Letters to the Editor

It Can Happen To You

It CAN happen to YOU. There I was – healthy, happy, living the retirement dream in the Okanagan, golfing, hiking, walking the dogs, gardening, eight hours a day outside, enjoying great food, quality wine and good friends; plus visits from children and grandchildren and many friends, trying to stay in shape, with a much slimmer body acquired since retiring, working hard at getting healthier and staying that way.

Then it happens you get a cough . . . just a dry cough, a little annoying, but persistant. Doctor says: “Let’s check this out.” Three months and many tests later, a diagnosis, good news right??? Specialists in Kelowna can no longer handle your case. So you go to Vancouver to the “big” guys. Yep, the diagnosis is confirmed -- “Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis” Prognosis: two to five years. No cause is known. The treatment? You are anxious to hear what they are going to do. NOTHING. There is no treatment. Perhaps you can get into a “study” for an experimental drug. You go home and return in six months.

Six months later, turns out the studies don’t want you. You are a “special” case. However, you are getting worse. So off to the “Lung Transplant Team, ”who tell you “well, if your disease progresses like it is you will need a transplant within two years.” You may be too old for a transplant but you are getting so much worse that you may just get in under the wire. The alternative is do nothing and wait to die.

Now, remember this has all occurred within 12 months. You cannot do the things you did before. But you aren’t in pain. You just move a little slower and need to rest more. Everyone looks at you and says how great you look. But, inside, your body is dying, killing itself actually.

There is a lot of anguish inside you but you feel quite lucky to be feeling so well and not having to undergo chemo or worse. You visit your Doctors who by-in-large don’t want to see you. It is no fun treating a patient with a terminal illness for whom you can do nothing!

So why am I writing this... To remind all of you that life is precious and can be snatched away very quickly. Also to ask? Have you registered as an organ donor in your province? That is the only hope for patients like me. People waiting for transplants die every year because not enough organs are donated. Every province has it’s own protocol and system for becoming a donor. In Manitoba, you go online to SignUpForLife.ca (only 1% of Manitobans are registered). In BC, go to transplant.bc.ca. In Alberta, you must sign the back of your Health Card. In Saskatchewan, you have to put an Organ Donor sticker on the back of your Health Card. In Ontario, go to beadonor.ca or call “Trillium Gift of Life” network. The other provinces and territories have a variety of ways to become a donor, just look it up online.

You may not be able to help me, but you can help someone who is in a desperate fight for their life. Remember, it CAN happen to YOU, It happened to ME.

Glenda Waugh

Dear Editor:

The Winnipeg Football Club utilizes over 5000 parking stalls that we “rent” from the University of Manitoba for our parking requirements for a major event held at the Investors Group Field. I have hired current and former teachers for some of my parking/traffic positions and have found that this core of people are excellent in providing “quality work ethics” and great customer relations. I am hoping to find some retired teachers that might be interested in some casual employment for the summer and fall.

The position would be to direct vehicles from a traffic point, or intersection, into a specific lot. The WFC provides training and safety equipment that complies with Workplace Safety and Health guidelines. The hours of work for an event are usually for a 6 - 7 hour shift. Staff will start approximately two hours before a scheduled event and work for approximately one hour after the event is over, guiding vehicles out of their respective lots and onto a major street to head home.

I pay $14.00 per hour for parking attendants and $20.00 per hour for supervisors. There are approximately 14 - 15 events per season. I am also flexible on providing a night off should an employee have a prior commitment.

Serious inquiries: kbarz@bluebombers.com