"I laugh every day," he says with the help of an automated system he uses with his eyes.
It’s a very different life now for Todd Darbyson than it was more than a year ago. After being diagnosed with ALS in 2018, Darbyson was given three to five years to live and was forced into care before his 45th birthday.
His body had failed him – and, he believes, so did the healthcare system.
Darbyson shares a timeline of events that started in January 2021 when he was moved into Pleasant Valley Manor.
During his six-month stay, he believes he was abused and his care home rights were violated after his diet was changed to minced food without his consent.
It was a change that made him choke, gag and throw up almost daily. Todd describes the sensation in his mouth as "having a bunch of small chips in a bag and you dump them out in your mouth and one or two of them get caught in your throat."
Friend Lisa Scott says Darbyson's "three to five years was coming up. He was declining, he was stressed out, not comfortable."
Scott goes on to explain that Darbyson kept asking for his diet to be changed back, but the staff at Pleasant Valley weren’t moving fast enough for her friend, whose life is being cut short by disease.
Darbyson claims in addition to the detrimental diet change he was left unattended, had medication withheld and his communication devices removed.
"Staying there, he would have continued to deteriorate on a rapid basis," says Scott.
So she moved him into her home. That was more than a year ago.
"There's just no more decline for Todd, he is able to eat and swallow and he's not choking and gagging and throwing up," she says.
While Darbyson is enjoying stronger mental health and home-cooked meals, he still wants to see change at Pleasant Valley Manor.
"I can text, email, take notes using my eyes," he says.
Despite numerous emails to facility management and Interior Health's patient care quality office, Darbyson believes no action has been taken. He's concerned others in care could be subjected to the same treatment.
In a statement issued by Interior Health, the director of clinical care for the North Okanagan, Alicia Ponich, writes: "We are unable to get into the specific details of any individual's care...
"People who are unhappy with the PQCO response are provided with information on how to take their complaints further."
She explains this may include an independent review.
While Darbyson is committed to seeing his complaint through, he's unsure of how much time the process will take – or how much time he has left.
