Into the Flow: Accessing Support Resources

Until our dual challenges of cancer and injury, we had little contact with the Quebec health system and its resources. That rapidly changed! And, we have been encouraged by the range of services and the quality of care offered to us. Things change frequently and may be different when you read this post. The message though, it to ask about how you can receive support.

CLSC

The Quebec system of Local Community Health Centres (CLSC) is impressive, even if under financial pressures. I was well-cared for by nurses who changed the dressings on my PICC line during chemotherapy and my post-surgical dressings. Angie’s dressings were also changed by a travelling CLSC nurse at home, after her surgery given the risk of further injury if she went out in the icy days of late winter.

Social Worker: Home Care and Transportation

Angie was also assigned a social worker attached to the CLSC, who connected us to the home care assistance service which provided great support during the crisis days when we were able to hire a friend to help around the house. The social worker also let us in on ‘the greatest secret of all’: in my May update, I noted “Another revelation after our twenty years here when we’ve been so frustrated by the lack of public transportation, has been to learn from our social worker that rural transportation (with payment of a set stipend to a driver) is available for people who are unable to drive and need to get to various kinds of appointments. Who knew? This has created a whole new level of mobility for Angie just as enhancing mobility is her theme.”

Pivot Nurse Navigator

For all my talk of being proactive, I still found it hard to push for additional assistance if I had a concern. I was only too ready to discount it. I was able to get over this by plucking up my courage and calling my pivot nurse when I needed help (eg., to get an appointment), or more information or even, simple reassurance. It was her job to be there as needed. I usually had to leave a message but she returned my calls and was happy to assist even if I was being over-anxious.

Breast Cancer Resource Centre

There were also resources available for me as a cancer patient at Gatineau Hospital from ancilliary services. These were set out in a brochure provided by a volunteer at the Hospital and included support groups, low-cost massage etc. Well worth checking out

Caveat: The language thing.

The politics (or policies?) of language in Quebec are ever in flux with question marks over guaranteed access in English. I had no problem in 2016 in receiving my specialist care in English. All of the nurses who cared for me in the hospital setting spoke English. Where I did have difficulty was in accessing other support. In the CLSC at least once nurse spoke only French, and unfortunately not all that good at her work. I brought friends who were bilingual to help me when I was scheduled to see this nurse. The Resource Centre operated in French etc. I found it difficult to make connections with my 'cohort' of breast cancer patients. As a result, it became a solitary process in relation to care even though a very connected process away from it.