I Feel Like I Have My Life Back
Published Thursday, June 24, 2021
Local Canadian Tire Locations Match Donations up to $25,000 to the Urology Fund
by Graham Strong
Bruce Stone, the dealer for Canadian Tire’s Arthur Street location, knows all about the side effects of TURP prostate surgery firsthand. His life was an endless cycle of painful surgeries for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which led to urethra scarring, blockages, and countless trips to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre Emergency Department. Bruce finally got relief thanks to two local urologists: Dr. Hazem Elmansy and Dr. Walid Shahrour.
“I feel like I have my life back,” Bruce said. “For years after my TURP, I dealt with painful urination, bleeding, and scarring. The scarring restricted my urinary track, so I couldn’t empty my bladder properly. I’d make three or four trips to the washroom every night.”
Bruce underwent two new procedures – one developed right here in Thunder Bay – that together could be a permanent solution. First, Dr. Elmansy treated Bruce’s BPH using Lumenis MOSES laser treatment, a brand new surgery not available anywhere else in Ontario. This procedure is safer and less invasive with fewer side effects.
“Using the MOSES laser, our patients can go home the same day with zero pain and with an earlier return to work,” said Dr. Elmansy.
Months later, Dr. Shahrour operated on Bruce again, this time to get rid of the old scarring. Dr. Shahrour used a reconstructive technique using skin from the inner cheek to rebuild the urethra. The result is a wider connection for better flow.
“I am pain-free with no blockages,” Bruce said. “The difference is night and day – from constant pain, doctor appointments, and trips to the Emergency Department to going back to almost completely normal.”
That’s why the two local Canadian Tire locations are donating up to $25,000 to the Urology Fund to support the urologists’ program and research. Many patients in Northwestern Ontario face the same side effects due to TURP surgeries, including those with BPH and prostate cancer. Now, thanks to the two urologists and their cutting-edge techniques, they can literally rewrite their stories.
You can help! Your donation to the Urology Fund will help support these and other innovations. Those include prostate treatments, minimally invasive kidney stone removal, and assisting with a new kidney cancer treatment headed up by the Cancer Centre. Plus, your donation will work twice as hard since the two local Canadian Tire locations together will match your gift!
Please make your gift to the Urology Fund today online (healthsciencesfoundation.ca/DoubleMyGift) or by calling the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation Donation Centre at (807) 345-4673.