Episode #1.5's primary photo

Keeping Canada Alive

Episode #1.5 (Season 1, Episode 5)
TV Episode | 44 min | Documentary
Staff at the Crossroads Clinic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, treat people with severe disorders associated to illicit use of opiates - such as heroin - with pharmaceutical grade opiates to manage their addictions, as other ...See moreStaff at the Crossroads Clinic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, treat people with severe disorders associated to illicit use of opiates - such as heroin - with pharmaceutical grade opiates to manage their addictions, as other medical treatments have not worked in their situations. While managing the addictions is the primary reason for the clinic, the medical staff there deal with the patients holistically with whatever issues they are facing regardless of it is associated with the addiction. Dave and Carol are two such patients in the clinic today, their medical issue stories which are vastly different. While Dave, Carol and other patients are getting care in the clinic, the sound of first responder sirens outside are a constant reminder that there are addicts who are not getting care and who are dying out on the street, many of them who did whatever it took to get the money to buy the drugs. Also in Vancouver, eighty year old dialysis patient Hans is too old to be on the kidney transplant list. He can get a transplant if he supplies his own donor, which he has in the form of his fifty year old daughter Cindy. With Cindy and Hans scheduled to go into back-to-back surgeries, the person who has perhaps the most difficult day with regard to this case is Hans' wife/Cindy's mother, Willa, who not only will wait through both surgeries but will be worried about the welfare of two of her loved ones. If Hans' surgery is successful, he will probably never have to go on dialysis again. In Edmonton, Jamie, with her husband Chris by her side, will soon give birth to their third child. As with the first two, this delivery will be done by Cesarean section, recommended for women who have already had one in previous births. The rate of C-sections in Canada is increasing, due to fetuses now being larger, a greater rate of diabetes which affects the viability of natural labor, and women having babies later in their life. Despite C-sections being routine with over one-quarter of deliveries in Canada being done in this manner, it is still major surgery with possible complications. In Hamilton, fifty-two year old Shirley was diagnosed with colon cancer a few months ago. She is among the one percent of colon cancer patients whose cancer has metastasized to her brain as a first step. She has already had surgeries to remove the colon cancer and remove one of the brain tumors. Today, Shirley will be going in for a new treatment to deal with the two remaining brain tumors. The cyberknife treatment will be done with a $4 million+ piece of equipment, only one of four in Canada. With pinpoint accuracy, it will provide high doses of radiation to the tumors hopefully to shrink them and stop them from growing so that they can be removed in their entirety. Rather than be fearful, Shirley is excited about how the treatment will allow her to move forward in life. In Toronto, one year old Sasha, who was born deaf, received cochlear implants one month ago. Those implants will be turned on and tested today to see if they are working and if Sasha is indeed hearing with them, which medical staff can gage based on her reactions and brain wave activity. While her mother Amber is looking forward to the first words Sasha hearing being that she loves her, Sasha will have to adjust to having this new sense, which is a totally foreign concept to her. Also in Toronto, Dr. Pham is a general practitioner in the east side of the city whose largely mobile practice is to treat those who have accessibility challenges to health care for whatever reason, and thus who often fall through the cracks of the system. Her practice is not only mobile but through cyberspace where she can have remote consultation sessions with patients and supervise their care using telemedicine. Written by Huggo See less
Read more: Plot summary
Writers
Stan Feingold (story editor) | Deborah Wilton (additional story editor)
Producer
Greg Laikin
Cinematographers
Carly Plett | Stephen Taylor | Michael Tien
Editor
Alec MacNeill Richardson
See all filmmakers & crew (280)
Status
Edit Released
Updated Nov 2, 2015
Release date
Nov 1, 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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