Rebecca Liedtke: Advocate & patient partner
Sometimes, we are lucky enough to a hear a story that feeds the fire of SKIP’s mission. Rebecca’s story does just that.
Rebecca Liedtke is a premedical student and Patient and Family Advisor at the Stollery Hospital, SKIP’s Western Hub. She is also a dedicated volunteer involved in community and province-wide initiatives through Alberta Health Services.
She is currently completing a Bachelor of Science to add to her degree in clinical exercise physiology in hopes of applying to medical school – all while caring for her three children.
SKIP had the pleasure of engaging with Rebecca for a National Pain Awareness Week 2021 webinar titled “Our Reflections on Children’s Pain” in partnership with the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) where she shared her family’s story of pain and pain management.
Her son Levi was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) in 2019, a disorder that cause severe acute and chronic pain including neuropathy, headaches, and joint pain. Levi also experiences procedural pain from ongoing treatment like chemotherapy. She is an inspiring advocate for her son and children like him, working to improve pain solutions by assisting in a research study exploring pediatric pain prevalence in the emergency department.
Rebecca says, “Being involved in this study has given me a more academic perspective on pain prevalence and the gaps within the health care system on managing and acknowledging pain in children.”
Her commitment doesn’t stop there. She is a researcher with physicians in her network and works in a neuroscience lab in the summer months. When she isn’t busy being a champion for kids in pain, she is outdoors on her bike or spending an evening by the fire with friends.
To keep up with Rebecca, follow her on Twitter, @RebeccaLiedtke!
