Jeff Bell / Times Colonist MARCH
21, 2021 06:00 AM
John
Stenstrom’s father, Jack, was a general surgeon in Victoria and his son, David,
is an internal-medicine physician in Oregon.
But not
Stenstrom, who went into business instead, becoming chief executive and
president of a steamship company that owned and operated freighters on the west
coast of North America.
“Medicine
skipped a generation in my family,” said the Victoria-area resident. “I wasn’t
drawn to medicine like they were, but let me tell you that I’ve sure benefited
from the care of those who were. Many times.”
Stenstrom,
79, said he and his wife, Bonnie, raised their family in northern California
and Washington state for 25 years. While travelling for business, he says, he
saw a lot of the world, from Australia and New Zealand to South America.
“I
wouldn’t have thought it then, but those experiences would show me just how
great we have it right here. Like it is for a lot of people, there was
something that drew me back home to where I grew up.
“For more
reasons than one, I’m grateful for that today.”
Stenstrom
returned to Canada in 1999 after he retired. Soon after, he had a recurrence of
prostate cancer, which he’d experienced years earlier.
“I had
seen some of the best physicians in the U.S. at Stanford University Medical
Center,” he said. “When I called down there to ask if I should return for
treatment, they surprised me by saying: ‘No, stay home. You’re in one of the
best places on the West Coast for treatment, right there at Royal Jubilee
Hospital.’ ”
Several
years went by and he and Bonnie enjoyed sailing and travelling in their RV a
few months every year to see their grandchildren — there are 1o of them now.
Last
October, after a restless night’s sleep, he woke up with a “great swelling” in
his leg. “Bonnie knew we needed to go for help right away — she gave me five
minutes and we were off to Saanich Peninsula Hospital,” Stenstrom said. “A
short while later, I was transferred by ambulance to Royal Jubilee where I
would undergo an angioplasty to relieve the swelling.”
The
diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis.
Stenstrom
remembers talking to critical-care physician Dr. Peter Sherk afterward about
going to Royal Jubilee’s High Acuity Unit.
“I spent
several days in the new High Acuity Unit and I credit the care that I had at
Royal Jubilee for a full and complete recovery,” Stenstrom said. “All of the
doctors, all of the nurses and all of the support staff were just exceptionally
good.”
Bonnie
Stenstrom said she knew her husband was in a great place.
“I felt
really good knowing that he was in the hands of this constellation of
physicians in the High Acuity Unit — that they had various specialties, but
they were all going to come together on this situation. I had this sense that
every aspect of John was going to be taken care of because that’s what those
people were there for.
“We both
have a lot of confidence in our health care. I wasn’t worried. You have to put
your trust somewhere and I trust this system here. It works.”
The
Stenstroms followed up with a contribution to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation
$7-million It’s Critical Campaign for a permanent High Acuity Unit to augment
Royal Jubilee’s Intensive Care Unit, as “our way of saying thank you.”
The
health care system in Canada was a major part of the decision to return here,
Stenstrom said.
“From my
perspective, the care we have in British Columbia is top-notch. When you need
it, it’s there and it’s very good.”
Donations
to the It’s Critical Campaign can be made online at victoriaf.ca,
by calling 250-519-1750 or emailing vhf@viha.ca.
jbell@timescolonist.com
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