By Kendall Worth!
On Thursday November 9th 2023, Carrie Ann Bugden ended up in hospital because she was having a not-so-good-week with her mental health, and physically... at times she went into spasm. Click on this link to see Parts 1 to 4 of the Carrie Ann Bugden story.
She reported to me that she was having spasms all week, starting Sunday November 5th 2023. On Tuesday November 7th, she was laying on the floor all day. Wednesday November 8th 2023 she spent the whole day in bed, then, on Thursday November 9th, she went to the hospital. She was taken to hospital by ambulance where she was assessed mentally and physically. A neurologist was consulted over the phone by the emergency room staff who examined her. Carrie Ann described to them her physical problems with her cerebral palsy spasms etc increasing, as well as her deteriorating mental state. She spoke to the mental health staff who attended to her in the emergency room leaving out nothing that had transpired over this past year at the University, (Mount St Vincent University – “the Mount” - MSVU) including the mandatory move from Westwood residence to Assisi, and how this move, which was mandatory and not voluntary, has been ruining her mental health. She phoned me on Friday morning and brought to my attention that on Thursday she was taken to hospital. I went out to the Mount to visit on Friday, and then spent most of the day with her on Saturday.
During my visit to her, at MSVU, on Friday November 10th 2023, I witnessed her severe spasms. Her recent experience with the Nova Scotia Health Care system was the final straw. Her decision to move home to Newfoundland is now final. Carrie Ann, however, does not want to move home to Newfoundland, she wants to continue to live and study in Nova Scotia. Carrie Ann’s move will be sometime close to December 18th 2023. She will not just be going home for Christmas but will be staying home for the following 6 months. Carrie Ann has a doctor’s appointment already set up back home in Newfoundland, after she arrives.
At the hospital here in Halifax, there were no solutions offered. All that happened, in the ER, was Carrie Ann was assessed physically and mentally, and received a visit from a social worker, then they just sent her home.
During my visit to provide support to Carrie-Ann at the Mount, both Friday evening, then again on Saturday, I learned that the ambulance that took her to the hospital was called by university staff that are employed in Residence Life because, of course, it is the University’s policy (as Carrie Ann was told by the Residence life staff) to call an ambulance when someone on campus cannot care for themselves. The Residence Life people were, of course, just doing their job.
If you have read parts 1-4 you know that there has been a lot happening with Carrie Ann Bugden that brought her to the mental state which she is now in.
So lets do a recap:
In part#1 of Carrie Ann's Story, Carrie Ann was told that she would have wait a whole year after she graduated from university before she could become a Nova Scotia Resident to even apply for Income Assistance.
In parts 1 and 2 I make several statements about reasons why the Carrie Ann Bugden's story builds the case for the federal Disability Benefit currently being worked on, and the need to implement a Basic Guaranteed Income. In Carrie Ann's case if she (and all of us!) had enough money to live on then she would have had more freedom to live off campus, in more suitable accommodation.
Then in part#3 I elaborated on the behaviour of her room mates while she was living at Westwood. In part#1 I brought up "I wonder what the university would say if students said they did not want to live with a room mate who was black or Jewish, I suspect it would not be tolerated! Instead they want to move her out of a shared apartment.” Then Repeated this in Part#4.
In Part 4 I outline the many unanswered questions regarding why the university made the move from Westwood to Assisi Hall mandatory for her in the first place. See part#4 for the list of unanswered questions.
Then, most recently, her visit to the hospital did nothing for her, as covered in this current update on her story.
Carrie Ann believes a number of factors brought on her recent mixed physical/mental health issues, that resulted in an ambulance taking her to the emergency room. One factor among others is the weather change. (maybe seasonal affective disorder?) In a normal change of season, from fall to winter, she often experiences anxiety attacks. This year, however, the anxiety was worse than previous years because of her fight with the University. However, everything from how the roommates treated her at Westwood, and insisting on the mandatory move from Westwood to Assisi Hall also played a strong role in the conditions that brought her mental health down hill, to the point where this week’s hospital visit had to happen.
There have been other things happening to Carrie Ann, recently, which contributed to her mental health going down hill. I believe, given her mental and physical health, that Carrie Ann should go home to Newfoundland ASAP and not wait until December 18th . However, Carrie Ann cannot just drop everything and go home. Carrie Ann has educational and personal commitments she has to fill, up until the 18th and that return to Newfoundland. Other staff and students on campus have been noticing her mental health deteriorating. Everyone-else who is concerned believes she should go sooner because of the deterioration of her mental health these days.
At this point, a major miracle would need to happen for Carrie Ann to change her forced decision to move back to Newfoundland. This major miracle would need to include:
Better financial support for her to afford to continue living in Halifax.
A better support system to help her live day to day life here in Halifax.
Carrie Ann was offered medication while visiting the hospital wish she refused, because medication is not going to fix all the things that have happened to her that brought about her recent visit to the hospital.
Carrie Ann told me that the Residence Life staff who called the ambulance were hoping that the hospital would admit her for the weekend, and maybe the first part of the following week. I was not able to talk to anyone from residence life to confirm whether or not this is true. The fact that Carrie Ann did not get admitted to hospital did not come as a surprise, either. I know several others who have also been taken to the hospital by ambulance, while having spasms, and just like the mental health system in Nova Scotia, Carrie Ann had no help or support coming from her visit to the hospital.
If Carrie Ann was able to become a resident of Nova Scotia, (students are considered to still live formally in their home province, until they have permanent address in NS) then things for her would have been so much easier. The hospital Social Worker who saw her before she left the Hospital gave her a list of resources. Carrie needs and wants some home support. These days she needs help with getting in and out of bed in the morning. Carrie Ann cannot afford to pay for home-care or home-support out of her own pocket. The university told Carrie on Friday that they do not have Insurance to cover this.
Carrie Ann is interested returning to Nova Scotia to complete her studies at the Mount. Better support would need to be organized for her to live and study here, is the bottom line. it is clear that the Mount has no interest in organizing that better support system.
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