Raising awareness today

Posting from behind the Lyme Awareness table on location!

Says friend Joe: "Peel Health should be doing this information and outreach! We should be getting their wages!"

Yeah, right. And piglets might fly, eh?

Activity at our Lyme booth, questions and interest as people walk by. One woman became totally shocked because she is sure she had a Bulls eye rash on her chest last summer! She took a picture of her rash and will send it to me tonight.

This is criminal neglect: People getting bitten or sick and not being made aware of the early symptoms and available treatment.

People are signing the petition, which is good! (See blog post http://t.co/DTRTEpCT to read about the petition.)

The day is hot, but we have a breeze and shade under the tent. People are showing interest when they see the information board. Talking to tree doctors who knew a bit about Lyme, but were shocked about the lack of treatment in Canada.

Every person who hears the message, is one more who can protect themselves and loved ones.

Exciting: set up a talk with a school principal to slot into their Health cirricculum when school starts again. The children are my main concern. They are our future, after all.


Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

National Lyme Strategy Petition is ready!

** Updated: The links to 4Shared were giving trouble, so please click on link #2 below for another place to find Elizabeth May's petition in PDF format.

***UPDATED Nov 2012: We now also have a petition from Tory David Tilson, M.P. (Dufferin-Caledon)! Let me know if you want a copy to collect and send in signatures. It asks for a National Strategy as well. Email to ask for David Tilson's petition.

ELIZABETH MAY'S PETITION
So grateful and excited! I've been in regular touch with the office of Elizabeth May, MP, about the petition to ask for a National Strategy dealing with Lyme Disease. Since we were planning another information booth at SouthFields Community Day tomorrow, I was hoping it would be ready.

And --- guess what - here it is! Just received after 2pm today, approved by the House of Commons. We can print, have friends and family sign and share according to the instructions printed on every page!
Please link this blog page to your blog or your Facebook, or Twitter, in order for others to share and download the same document. Print, read info and collect signatures. Choose one of the three links that works for you. The first one is on 4Shared for those who have accounts there. The #2 link is on an outside website. The #3 link should be accessible to most others. Hit the green "Download" button on the page that will open: (a) #1 link to Download Petition or (b)  #2 link to Download Petition  or (c) #3 link to Download Petition.

Let's go! If we can use the next few weeks to get copies of the petition signed and sent in, we can hit the ground running in September. Please remember that only people who live in Canada are allowed to sign the petition, but feel free to share with friends who might be in contact with others here!

More awareness: Booth at SouthFields Community Day

Once again we are planning to talk to people about Lyme Disease, share information and pamphlets, answer questions and in general make sure more and more people know how to look out for themselves and their loved ones.

This Saturday, July 14, is the 3rd annual SouthFields Community Day, with booths, food, make-your-own items, demonstrations, a Scavenger hunt to "Find Bob", book signing by an author, and more. Over 30 participants will be showcasing their talents, skills and offerings for our enjoyment and enrichment. There will be classic cars to admire, contemporary art, vocal groups, inflatables for kids, a chance to use a pottery wheel, and more.

We'll have our Lyme Disease table and  canopy tent there if you want to come by to say hi! Perhaps you have friends with questions about Lyme disease. Perhaps you have a story to share. If you know someone with Lyme disease who would like to be part of the tally, please let them look at the tab at the top of this page for more information.

I'll also have samples of real ticks there to show how tiny they are. Don't worry, they'll be very dead!

Click the link on the left

The event runs from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. In case of rain, everything will be moved into the school. 
Address: SouthFields Village Public School, 110 Learmont Ave, Caledon. Go north on Kennedy road, cross Mayfield road and the new subdivision will be on your right. Click for a MAP

Here is a pamphlet explaining more about the event on Saturday, that you can page through like a book on your computer. SouthFields Community Day 
There is a full page with details about the schedule and times, of what happens when during the day.

Link to large map is on the right

The picture only shows one view. Bigger layout map of the event can be found here - look at the top of the page for the yellow square with label "Lyme Disease", opposite the red Fire trucks area.

We are amazed at how many people come to ask for information about Lyme disease. They know a little, or have heard the word, but they are hungry and eager to learn more. 

With all these events going on, I don't get to update the second part of my story on this blog. My apologies! Thank you for visiting or sharing.

* This September, there will be articles in the SouthFields Village voice about Lyme Disease, both from a vet and from me as a patient.

Grateful for all the opportunities! Please ask if you need to know something. If we don't know, we'll find out.

Posting from Cheltenham Day

Right, let's see how it works to post while on location!

Most important: I've change this blog to have a clear link for those who want to add to the tally of Lyme patients in Ontario. Please look at the top for the correct tab to a page behind this one. 

Back to today's events: Right now we're watching the Downhill Soap Box derby - my first time seeing them live! (Cell picture showing a finish and some of the tents and people.)

We're having great conversations about Lyme disease, people asking questions and taking flyers and contact cards.

Talking to a vet who once again said the ticks are very active this year, but they usually respond to treatment. Their screening tests for Lyme are done in office and takes only fifteen minutes. (That tests for the antibodies and doesn't mean the dog has Lyme.)

He even found a Lone Star tick - those are the ones that can chase after a victim, and that I always thought were only down in Texas!

It is clear that we need to raise awareness in any way possible, keep writing to newspapers even though they have mostly ignored my letters and articles so far, and getting people to talk to their doctors. As dr. Murakami keeps saying, we are facing a pandemic the longer there is no general information posted.

Preliminary future events: talking to a Gardening Club, and talking to a Rotary Club.

Grateful to friend Joe for getting me in contact with so many people!


Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Very hot, very busy week!

More things happened on the Lyme front, but the biggest event is that we have had record-breaking heat this week. I feel a bit wilted --- thank goodness that friends invited us for a pool party tonight! Marvellous to cool down a bit. How I love living in this place with the dramatic weather changes in every season! Picture shows the temperature reading on my car's outside thermometer at 3 PM this afternoon, reading 40C:

Last Sunday was Canada Day. Thanks to Joe, we had a table and booth at Downey's Farm Market, where they were putting on a Strawberry Festival. Lots of conversations about Lyme Disease, handing out flyers, answering questions and getting some feedback. MPP Sylvia Jones came by as well for a chat and asked if they could have a picture. We gladly posed for one with her.

This Saturday we'll be setting up a booth at the Cheltenham Day where there will be a Soap Box Derby, Duck races, and more. Every person we can tell about Lyme Disease and how to protect themselves and their loved ones, might make a difference in their lives.

Links:
Cheltenham Day
MPP Sylvia Jones