My Story – Glennis Deslippe BSN

Glennis Deslippe sent me a copy of her empowering and heartfelt story and I asked Glennis if I could share it with you.

A powerful and excellent example of using life’s experience to add value to other people’s lives.

Hi Simon,

This is very interesting. I hadn’t read your blogs for a few weeks and didn’t realize you had talked about My Story and how to do this. Great timing. Thanks for putting this in your blog. You’re right, it makes a big difference in how people see you. Take care,

Glennis

Hi Glennis,

Thanks for your insight … you are right and it makes a difference about how we see ourselves.

S

My Story

I have always had a passion for helping people. During my career as a Registered Nurse, I worked for fourteen years at Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. There I nursed many children with chronic illnesses such as kidney disease, diabetes, cancer and Crohn’s disease. I witnessed many families struggle with the emotional and financial impact of their child’s illness on their family. Many marriages fell apart and others became stronger. Many mothers had to quit their jobs to stay at home and care for their sick child. Many fathers worked more than one job to make ends meet for the family. Often these families lived miles away and many medications and treatments went unfunded. I knew too well how rising medical costs could cripple families because I had seen it in my own family. My only brother Alvin was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and the countless hours of chest therapy and hospitalizations for pneumonia put a lot of emotional and financial stress on my parents who eventually divorced. My mother was left raising 8 children on her own, taking on three jobs to make ends meet. Later on, two of my sisters were diagnosed with lung cancer and neither of them had any disability insurance to help fund their expenses, so much of the financial burden once again rested on the backs of my other family members.

It was after their deaths that I decided to change focus and move into medical sales. I wanted a new challenge while still making a difference for others. I worked with Nestle Nutrition for two years, providing medical nutrition products to hospitals, home care and nursing homes. I saw how extremely expensive my products were for most clients. Several cancer patients would go on tube feeds during their chemotherapy at a cost of over $400.00/month. One of our specialty nutrition products cost over $900.00/month and not everyone who needed it qualified for funding, if funding was even available. I realized the extreme injustice of unaffordable medical expenses had followed me here too, but it wasn’t until my husband Nelson’s business partner, Jim Wardlaw age 53, was diagnosed with Cancer, that I was given the opportunity to do something about it. His experimental chemotherapy cost $4500.00/month and was not covered by Pharamacare. This worked for a year then he had to go onto a more expensive drug that cost over $6000.00/month for the last 6 months of his life. The key to Jim’s extra months of survival were his extended benefits that picked up most of the cost.

Jim’s experience opened my husband’s eyes to the importance of Critical Illness insurance, an insurance plan that can pay for treatment and medication at that pivotal moment when people are diagnosed with a life threatening illness and must begin the fight for survival. As owner and President of Integral Financial Services Inc. he realized he could make a difference. Because I have witnessed the financial impact a critical illness can have on a person’s finances and family first hand, and I have a wide range of experience in the medical field, Nelson recruited me to join his company as the Living Benefits Specialist to educate his clients about Critical Illness, Disability and Long Term Care insurance. Having worked as a nurse for 25 years and seeing the emotional and financial impact a serious illness or disability can have on a person and their family, I feel that I am finally in a position to make a real difference in the lives of others. Everyday as I pick up the phone to arrange an appointment or meet with a client, I am helping to prevent a potential financial disaster. It is my mission to sell products that not only provide financial support, but also a window to high quality medical care that many people may not be able to afford without them.

Glennis Deslippe BSN
Living Benefits Specialist
Integral Financial Services Inc.
Phone direct 604-538-8971
email glennis@integral-financial.com
Web www.integral-financial.com