Ketamine Infusion Therapy for Lisa Jarvis-Murray

My name is Kelly Slade and I am launching this campaign on behalf of my dear friend, Lisa Jarvis-Murray. Lisa is not only my friend, she is an incredible mom, wife, and elementary school teacher. She has been a source of joy, inspiration, and learning for so many but now she really needs our help.

Mental health conditions are often laden with misconceptions, judgement, and shame. For more than 20 years, Lisa has been living with a misdiagnosed illness. As an incredibly strong and intelligent person who is motivated by bringing joy to others, she was able to mask the impact of her symptoms but, for the past 8 months, Lisa has been fighting for her life. In August, she was admitted to the Abbie J. Lane psychiatric hospital in Halifax where she was re-assessed and finally diagnosed with three overlapping mood disorders.

Despite trials of many medications and attending weekly psychotherapy sessions, Lisa has now been classified as “treatment resistant.“ She has not been able to work for the entirety of the school year. She struggles daily with suicidal ideation and the debilitating effects of major depressive disorder, OCD, cyclothymic disorder(bipolar-polar) and anxiety. No medications available through Canada’s medical system have been able to help her recover. Her family, her students, her friends, and she herself are all desperately missing the vibrant, capable person who has so much to offer.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Recently, we learned about Ketamine infusion therapy — a potent and very successful treatment for conditions like Lisa’s. The frustrating thing is that neither our public medical system nor Lisa’s private medical insurance offers access to this treatment yet. However, there are two fee-for-service clinics providing ketamine infusion therapy in her city and they have both had astonishing success rates with their patients. The treatment plan requires 2 infusions per week for three weeks at a cost of $600 per session.

As her colleague working in a deeply over-burdened education system, I am passionate that we need Lisa back in the classroom. She wants to be there. She is a rock star of a teacher who profoundly and positively changes the lives of her students and coworkers. She needs to be available for her own child who has special needs and requires all the parental support she can get. She needs to be able to be an equal partner in her marriage. She needs her full paycheck back so her family can once again be financially stable.

So many people have reached out to Lisa, to her spouse, and even to me to ask if there’s anything they can do to help. She is not the type to ask so I am going to … on her behalf. Please, if you can, donate to support Lisa’s return to health, to her family, to herself, and to the classroom.

Thanks,

Kelly.