A Message From a Wesway Family

Dear Friend of Wesway,

In 2015 my husband and I welcomed twins, Lysander and Zane into our family. Lysander was born with Cerebral Palsy and Acute Epilepsy. I struggled at first, not knowing how I was going to care for Lysander and his special needs along with our four other children.

My brother also has these same two conditions. My mother uses Wesway for respite and has always told me that Wesway was excellent. I decided to call, and even though we live in a community outside of Thunder Bay, we were eligible! Soon after my referral we were allocated an annual sum of money to use through the Family-Directed Respite Funding service and we hired respite providers of our choice.

Our respite provider assists me with some of Lysander’s general care including his meals, bathing, dressing and physical, occupational and speech therapy. The respite provider also takes him to our local swimming pool. He enjoys this tremendously, especially the hot tub. They go to local parks to enjoy the swings and slides and to the beach to enjoy swimming and picnics.

These activities are awesome for Lysander as he gets to enjoy the outdoors and socialize. In turn, this gives me the opportunity to have quality time with my other four children. I enjoy these short breaks to run errands, cook, do household chores, and sometimes put my feet up and read a good book. Some weekends my husband and I are able to have a date night and we have even enjoyed a short getaway.

Wesway has also been there for us through difficult times. Short-term crisis funding allowed me to hire another respite provider when an injury prevented me from lifting Lysander. On another occasion, Lysander’s seizures required 24-hour supervision and an additional provider meant that they could monitor his seizures overnight while I slept. What a relief!

Wesway service has been flexible and has met the needs of our family as they arise.

I am thankful that Wesway has been there in this journey, providing the much-needed respite and support in my son’s care. Please consider donating to this valuable and essential respite service today.

Sincerely,

Sandy Slaney