- Posted on February 21, 2024
Patient Stories: Ray Huang
How surgery at St. Mary’s inspired a career in healthcare
Ray Huang knows how it feels to struggle for breath – and the fear and panic that comes with it.
As a respiratory therapist in Richmond, B.C., Ray has been helping people with their breathing issues for nearly a decade.
But his career path was forged years before in Kitchener – more than 4,000 kilometres away from home – when, at 21 years old, he needed surgery to treat a collapsed lung.
“Looking back on those challenges, I knew I went through that for a reason,” says Ray, now in his mid-30's. “After that I knew I wanted to help others who were having breathing problems.”
Ray had moved from B.C. to Kitchener to study medical sciences at the University of Waterloo when he began to feel shortness of breath in 2009.
An X-ray following a trip to the emergency department at St. Mary’s General Hospital revealed that his left lung was 15 per cent collapsed.
A serious condition
Ray had spontaneous pneumothorax, where air pockets formed in his lung for no apparent reason, causing it to collapse.
Dr. Matthew Kilmurry, who treated Ray at St. Mary’s 15 years ago, says spontaneous pneumothorax is relatively common in tall, thin males. Each year, St. Mary’s sees roughly 40 to 50 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax that require surgery, plus others that are treated without surgery.
Without treatment, spontaneous pneumothorax is likely to keep recurring.
“That can be painful and cause shortness of breath, but it could also be life-threatening,” says Dr. Kilmurry.
With Ray, Dr. Kilmurry first tried inserting a small tube between the ribs to suck air out and allow the lungs to re-expand. When that didn’t work, surgery was required to “basically staple the air bubbles out of the lung,” Ray explains.
The right place at the right time
The timing of Ray’s collapsed lung was fortunate: St. Mary’s had just become a Level One Thoracic Surgery Centre that same year. Ray had access to Dr. Kilmurry, one of the province’s top thoracic surgeons, without having to travel outside his community.
As a student with no relatives nearby, that was important.
“It was frightening to deal with it by myself,” Ray says. “But the team at St. Mary’s worked together like a family, and they treated me that way.”
Giving back
Ray volunteered at St. Mary’s for a year following his surgery. Soon after, he decided to get into respiratory therapy.
“I wanted to have a purpose for my life, and going through that spontaneous pneumothorax and collapsed lung, I wanted to help others with similar experiences,” Ray says.
“Being able to do this and give back, it helps me too. It keeps me with a grateful heart.”
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