"I just want to be Janet"

Medical day unit gives patients their independence

Standing next to her I.V. pole that's been accessorized with a dozen neon coloured monkeys hanging from the bars, Janet Beaton explains that without the medical day unit at the QEII she would have died years ago. She insists she's not being morbid or dramatic.

"It's the truth," she says, "no one can believe I've made it to 50."

Janet has been an outpatient on the medical day unit at the QEII for 16 years. The unit, located on the fourth floor of the Dickson Centre, is where patients who don't require overnight care come to receive day treatments, like chemotherapy, blood transfusions, or stem cell transplants— to name a few. Of the roughly 14,000 patient visits a year, the majority are made by blood cancer patients, but others are made by those like Janet, who have chronic conditions that require constant treatment. 

Janet suffers from anemia and hypokalemia, conditions that have left her five-foot four frame severely underweight, with critically low levels of iron and potassium. Janet also experiences periodical stomach bleeds, caused by small bowel phlebectasia, which further complicate her anemia. As a result, she's experienced three massive hemorrhages — all of which nearly killed her and left her hospitalized for several weeks. To manage her illness, Janet visits the unit twice a week for treatments that typically last eight hours. She acknowledges that to most people the visits may seem like an ordeal, but says she's learned to live with them and has grown to appreciate the freedom the medical day unit offers.

"It seems like a lot, but it's better than being a permanent inpatient, or dead. Med day allows me to go home at night and have a life like anyone else. I can still be independent."

During the time she spends at the unit Janet has a rule: she never talks about her illness.

"When I go there I don't want to talk about being sick. I want to take my mind and everyone else's away from the thoughts of death."

That's why she has the I.V. pole with the monkeys (which give off a high pitched squeak when squeezed). "It gives people something else to talk about," she says adding that the pole is also decorated to match whatever holiday is approaching. The proof is on the walls outside the treatment rooms, where pictures of Janet and her monkeys can be found dressed as robbers for Halloween and as bunnies for Easter.

While Janet is undergoing treatment she spends some of the time visiting other patients, many of whom she's known for years, and chatting with the staff, who she says have become as close as family. "Some of them are like my sisters," she says.

One of these "sisters" is Paula Sudworth-Adams. Paula is a nurse on the Medical Day Unit, who first met Janet 16-years-ago when the unit opened. Over the years, Paula's seen Janet through her ups and down, but is amazed by the progress she's seen, and her upbeat and encouraging attitude.

"She's certainly come a long way in terms of her physical well-being. The medical day unit has really changed her quality of life, and she's a great influence on the other patients."

Janet also spends her treatment time knitting, crocheting and sewing everything she can, from baby sweaters to funky head bands. She'll often drag her I.V. pole to the patient and family room, where she can set up her sewing machine and work away.

Not only does this help take her mind off her illness, but it has a positive effect on the whole unit, she says. "A lot of other patients see me doing this and they get involved, so it helps them too.  Sometimes they'll help me make things or they'll donate buttons, yarn, or give me ideas."

Janet then sells her products at the Seaport Market on Saturdays. For Janet, who had to leave her work as a nurse at the old Grace Maternity nearly two decades ago because her anemia made her too exhausted to work, this is not really a job.  

"It's my therapy. It helps me feel like I'm contributing to society again," she says.

Janet knows her condition is chronic and serious, but she's proved it's manageable. Her goal is to remain an outpatient and not have to spend time at the health centre as an inpatient.

"As long as I can go home and live a normal life, then I'm happy with that. I want to go where people know me as Janet. Not the girl who's sick. I just want to be Janet."