“I was crying happy tears by the end of the call because she said a lab technician would be at my house that very day. I couldn’t believe it was going to be so easy after everything we’ve been through.”
Lauren, a 34 year old Calgary woman, welcomed the TapLabs technician into her home with a bright smile and an enthusiastic hello. Her infectious laugh and optimistic demeanour immediately radiated hope and positivity.
Lauren led the technician to her kitchen table where they sat and prepared to do her bloodwork. Her living room decor was soft and inviting, and in her kitchen, rows of prenatal supplement and vitamin bottles were arranged neatly on the countertops.
Lauren joked and laughed as the technician drew her day three fertility treatment bloodwork. That’s when she started to tell her story.
Lauren's IVF journey
Lauren’s strength became clear as she recounted the years of stress and heartbreak she’s endured fighting for what she wants most — to get pregnant and have a child. Currently preparing for her fourth and fifth rounds of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Lauren’s journey hasn’t been easy.
IVF is a complex process. Though it can be effective, the process is time-consuming, expensive and invasive. But the hardest part for Lauren hasn’t been what you’d expect.
The challenges of timely bloodwork
“During IVF, you have to have your blood drawn on specific days or treatment will be delayed a month,” she explains. “And going to the lab was really stressful. I remember one time there were so many people in line. I had to have the results that day, but they said I wouldn’t get them until the following Monday. I told them, ‘that's not an option for me. I need this now.’ I was in the waiting room with my mom, in tears, saying ‘please help me please. I just need to know if I can start my meds today or not.’ ”
Even before that experience, Lauren and her friends would take turns stalking the Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) booking website for any openings they could get. They called it “appointment roulette”.
That was when Lauren had enough. She couldn’t believe that on top of everything else, she had to fight with a system that was incompatible with her treatment. She decided to take matters into her own hands and search for alternatives. Then she found TapLabs.
"It was such a godsend"
It was the Sunday before Labour Day and Lauren was desperate. She needed bloodwork done on the holiday Monday, but were no lab appointments available. Lauren called TapLabs main phone number and Kelly Kuzel, CEO of Taplabs answered.
“I was crying happy tears by the end of the call because she said it was no problem and that a lab technician would be at my house on the holiday when other labs were closed.” Lauren says. “I couldn’t believe it was going to be so easy after everything we’ve been through.”
Stories like Lauren’s are why Kelly created TapLabs.
“There are a lot of bottlenecks to laboratory testing in Calgary and in Alberta,” says Kelly, CEO and Co-founder of TapLabs. “Standard [APL] wait times range between two and four weeks for a simple five minute blood test, which can really affect patients who are in pain or in treatment requiring regular blood monitoring. The idea of having to wait that long is just not logical.”
Since that day in early September, Lauren has become a TapLabs evangelist. She tells anyone who will listen about her experience with the service, and how much stress its reduced in her life. No more stalking the APL booking site, no more waiting in a line of endless people. Just prompt and caring bloodwork when she needs it, in the comfort of her own home.
“I think this might be the kind of disruption that the Canadian healthcare system needs,” Lauren says. “I'm happy to take myself out of the line for people who maybe can't afford private services. TapLabs allows people to take their health into their own hands and have the autonomy to take care of themselves.”
