Dr. Haley Abrams – Fiercely Compassionate Care

Family Doctor: Dr. Haley Abrams

After being lucky enough to be her patient for over five years, I want to thank Dr. Abrams for providing me with fiercely compassionate care, no matter how big or small my issues have been.

In 2019, I experienced a severe internal bleed and nearly died. Dr. Abrams advocated for me to make sure I got iron IV appointments scheduled (since initially paperwork was lost), followed up with me concerning biopsies and my wellbeing, and referred me to a GI specialist to try and prevent the issue from occurring again. I also tend to minimize my health issues and hate inconveniencing people, and after seeing my blood results she told me I needed to take some time off work and wrote me a doctor’s note. Without her saying that, I would have continued to work, being so exhausted that I was out of breath walking from the parking lot to my office and would have no doubt made things much worse.

For day-to-day appointments and procedures, she always makes sure to make me feel heard and like I can share anything with her. I have issues with PAP smears due to a history of sexual trauma, and she was the first physician/medical provider who has ever asked me how I do with PAPs. After hearing how difficult I find them, she took a few minutes to do some relaxing breathing exercises, making the process so much more comfortable and leaving me experiencing no irritation like I normally had in the past.

She always makes sure I know it is okay to tell her any issues I am experiencing at any time during an appointment. When I apologized for bringing something up after we had moved on to the physical because I know how busy family doctors are, she said “It is my job! Everybody is busy!” Making me feel so cared for and removing my anxieties.

I cannot thank her enough for the positive experiences she has provided me with and feel so lucky to have found a family doctor like her!

Anonymous, Edmonton