Our Canuck Place story starts just the same as everyone else’s…with a very sick child.

Jordyn is a 4-year old little girl that currently has an unknown diagnosis as well as an unknown life expectancy. All that we do know is that she has a “global developmental delay” which affects her in every way and requires us to give her 24 hour care and assist her in all aspects of her life.

Jordyn was 2 ½ years old when we first walked through the Canuck Place doors. After watching her suffer for months with extreme irritability and discomfort, and listening to hours upon hours of unexplainable crying we felt that we had reached the end of our rope,
so we approached one of her doctors and he suggested that we try getting involved with Canuck Place. A referral was made and a few
weeks later we were walking through their doors.

From that very first visit, the staff at Canuck Place has welcomed us with open arms and into their Canuck Place family.

It was so nice to finally be able to talk to other people that understood what we were going through, both the staff and the other parents, as well as to be in a place where Jordyn fits in with the other kids.

It is a place where we know that Jordyn gets the attention the she deserves, both from the staff and the volunteers!!

Having the respite and symptom management available to us for Jordyn has really turned things around for our family. Not only does it  give us a chance to have a break once in awhile but it gives us peace of mind to know that if things get bad we are not alone we always have someone to talk to. It is because of these respite visits that the doctors and nurses are able to get to know Jordyn better so that when she does get sick they have a better understanding of what is going on and more often than not they are able to send her home with a treatment plan that works to help her to get better.

When I think back to that doctors appointment 1 ½ years ago, I don’t know where we would have been now if we hadn’t gotten that referral.

What I do know is how thankful our whole family is to everyone at Canuck Place for helping us through some very hard times and helping to make Jordyn’s life just a little bit better.

We know that with the continuing support that we receive through the hospice, both for Jordyn and ourselves, we will continue to get past the hard times and enjoy the good times that we have with “Our Little Jordyn.

Michelle Cybuliak
Jordyn’s mom
Abbotsford, BC