Dr. Schneider – Always in My Corner

Family Doctor: Alexia Schneider

I have known Dr. Schneider (my family doctor), for the last 9 years since I arrived in Alberta, Canada. I first met her while she was working in Okotoks; after a couple of visits, it felt as if I had known her my entire life. When she moved to another office still in Okotoks, I went there as well. This is when my mental health deteriorated and although it took a while to tell her, Dr. Schneider replied that she knew something was wrong. Over the next couple of years, Dr. Schneider and the receptionists held my life in their hands so many times that my appointments with the help of receptionists would go from 10 minutes to an hour, and more often than not, it ended with a hospitalization.

At the time I was pretty mad about being sent there but I needed to go, and Dr. Schneider knew it. When I was told that she was leaving the doctor’s office I was pretty much devastated, but I was given the opportunity to continue with her support when she moved to Calgary, Alberta. This was a difficult decision for me to make – drive to a different city where I hadn’t driven to before or stay and have another doctor? I decided to follow her as I needed her and couldn’t think of starting all over with someone else and yet again there were many times I was admitted back into hospital whether it was voluntary or not. Dr. Schneider will still spend as much time with me as I need her to, she goes above and beyond any other doctor I have heard of, and whilst some appointments can be very difficult, I always look forward to them; knowing that there is one person who has always been in my corner and not treated me as just a number in her practice, I can see that there is a genuine level of care and compassion.

As I have mentioned before, I really wouldn’t be able to write this today if it was not for the level of expertise, care, and compassion that Dr. Schneider has shown to me. In my opinion, I have the best family doctor ever!!

To Dr. Schneider and staff at Westside medical THANK YOU and #familyDocsRock

Karen Durocher