t be opened without a fourth therapist.

“I don’t need people to be sorry, I need help,” said Dutchak.

Rural and Remote Health Minister Tim McLeod said Thursday that the health authority could look into whether moving a therapist to Moose Jaw temporarily for treatments would be an option, but couldn’t say whether the authority was looking into that currently.

Dutchak is frustrated.

“I feel like I’m constantly gut-kicked,” he said.

He called it a tragedy that the potentially life-saving treatment for his mother could be just 45 minutes away in Moose Jaw, but she’s being told her best option is seven hours away in Calgary.

“We’re in a province of 1.2 million people; you’re telling me they can’t find one person to run the chamber? … You’re telling me you can’t find one person to do this? I don’t understand,” Dutchak said.

He’s not about to give up, though. Dutchak said he’ll go door to door to gather support if he has to.

“One way or the other, she’s getting treatment,” he said. “I don’t know how (and) I don’t know when, but she’s going to be getting it.”