Hello all!
It feels like forever since I have had time to write. And even now I am cooking supper and writing at the same time. You know, busy like every other woman on the planet. How does a stove top crust frittata sound? Hopefully yummy. But at the very least it's a meal.
Some cool stuff has been happening with FFOH recently. We are lucky enough to be on the list of stakeholders on breast cancer in Saskatchewan. This means that we get invited to meetings that a few years ago I could only dream of.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't sit at home and pine away about not getting to extra meetings, but I did always see a disconnect in the system that I knew wasn't right. We knew in dealing with our applicants that there were huge gaps in the system. For example, here is a story.
A woman and her daughter applied for a trip to Calgary for a very specific test that is only done there. The husband and wife lived on just over 1200 dollars a month. The health region only pays for the cost of the test, no other costs' When she applied for travel expenses from one of the other cancer organizations, she was given enough for a bus ticket to Calgary. This woman was about 70 years old, and very sick. She was already going for chemo as it was. She was from a small town in Saskatchewan so getting off a bus in the middle of Calgary and finding her way to a hotel, the hospital, back to the bus station and home again was no easy task. Obviously her daughter wanted to accompany her. The daughter paid for her own ticket, took time off work and was ready to go. Now here is where the gap in the system emerged. The husband in this situation had later stages dementia. He could not be left alone. There was no other family that could help. He couldn't go with them obviously, and home care is not free. The respite for this gentle man was 750 dollars for 47 hours. There was no organization that could help in this situation, nothing they could do. Luckily FFOH could help and did but this is a huge gap in the system.
Years ago, all we could do is complain amongst ourselves about short falls in the system, but now we have a voice. An organization has been formed called the Saskatchewan Breast Cancer Connect or SBCC. This organization is trying to close the gap with knowledge. This isn't a fund raising group. This group recognizes all of the efforts going on in the province and is attempting to tie them all together with meetings focused on getting the right people in the same room. This includes social workers, hospital heads, physiotherapists, large cancer research and education organizations and grass roots charities. The reason this is important is that we can come together and basically teach each other about great programs that exist in parts of the province that we may not know about. Basically it gives our applicants a voice for their specific circumstance. I can voice my concerns over problems they have encountered (not specifically of course) and bring them into the light of day.
http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Saskatchewan+breast+cancer+organization+maps+available+services/7841420/story.html
This link will take you to a Leader Post story on the meeting.
So this is why I am so excited that I have been asked to more meetings. Thanks to the organizers! Getting 45 people from such diverse backgrounds and fields of specialty cannot be easy but it was done! This meeting did not cost FFOH anything but we got so much out!
Thanks for the reads today. No organization in Saskatchewan helps in the way that FFOH does. The Hope Center in Saskatoon is similar but not on the scale that FFOH is. And they have paid employees. (Not bragging, just stating a fact. LOL) The more I see in the world the more proud I am of Forever Friends.
The auction is drawing near. You will be hearing much more of me! Thanks again!
