First regional brain surgery tech arrives in southern Queensland
A splitting headache, a shock diagnosis, and a baby on the way. For the first time, complex brain surgery is being performed west of Brisbane – easing one regional father’s daunting health journey.
A splitting headache led 33-year-old Harrisville father of four Corey Jackwitz to discover he had a brain tumour.
“It was all pretty last minute, I was getting migraines and I just had a scan and they found something and then my surgeon rang me,” Mr Jackwitz said.
“It was a few weeks later and she was doing the operation.”
His partner more than 30-weeks pregnant with their fourth child and an 18-month-old daughter on his hip, the self-employed metal fabricator was anxious to leave his family behind for urgent treatment in Brisbane – fortunately he didn’t have to.
Mr Jackwitz was one of the first patients to receive life-changing brain surgery in regional southern Queensland following a $2m investment into state-of-the-art technology at St Andrew’s Ipswich Private Hospital.
Launched in September this year, the hospital’s new stealth navigation and imaging system StealthStation allows millimetre precision and increased safety during complex brain and spinal surgery.
The technology is the first of its kind available west of Brisbane, making vital neurosurgeries more accessible for southwest Queenslanders in Toowoomba, Gatton and beyond.
Specialist neurosurgeon Dr Sarah Olson, who performed Mr Jackwitz’s craniotomy procedure at the Ipswich hospital, said the technology’s introduction would radically improve health benefits for regional patients.
“I’m very excited because I’ve wanted this for a long time,” Dr Olson said.
“I deal with a lot of brain cancer and it’s a big deal for my patients to have to come to Brisbane.
“Often patients need a long period of radiation and chemotherapy … the thought of going to the main city for a lot of people, even to visit their sick relatives, causes them such stress that they don’t do it.
“When it’s a smaller place where they can easily get parking and they know the area, the support systems are much better for the patients than going to a hospital where it’s very impersonal.”
Ipswich medical staff partnered with Greenslopes Private Hospital in Brisbane to prepare for the advancement, ensuring not only complex neurosurgeries could take place but also additional oncology treatment.
“(The technology) started coming in about 30 years ago, but it’s really revolutionised neurosurgery; now, nowhere in the developed world would not use it for brain surgery,” Dr Olson said.
“The staff have been amazing, the nursing staff and the administration in getting everyone trained up.
“They’ve developed their oncology services, I was worried if I did the operations in Ipswich, they would still have to come to Brisbane for radiation and chemotherapy, but they won’t.”
Ipswich could just be the beginning for southwest patients, with hopes to develop neurological care at St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital.
“It’s been a big step to get us to Ipswich,” Dr Olson said.
“I have been talking to St Andrew’s about potentially, in time, looking at Toowoomba as well … that would be really exciting.”
For Mr Jackwitz, having the comforts of home during his daunting health journey meant the world.
“I was pretty pampered … the missus could come see me every day.
“For what I had to go through, it was handled professionally and really quick.”
Among the chaos, Mr Jackwitz and his partner welcomed their newest baby girl, named after the woman who saved his life.
“Hopefully it’s a good omen because Dr Olson is keeping me alive and now I can pass that on to our Sarah,” he said.
“She might become a brain surgeon too, who knows?”
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Originally published as First regional brain surgery tech arrives in southern Queensland
