Dr. Donna Cave – Our Family Doctor Saved My Husband’s Life

Family Doctor: Donna Cave

I am forever grateful to our family doctor, Dr. Donna Cave.

A few years ago, my husband had to receive surgery. The procedure was preventative and was expected to be routine. Unfortunately, when he awoke from surgery, it was not the case. He had some extreme symptoms immediately after surgery that I had raised multiple times with the hospital team. After sharing my concerns with various levels of the care team, I was told that this was a pre-existing issue and that I needed to connect with my family doctor.

At that moment, I had to make a difficult decision to take him out of the acute care system, bring him home, and continue to follow up with our family doctor.

I made the call to our family doctor while I was sitting in the hospital still. They took my call. They booked an appointment and later that day I had a virtual phone call appointment on behalf of my husband. We discussed his symptoms. We hung up the phone with a promise to follow up the following day.

Approximately 20 minutes later, I received another phone call from Dr. Cave. She must have reflected on our conversation and through her extensive knowledge of anesthesia, she made us aware of a potential adverse reaction to anaesthesia that can cause these symptoms. She immediately referred us for testing, which we took that day.

As soon as she awoke the following morning, Dr. Cave called us to let us know of the results of the test and to tell us to get to emergency right away. From there, we were equipped with the right knowledge to communicate with emergency team to get him immediate care that he needed for the following weeks.

Dr. Cave’s knowledge and intuition is the reason my husband is still with me. And I am forever grateful to her. She is now retired but I often miss having such a talented and caring individual as my family doctor. To me, she really modelled what it means to be a patient-centred medical home, helping us navigate one of the most difficult times in our lives.

Hailey, Edmonton, AB