The Rumble Life

When illness upends your life, you shouldn't have to find your way alone.

I've spent over thirty years navigating the medical system — as a patient, a caregiver, and an advocate. Now I help others get oriented, understand their options, and walk into every appointment prepared.

Book a free call How it works

How I help

A guide for the hardest season of your life

A diagnosis — sudden or lifelong — drops you into a foreign country: new language, new rules, impossible decisions on a clock. I've lived in that country most of my life. This service is simple — I walk beside you until you have your bearings.

STEP ONE

Orientation call ALWAYS FREE

30–60 minutes on Zoom. You tell your story; I listen, help you understand where you are, what decisions are actually in front of you, and what questions matter now. No charge, no obligation — ever.

STEP TWO

Personal research brief

A plain-language written summary made for you: your condition explained clearly, the standard pathway, options people in your situation explore (with an honest read on the evidence for each), practical BC resources, and tailored questions for your care team.

STEP THREE

Appointment support

Before consultations: the right questions, what to ask for, how to record and transcribe. After: plain-language debriefs of what was said and what comes next. You'll never leave an appointment confused again.

What this is — and isn't. I'm a navigator, not a doctor. I don't diagnose, treat, or recommend for or against any therapy. I organize information, explain it in plain language, and help you ask better questions. Every decision stays where it belongs: with you and your care team.

My story

I've been in the chair you're sitting in

I was born with cystic fibrosis. By my late thirties I was on oxygen 24/7 with months to live; in 2011, a double lung transplant gave me a second chance, and I've spent every year since paying that gift forward — co-founding Rumble Nutrition, starting a nonprofit to fight hunger, and writing about healing here on this site.

But my education in the medical system didn't stop with my own body. I walked beside my father through colon cancer. When my brother faced a stage 4 diagnosis, I became his researcher and advocate — navigating Canada's cancer system, finding integrative options, and traveling with him to the Arcadia clinic in Germany. I learned how to bridge conventional treatment and complementary approaches honestly, without hype in either direction. I'm not anti-Western medicine, and I'm not an alternative-is-everything evangelist — quite literally, I wouldn't be alive without both.

To survive, I had to become a fierce advocate for my own health. Nobody should have to learn those skills from scratch while they're fighting for their life. That's why this service exists. And it rests on one more hard-won lesson: surviving was never the goal — thriving is. I've been fortunate to do both, and I'd love to help you do the same.

What it costs

Nothing. Truly.

This service is free. I'm fortunate to be able to give my time, and I remember exactly what it felt like to need this kind of help and not know where to turn.

If our work together helps you and you'd like to give something back, please make a donation to one of two causes close to my heart: Cystic Fibrosis Canada or One Percent for Hunger. That's the whole model. And if giving back some other way feels more meaningful to you, just ask me when we talk.

The blog

Writing from the road

Since 2020 I've written about healing, setbacks, cold showers, silent retreats, Germany, grief, and joy — in real time, as it happened. The full archive lives here.

Sep 2024

Contact

Start with a conversation

If you or someone you love is facing a serious diagnosis — or wrestling with a chronic condition — and doesn't know where to start, start here. Tell me a little about your situation and we'll set up a free call.

Email me to book a free call

I usually reply within a day or two.