Age is nothing but a number for this retired surgeon, who is spending some of his retirement travelling abroad to share his skills with nations that are in dire need of medical help.
We sat down with James McGillivray, 89, a retired Collingwood surgeon.
Q: Have you always lived in Collingwood?
A: I came here in 1961, so that’s 58 years.
Q: What brought you here?
A: I was born in Weyburn, Sask., and I grew up there. I finished high school there.
Then, I went to university. I had the opportunity to get into the medical course at the University of Toronto. I did my pre-medical and medical course there.
I did my surgery training in Toronto. I was there for 11 straight years. After that, I went to Orillia and practised there from 1958 to 1961.
One of the physicians (at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, CGMH) said, ‘Wouldn’t you like to come to Collingwood? Because we could use a good surgeon.”
He presumed I was a good surgeon. He couldn’t have known. (laughs)
He said there was a need, and so I came.
Q: Were you already married then?
A: Actually, I’ve been married twice. My first wife, I was married to her at that time and she came with me, somewhat reluctantly.
I lived over on Minnesota Street.
Q: Did you meet your second wife (Irene) in Collingwood?
A: No. Irene and I had the same music teacher back in Weyburn. She was my secret heartthrob when I was a kid. She had the most interesting life.
She was a beautiful singer. She sang opera in Montreal and Toronto. She went to Europe for 20 years.
We went to high school together in Weyburn. We were married in 1977 and she came to Collingwood.
She died a year and a half ago.
Q: What made you want to go into medicine as a career?
A: My father was a surgeon, and I admired him very much.
He was a very good surgeon, a very fast one. He had a good reputation.
When I was a kid, people would say to me, “Are you going to be a doctor like your father?”
What did I know? I said yes.
I admired him, and I admired what he did. I kind of liked the smell of ether when he came home. They don’t use ether anymore, but there’s a smell.
I liked the idea of doing what he did. It was fascinating.
It’s still interesting to me.
Q: Would you say you’re passionate about it?
A: Oh, yes.
I’m so glad that that’s what I’ve done all my life. I would hate to be in a job (that I didn’t enjoy). I enjoyed it all.
I got tired at the end, and there were other things I missed in life because I was doing surgery.
But doing it, I thought it was very interesting. I’d do it all over again.
Q: When did you retire from surgery?
A: I quit at CGMH in 2006.
I thought I’d be glad to quit because I was 76 years old then. I thought that was old enough and I should enjoy myself and spend more time with Irene.
I set up an office in an upstairs bedroom in my house. When it was done, I looked out the window and thought, “What will I do now?”
I picked up a medical journal and saw an ad for a surgeon in Hearst, Ont.
It’s about a 10-and-a-half-hour drive from here. I would go for a week or two at a time.
I kept doing that for nearly 10 years. I quit there about three years ago now.
Q: You also travel to Africa to do surgery there. Can you tell me about that?
A: Well, first, I travelled about 10 times to Ecuador.
Another doctor friend of mine, he’s a couple of years older than I and lives in Stayner. He persuaded me, about 30 years ago.
Q: What made you want to travel overseas or long distances to do surgery?
A: Well, you have the feeling that when you’ve had the best of life, that you should give back a certain amount.
I’m sure there’s other people who have spent more money in life, but I have no complaints.
When Dr. Ives wanted me to go with him, it was because he had been at a place where there were no surgeons. He’d had to do his first and only cesarean section in the worst of circumstances.
After that he said he wouldn’t go unless there was a surgeon. So, I said sure.
We’d go to Ecuador for 17 days at a time. It was very interesting.
Q: Do you have any interesting stories of things you saw there?
A: The light is a very important thing, surgically.
The light kept wandering. Every now and then, it would just go out because their power is not reliable.
They mostly have generators and in some places they have water power.
They don’t have good, reliable electric power.
There was one time when the light went out, I was doing a crucial stitch during a hernia operation. The anaesthetist had to take his pen light out and hold it over. I had to do the rest of the operation with a pen light.
The next time I went, I brought a head light run by a battery.
They had very poor equipment, but each time I went to Ecuador, it got better. I brought discarded surgical instruments I would collect from area hospitals.
Q: Do you anticipate continuing these trips?
A: I’d like to go again.
Collingwood has 83 beds, four orthopaedic surgeons, two general surgeons and three gynecologists and (multiple) family doctors.
The Collingwood area has probably between 60,000 and 80,000 people.
Chad (in Africa) is a nation of 13 million people and there are three orthopaedic surgeons.
(There were times) we did things where we had never seen a previous case (of an ailment), but we had to do it. That’s what you call, flying by the seat of your pants. But you have to do that because the people there have nothing, and the hospital has nothing.
It’s much more rough and ready than you’d ever think. It frightened me, because once you get started, if you don’t do it perfectly the patient is going to be dead. This is not the sort of thing I was ever comfortable with, and who would be?
Q: How did you deal with that kind of heavy burden?
A: In your surgical training, you work up to it. You work with master surgeons and they won’t let you do anything until they’re satisfied that you’ve seen enough and they can see what you can do.
Going over to Chad, I didn’t know what I was getting into.
I relied on (my colleagues). It just takes a while to realize what everyone’s capabilities are.
It’s a very weighty responsibility.
You do better at a place where you know everybody and who you can rely on to be brave enough (to make those calls).
During my month there, I did my best to fit in. It was a fascinating trip.
Q: I’d like to switch gears a bit and talk about your home on St. Vincent Street. This is one of the oldest homes in Collingwood, built in 1860. How did you come to own this home?
A: I think it’s the oldest brick house.
When I decided I wanted Irene to come to Collingwood and live with me, this house was for sale.
So, I bought it in 1976.
Q: You’ve lived in Collingwood for many years. What changes have you seen in town over that time? Are they for the better?
A: It all depends on what your attitude is.
In Collingwood, there were about 8,000 people when I came here.
It had a lot of vacant lots. We were always looking for one more player to play hockey. (laughs)
I thought 8,000 was big enough. I think 20,000 is too big, for me.
If I were young enough to look any distance forward, I’d go north, but that’s my prejudice.
Now, the vacant lots are all filled in and there’s few places for the kids to play. There’s also not nearly as many kids as there used to be. There’s a lot more for older folks to do.
The hospital is overcrowded. It had 83 beds when I came here, and it’s got 83 now.
Some things have improved. I can’t say off the top of my head what’s worse, except that all my friends are dead.
Q: Looking toward the future, do you see yourself continuing with surgical work abroad?
A: Yeah, I’d like to, for as long as I can.
My knees are a little sore. I can’t stand for many hours. I can stand for an hour and a half at the operating table and I don’t notice it, because I’m interested.
