Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Deans (Studies),

I am appealing for Aegrotat standing in the courses RELS 354 and PHIL 347. Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control in the form of a persisting illness my capabilities have been hindered since March 2013. Over the past two years I have complied with and undergone many measures in order to rid myself of this illness. Including multiple treatments and surgery in June 2014. In December 2014, I was presented with the option to get the Lupron injection which induces menopause. I had an extremely rare allergic reaction to the drug and was subsequently placed on a different version of the drug called Synarel. I began taking Synarel in January 2015 and it takes six months to know the full effects of the drug. These next six months were met with debilitating and rare side effects including breakthrough bleeding and the development of bone pain in my hands, feet, hips and pelvis and extreme heat flashes. Since the medication takes a significant amount of time to take effect, I was also experiencing the debilitating pain that I still had from my illness. I was continuously taking Tylenol 3s and Percocets (Oxycodone) to control my pain in order for me to still be able to attend some classes and complete as many assignments as I could. This is not the progress my doctors or I were hoping for and the side effects worsened. There were days that my bone pain was so bad I was unable to move my hands, walk to class or even move.
When I returned home from school, taking Incompletes in three of my four courses, I began more rigorous treatment for my illness. My gynaecologist informed me that I would continue on the Synarel until the end of the summer, placing me on the drug for two extra months and hoping it would relieve my pain. However, this is not occur and my doctor added internal and external physiotherapy twice a week to my treatment plan. Internal physiotherapy is painful and leaves me very sore afterwards, preventing me from doing almost anything on those days. I still comply and attend every treatment as well as do the at home exercises I was given. External physiotherapy also left me sore as they were attempting to put my pelvis back in its¿¿ normal place, since my pain and swelling had caused the bones and muscles to rotate 45 degrees. Despite continuing with all of my treatments my pain has persisted and progress has not been linear. To compound the situation my medication became on backorder in August 2015 for two weeks which resulted in hormone withdrawal and severe regression. When I received the medication my body had to readjust to the hormones and I am still in process of readjusting. I will see my gynaecologist on September 3rd, 2015. I have been informed that they have tried almost everything in order to mitigate my pain thus, the future does not look promising. I will be taken off the Synarel which will place me in another state of hormone withdrawal. It can then take another one to three months for my body to adjust. My pain and side effects will most likely worsen again. I will continue to try experimental treatments as well as my physiotherapy in order to have some relief. I decided to take a lighter course load this year so that if any extenuating circumstances occurred I would still be able to complete my school work. However, even with the support of my Professors, disability services and constant attempts to finish school, my illness presented horrible unforeseen problems that resulted in me being unable to finish these courses.
I dedicated all of my time this summer to completing my other Incomplete since I had already begun the outline for this essay, making completing this essay more tangible. I will finish my degree by doing two online courses through the University of Athabasca so that I can continue my treatments from home. Also, they allow all students a two month extension which would give me additional time as I am anticipating that I will need it. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Laura Latinovich