David Suzuki and Elizabeth May about Lyme Disease in Canada

Lyme TV show with David Suzuki from last night (see blog post "Ticked Off") is online as from today. Dr. McShane, who treats many of us Canadian Lyme patients who are not allowed to get treatment in our own country, is featured, said hubby, who watched since I had to be elsewhere. Very conflicting statements, he said . Exactly what we Lymies have to try and wade through.  I've now watched the online program and emotions have been up and down. 

Who is lying and why?  If patients get better with treatment, what is the problem? Why do people like dr. Wormser, about 22 minutes into the video, still deny that Chronic Lyme disease exists? Does he think we ENJOY being sick?

The Nature of Things: David Suzuki presents "The Mystery of Lyme Disease" 

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2411526805/

Some screen grabs, faces and names of people on the conversation for the program (click to enlarge) 

Why we need a national Lyme disease strategy The Hill Times October 7, 2013 After tabling my bill calling for a national Lyme Disease strategy, my office has received hundreds of heart-wrenching messages from Lyme Disease sufferers and their families. Here is a sample, used with the permission of the writer. Please help us raise awareness of this dreadful illness. “Due to my illness I have lost my consulting business which I ran for 14 years. However I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones because my family fully supports me and has made it financially and emotionally possible to regain my health. We have spent over $100,000.00 to regain my health not including lost wages.” - B. Edwards, Abbotsford, British Columbia Please read my latest article in the Hill Times, sign my petition in support of Bill C-442, and call your local Member of Parliament. I know a health policy briefing should touch on all areas of health policy. We have critical issues ahead as we work to protect universal access to top-notch health care, reduce wait-times and drug costs, and meet the growing challenges of an aging population. The deficits in our mental health programs alone could occupy the House of Commons for the fall session. That I write now about Lyme disease is because it is timely and urgent. One of the first private member’s bills slated for second reading in the next session will be Bill C-442. It calls for a National Lyme Disease strategy, and, while I am the author of the bill, I hope it will not be seen as “my bill,” but rather as a bill every Member of Parliament can champion. [Read rest of article...]

Ticked off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy, with Lyme Disease information sessions at the huge Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, the Brampton Fall Fair, and various other events. Every day there are emails from people who need answers about their symptoms or tests, their search for a doctor, and their desperation about not being able to get help. Those are all reasons why this blog hasn't been updated lately! However, please pass on the information below, about Lyme Disease on David Suzuki's program.

TICKED OFF:    THE MYSTERY OF LYME DISEASE Premieres THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 8:00 PM (8:30 PM NT) on CBC-TV's The Nature of Things

September 17, 2013 - Lyme disease, a mysterious tick-borne illness, is the fastest spreading vector-borne disease in the United States, and over the past decade, the tick that carries Lyme has been spreading across Canada with alarming speed. On Thursday, October 10 at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT), CBC-TV's The Nature of Things premieres TICKED OFF: THE MYSTERY OF LYME DISEASE, a fascinating and eye-opening documentary that explores a disease that has devastating effects, is often misdiagnosed and mistreated, and continues to be mired in a medical controversy. More than 30,000 cases are reported in the USA every year, but the real number could be as high as 300,000. And despite hard evidence that the Lyme-carrying deer tick has already established populations across Canada, some people claim that patients here are still being told that they cannot contract Lyme in this country. Doctors agree that if it's caught early Lyme disease can usually be cured with two to four weeks of antibiotics. There are others who believe that if it's not caught early, the infection can develop into a debilitating condition they call Chronic Lyme. Yet unlike West Nile, Encephalitis or SARS, where the medical profession and scientists joined forces to find better treatments or a cure, many patients, who claim to have chronic Lyme, say that they are being denied treatment and left to suffer. So why is this happening? Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease tells the stories of Canadians who have experienced years of suffering, misdiagnosis and mistreatment and investigates the cause behind the current controversy that surrounds the disease. From the micro world of the tick and its disease-causing bacteria, to the macro world of human suffering and medical science, this documentary investigates the story behind this current medical mystery.        ____________________________ Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease is produced by Merit Motion Pictures in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund, with the financial investment of Manitoba Film & Music, and with the participation of the Government of Manitoba - Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit. It is produced by Erna Buffie (Smarty Plants, The Changing Sea, Recreating Eden) and directed by Ryszard Hunka (The Battle of the Bag; Love, Hate and Propaganda; The 8th Fire). Merit Motion Pictures is one of Canada's leading producers of factual entertainment programming. Founded by executive producer and industry veteran Merit Jensen Carr, Merit Motion Pictures is known for producing multi-platform programs that amaze, inform and delight. Recent highlights include the documentary specials Smarty Plants: Uncovering the Secret World of Plant Behaviour, Ballet High, and Conspiracy Rising, the multi-award winning CBC co-produced One Ocean series; TuTuMUCH, The Truth About Shoplifting, and Surviving The Teenage Brain. For more information, please visit: www.meritmotionpictures.com  For photography please visit: www.cbc.ca/mediacentre Media Contacts - To Request a Screener, to View Online or Arrange an Interview Please Contact: Jennifer Jensen-Tracy, 226-387-4067, jen.jensen@sympatico.ca Christine Liber, 416-651-4722 x 1, christine@libertyink.ca