Take ‘recycling’ to its maximum By Joanne Anka (8 minute ToastMaster’s Speech)   I’d like you to meet my son, Michel. Fourteen years ago, when I was pregnant with Michel, I went for a routine ultrasound. After an hour, I asked the technician why it’s taking so long. The technician replied, “The fetus is not emptying its bladder. I’m waiting for the fetus to pee.” Well...

When I was 13 years old I was diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. Restrictive Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart in which the muscles of the heart turn into a fibrous material and restrict the heart from filling with blood between heart beats. At the time of my diagnosis in 1995, the disease was extremely rare, it was reported that 90% of patients die within one year of diagnosis. I w...

Jason was born in 1971 with a heart condition known as “transposition of the great vessels”. The way it was described to him was that when he was young he was a “Blue Baby”. This is where blood flow is essentially reversed; meaning that instead of having that pinkish hue that most babies have; Jason was the colour of the clear blue sky on a sunny day. By the time Jason ...

Ali was diagnosed with Polycystic kidney disease when she was only 2 years old. She was able to stay off dialysis until she needed her first transplant in 1990 when Ali was 8 and her kidney failed. This transplant lasted about 9 months only when Ali had to go on dialysis for five years. When Ali turned 13 in 1995 she was gifted with another transplant and this one lasted for about 7 months. Then ...

His name was Blake. Just your all-round mid-forties fabulous guy. Great dad to two teenagers. Married to the same wonderful woman for over 20 years. Loved hockey. Cheered for the Leafs through the few good years and the many not so good ones. Took the kids whitewater rafting and up to the grandparents’ cottage. Worked out. Stayed healthy. And then he got sick. Something he’d never heard of att...