Hello, I’m Phoenix.
I do one small thing in Toronto: I go with people to their medical appointments.
Many aunties and uncles here get by fine in English. Groceries, small talk, no trouble at all. Then they step into an exam room and it stops being enough. Bookings, referrals, test reports. Every word is new. Their children are in another country, or at work, worried and too far away.
My work is to walk these roads with them until the roads feel familiar. I sort out the booking and the paperwork beforehand. On the day, I meet them downstairs. In the room, I make sure everything is said clearly and nothing important goes unasked. Afterward, I write the doctor’s instructions up on one page and send it to them, and to their family.
I’m not a doctor, and I don’t give medical advice. What I look after is everything around the illness.
When you need me, a message is enough.
Phoenix