Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Of Support, CTV News, Press Conference and Lymies

1. Elizabeth May's Private Member's Bill
On Wednesday, June 20, 2012 in Ottawa, Elizabeth May is planning to introduce a private member’s bill relating to Lyme disease, to be read to our federally elected MPs later the same day. Canlyme has been consulted at length to make sure patients’ interests will be heard. To make sure this Bill can be passed: Find out who your MP (Member of Parliament) is. Make sure your MP knows this is not just a Green Party bill; it is a bill that could affect every single Canadian. See the post by Chris Powell for more.

2. Press conference on Parliament Hill
A Press conference was being planned for around 11:00 am on June 20, to talk about the Bill mentioned above. That was now moved to Thursday, June 21, around 11:30 am. Many Lymies, their caregivers, families or friends are planning to be in Ottawa to lend weight and support to the issue. Take a look at the webcam facing Parliament Hill - hopefully you should be able to see some gathering there! Unfortunately, the camera cannot be controlled, zoomed or panned by viewers and is a bit fuzzy. 

3. Lyme on CTV National News tonight
A few days ago, I was interviewed by phone for CTV National News about Lyme Disease. A cameraman came by later, while I was vacuuming, sweaty and surprised! Told him I needed only 7 minutes to shower, wash hair and get dressed. He said he needed 20 minutes to set up anyway, so we went about our business before the taping. (Janet called it "Wash and wear Meerkat ...") The segment will air tonight on National News at 11 pm, but I have no idea what might be shown, or even much about what I said. I know the mess of pills were positioned behind and have a quick cell phone pic of the basic setup.  CTV clip link: HERE or the text write-up of the same HERE.

4. Support group in Brampton
While collecting the information about Lymies of Ontario, a few people asked about a support group in Brampton. There is one in Richmond Hill, but it seems it is too difficult for some people to get to. I'm busy with talks about space and so far being successful. Would anyone be interested in meeting twice a month or so, in the north of Brampton? We could plan the first meeting for the evening of June 28. If you are interested, please contact me at Support group Brampton

5. Some fun in the sun!
We used to love going to Wonderland before I got sick. Yes, we did the SkyFlyer and all the roller coasters! We didn't realize how long it has been, but Sunday went together as a family. The boys wanted to treat their dad for Father's Day. I couldn't stay the whole day, but we had oodles of fun! Blurred out the other people, and here are the five of us on the Behemoth. We did the new ride, Leviathan, three times and thoroughly enjoyed each one. A smooth ride, and wonderful views from the top, especially just before the 309 ft drop.

6. Lymies of Ontario
Emails from people with Lyme disease in Ontario are still coming in, either just initials, or first names, or full information. Please see why we need these on this blog post: Are you a Lymie?
There is a national registry being compiled as well, if you are interested.

Links mentioned in this post:
Elizabeth May about the National Strategy for Lyme Disease 
Lyme disease in Private Member's Bill (Chris Powell)
Webcam facing Parliament Hill, Ottawa
CTV National website CTV News
Canada's Wonderland
Lymies of Ontario
Canadian Lyme Disease registry






2 comments:

PM said...

Hi Marlene,

I watched CTV National News at 10:00 last night with Lisa Laflamme (on the news channel)and there was no Lyme story! Do you think they postponed it until the bill announcement today? Just wondering what happened! Looking forward to the announcement and press conference!

MeerkatMarlene said...

Hi, Paula,
They bumped it to the next night. The links are no longer working, but there are two clips on CTV's website. One shows the video clip and the other is the text of the clip.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/search-results/search-ctv-news-7.137?q=marleen+meerkat

Other stories to read:

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