Siobhán’s Medical Expenses

Hey all, my name is Siobhán and I’m fundraising to be able to afford medical expenses, transportation and accommodations for appointments in the GTA, medical testing, and the correct medical aids and supports. 

I’m at quite a desperate point and have seriously considered going through with MAID (medically assistance in dying) since I’m living an extremely low quality of life. All I want to do is be living with my partner and dogs and to start a family, and it’s so terrifying to think about leaving them behind and the effect this would have on my loved ones- which is why it’s so important to me to try to get help. I don’t have much in the way of a safety net as I have no biological family to help. 

It’s been a bit over 10 years of pursuing medical care with nothing solid to show for it. I’m still in extreme pain both physically and mentally, and since I do struggle with mental illness my doctors tend to assume that every physical symptom I experience is psychogenic and can be cured through talk therapy. Therapy isn’t available under OHIP+ even if this were a viable treatment option unless I speak to a social worker without proper training in therapy/psychiatry and am put on a years-long waitlist. I want to rule out everything before I’m told it’s all in my head, but with such limited gov’t insurance this is literally impossible without paying out of pocket for blood tests and faster/continuous specialist appointments. 

Since I’m on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program), cannot work and can only access benefits through OHIP+, it’s impossible to deal with waitlists that can sometimes be months or years long, and I cannot afford transportation to go see my doctor and specialists in Toronto every month. I can’t access medical support locally due to the GP shortage, and there is still no movement on trans-inclusivity in my area either which means I routinely deal with discrimination/dismissive attitude by practitioners regularly here. 

 I’ve had to put off medical appointments completely because of the money, time, and amount of energy it takes to go to a single appointment. Going to appointments should be helping me, but instead I’m experiencing extreme health flares that last for weeks at a time because I need to push past my physical limit to get there, just to not be taken seriously. 

I can’t remedy this with private healthcare on my own as I make 40% below the poverty line on ODSP. 

I would be spending any donations on:

(included x? to indicate things I need but don’t know how often I will need to access them as they’re continuous costs). 

With the support and aids above, I’d be able to take my autonomy and health back into my own hands and not have to rely on medical professionals who view me as a case file. I know my body and can tell when something is wrong, and it’s only getting worse to the point of not being able to function through the pain of my symptoms. The smart watch is important because having even an older model that shows my heart rate has been enough to get me to a cardiologist when I was not able to get a referral before even though all my ECGs show tachycardia and an irregular beat. My memory and cognitive ability is also declining, so it would be life-changing to be able to log my symptoms on my wrist, even if I’m not carrying my phone around 

I believe if I’m supported and am able to get the ball rolling, I’ll be able to figure out what specifically is wrong, so I can treat and manage it before my health declines permanently yet again.

Thank you so much for reading and for your support. You are helping me survive by sharing and donating- I appreciate that more than words can say