Patient’s cancer legacy
JOHN Oudyn didn’t live to see the benefits of his donation, but his family feels honoured to see it at work.
Mr Oudyn donated $9000 to buy a special piece of equipment (a SOZO machine) that measures swelling in legs or arms in cancer patients.
Cairns Hospital cancer care centre advanced occupational therapist Kari Meehan said she was treating Mr Oudyn as he had developed leg swelling or lymphedema as a side effect of cancer treatment.
“During a therapy session, he was discussing with his treating therapist the various assessment tools available to measure swelling and began to discuss bioimpedance spectroscopy technology, which measures fluid sitting outside the cells of the body. I mentioned a new device that could measure swelling in bilateral legs or arms – previous technology only allowed the measurement of ECG in a single leg or arm,” she said.
“He approached the Far
North Queensland Hospital Foundation about donating the funds to buy this newer technology and we were able to tell him before he died that it had been bought, so that was a great feeling for him to know that he was able to make a difference to other patients,” she said.
John’s daughter, Jane, said it was an honour to see the SOZO machine and how it worked and to learn that it was helping so many people across Far North Queensland.
“Dad was always thinking of others and would have been so happy to see this amazing machine and how it is helping others,” Ms Oudyn said.