concerned over | UGH wait-list Surgery list 1,400 names long A NORTH Vancouver man has been on the urgent waiting list for a neurosurgical operation at Lions Gate Hospital for three months. Chuck Howden requires surgery to correct disc problems in his lower back. Unlike ‘many who await opera- tions, Howden is able to work. He takes indomethicin — 150 milligrams daily — to relieve the constant pain caused by pro- truding disc pressure on his sciatic nerve. The drug reduces inflammation but does not alleviate the lack of feeling in his legs and feet. Said Howden, ‘‘They’re like two fuzzballs. If you can imagine putting your bare feet on a very high pile, ultra-soft carpet. I live with that daily.”’ He -has adjusted to the numb- ness in his legs and feet. But he worries about the possible conse- quences of taking a high dosage of indomethicin every day. “I’m not showing any of the symptoms of the contra-indica- tions of the drug. But there is a DR. BRIAN HUNT lot of hidden stuff ‘like internal bleeding and gastro-intestinal stuff,’ he said. Without an indication of when he might undergo surgery Howden is unable to make olans. Howden works as the manager of claims litigation support for Icac. ““My job means I'm the liaison between our claims operation and some 780 lawyers throughout the province. “I usually go around the entire province and hold between 30 and 40 liaison meetings. J can’t plan that kind of an activity. I don’t have anybody else who can do it. I can't plan my own personal schedule. “Pye gotten to the point where I'm not getting all that worked up about it. I have a good friend who is waiting for his second angioplasty. He’s been waiting six to eight months now. That could be a life-threatening situation,” he said. Howden’s neurosurgeon Dr. Brian Hunt says urgent wait-listed patients are often bumped by emergency demands on limited operating room time. Said Hunt, ‘“‘It’s been a gradual “squeeze so that now 1 cannot operate when I need to. I’m hav- ing to work at difficult hours News sports column launched ATTENTION SPORTS fans: starting in today’s North Shore News, the sporting insights of Greg Douglas will be featured in each Wednesday’s sports section. Douglas’ Goal Lines column (see page 15) will provide com- ment on local, regional and inter- national sports issues. -ing their best. By Mi-hael Becker News Reporter when nurses and doctors and anesthetists and patients are not at their best. I’m operating in the middle of the night. “If we have an emergency pro- cedure, if someone is dying of a severe brain hemorrhage then we can go in right away, it’s no prob- lem. The problem is with urgent or semi-urgent patients: people are having nerve damage lying at home in considerable pain,’’ he added. Hunt said it rests on the shoulders of surgeons to push the system and bring the patient in through emergency and to operate at whatever hours are available. “It’s a tremendous tax. If I had a significant disc herniation with a nerve route compression and I’m told that a surgeon is going to be operating on me at 2 a.m. I'd bea litle apprehensive that maybe that surgeon is not at his best,’’ Hunt said. : There are seven operating rooms scheduled for use at any one time at LGH. The hospital! works with a 1,200-patient waiting list for operating room time. The figure aliows the hospital leeway to jug- gle cancellations and ensure that operating room time is used to the maximum. Due to labor strife at the hospi- tal earlier this year, the waiting list stands at approximately 1,400. Three neurosurgeons working at the hospital share 16 hours of elective neurosurgical operating time a week. Hunt says the limited time available wili make it difficult for the hospital to attract the neurosurgeon needed to replace two of his associates who are leav- ing for jobs in the United States. Maureen Murphy, now working in a support role for the three LGH neurosurgeons, was the head -neurological nurse at LGH from 1978 to 1985. . Said Murphy, ‘“‘I think from a nursing point of view act that time everybody is working full-out do- With the com- munication we had with the neurosurgeons I think we did a fantastic job looking after these people. Now I can see it from a different perspective, and | know patients are unhappy that they have to wait.” But said LGH president Bob Smith, ‘‘In terms of the total scheme of things our OR (operating room) time is up a little bit — mainly it would appear to be due to the strike. We're a little bit higher than what we would call the most efficient operating point. The amount of OR time is ad- justed based on the load the physician is carrying. Our process is not as perfect as we would like."’ Douglas has covered sports on the West Coast since arriving from Toronto in 1966 to join the Vancouver Sun. He has since worked in radio, public relations, marketing and sports communications. From 1986 through to 1991, he was the sports director for CK WX Radio. NEWS photo Cindy Goodinan NV RESIDENT Chuck Howden requires surgery to correct disc problems in his lower back. The ICBC employee has been on the LGH urgent waiting list for the past three months. Mountain lake water tapped storage capacity. , THE GREATER Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) planned Tuesday to release dammed water in three North Shore mountain lakes to raise dwindling Seymour and Capilano reservoir water levels. The GVRD normally releases water from Burwell, Palisade and Loch Lomond lakes in August, but the GVRD decided to tap the water sources two months early because of the continuing heat wave, increased water consumption and dropp- ing Seymour and Capilano lake reservoir levels. As of Sunday, Capilano Lake reservoir was down 10 to tt feet and Seymour Lake res- ervoir was down seven feet at a time when when both are nor- mally full. The two reservoirs provide 80% of Lower Mainland water. The three mountain lakes together contain slightly more water than Capilano Lake. GVRD spokesman Bud Elsie said water consumption has in- creased from last week despite the GVRD’s public appeal to reduce water use by 10%. Elsie said 340 million gallons of water were consumed Sun- day in the 18 GVRD municipalities. (All three North Shore municipalities except for the western parts of West Van- couver receive bulk water By Anna Marie D’Angelo News Reporter through the GVRD system.) On the same day last year, 216 million gallons of water were used by the GVRD’s municipalities. Water consumption on Saturday was 310 million gallons, up from 282 million gallons consumed on Thursday and 253 million gallons con- sumed last Wednesday. lf water consumption does not decrease, the GYRD could decide at its July 3 board meeting to ban all outdoor watering in the Lower Mainland region. Water storage capacity for the Lower Mainland has not significantly increased since 1961 when the Seymour Falls” dam was built. Cleveland Dam on the Capilano River was completed in 1954. Elsie said there are prelimi- nary long-range plans to rebuild and raise Seymour Falls dam to increase its water ‘residents who water on Including this year, the Lower Mainland has now ex- perienced drought-like condi- tions three times since 1987, According to a GVRD report, similar drought-like conditions occurred in the Lower Mainland area in the 1940s and before. _Meanwhile, outdoor watering restrictions on the North Shore have been in effect since May 15. - Watering lawns can account for up to 80% of additional water use during summer months. Residents who water their yards on the wrong day of the even day/odd day system in North Vancouver City and District will receive warnings, and if they continue could face a $100 fine. In West Vancouver District, the wrong day face penalities under provincial legislation. The GVRD's public awareness campaign urges resi- dents to water when necessary . and not just because ‘‘it’s your day’’ and to water during early morning or evening and not during the midday heat. Residents should not ‘*flood’’ lawns or water drive- ways and sidewalks.