Vancouver Healing Paths

06/04/2025

To all our members and those who have followed us...

Since our very first meeting back in 2011, Tonia Sortors has been a a member and immediately signed up to serve on the Board of Directors for our Non-Profit. Her commitment to her family, her friends, to the members of this group, to the families of the Girl Scouts she led, was matched only by her warmth, kindness and generosity to all who were blessed to know her over the years.

It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you that after a long battle with Lupus, Cancer, Fibromyalgia, and so much more, Tonia's pain came to an end this morning when she passed away peacefully in a Texas Hospice care, surrounded by friends and family.

Miss Tonia, you will be sorely missed.

06/29/2024

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the dissolution of Vancouver Healing Path's formal Non-Profit status. As with many small businesses, the Covid Pandemic proved to be too much for our company. With our member activity decline, the lack of membership dues being paid, and the rising prices of phone/advertising/time, running things became too much for my family, alone, to sustain financially.

VHP Housekeeping Notes:

Because membership dues were not being paid/accepted since the pandemic, there are no assets or investments that will need to be liquidated. We were strictly a volunteer organization, and 99.9% of advertising and operating expenses were paid out of pocket by myself and my husband throughout the years. Given that we also haven't had a fully operational board for nearly 6 years, there are also no further financial obligations to any members/leaders who are serving recently or who had served in the past.

Our website has already been closed, all associated VHP email addresses are no longer active.
Our VHP phone line will cease to operate as of July 5th, 2024.
Any Future meetings will no longer be held at PeaceHealth Medical Center.

**WHAT NOW?**

Because there is still an unmet need within the Clark County, WA community for chronic pain support, we will continue to operate as a FREE community support group, so long as there are ACTIVE members who wish to continue meeting for friendship and support.
Our community support group can can be found at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/vancouverhealingpaths

As I've stated many times before, our community is only as strong as what our members put into it. It is my sincere hope that we might regain some traction in participation, and continue to be a safe space for those in our community who need understanding relationships and a safe space to get advice or support on their harder days.

Much Love,

Bree Cassidy-Hyre
VHP, Founder

10/12/2023

Happy Fall, Y'all! We're still here, just spending a lot more time in our Private Facebook group than here on the public page. This lil' tidbit was shared on another group page I'm member to, but I felt it was relevant to post here because it also applies to the reason I built VHP in the first place - to hang out w/ others who share commonality of living with Chronic Illness & Pain conditions.

Sometimes it's just nice to know that others TRULY know what you're going through, and are safe to talk to about shared struggles.

12/20/2022

Gentle Hugs & Humble Wishes of Peace to all of you this Holiday Season.

11/08/2022

November is National Family Caregivers Month. According to the Caregiving Action Network, there are over 53 million Americans who are unpaid caregivers to family, friends, and neighbors. Caregiving is not always convenient or expected—as the Caregiving Action Network puts it, “caregiving happens.”

Many people with spinal CSF leak rely on family members and caregivers for help with daily life. For those who cannot be upright without experiencing severe neurological symptoms, having help with meals, housework, parenting, and daily life activities is critical.

Throughout this month, we’ll be sharing videos of people who are caregivers to those living with spinal CSF leak, talking about the unique challenges they face.

If you are a caregiver to someone, you can learn more about caregiving and find support at the Caregiver Action Network and the Family Caregiver Alliance.

https://www.caregiveraction.org/
https://www.caregiver.org/

11/08/2022

This opportunity is not just for my intracranial hypotension due to spinal CSF leak like our founder, Bree, has been dealing with. This is for *ANYONE* that suffers from chronic headache disorders and migraines. Please, if you have the capacity to put in your two cents, we encourage you to join us in doing so.

Your voice matters! We’ve got a goal to find advocates in all 50 states to join us for Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy's Headache On The Hill happening on February 14, 2023. Apply for the 2023 cohort of Headache On The Hill advocates and join us in advocating for equitable federal policies for those impacted by headache disorders. Applications due by November 30th! qrco.de/bdSv6K

10/22/2022

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, also known as MCAS or MCAD, has been a poorly understood condition in Western Medicine at large. It is a condition that causes widespread allergic-type reactions (sometimes life threatening), digestive difficulties, nerve impairment, and is also known to be a contributing source of chronic pain in those patients who have it. Sadly, many doctors have never heard of it, or don't even believe it exists because of grossly neglected education on the subject during their time in medical school as it is considered a "rare" condition.

Since Covid and Long Covid have become an active threat to society, more information is coming out about MCAS - as the symptoms & signs of MCAS are being seen in many long haulers. Because of this, more research on the topic is being done around the world now and hopefully will lead to better understanding, improved diagnostics, and more treatment options. You can learn more about MCAS by following the link below:
https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-treatments/related-conditions/mcas

Today is International Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome Awareness Day.⁠
⁠
Mast cells (MCs) are cells that play an important role in your immune system, telling your body when to respond to things that shouldn’t be there. When the immune system doesn’t work correctly MCs can cause problems. MCs can be involved in allergies, nerve problems, and connective tissue disorders such as the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and hypermobility spectrum disorders. ⁠
⁠
Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is a condition where someone has increased activity of MCs. The features of MCAS in people can be very varied, probably because of the genetic differences of each person. ⁠
⁠
Symptoms can include: ⁠
⁠
🔴Itching⁠
🔴Redness⁠
🔴Damage to the skin⁠
🔴Diarrhea⁠
🔴Pain in the abdomen (among others). ⁠
⁠
Common triggers of MCAS include:⁠
⁠
🔴Alcohol⁠
🔴Heat⁠
💊Medications⁠
🔴Invasive procedures (surgery, biopsy, endoscopy)⁠
🐝Insect stings⁠
🔴Inhalants (natural or chemical such as perfumes)⁠
🤒High body temperature (fever) or infection⁠
🔴Exercise⁠
🔴Physical contact (pressure, friction)⁠
🔴Emotions/stress. ⁠
⁠
Next to fatigue, pain is one of the most common symptoms of MCAS.⁠
⁠
Read more about MCAS, diagnosis, and treatment at https://bit.ly/3eKnNV2

Watch the recordings from the EDS ECHO Summit: Allergy and Immunology Complications here: https://bit.ly/3SkZTNH

10/21/2022

A number of you, in addition to calls coming in from the general public, have asked us about when we will be going back to In-Person meetings again. As you know, most of our VHP Community have conditions which make them a higher risk of complications from Covid; and despite what the Media & Politicians continue to report, it is our stance that the Covid risks are NOT over, and is still a serious threat to our Chronic Illness population.

That being said, I did go ahead and make additional calls to both Legacy Salmon Creek & PeaceHealth Medical Center about whether or not they have re-opened their community spaces for us to hold our in-person meetings again. The responses I received were an emphatic "No" followed by an air of pessimism that their stance will change at any time in the near future. My contact at PeaceHealth even went so far as to say that it is the Hospital's belief that they are in a position "to help keep the Public safe from themselves," as the level of ignorance in society over the seriousness of Covid risks, the benefit of vaccines, and the importance of masking are just not where they should be for the public at large.

We do apologize to you all at how inconvenient this is. I, too, prefer in-person meetings - even as I am one such person who is medically fragile. But at the same time, I am not interested in adding further complications or worsening things for myself or my family, being as I've already been diagnosed with Long-Covid since my first infection of the virus this past May. With the season change, I had hoped to at least try to host an outdoor restaurant or Café meet up, but we've also had forest fire smoke causing our Air Quality to be unhealthy to be outdoors for the last couple of months. 😞

We encourage each one of you, be a long-time member, a quiet observer, or a more active participant to voice your ideas on ways that we can facilitate support & strengthen our community and to continue offering support and services in a safe manner. To date, I have hosted Virtual Game Nights/Afternoons but with such irregular participation, I decided that it wasn't much fun - afterall, most games need at least 4-6 players and to date, we've only had a couple of members regularly able to log in.

Other ideas we'd be willing to host are Virtual Movie Nights, Book Club with online discussions via our Discord Server, Crafting Clubs that check in once a week virtually, or monthly outdoor gatherings (weather permitting.) Remember we do have a FREE Discord channel (which I understand has a learning curve that is pretty steep for some of you and I'm trying to come up with ways to help you all navigate that process easier.)

Help me help you! 🥰

09/27/2022

08/26/2022

Do you feel confident with your current medical team?

"Finding a good doctor is like finding a needle in a haystack. Am I right?"

04/15/2022

We're sorry, but tonight's meeting has been cancelled.

03/17/2022

YOU ARE WORTHY! Your worth is not defined by how well you can keep up with or do better than the person standing next to you, down the street from you, or across the world from you. You are important because you're you - there's only ONE you - and YOU MATTER!