Getting the Message out is the Best Therapy

Jessica Bell-Taliana and I both provided deputations before the Region of York, Health and Community Services Committee last week.  We put our cards on the table requesting that the Region of York step up to the plate and endorse the Lyme disease Petition started by Corunna, Ontario, Lyme disease sufferer, Christine Heffer. 

The very concept of doing this was a positive and rewarding event.  To hear the Medical Officer of Health for York Region convey that Jessica and I made numerous valid points regarding the substandard testing, lack of public awareness, and lack of training for physicians, really brought home to me what Cycle For Lyme was all about.   That Dr. Kurji, the Medical officer of Health for York Region, a man responsible for the health of over 1,000,000 Ontarians, took the path to convey that various changes are required, was a wonderful thing to hear.  That Dr. Kurji, as a Medical Officer of Health for such a significant population in Ontario, has the ability to facilitate real change, provides hope for everyone currently suffering with this disease.   

What remains the largest hurdle with Lyme is simply the fact that there has been so much negative information circulated about Lyme for so very long.  We struggle in an unfortunate environment where educating anyone with previous knowledge about Lyme disease becomes a challenge where it is not just necessary to provide current information, but rather it is also necessary to dispute information that is now known to be incorrect. 

What is definitely the best therapy is understanding that as more people get the message with respect to the proper facts about Lyme,  the negative voices from the past will be forever silent.    

James Christie