why we're here

i can remember the exact second that my understanding of what it meant to be “healthy” changed forever.

the shift happened in the breath that came after a resident in red converse high-tops leaned against my hospital bed and told me i had a rare blood cancer.

fortunately, there is a treatment – a daily targeted chemotherapy drug, taken for the rest of your life. it doesn’t work for everyone, but it worked for me. i was in remission in a few months.

but while the medication kept the leukemia at bay, it couldn’t take away the fear — the breathtaking uncertainty of living with cancer. i would hold back tears during every appointment as i asked my oncologist to spell out the odds (yet again) of leaving my kids without a mom.

“don’t worry,” is all he’d say.

turns out the key to reassurance and moving forward didn’t come from a doctor at all. it came from other people who were also navigating illness. they were patients, yes, but they weren’t passive. they were strong, with courage that i couldn’t understand. and they demanded to be informed, to be heard, and to take an active role in their own care.

that kind of empowerment can mean the difference between life and death for some of us. it’s also critical to simple wellbeing in an increasingly complicated world.

and so we bring you healthing.ca, a destination for those with serious questions about their health and wellbeing, but even more than that, a hub for advocacy that makes life better for patients and caregivers. you’ll also find compelling takes on the latest news, research and the people who are disrupting health care as we know it.

most importantly though — and at the centre of all we do — is amplifying the voices that matter most when it comes to any discussion about health: patients. we are committed to always featuring the perspectives of real people learning ‘to health’ in the midst of a real, messy, uncertain life. all of us are “patients” to some degree, and we all deserve to have a voice in our care, access to tools that help us live well and the power to shape health systems that work for us. and so here we are, helping to make that happen.

want to be a part of canada’s patient and caregiver revolution? send us your stories, your rants, your challenges. what are the barriers that are stopping you from living your best life? drop us a line at info@healthing.ca. pitch an idea, feature or op-ed to submissions@healthing.ca.

thanks for reading,

lisa machado
executive producer