Sarah Hutchison has faced life-changing obstacles since her Lyme disease diagnosis.
Her symptoms include fatigue, vision issues, vertigo and debilitating nerve pain in her spine, gluts and feet. The frustrating aspect of the disease is that it affects each person in a different manner, making treatment and rehabilitation a long and exasperating ordeal.
In Hutchison’s case, she has also developed severe chemical sensitivities and allergies that leave her confined and unable to interact in daily routines the majority of us take for granted.
To add even more hardship to Hutchison’s plight, she is in desperate need of finding an appropriate dwelling in Canmore that can offer and help her through her rehabilitation. The major obstacle lies in Canmore’s ongoing housing shortage, leaving Hutchison no other choice but to reach out to the community she cares deeply about to help her find an appropriate home to heal.
“Even though the sensitivities are causing pretty extreme difficulties and are requiring something very specific in a home, they are improving over time and we are finding treatments that work, it is just taking time,” Hutchison said. “I am moving towards health and feel optimistic. Such specifics in a home are needed to support my health and progress now in the hopes of eventually being able to tolerate any environment again.”
Hutchison has provided a list of criteria she is in need of for housing to reduce the triggers that leave her incapacitated.
“A spacious feeling townhouse or condo with good light on a quiet street and not close to the highway (I don’t tolerate car exhaust well) with an outdoor entrance, because I can’t consistently use shared hallways or elevators, etc. and the inability at times during flare ups to walk the distance of a hallway an apartment style condo is also not possible. It can’t have had a cat for at least the past year. The main living area and one bedroom need to be something like hardwood or poured cement or laminate, and at least several years old so it has off-gassed. I’m OK if there’s some carpet in a room or area that I wouldn’t have to use.
“I can’t tolerate shared furnace ventilation with another unit, so this makes most basement suites not possible. And it needs to be very close to green-space so it’s possible to open at least one window sometimes for ventilation, as the woods are the only air I consistently tolerate at this point. Neither is anything remediated for mold (there will still be traces) or renovated/painted recently.”
A well-ventilated and well-lit suite on a ground floor could work for Hutchison if the unit has in-slab heating, since shared vents with the house would not be an issue. A suite with it own washer/dryer would also help in cutting down on chemical particles that cause great discomfort.
“My profession is a psychologist and I’m very positively connected in the community and also am very involved in advocacy for Canadians with Lyme disease,” Hutchison said. “I thought that those things might be good to mention as it could give potential landlords some confidence that they are renting to someone reputable and trustworthy.”
If anyone believes they have or know of an accommodation that would match Hutchison’s criteria for rehabilitation, please email her at: [email protected] or leave her a voicemail message at 403-678-7059.
