My name is Alyson. I live in Red Deer, Alberta. I am fortunate to live in an adult condominium that arranges social activities that I can participate in to help keep me active. Our building’s backyard is an amazing, wooded area with paved pathways that enable me to be out in nature and be mobile as much as possible.

After many years of trying to determine the source of many symptoms I was experiencing, I was clinically diagnosed with mito in 2017, a year after my biological mom received her genetic diagnosis. I received a genetic confirmation in 2018. This disease has been inherited by multiple family members as well, and we all experience varying symptoms and are impacted differently.

MitoCanada has provided many resources for me to learn about mitochondrial disease, and it explains the information in simplified terms, so it is not confusing. I often provide links from the website to other patients who sometimes struggle to find accurate or easy-to-understand information.

I haven’t had many opportunities to complete in-person volunteering for MitoCanada, but I share the fundraising events and the knowledge posts that are submitted on the MitoCanada social media platforms. I also participate in the Peer2Peer Facebook group that MitoCanada has created for mito patients and families to connect with each other. I am an administrator on a few other mito-related Facebook groups as well.

My vision for MitoCanada is that it will become even more recognizable so that it can continue to provide support for the mitochondrial disease community in its many forms.