Lyme Disease Awareness Event in Brampton

 Plans for the Lyme Disease Awareness event in Brampton are starting to come together.

We have the date: May 18, 2013.

We almost have the space nailed down after which we can plan the shape the event will take. We know it will be in Ching park again, but the exact spot in the park isn't totally final yet.

Like last year, this will be a family-friendly effort available to all, so please ask friends and family to keep the date. Since it is a long weekend, many people might be visiting elsewhere but others might have visitors staying with them. Bring them along to enjoy the beauty of Chinguacousy Park with a picnic you can share! The park is also accessible by public transport which stops at the corner of Queen and Bramalea, and the Bramalea Terminal is a short walk away if you need to transfer.

If you are going to be away but would like to add a dollar or two as "seed money" to help with printing of flyers, brochures and paperwork, that would be very much appreciated. If you wish to donate to one of the three Lyme Disease charities, that can be done now as well! Friends and family can do the same, so please send them the link. For the donations, tax receipts will be issued immediately.

 


Thank you in advance!

If you have a blog or website and want to grab one of these Awareness Day ads to help advertise our event, please do. The square one at the top or the long skinny one on the right might suit your layout. If you need something smaller or different, please EMAIL me with your request and dimensions. Be sure to link your button either to this blog post or to the LymeWalk website.

There is also a Facebook page to share with friends if you play around there.

Any funds raised will be donated to charitable Lyme Disease awareness organizations, as listed in the Donations page.

SUPPORT GROUP IN PEEL / CALEDON

There have been several people mentioning the need to talk to others who are dealing with Lyme Disease. Not only the patients, but also their caregivers, friends and family need the support which can only come from others in the same situation.

I have available venues, depending on the date, time and place needed. Best days for me would be a Wednesday or Thursday, with Monday or Tuesday as a second choice. My time would be more flexible on a Wednesday or Thursday.

Are you interested? Please send email so we can see if this is a serious need. A support group would fall under the LDAO (Lyme Disease Association of Ontario) and then under the bigger umbrella of CanLyme (Canadian Lyme Disease foundation).

Did you sign the petition yet, to ask for a Canadian Protocol in dealing with Lyme Disease? See the link at the top of this page or contact me to bring one down for you to sign. We can meet in a coffee shop if you like!

==> Important previous post: More Canadian Lyme patients losing their doctors 

More patients lose their doctors or treatment

Strange happenings in this country of ours. At the same time that two more doctors in Canada had to send their Lyme Disease patients off into the great unknown of trying to cope without being treated for a legitimate disease, a US state passed a bill that would help Lymies. 

Why is Canada so far behind???? Why are we slipping back more and more with each passing day? 

In Virginia, a new bill would require people getting tested for Lyme be informed that a negative test result doesn't mean you don't have the disease.
==> Read more on this link: Lyme disease bill advances in the legislature

and:

Virginia General Assembly Passes Landmark Legislation Relating to Lyme Disease
Senate Vote 38-2, House 56-40

(Richmond, VA) February 20, 2013: National Capital Lyme Disease Association (NatCapLyme) today announced that the Virginia House of Delegates passed landmark legislation providing for the disclosure of information to people tested for Lyme disease. This bill now heads to the Governor for his signature.
http://www.natcaplyme.org/


From the Washington Post:

The Virginia General Assembly has approved legislation that would require doctors to tell patients who test negative for Lyme disease that they may need to be retested.

Under the bill, doctors would have to tell patients in writing that Lyme disease is the sixth-fastest-growing disease in the U.S., and that current laboratory testing “can be problematic and standard laboratory tests often result in false negative and false positive results.” Patients would also have to be informed that a negative result “does not necessarily mean you do not have Lyme disease.”

The bill would expire July 1, 2018.
(Link to the complete article: CLICK) 

MEANWHILE, in Canada this week 


--- a Lyme Disease patient posted that she had what might possibly be her last appointment with the only LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor) in Nova Scotia. He is going off on stress leave to try and recuperate from an ongoing investigation.

In Manitoba, another Lyme disease contact's treatment was suddenly stopped. "... she said her doctor was ordered by a rural regional health authority to stop treating her with intravenous antibiotics for Lyme disease.
Elizabeth Wood, who contracted the disease in the late 1980s and still suffers from its effects, said her Altona doctor was told this week to halt prolonged antibiotic treatment until Wood sees an infectious disease specialist. That could take months to arrange."
Newspaper article link: Lyme disease treatment suddenly stopped

Words fail me. Do you, fair reader, have any comments to post?

Added: Please look at the top of this blog, or email me to send or bring you a copy of the petition to sign to push the bill to ask for a National Lyme Disease Strategy! 

Photobook with LymeWalk 2012 pictures

Yes, there will be another Lyme Disease Awareness event in Brampton in May this year! I've had meetings to start the arrangements, took pictures of the venue, discussed the map and details and things are starting to move forwards. Details will be made available on the LymeWalk website (see the tab at the top of this page or go to the Blog if you've received this post via email).

The May 2012 event in Brampton was very successful, as you know if you've been part of it last year. Several people sent pictures of themselves, their family or friends who attended, and others took part by supporting from afar!

I've created a printed photo book, using many pictures to show the various activities, sunshine, people, smiles, supporting and sharing that went on that day. It is not a work of art; more snapshots to capture the high energy of the day, as well as the many smiling faces. One of the pages can be seen here.

If you would like to order a copy of the book, with little text but lots of pictures and room for you to write your own notes or get the other people in the pictures to write their own names, notes, or memories, you can register to see a copy at the link below. If you like what you see, you can order your own copy directly from there:
LymeDay2012-2 (11 x 8.5 Medium Landscape Imagewrap Hardcover)

Price: The book is around $80 per copy, but right now, there is a special going on! Get a coupon valued at $100 for only $29, if you buy one or more during the next three days from Groupon

PROCLAMATIONS
So far, several cities and towns have already endorsed and signed the request to proclaim May 2013 as Lyme Disease Awareness month. That would help us with community events in those municipalities, as well as sharing information with residents.

Keep an eye on the LymeWalkBrampton website for details as they become available.

Snow day!

My goodness, what a wonderful, special day we have had! All snowed in --- tried to leave earlier this morning, but the car wouldn't get out of the driveway into the street. There wasn't that much snow down at that point, but the icy layer underneath just had the wheels spinning uselessly. It took several minutes just getting back into the driveway!

I kept taking pictures, and the one of the garbage can in the back yard gives a great idea of how the white stuff built up during the day. First one was taken at 8:15 am, the middle one at 1:30 pm, and the third one at 4:09 pm.

Early this morning, I put up a pot of soup, adding whatever was in the fridge in the form of veggies.
Not having used a bread machine in years, I've bought a bread mix from a Bulk Barn on Wednesday and that went on to be ready by late afternoon. The house smelled beautiful! But, as Marilyn says, better to just use the machine to knead and rise the dough, then it should be baked in the oven. This one filled the pan to overflowing and we had to cut it out, but it tastes great with a crispy crust.

LYME DISEASE NEWS

Things are starting to develop for this year! Several towns and cities will proclaim May as Lyme Disease Awareness month, and more letters are going out. The list is being updated on the Brampton Lyme Walk website, http://LymeWalkBrampton.ca

Various people are doing various things and together we hope to bring a lot of awareness, help, support, outreach and whatever else is needed.

Yesterday was my first full day without any antibiotics (as posted on January 31). I'm taking the Bab-2 and it is utterly lovely not to have to watch the reminders to swallow pills at set times during the day. If the body behaves, it would feel like a holiday.

Still snowing --- let's hope the ticks will not be around this summer!
I hope you and yours stayed safe today. Good thing so many schools were closed. Remember the mess a few years ago in Buffalo, when so many cars and school buses got stuck on various roads and some kids were left in the schools for days?

SOMETHING ELSE
Today would have been my younger brother's 48th birthday. He died of Hodkin's disease in 1976, five days before his 11th birthday.