$1 million community donation will give hospital a better
MRI
The new MRI system at McMaster Children’s Hospital will help other children like
Liam who require brain surgery. Liam (above) had a tumour removed when he was
eight.
An MRI of eight-year-old Liam McGibbon’s brain showed a tumour had grown deep in
its centre. It had to be removed, but how to reach the centre of the brain without
damaging some of its parts along the way?
Liam was a healthy boy with fully operational motor functions. How do you operate on a
healthy child and do no damage?
Dr. Sheila Singh, a pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster Children’s Hospital, needed a
perfect map to draw an exact and safe route to that tumour. That required the latest in
diagnostic imaging – an individual brain map created by multiple scans from a Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine.
It was something McMaster Children’s Hospital could not offer, with a machine
purchased in 2001 and considered inadequate compared to the technology of the day.
That will not be a problem in the future. Thanks to the generosity of numerous donors,
McMaster Children’s Hospital will soon have a refurbished MRI to serve its patients.
Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation announced in February the donation of $1 million
for the purchase of a new MRI system. Utilizing existing magnets, the new system will
deliver the highest quality, detailed imaging to provide more information for diagnosis,
treatment and surgery.
This is a case of a community of people recognizing a need to provide advanced
technology in order to offer the best care to children in this region, and acting swiftly to
realize a goal. Fred Losani, President and CEO of Losani Homes, George McCarter,
President of Pearson Dunn Insurance, and Teresa Cascioli, founder of Teresa Cascioli
Charitable Foundation, challenged Friends of Mac Kids to help the cause.
Donations included $450,000 from the Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation, as well as
Friends of Mac Kids contributions: the Losani family ($300,000), Steve and Elizabeth
Stipsits (Branthaven Homes) ($100,000), Turkstra Lumber, George and Bernie McCarter,
Dr. Peter and Susan Fitzgerald, New Horizon Homes and Labatt Breweries of Canada.
Teresa Cascioli, in announcing the donation, joked that it was the drinkers of Ontario that
helped her to gain money to donate. Teresa is the talent that helped make Lakeport
Brewing such as success before it was sold to Labatt Breweries of Canada.
A tearful and grateful Jason McGibbon spoke at that same MRI announcement, full of
emotion at the importance of providing the best care to children of this region, children
like his young son Liam.
Liam was eight years old and suffering from migraines when an MRI discovered the
tumour in his brain. It ended up being unrelated to the migraines and was eventually
determined to be benign. But it would still do damage to Liam’s brain if it wasn’t
removed.
Dr. Sheila Singh required images that would show the exact path to that tumour, so she
convinced St. Joseph’s Hospital to help out. The clear images produced there eventually
built something akin to a GPS mapping system of Liam’s brain. They showed the way –
entering through the division in the two hemispheres, and reaching into the centre.
“With the use of the MRI, there are no surprises,” said Sheila. “That’s how you manage a
patient who is perfect neurologically to begin with, who has an incidental tumour. The
bar is set very high. You simply cannot damage this child. He’s perfect. I don’t want him
to have a single deficit.”
Guided by those MRI images, Sheila and three other neurosurgeons operated for nine
hours, then another six hours in a later operation.
Today, at age nine, Liam is back to studying, he swims, and plays his favourite sport –
basketball. There are a few minor issues, but for the most part, Liam is fine. He continues
to get MRIs at McMaster Children’s Hospital to monitor his condition. Soon, he and
others will be doing so on a new system, thanks to a community’s generous heart.
The images taken from Liam’s MRI at St. Joseph’s Hospital helped
develop a clear plan for surgery.
This MRI was taken at McMaster Children’s Hospital after
the tumour was removed.