Health Matters - Apple Magazine Health Matters Fall 2016 | Page 4

A medical home for life
Three people share their experiences
BY JAQUELINE LOUIE
PHOTOS BY NEIL ZELLER
Primary Care Networks (PCNs) provide people with ongoing, team-based
care that’s anchored by a family doctor and a medical home, a headquarters
for all health concerns, throughout every stage of life. Three patients explain
how their PCN has helped improve their health.
Jason Cheever
Jason Cheever lost 60 pounds with
guidance and support from the
Calgary West Central Primary
Care Network.
“It was surprisingly much easier
than I thought it would be,” says
Cheever, 57.
It’s good motivation
He lost the weight by following a
healthy eating plan. “I never thought
about calories. Eating healthier food
was enough for me to lose all this
weight and exercising decreased
my hunger.”
It all began in 2012, when Cheever’s
doctor, Dr. Indu Khosla, diagnosed
high blood pressure and arthritis in
his knee. She recommended using
the PCN to help him eat healthy, be
more active and lose weight. At the
time he weighed 317 pounds.
Margot Bergevin, a PCN nurse,
advised him on healthy eating,
hydration and active living and
discussed his actions and goals
with him.
“It’s good motivation,” Cheever
says. He now walks 45 minutes a
day, six days a week, outdoors or on
a treadmill and is aiming to weigh
215 pounds. “It’s a lot easier having
somebody helping you.”
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HEALTH MATTERS
FALL 2016
With help from his PCN, Jason Cheever found losing weight “surprisingly much easier” than he
thought it would be.