'There is an end in sight': Popular Winnipeg blogger crowdsources for comfortable chronic-pain care
Shawna Forester Smith, 34, has been battling her diagnosis of gastroparesis and pseudo obstruction for 7 years
A Winnipeg woman and her family are reaching out to the community from her bed in St. Boniface Hospital.
Shawna Forester Smith, 34, has been battling her diagnosis of gastroparesis and pseudo-obstruction for seven years. It means that her intestines don't work properly and she gets her nutrition though an IV tube.
Smith has been open about her health struggle by sharing her stories on a quirky blog, which has received responses from people in Europe, the U.S. and across Canada.
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However, she's facing a new battle: and this time, it's to afford a significant change in care. Smith has decided to move into a chronic care facility where she will stop medical care and focus on comfort care.
"It's nice to know that there is an end in sight to it. Some days it feels like it's never going to end," Smith said on CBC's Information Radio on Wednesday.
"It means things like if my central line were to get infected I wouldn't take antibiotics. I would let nature take its course," she said.
"It's more about making sure that my nausea is under control, that my pain is under control … that I'm comfortable."
However, that change in care carries a heavy price tag — up to $100 a day, she says.
'I don't want her in agony'
Smith's husband, Brent, said that he knew when people got older and moved into a care home it cost money, but at their ages it had never occurred to him that this was something they'd have to face.
"Knock on wood it won't be that high, but that's double for what we are paying for an apartment right now," he said. "So even with my income and Shauna's disability it's going to be a stretch and we don't know how long she is going to be there for."
Brent Smith said he would also like to be prepared to take some time off work to spend time with his wife.
"On the one hand, Shauna is my best friend and my soulmate and everything. I want every day and every moment I can have with her, but I don't want her in agony," he said.
They have started a GoFundMe page to raise $15,000 to help with the care and provide the couple with some time together. On Tuesday, they had raised more than $14,000.
While Forester-Smith has spent the majority of the last three years in a hospital bed, she says she's also achieved many personal goals, including defending her thesis from her hospital bed to complete her MA degree.
The couple also went on a trip to Hawaii and brought along her GPN and her IV nutrition, which she hooked up each night.
"I was able to go snorkeling and do almost everything I wanted to do," she said.
"I think that was our last big trip because now we can't get health insurance anymore for me to travel. It's just too prohibitively expensive… No one wants to give me insurance because I am in and out of the hospital so much."
She will put her strength towards one more gigantic endeavour, which has been partly inspired by writing her popular blog.
"I started writing a book and I want to finish my book. It's basically my life story," she said.