Finding healing after a difficult diagnosis: Maureena’s story 

Maureena Loth, a Dene Suline from Cold Lake, Alberta, in Treaty Six territory, is passionate about advocating for better kidney health for all. Her message is simple but urgent: everyone should get their kidney health checked.   

Her journey with kidney disease began in 2022, when she started feeling very ill. Despite repeated visits to the nearest hospital, she was continually turned away. The experience was like a merry-go-round, she says.   

Taking matters into her own hands, Loth drew on her background in chemistry to interpret her lab results. “I started asking for my lab results and charting them,” she explains. When she shared her findings with a doctor, she finally received a diagnosis of kidney disease.  

A healing path forward  

Soon after her diagnosis, Loth joined Can-SOLVE CKD as a member of the Indigenous Peoples’ Engagement and Research Council (IPERC). The council plays a vital role in guiding Indigenous-specific research projects and advancing cultural competency within the network. “We promote respect and empowerment for Indigenous peoples and ways of knowing by strengthening Indigenous and Settler relationships,” says Loth. She adds, “We’re building relationships with clinicians and doctors. We’re engaged in teaching proper protocol in relation to learning from and with Indigenous patient partners.”

Through this involvement, Loth reconnected with community and began a holistic healing journey—focusing not only on her physical health, but also on her spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being. Every morning, she wakes up with gratitude and thanks the Creator for another day.  

“There were a lot of good spin-offs that came out of the disease that was supposed to kill me,” she says. “It actually healed me.” 

Tapping into Indigenous ways of knowing and being strengthened Loth’s mental, spiritual, and emotional health. And while she had to leave her strenuous job after her diagnosis, she found new support, community, and purpose through her work with the Can-SOLVE CKD Network.  

Patient engagement journey 

Since joining IPERC in spring 2023, Loth’s involvement has deepened significantly. She is now an Indigenous patient partner on My Heart Care and CKD, a Can-SOLVE CKD research project led by Dr. Matt James that aims to inform kidney patients about the risks associated with certain cardiovascular tests. 

Dr. Matt James, nephrologist and co-PI (left) and patient partner Maureena Loth (right)

Her lived experience is shaping culturally appropriate approaches to education and care, while helping to build stronger, more respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in health care and research.  

“You have to be present, you have to be vocal, and you have to be honest,” she says of this work. “And a lot of people don’t like to hear the truth.”  

Loth likens her work with IPERC and in patient partnership to tending a garden: “It’s planted. It’s growing. It’s got roots. And it’s the patient partners, the frontline staff, [and] the Knowledge Keepers who are watering that garden to make sure that it grows.”  

Above all, Loth’s goal is to spread the word about the importance of getting tested for kidney disease—because people often don’t see signs of the disease until their kidneys are already damaged. 

“It’s a silent killer,” she says. “Wherever I go, I take that message encouraging people to have their kidney health checked.”

Patient engagement and advocacy can take many forms—and Maureena’s journey is a powerful example. From joining a patient council to contributing to research and presenting at national conferences, her story shows what’s possible.

To learn more about IPERC and the role it plays in providing leadership and oversight within the Can-SOLVE CKD Network, visit the Indigenous Initiatives page.