Campbellton woman 'in shock' after husband has stroke while awaiting care

A Campbellton woman says she is struggling to understand why her husband did not receive more urgent care when he suffered a stroke this month, and she believes his prognosis would be better if he had.

"I'm in shock that this happened," said Cathy Pitre, whose husband, Luc Pitre, 53, is in hospital on a feeding tube and may never be able to work or walk again.

"It's hard to look at him this way," she said. "He should have been treated right away."

Luc Pitre went to the Campbellton Regional Hospital emergency department, in northern New Brunswick, at about 5:30 p.m. AT on Jan. 5, said Cathy Pitre, with a headache and trouble swallowing.

At first the couple thought it was related to a toothache.

Pitre described her husband as a "very active" person who played hockey, for example, but had pre-existing conditions including a history of high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

After being triaged with a blood pressure reading of 200 and a blood sugar reading of 27, he was made to wait hours in the ER over a two-day period, she said, and at one point was sent home, before finally getting an MRI Jan. 7 that confirmed a blockage in his neck had caused a stroke.

An acquaintance who happened to be in the waiting room the first night he went in seemed to provide better care than the hospital staff, said Pitre.

"I'm so glad that he was there," she said. 

Pascal Pelletier said Luc Pitre had been getting up often to go to the bathroom and spit, since he couldn't swallow, and was a bit wobbly, as if he was drunk.

At around 11:30 p.m., when Luc went out for some air, Pelletier said he could tell he wasn't doing well, so he took him to the nurse and asked for his friend to be re-evaluated.

According to Cathy Pitre, Luc had blood work and X-rays before being released. He was asked to return the next day at noon for a CT scan.

Luc was walking crooked when he came out out of the ER at around 1:30 or 2 a.m., said Pelletier. 

"I said, 'You can't drive like that. You seem drunk… You might have an accident.'"