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Ann’s story: having someone to talk to and guide me to be healthier really helped!

Published

3 years ago

4 minute read

Ann shared her story of working with the PCN nurse towards better health. “I was diagnosed in November 2019 with diabetes and our doctor suggested that if I could lose about 10-15 lbs then I probably would not need to go on medication. He suggested a time frame around end of February and that he would contact a nurse for me to consult with. This was a bit of a shock and I wasn’t sure I would be able to lose so much in such a short time.

We had recently moved from BC to Alberta to be closer to our grandchildren after we both retired. Within 4 months of arriving and lucky enough to get registered with a new doctor my husband found out that he had prostate cancer and a blood cancer called Polycythemia Vera. This just blew us both away. He had no symptoms of any of these diseases. So, for almost all of 2019 we were constantly in at the Cancer Clinic at Red Deer or the Imaging Clinic. This took a huge toll on both of us. I developed high blood pressure, my anxiety level was through the roof, wasn’t sleeping, had ocular migraines and I was also trying to get my weight loss going. I felt I was falling apart.  I didn’t realise at the time that all this was contributing to my being overweight.

I have been a weight watcher member for around 25 years. Had some success then every few years I would go back again but in 2014 after I retired, I decided to try again and along with a friend I lost 22lbs and got down to 130lbs for (5ft) person, I felt good. I kept this off until late 2018. Right now, I am back at 150lbs.

Just being able to talk to the PCN nurse was such a good help for me mentally as I felt I had no one to talk to who understood what I was going through. She helped me understand a lot about diabetes and every month that we met my blood level was decreasing and I was losing a few pounds. However, when my husband was told that his potassium was a bit high, I had to restructure our meals. So, everything he had to avoid was what I was supposed to eat.  The nurse connected me with a dietitian who immediately told me to stop “dieting” as this was stressing me out even more than before. Just to make sure that I still ate sensibly, did some exercise and to put the scale away and only weigh myself once a month. This has really helped, and I am starting to sleep better, I don’t feel nearly as anxious and I have a more positive outlook. I realise that I will eventually lose a few pounds, I might not get back to my 130lbs, but it will take time and I’m fine with that.

I think if I had been back in BC, I would have been able to talk to my friends about what I was going through and I might have got some help quicker. Sharing your feelings is not easy but it sure helps. I appreciated the PCN nurse listening and helping me make a plan to improve my mental as well as my physical health.” 

To learn more about the RDPCN programs, visit www.reddeerpcn.com

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Red Deer Primary Care Network (RDPCN) is a partnership between Family Doctors and Alberta Health Services. Health professionals such as psychologists, social workers, nurses and pharmacists work in clinics alongside family doctors. In addition, programs and groups are offered at the RDPCN central location. This improves access to care, health promotion, chronic disease management and coordination of care. RDPCN is proud of the patient care offered, the effective programs it has designed and the work it does with partners in health care and the community. www.reddeerpcn.com

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Alberta

Sylvan Lake football coach fired for opposing transgender ideology elected to town council

Published on November 18, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Taylor ‘Teej’ Johannesson was fired by H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake because he spoke out against gender confusion, but the community rallied to support him.

A Central Alberta high school football coach who was fired for sharing his views opposing transgender ideology on social media has been vindicated by members of his community, who voted him in to be a town councilors.

As reported by LifeSiteNews earlier this year, coach Taylor ‘Teej’ Johannesson was fired by H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, by school principal Alex Lambert because he spoke out against gender-confused youth who “take their hatred of Christians” to another level by committing violent acts against them.

Many in his community, which is located in a traditionally conservative area of Alberta, rallied to support Johannesson and even had a GiveSendGo campaign for him at one point.

Saying of his win, as noted in a Western Standard report, Johannesson described it as being vindicated, noting how his wife told him, “You’re vindicated — the good wins now. God closed one door and opened a bigger one.”

Last month, Alberta had municipal elections province-wide, and Johannesson ran for a seat on the Sylvan Lake town council. After the results were tallied, he won a seat on the council, noting how he ran for office to fight against the creep of the woke agenda on society.

Johannesson said that he ran for the same council four years ago “purely on an anti-vaccine platform,” saying he was “pissed off at the mandates.”

He said he decided to run for town council as a Christian conservative so he could share his pro-family beliefs with people in the town, so “everyone knows who I am and what my beliefs, morals, and values are, so that way, if I get elected, I could just keep being that way.”

He noted how he received a lot of “hate and slander” from many people, including many in the school, because of his beliefs. However, their plan against him backfired.

“That school tried to bury me, and instead they lifted me,” he said, adding that going from fired football coach to town councillor in “two months was pretty good.”

The legal demand letter, which was sent to school officials last week, reads, “Given that Mr. Johannesson’s expression in the TikTok Video was not connected to his volunteer work, the principal and the division have no authority to regulate his speech and punish him by the Termination decision, which is ultra vires (“beyond the powers.)”

Teej has been in trouble before with the school administration. About three years ago, he was called in to see school officials for posting on Twitter a biological fact that “Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.”

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Alberta

Pierre Poilievre will run to represent Camrose, Stettler, Hanna, and Drumheller in Central Alberta by-election

Published on May 3, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat as an MP so Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat Monday, could attempt to re-join Parliament.

Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat in a riding that saw the Conservatives easily defeat the Liberals by 46,020 votes in this past Monday’s election. Poilievre had lost his seat to his Liberal rival, a seat which he held for decades, which many saw as putting his role as leader of the party in jeopardy.

Kurek has represented the riding since 2019 and said about his decision, “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the good people of Battle River—Crowfoot.”

“After much discussion with my wife Danielle, I have decided to step aside for this Parliamentary session to allow our Conservative Party Leader to run here in a by-election,” he added.

Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney used his first post-election press conference to say his government will unleash a “new economy” that will further “deepen” the nation’s ties to the world.

He also promised that he would “trigger” a by-election at once, saying there would be “no games” trying to prohibit Poilievre to run and win a seat in a safe Conservative riding.

Poilievre, in a statement posted to X Friday, said that it was with “humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.”

 

“Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise,” he noted.

Carney said a new cabinet will be sworn in on May 12.

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