Episode #1.3's primary photo

Keeping Canada Alive

Episode #1.3 (Season 1, Episode 3)
TV Episode | 44 min | Documentary
On the north shore of Metro Vancouver, Dr. Paul Sugar is a GP who specializes in palliative care. Without an office or support staff, he travels from patient to patient. His view is that unlike weddings, many of which one person can have ...See moreOn the north shore of Metro Vancouver, Dr. Paul Sugar is a GP who specializes in palliative care. Without an office or support staff, he travels from patient to patient. His view is that unlike weddings, many of which one person can have in their life, everyone will die only once and as such should place more effort into planning for that - which includes living the rest of their life - than they seem to for such things as weddings. Today, he will visit with James, who is suffering from an aggressive form of prostate cancer, and fifty-nine year old Harvey who suffers from end stage ALS. In that planning, the most important discussion he may have today is with Christine, who is at stage IV breast cancer, about her recent decision to discontinue radiation and chemotherapy. In Hamilton, Amy, now a teenager, was born with bone spurs on her hip. The pain and severity of the situation has been exacerbated by Amy being a competitive dancer. As less invasive forms of therapy have proven unsuccessful such as physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory medication, Amy is going into surgery today to repair her left hip, the right hip which was previously done. Despite the memory of the pain and longer than expected recovery associated with the right hip surgery, Amy will endure this short term pain for what she hopes is longer term gain. Such orthopedic surgery has the longest wait time of any surgery in Canada, up to ten months. Quest in St. Catharines is a medical clinic specializing in treatment for people who face barriers to health care. Twenty-eight year old Cohen is post-operative breast surgery transitioning female to male, he going in for one of his maintenance hormone treatments. Seventeen year old McKenzie, with the support of her mother, is in the fourth year of transitioning from male to female. Being a minor, McKenzie is not yet allowed to go in for reassignment surgery, and will probably be at least two years on the waiting list once she does become of age in addition to needing to go in for mental health assessment. In Toronto, young adolescent Alexis was born without a left forearm. Because of her growth spurts, she is being refitted for a new prosthetic arm, which she will be taught to use. Lexie's own muscle impulse will allow the fingers of the prosthetic to open and close. The doctors and her mother are hoping that it will make Alexis feel like any other child, thus being able to do the activities of her peers. In Montreal, Ed is in the hospital having his fourth surgery in nine years to remove a recurring non-malignant tumor pressing against his left brain. The previous three surgeries were unable to stop that regrowth, as any tumorous cells left in the body will regrow. The doctors are hoping that a new piece of equipment and a new procedure will today stop that regrowth by identifying any cells that are tumorous. Beyond that issue, the doctors still have to be careful with this entire surgery not to disrupt any brain function in the area of the tumor - namely affecting speech and short term memory - and the vision in his left eye as the tumor is pressing against his optic nerve. And in Yellowknife, the emergency ward in Stanton Territorial Hospital, one of the busiest in the north, faces special challenges in the large area it covers, meaning that some patients have difficult and long journeys to make it in, and the relatively small resources it has in comparison to southern hospitals, making the work flow difficult to anticipate and thus manage for staff. Dr. Wilkinson is on duty this afternoon, she who will see among others Joseph just flown in from a First Nations community 200 kilometers away, he who looks to be suffering from internal bleeding from medication. She also talks about her and her husband's decision to move to the north three years ago. Written by Huggo See less
Read more: Plot summary
Writer
Deborah Wilton (additional story editor)
Producer
Greg Laikin
Cinematographers
Stephen Taylor | Michael Tien
Editor
Ness Van Hassel (as Ness Van Hessel)
See all filmmakers & crew (280)
Status
Edit Released
Updated Oct 19, 2015
Release date
Oct 18, 2015 (Canada)
Awards
Series awards
2 nominations

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1 cast member
Name Known for
Kiefer Sutherland's primary photo
Kiefer Sutherland
Self - Narrator (voice) Self - Narrator (voice)   See fewer
24 (2001)
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