Peter and Michelle Shaver of Windsor, N.S. had their 2025 RV season cut short when Peter was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Following Ethos with Hypersight treatment at the QEII, Peter is doing well and has returned to living life to the fullest. CONTRIBUTED
QEII’s donor-funded, life-changing technology in action for Windsor man
For Peter Shaver and his wife Michelle, RV’ing is a source of adventure and pleasure. They settled in Nova Scotia two years ago after falling in love with the province. Michelle found a home for sale and the next thing they knew, they had moved in and started their new lives in Canada’s ocean playground.
What was intended to be an exciting new development in their retirement all changed when Peter received his diagnosis at the start of summer last year — prostate cancer. His diagnosis fundamentally impacted their lifestyle.
Michelle stated that she hadn’t known what brought them to Nova Scotia, but she now believes that it saved Peter’s life.
A simple blood test at Hants Community Hospital in Windsor — the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test — revealed to Peter’s nurse practitioners that something was wrong and that further treatment would be needed. From there, Dr. Kenneth Rent, Peter’s urologist, determined he had advanced prostate cancer and referred Peter to the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
For Michelle, the news of the prostate cancer diagnosis was met with fear.
“Peter's 85 years old and he's been pretty healthy all his life,” says Michelle. “You really don't think anything of it because you hear of prostate cancer being one of the cancers that's very treatable. But when you hear that it's gone into the lymph nodes, you take a step back and say, oh, this is a little more serious.”
Peter, of course, expressed anxiety over healthcare challenges, citing “the nervousness of not having a successful treatment” and saying the diagnosis “scared the heck out of me.” However, Peter describes how each of his encounters at the QEII was met with great attention and that he received followup even after leaving appointments.
During his cancer journey, Peter was treated on the QEII’s Ethos with HyperSight™, with the QEII being the first hospital in Canada to acquire this technology.
Known as personalized radiotherapy, it is designed for cancer treatment and uses imaging technology to detect changes in a patient's anatomy day to day, aiming to direct more radiation to where it is needed (the tumour) and minimize harm to surrounding organs and tissues.
Ethos with HyperSight imaging technology is regarded as an advanced piece of medical equipment with potential to improve treatment outcomes and reduce the number of radiation treatments for certain patients. This new personalized radiotherapy technology at the QEII has been possible thanks to nearly 13,000 donors contributing $8.5 million as part of the QEII Foundation’s We Are campaign and BMO Ride for Cancer event.
This innovative technology aims to improve patient quality of life by not only reducing the number of radiation treatments required, but also potentially reducing side effects and helping to alleviate the financial burden on patients and the healthcare system while simultaneously boosting time at home.
For many people, time spent at home with family is important. Peter expressed that because of the Ethos technology, there’s an added convenience of only being at the hospital for a short time for each radiation treatment.
“You're there for about two hours, roughly, but in the machine itself for about 15 minutes,” he says. “There was no lapse in treatment times.”
Though Peter lives outside of Halifax, the oncology team at the QEII worked with him to make sure that he received his care, treatment and prescriptions despite the distance by collaborating with Peter’s other care providers and local pharmacy — something Peter had noted as being professional and thoughtful.
Both Michelle and Peter regard his care experience as part of a “well-oiled machine, from A to Z.” He acknowledges his dedicated care team, which included urologists, radiologists, radiation therapists, nurses and Dr. Nikhilesh Patil — his radiation oncologist.
"They were all professional and caring,” he says. “It started out very positively with the whole team, including the receptionist.” The receptionist was held in high regard by Peter after the warm and considerate welcome he received when he first arrived at the QEII.
Just days before Christmas 2025, Peter received a call from his doctor to say that his most recent PSA test was considered zero, meaning that no definitive issues in the affected area were found — an amazing seasonal gift.
Peter’s QEII experience inspired him to give back. He’s been a donor to other charities for many years and is now a proud QEII Change Maker, making a monthly gift to the QEII Foundation in support of health care — thanks to the impact it has had on his own life.
“I'm more personalized with this one because it's affected me and it makes me happy that I'm contributing to this fantastic group of people that are involved with the QEII.”
Becoming a QEII Change Maker means becoming involved in a community of more than 500 donors who donate monthly, contributing to advancements in multiple areas across the QEII, Atlantic Canada’s largest and most specialized hospital. The QEII’s ability to secure and research life-changing cancer care technology, surgical robotics, enhanced patient comfort, better access to mental health care and beyond starts with making sure experts have enough funding through charitable donations and lasting change to support what matters most while maximizing donor impact.
“The QEII Change Makers are everyday people who are looking to make a difference in health care,” says Sarah J. White, Charitable Giving Advisor at the QEII Foundation.
“Many people, like Peter, have had a positive healthcare experience and are looking to turn their gratitude into action. They donate to make a difference, to help get patients back to their lives and to doing the things they love.”
For Peter and Michelle, that means getting back on the road and RV’ing this summer, like they’ve always loved doing.
