How a 1st year resident in St John's helped solve a medical mystery, and didn't stop there

Ian Gillies Sr. still can't look at the pictures he took during his son's two-month stint at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's.

Remembering what happened is enough for him, and for now — he's trying looking ahead.

"We've been through hell and back, and it really gives you a different perspective," he said.

That hell began in the summer of 2023. Ian Gillies Jr. had just graduated from the College of North Atlantic. But the energy you'd expect out of a 22-year-old wasn't there: Gillies Jr. felt so drained he eventually couldn't walk up the stairs in the house he shares with his dad in Conception Bay South.

As the weeks dragged on, "It got to the point where I was bringing him to the doctor in a wheelchair," said Gillies Sr.

Along with constipation, Gillies Jr. was also bloating, and he spent hours in their hot tub trying to relieve the associated pain. "It would be like a warm compress," he remembers.

Things changed one day in October when their family doctor called with new test results, and advised them to head to the emergency room immediately. At that point, Gillies Jr. had gained almost 60 pounds in the last month, as his body retained fluid.

"Obviously, everybody knew that there was something seriously wrong," said Gillies Sr.

In the hospital, the family kept tabs on Gillies Jr.'s charts, and "every day we'd look at the numbers going down, and down and down," Gillies Sr. said.

The medical experts ruled out cancers, infections and common autoimmune disorders. They drained litres of the fluid that kept building up around his abdomen — about 15 two-litre milk cartons over a few weeks — and Gillies Sr. recalls helping his son to the bathroom amid his tangle of wires and tubes.

But Gillies Jr. doesn't remember much at all.

"The whole time was spent in the same bed, in the same room, with the same people around. So it all just melds together," he said.

Despite that blur, one trend was clear: one month into the mystery, Gillies Jr. was getting worse.

"[The doctors] were saying, telling us he might not make it through the night," said Gillies Sr.