End the wait. Start the healing.
“It’s incredibly hard to keep getting back up just to fail again.”
In the 18 years since her inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) diagnosis, Chantel has been through nearly every treatment option available.
Not only did the treatments not help, they came at a significant cost: countless hospital stays, procedures, and expenses that could have been avoided.
That’s why Chantel is fighting for others like her to be able to quickly access advanced IBD treatments that doctors know will work.
The problem is outdated policies in place throughout most of Canada. They require IBD patients and their doctors to prove a treatment doesn’t work before moving on to another one.
“The disease didn’t wait for the red tape to clear.”
“Because of these policies, I’ve gone through long periods of active disease while waiting to fail each treatment,” Chantel explains. “Those delays have led to long-term complications from years of uncontrolled inflammation that has damaged my digestive system.”
Chantel now volunteers as a patient advocate, building awareness and pushing for change. While today’s advanced IBD treatments weren’t an option when she was first diagnosed, they are now – and she doesn’t want others to suffer avoidable harm.
“It’s draining, defeating, and demoralizing to be stuck in a system that seems designed to let you deteriorate before it allows you to heal,” says Chantel.
Quebec has already scrapped the harmful “fail first” policies that are getting in the way of better, faster treatment for patients like Chantel. It’s time we demand other provinces do the same.
Sign the petition now.
Sign the petition