Supporters and friends! I need your assistance. Elizabeth May, the Green party leader and great champion of the fight for adequate Lyme disease recognition in Canada, has created an official e-petition that can be defended in parliament following the very disappointing draft federal framework published earlier in February. The petition on change.org that is going around gathered almost 35 000 signatures, which is amazing, but it was not “official”. This is where it really counts!
I just ended a conference call with high ranking Public Health Agency of Canada officials and medical representatives and it is abundantly clear that they are not acting in the patients’ and public’s best interest. Please stand with me for justice and humane treatment for all: sign, share share share, and give Lyme patients a voice.
The official parliamentary petition: https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-903
La pétition en français : https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/fr/Petition/Sign/e-903
On a personal note… believe me when I say that I wish I didn’t have to be a Lyme activist. I wish I could move on from this cause, focus on my healing entirely and be a positive creative force in the world outside of the fight for recognition of Lyme disease. But the truth is, there is so much work left to do and we face roadblocks at every step. This infectious illness, the opportunistic infections that often accompany it and the plethora of health issues that are brought on by its destruction of a person’s immunity (and its action on all bodily systems) can have an absolutely devastating effect on those who are afflicted by it, especially if it is not caught and treated early. Don’t think “big flu” so much, think syphilis, AIDS, illnesses like MS and ALS. Thousands of Canadians are suffering from its consequences, without proper recognition of their health statuses, with loss of income and no access to financial aid, paying tens of thousands of dollars to try to regain their health, and with no real help and often contempt from the medical community. This is my situation and I do not wish it upon anyone. And I am one of the lucky ones: I have a loving and supportive spouse, a fighting spirit, a resilient mind and body (despite it all), and I firmly refuse to internalize the shame and stigma thrown at me from numerous sources. Living with this unrecognized illness and its consequences in Canada is nothing short of hell for so many. Just a few days ago we learned of a member of the Lyme community in Quebec taking his life: http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2017/02/26/maladie-de-lyme–encore-plus-de-regions-touchees (in French).
Please help make us heard! Much love and health to you all. ❤
The Lyme Chronicles 