Guest: Mary Volintiru
Mary takes the plunge and dives right in to speak about what it is like to go through an already long journey of her and her partner to be together, and then to be hit with a curveball when she least expected. She shares about how she quickly went from being newlyweds with exciting new beginnings, to becoming a 24/7 caregiver to her husband. Mary talked about the devastation of her husband’s illness, and how nothing could stop her from doing whatever it took to fulfill her duties as a partner, and in doing so, not realizing that she put every other aspect of her life on hold, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs. Mary admitted that it took her a while before she recognized how her self-care routine was in the negative, she started to recognize that it is okay to receive help, take breaks, and keep her stance to help her partner fight his health battle by also looking after her basic foundational needs. She openly shares about all the mix of emotions she experienced, like how nervous and anxious she became and needed to control the situation in any way that she could, to feeling scared and frightened about what is to come, and what she eventually turned to, in order to regain new fuel. Mary’s key message to listeners is: Be strong and choose to be resilient; choose to shift your mindset; get up when you fall; put things into perspective; self-care matters; letting go actually makes it better; and trust the systems.
Guest Bio: Mary works in the healthcare field, with earlier days in administrative roles — she has worked her way upwards and now holds the ‘Quality Improvement Manager’ position at Southlake Family Health Team in Newmarket, ON. Mary holds a Bachelor’s in Health Sciences with Minor in Psychology. In her current role, she continuously looks for improvement opportunities in the healthcare sector including the delivery of patient programs to adapt to the current times, such as pandemic planning — without impairing quality of service delivery.
Mary is hardworking, caring and often likes to lend a helping hand to anyone who needs it. She gives back to the community in various ways, such as donating blood and other volunteering endeavours. If Mary is not spending time with her family or husband, she can be found playing retro video games like Nintendo, experimenting new recipes, shout-singing to pop music, going to concerts and travelling she so she can experiment and taste new foods. She is also an adrenaline seeker who has skydived, done the CN Tower EdgeWalk and is always looking for a new adventure.
Passionate about: Canadian Healthcare Systems, Canadian Blood Services, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
