Patient Story: Ryan

My name is Ryan Lougheed, citizen of Sudbury and your ‘average Joe’. On November 10, 2017, my entire world changed when I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. At the time, I’d never even heard of bladder cancer, what causes it or even whether it was treatable. One of the most shocking stats was that since 2016, bladder cancer has been diagnosed more times in Northeastern Ontario than anywhere else in Ontario. As difficult as the diagnosis was, I  quickly realized that I could use it to help make real change right here in Sudbury at HSN, and hopefully it would benefit patients throughout Northeastern Ontario.

I immediately went to work gathering information while learning about bladder cancer and it was a friend of mine who brought Blue Light Cystoscopy to my attention. This technology is used to help identify small or deep tissue bladder cancer cells that would typically be very difficult to find using conventional white light. It also allows a patient’s care team to customize treatment options and potentially reduces the overall treatment cost per patient.

At the time, Blue Light Cystoscopy was in the process of being approved for use in Canada and it was only being used at a handful of hospitals in Southern Ontario. I spoke with my doctor about the technology and whether it would be useful, and the rest is history. After 3 years of fundraising and advocacy, we were able to raise over $100,000 and Blue Light Cystoscopy was used in Sudbury for the first time in December 2020.

To all the donors, sponsors, and individuals who believed in this cause – you have made a difference in your community and throughout our region. You are the people that have given HSN the best weapon in the fight against bladder cancer today.