Pushing for more awareness

This post will be about several different items, since a lot happened during the last few days, regarding the Lyme Front!

1. Today a group of us will delegate to the Town of Caledon Council meeting, to ask for support and help in moving forward for Canadians with Lyme disease to get the health care they need. This is the request I've sent through to present: "Lyme Disease patients are being denied access to health care in Canada. Too many Canadians are now disabled, deprived of the joy of family and friends, of school or work, due to Lyme disease. The public and the medical community need to be educated as to the increasing incidence and range of this disease. Lyme Disease is currently spreading faster than AIDS, West Nile and Avian Flu combined. Lyme Disease can be devastating and affects every organ and part of the body, including the brain, if not treated in a timely manner. The cost to health care and welfare as well as social and economic structures could be astronomical. We need development of a national strategy to address the challenges of timely recognition, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme Disease." Supporting documents are my own letters and story, Jim Wilson's article in the Health Magazine and the Press Release regarding the Government Report about Lyme Disease in BC which was published last March (links below)
2. Some of the statement above was taken from the website of Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament, who will introduce a Private Member's bill on June 20. This will be a "National Lyme Strategy Bill" and is not linked to any one party. This bill is aimed at supporting all Canadians with a much-needed, coordinated national strategy to get rid of the blocks currently preventing quick diagnosis, timely and accurate testing, full treatment and longer term support and care.
3. Tomorrow we'll find out if we can have a Lyme Booth to hand out flyers at the Caledon Day being planned for June 16. It is free!
4. This weekend is also the Markham Music festival. The Lyme Mobile will be there, and so will a booth with flyers and information. If you have a love for music, if you have a dog, if you want to get out and enjoy some fun, join in and come say hi, please!
5. Since starting to collect a list of Lymies in Ontario on Friday, after a successful meeting with a City Councillor and LHIN Board chair, there are more than 2 dozen people who emailed their names or initials to be added. Heartbreaking stories emerge. Tales of neglect by the medical profession, stress and concern about children and parents, loss of jobs, activities, mental capacities, family budgets and more. THIS HAS TO STOP! Under the Declaration of Human Rights we have "- rights to health care and to the benefits of scientific progress".
6. The prediction is that by 2020, some 80% of Ontarians will live in a Lyme endemic area. We all need to know how to do tick checks and early symptom control.  Dr. Ernie Murakami, who was forced out of his practice in BC where he was successfully treating Lyme Disease patients, is very active in helping, supporting and sharing his knowledge. More than a decade ago, he developed a simple, fail-proof method to remove an embedded tick without leaving any mouthpiece or part of the tick behind, and without injecting the stomach contents into the host where it might be attached. The video link is on YouTube, as given below. Please educate yourself, and maybe put the video clip on a CD to take to your doctor and health care workers.

 Links mentioned above: 

• Lyme Disease in Canada: A Tragedy Unfolding? by Jim Wilson in HealthyLiving 
• Press Release in PDF format on 4Shared or directly from this blog
• Elizabeth May, MP, about Lyme Disease
• Do you live in Ontario with Lyme disease? Join the list
• Dr. Murakami's "blister method", using adrenalin to make an attached tick back out YouTube
• Caledon Day, June 16, from 2:00 to 10:00 pm Website and map
• Markham Music Festival, June 15 and 16: Website, pictures, schedule and video clips

Proclamation from Brampton City Council

What a day! I thought it would be a formality, attending City Council, hearing the reading of the Proclamation, receive it, shake hands, smile, and leave. Was not expecting anything more.

Kim and I met Roberta at City Hall before the time and she took us upstairs to show where to sit. We got hold of the agenda, saw we were after the announcements and some other proclamations and I thought to just follow their procedure.

When called up, I bullied Kim to go with for moral support, took a bunch of the flyers and postcards about our Lyme Walk on May 19, meaning to leave them there for whoever might be interested.

The Proclamation was read by Regional Councillor Gael Miles (I've been in touch with her before about the Lyme Walk). The Mayor then asked if I wanted to say something, but I said I didn't prepare anything. Showed the postcards and invited them to our Awareness day, then said I'd answer questions if there were any.


My goodness! Lots of really good, in depth questions, one after the other, about figures of infections, early symptoms, where the ticks are, how they are spread and more. When I said that Kim and I both have to go to the USA for treatment, that I was set adrift after being treated here, the reactions even heated up more. Someone suggested a recommendation to take -- a quick point of order was called and continued.

We were there for a good half hour, I think, and the result is that a committee would be formed, action taken, and Kim and I to go to Regional Council to present the fact that Lymies have to struggle so to get diagnosed, then treated. There's lots more to say, but it was all positive!

Posed for pictures afterwards (Roberta had my camera). Thanks to Ashley at the Guardian, there was a photographer who wanted to take a picture of us, the Proclamation and the Lyme Mobile. So off we went in the bright sunshine to get it done!

Roberta said in the many years she's been involved in Council, she had never seen such positive reaction, high interaction, and quick decisions, so we have hope that we'll get the support we need!

The pictures with the Lyme Mobile were a lot of fun, and Roberta took several more. I'll upload one here and then add the link to see the others online if anyone is interested.

Here's the link to just a few more pictures, including one of the framed Proclamation.
City Council and Proclamation

When we went back for me to get my car and to debrief ourselves, we talked to lots of people at Colony Ford Lincoln Brampton. While waiting for Kim to go to Council, I sat in their waiting room for at least 45 minutes this morning, yes, wearing that green sweater! So when Kim and I went out to our cars, we got stopped by a man who went home for lunch, said he was flipping TV channels, recognized the sweater and then Kim, so watched the whole thing live on Rogers TV. Too funny!

Let's hope and pray that our part of being vocal, will help adding momentum to this effort that has been going on for years, and to finally be heard on the levels where it counts. We ask for awareness, information posted everywhere, education, doctors to be aware, and for early treatment without waiting for symptoms to appear.

Please join us on May 19! Download a registration form, or email us at LymeWalkBrampton with your name and info to say you want to take part in the walk, and we'll send you a form to start collecting pledges to hand in on the day of the walk. Thank you in advance, for helping to get the word out. Nobody has to be afraid of the disease, as long as we're informed and can get quick treatment. Not all ticks are infected, and not all bites will lead to Lyme Disease.