#fgj18during

BY KYLIE GIONET (FGJ ‘18) - ​In 1997, North Bay architect Brian Bertrand sat down with his colleague Glenn Scanlan and a blank piece of paper. They set out to design a different kind of hospital. The place Bertrand envisaged would focus less on sickness, and more on healing. READ MORE

BY TOLA AFOLABI (FGJ ‘18) - About a month ago, a frustrated Emma Schmidt turned to Google for help. The 28-year-old Regina teacher was tired of the acne-related dark spots on her face. A few keystrokes later, she found a remedy: a dab of lemon and honey on each spot before bed each evening. READ MORE

BY HELEN LEASK (FGJ ‘18) - MEI CHAN-LONG tentatively touches the left side of her head, drawing attention to a ten-centimetre crescent-shaped scar outlining the top of her ear. “My skull implant,” she says. Three years after her surgery, the forty-seven-year-old sculptor still shaves her hair around the scar. “I want to look at it sometimes, to feel that it’s real,” she says. “I don’t want to deny what has happened. This is my life. I have epilepsy. I accept it.” READ MORE

BY SARAH GILES (FGJ ‘18) -  Sitting on the toilet in her Washington, D.C., apartment dripping with sweat and feeling like she was about to pass out, Ami Sanchez thought, "No! I can't die on the can!" as she dialed 911. READ MORE

INTERVIEW WITH SARAH GILES (FGJ ‘18) - Sarah Giles comes on to talk about why fitness apps might be sabotaging our workouts. LISTEN HERE

BY KYLIE GIONET (FGJ ‘18) - Most days, Jillian Bohac feels overwhelmed. After her husband was hit by a truck while riding his bike, he suffered a brain injury that produced so many clots, she says, that it “looked like a night sky” on the CT scan. Once the most independent man she knew, he now needs help putting on his shoes. Bohac, a social worker, is now a full-time caregiver for her husband. “I’ve gained weight, lost all my friends, have anxiety—I’m a mess,” she says. “My focus is him, 100 percent. As a social worker, you’d think I’d know better, but it sneaks up on you, the self-neglect. You’re aware you have needs, too, but it just doesn’t work out that way.” When asked if there are enough supports out there for family caregivers, she is adamant that there are not. READ MORE

BY ADRIANO MARCHESE (FGJ ‘18) - Slobodan Praljak stood as the presiding judge at The Hague read that his 20-year sentence would be upheld. He was asked to take a seat, but instead the former general sternly declared, “Praljak is not a criminal. With disdain, I reject your verdict,” and with a trembling hand, brought a small vial of cyanide to his lips. Hours later, he was dead. READ MORE

BY HELEN LEASK (FGJ ‘18) - When I first saw Tony at a neighbour's party, I'd almost given up dating. Since my divorce, I'd had a discouraging five years. Men stopped returning my calls after my daughter came up in conversation. She had a weird neurological disease that was getting worse. A kid with seizures and wacky behaviour — not what they'd signed up for. READ MORE