My name is Tim. When my daughter was only five years old, her life was saved thanks to a living donor liver transplant. I have been passionate about Liver Canada’s work ever since—so much so that I now serve on the Board of Directors.
While my connection to Liver Canada was sparked by my family’s personal experience, there’s a vast network of people all across this country—more than 7 million of you!—who are living with a liver disease or care about someone who is. That means you know how hard it can be to face the challenges of a liver disease and how urgent it is that we fund more projects to help.
Please know that for every way you care about liver health, Liver Canada is here. Education, prevention, support and recherche are in everything we do, and every way we do it.
We’re here for liver patients with every call. We’re ending stigma with every campaign. We’re advocating for change with every click. And we’re ramping up our efforts with every Canadian newly diagnosed with a liver disease.
Canada is facing a liver health problem. Liver disease is silent: it isn’t talked about enough, and it often isn’t detected until it’s too late. In short, too many Canadians are dying because a liver disease is under-diagnosed and undertreated. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Liver Canada has bold plans next year to respond to the growing need for liver disease education, prevention, support and recherche all across Canada. For example:
- Expanding our Peer Support Group Program to reach more Canadians seeking out others affected by liver diseases
- Adding nutrition advice to our patient support program, in response to increased requests about liver-healthy eating
- Expanding the LIVERight Forum to Atlantic Canada, so people there can benefit from in-person information and connections to support their liver health
- Expanding the FibroScan fatty liver disease screening program from just British Columbia to Nova Scotia and Ontario, so more people can benefit from liver health assessment
- Expanding our Elementary/Middle School Liver Health Presentations so more young people can learn how to prevent or manage a liver disease
- Creating a Transplant Navigator Program to guide people through the transplant process and provide resources for running campaigns to find a living donor
- Funding new research projects thanks to some exciting new partnerships
With these new and expanded initiatives, we’ll continue to support every way that Canadians need us to be there for them.
Every day we are here for Canadians. Supporting them through the challenges of their liver diseases. Answering calls when they need someone to talk to about their diagnosis. Connecting them to living transplant donors. Guiding them through preventative efforts. And more.
Thank you for helping Canadians facing liver diseases today, and reducing the number of Canadians that face it tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Tim Tutsch
Father to Isabella, who received a liver transplant in 2021