REGINA – A Regina woman whose fruitless attempts to secure a surgeon for parathyroid disease have led her to schedule a MAID-assisted death for January, may end up having her health issues resolved thanks to an unexpected source.
American conservative talk show host Glenn Beck has said he will pick up the tab so that Jolene Van Alstine can receive treatment in the USA for a rare parathyroid disease.
“If there is any surgeon in America who can do this, I’ll pay for this patient to come down here for treatment,” Beck posted on the X platform on Dec. 9. He also had harsh words about Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying regime in place.
“THIS is the reality of ‘compassionate’ progressive healthcare. Canada must END this insanity and Americans can NEVER let it spread here.”
Beck later posted an update saying they had received emails from surgeons, and said they “are in contact with Jolene and her husband! Please continue to pray for her health.”
In a later update Beck posted: “Jolene does not have a passport to gain legal entry into the U.S., but my team has been in touch with President (Donald) Trump's State Department. All I can say for now is they are aware of the urgent life-saving need and we had a very positive call.”
This turn of events comes after Van Alstine’s health situation received considerable attention and comment, including on social media, following an appearance at the Saskatchewan Legislature on Nov. 25.
At that time, Van Alstine and her husband Miles Sundeen were introduced by New Democrat Health critic Jared Clarke. He laid out for reporters the desperate situation Van Alstine faced.
“Her situation has gotten so bad that she has applied for medical assisted death. And so she's got that approved for Jan. 7, so we're really in a really desperate situation right here, said Clarke.
“But we hear these kind of stories all the time. And I think what this speaks to is that our health care system is worse now than it's ever been. And we really need solutions here for folks like Jolene and Miles.”
During Question Period in the Assembly that day, Clarke said that Van Alstine “requires a complex surgery to remove her remaining parathyroid gland, but no Saskatchewan surgeon is able to perform this surgery. She must be referred out of province but can’t obtain a referral without being first seen by an endocrinologist, except no endocrinologists are accepting new patients.”
“She is at a breaking point. Will the minister help Jolene today?”
Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill responded by welcoming “Miles and Jolene to their legislature today. And thank you for advocating for your own health journey.”
“Mr. Speaker, I understand the ministry has been in contact with Jolene and Miles over the past several months regarding this situation. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, I’d take the opportunity after Question Period to have a quick conversation with Miles and Jolene and see if there’s anything that can be done to find Jolene a specialist that can meet her needs.”
It was later reported that that meeting did take place.
In speaking to reporters Nov. 25, Van Alstine spoke of her health situation.
“It has been horrific,” Van Alstine said. “Every day I get up and I'm sick to my stomach and I throw up and I throw up. And then it takes me hours to cool off. I overheat. We have to turn the temperature down to 14 degrees when I get up in the morning in the house. So I'm so sick. I don't leave the house except to go to medical appointments, blood work, or go to the hospital. My friends have stopped visiting me. I'm isolated. I've been alone, laying on the couch for eight years. Sick and curled up in a ball, wishing for the day to end. I go to bed at 6 o'clock at night because I can't stand to be awake anymore.”
Sundeen said Jolene started “getting ill, quite ill, I guess probably in 2015-16.” He said it has been “a long, long road trying to get help” for Jolene, saying it was a complex case and that she has already had surgeries that have not been 100 per cent successful.
“We were bounced from, I guess, general practitioner doctors and then to some specialists. But she really needed to see an endocrinologist, and we got sent to a number of different specialists that really weren't able to address the problem that she had. We spent a long time, four years, to even get a diagnosis. And when it was diagnosed, a couple of the endocrinologists either missed or dismissed her high parathyroid levels and that caused more delays. I had to go a little bit around the back way and get her into the hospital by a gynecologist who had noticed her parathyroid level being so high. And there, he recommended an endocrinologist here.”
Sundeen said they need to find a specialist out of the province to help Van Alstine because endocrinologists in Saskatchewan are not taking any more patients.
“They're overwhelmed obviously. So we need to find that person, (have them) look at her, if it be out of province, and then also from there, (provide) a recommendation to do a further test to try to locate the gland that's causing the issue now. And then also a recommendation after that to a surgeon that will be able to perform surgery accurately and relieve all of her symptoms.”
Sundeen had acknowledged this situation has been “very difficult.”
“It makes me feel very sad that we have to go to the media, get the support from the NDP to have people in this province support the health system. It definitely needs to be improved so there's more health (care) for people who have really dire health.”
