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One Year Later: Happy Anniversary to Infertility Patients And What is Happening with IVF Funding in Ontario 2015
One year ago so many infertility patients in Ontario breathed a huge sigh of relief. I remember ecstatic voices and many tears too. I remember this post from last year and the patient reactions. It was an exciting time to be involved in this advocacy effort striving to generate support and IVF funding for infertility patients in Ontario. When the announcement came I remember being here watching it all unfold on television. Right before an election was called. The election plunged everyone into a period of high activity, anxiety and nerves too. It was a roller coaster ride added to the already brutally bumpy ride that is the infertility journey.…
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Why I Protect My Family With Vaccines #ONVaccine
Maybe it’s because it took almost forever to become a parent that I feel so strongly about holding my kids close and protecting them from illness, accidents and harm. Maybe it’s because I have a compromised immune system myself. I have Crohn’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder. I know I can’t afford to get ill. When I get sick, I have a much higher likelihood of ending up hospitalized than your average Mom does. Maybe it’s because our babies, both adopted as infants, needed more health care, more nurturing, support, and security, because circumstances of their birth were not what I would have wished and their fragile immune systems struggled…
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Five Things I Know About Childhood Anxiety – Part 1 of a New Series
In 2014 we spent a huge amount of time investing in educating our family about childhood anxiety. We took part in a weekly youth group therapy session to help parents and children understand and manage anxiety. It was gruelling and exhausting and, I hope, worth it. Every single Tuesday for several months my daughter and I drove to the children’s hospital in town and we learned how to successfully manage her childhood anxiety. We split into two groups every session. There was a parents group and a youth group. Eventually we all came together to discuss things together but the first part of each session was divided into parents and…
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Five Steps to Becoming a More Healthy and Empowered Patient
How many times have you gone to the doctor and felt less than happy with the visit? Do you leave feeling like an empowered patient or not?If you spend any time at all visiting this blog, then you know I often write about health matters. I write almost as often about advocacy and causes that matter to me. The lives of the members of my family intersect often with the traditional health care system. I was a child when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and I spent many weeks, months and school vacations in the hospital or racing back and forth to doctor’s appointments. I never felt like I…
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What To Expect from the 2015 IVF Funding Program: An Interview with Dr. Marjorie Dixon #ohip4ivf #onpoli
This year infertility patients in Ontario welcomed the announcement that in vitro fertilization would be funded here as soon as 2015. Public funding for IVF would be a reality. Or would it? After that announcement last April, a spring election was called. That left many feeling worried that proposed funding would never arrive. For infertility patents in Ontario it was a roller coaster of emotions. But remarkably, the spring election resulted in a Liberal majority and the government did in fact reiterate its promise to support an IVF funding program in 2015. Members of Conceivable Dreams were overjoyed and hopeful with the announcement. But still, there has been little news from the government, and…
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Taryn and Tyler’s Infertility Story – #abhc4ivf
This is the story of Taryn and Tyler, both members of Generations of Hope infertility patient advocacy group, in Alberta. It is the story of how a girl Taryn, learned at the age of 14 that she didn’t have a uterus and would need extraordinary measures to help her become a parent, if ever she wished to have a family. There are too many stories of patients in Alberta with health conditions that have led to infertility. And yet this province remains one without any financial support for in vitro fertilization, which is one of the most effective but costly measures to help couples conceive. What hits me the hardest…
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Infertility Community Reacts to IVF Funding Announcement for Ontario #ivf4ON #onpoli
Ontario’s infertility community reacted with many emotions this week to news that IVF will soon be funded. That’s long awaited for many who took two or three jobs and sometimes used credit cards and second mortgages to be able to pay for health care treatment needed to get the health care treatment prescribed. Last Thursday, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Longterm Care Deb Matthews announced that public funding would be made available for in vitro fertilization. IVF funding is part of the draft budget officially. The funding will take place starting in 2015. An advisory committee or board will be appointed to help roll the program out. There will be…
