Eryn Bannerman is scheduled for a leg amputation surgery. However, resulting from the pandemic's strain on hospitals, Bannerman doesn't know when that date will be.

By Alessia Proietti

COVID-19 strain on hospitals

Red Deer woman’s amputation surgery delayed by pandemic

Nov 1, 2021 | 2:19 PM

Eryn Bannerman remembers sitting on the benches at figure skating competitions, waiting to hear what medal would be placed around her neck. Today, Bannerman sits in her wheelchair, waiting for her surgery date and what prosthetic will replace a third of her leg.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still putting a significant strain on provincial hospitals, many surgeries have been postponed indeterminately.

“They didn’t give me a time. It would be an important thing to know in terms of trying to prepare myself for it,” says 45-year-old Bannerman.

For Alberta Health Services (AHS), the decision to postpone surgeries has been a difficult one. “Over the last couple weeks, AHS has been cautiously and carefully increasing surgical volume to include all urgent surgeries that need to be done within a 42-day window,” says AHS, in a statement.

The present day for Bannerman, however, is preceded with a series of unfortunate events.

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At 19 years old, a figure skating accident caused a foot injury, triggering the development of Myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, causing severe body pains and inability to complete daily tasks. In her early-30’s, a physical assault to the head led to bodily-harm induced epilepsy and a prolonged seizure causing her left foot to contort. Over time, the injury worsened, making its way up her legs and leading to severe hyperflexion, or contractions. It continued to her lower back causing a sacroiliac joint injury leaving pain in the hip-bone region.

These progressing grievances left Bannerman in a wheelchair and into subsidized housing.

Bannerman made an attempt at normalcy by coaching figure skaters but had to resign shortly after. “I cry putting on a sock; that’s how painful my foot is,” says Bannerman.

It wasn’t until a new family physician in 2019 flagged her foot injury as a concerning emergency while waiting months for an orthopedic specialist. “They said it probably could’ve been fixed if I had come in immediately,” adds Bannerman. Her lower leg, now needing to be amputated.

Daily chores were already proving to be too difficult to handle alone.

“AHS doesn’t help enough for people that are chronically ill and don’t have family that can care for them,” says Bannerman. “There are no services here in Red Deer that is covered by any of the government programs for disabled people to do housework for. So, it’s basically sometimes a matter of trying to pay my bills or have a clean home or if I can eat.”

While AHS does offer Home Care services, these are mainly for aid in personal hygiene and medication management. The City of Red Deer provides funding to a number of organizations geared towards house tasks under their Family and Community Support Services, allowing them to offer reduced rates to patients, but at their own cost.

One example is Family Services of Central Alberta, a nonprofit organization that offers home support workers to those physically disabled at a subsidized rate, ranging from $20 to $25 per hour, depending on the patient’s yearly income.

As the walls felt they were closing in, according to Bannerman, a little ray of light came through her apartment front window: a tiny black cat lying in the bushes, visibly abused. “Ollie’ and Bannerman’s companionship grew beyond simply the outdoor strolls, with Ollie snuggled in her special backpack attached to Bannerman’s power chair. The rescue kitten learned how to alert her owner of a seizure in advance.

Ollie (Supplied)

When it came time for Ollie’s medical necessities, Bannerman simply could not afford it. Although fulfilling duties of a service animal, she discovered only service dogs are financially covered according to Alberta Income and Employment Support.

The online community came to her aid on GoFundMe, however, raising nearly $400 to cover Ollie’s basic medical needs.

“It’s been a fight for help for the last 25 years,” shares Bannerman.

And the fight isn’t over yet, with her future amputation to take place six inches below her left knee. “It’s just something that is really difficult to accept that you’re going to have to lose one third of your leg and I don’t know when it’s going to happen.”