The Pillow Program

Why a Pillow:

The Heart Pillow Program started, approximately twenty years ago, when a Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) physiotherapist told Carol Connolly that patients at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital were getting small pillows, which they used to help diminish the chest pain after open heart surgery.  Apparently it worked wonderfully well when the patients had to cough - a mandatory activity for patients who undergo a general anesthetic to prevent pneumonia.

The Early Years:

Knowing its mandate, Carol approached the FOHS to see what could be done for open heart surgery patients at the RJH. Bob Nicholson, who was the Executive Director of the Society, at the time, turned the question back to her: requesting Carol to set up a pillow program, which FOHS was willing to fund.

With information from St. Paul’s pillow program, Carol was able to secure the fabric source, with a silk-screened print, and the fibrefill, the most important part - the inner stuffing of the pillows. FOHS members volunteered to do the actual sewing, stuffing and packaging of the pillows.

The Middle Years:

As time went by, Carol was asked to join the Board of Directors of the FOHS, so she stepped down from the co-ordination of the Pillow Program. Carol passed on the baton to Joan Calton, and, with the help of numerous volunteers, the Pillow Program has matured into a well tuned machine providing these much-needed cushions.

The Present:

Currently, the silk-screened fabric arrives at Heart House, where Renee van Campen cuts them in the shape of a heart. Once the pillows have taken shape and have been stuffed by a dedicated group of volunteers, they are passed to Joan Calton’s hands, who then proceeds to finish the process by closing the small section in a way that no seam would be noticed, as well as finishing the stuffing to provide for the best cushioning effect. The pillows are individually packaged with a Society’s brochure, and arrangements are made for their distribution by our Hospital Visitors team.

Nearly twenty years have gone by and calculating around 700 open heart operations per year, the FOHS must have provided some 14 000 pillows to patients at the Royal Jubilee Hospital. Please consider contacting the FOHS if you would like to assist in our Pillow Program.