On October 1, 2026, Brian Milligan, a Nova Scotia Lyme disease advocate, a Canadian Armed Forces Veteran, A Global Lyme disease Ambassador, and a chronically ill person just looking for answers, started a hunger strike. Every day he has written an email to politicians, NS Health employees, reporters and journalists, trying to have someone respond to him saying they will look into the matter of Lyme and tick-borne diseases in this province, and/or agreeing to a meeting to discuss the situation, and/or providing actual timelines to undertake the Asks of the province.

Three Asks were presented to the PC, NDP, and Liberal caucuses in 2022. Those three Asks were:

• Adequate Education for all health care providers and residents,
• Development of a Dedicated Tick-Borne Diseases Care Clinic, and
• Formation of a Non-Partisan Task Force, including those with lived experience.

Those three Asks, and two more, were submitted to the NS Legislature via a petition tabled on March 19, 2025. However, to date, we have not received any word on whether any of the Asks will be undertaken. The full petition is discussed in more detail in previous posts.

At present, Brian’s posts are not in one place so that they can all be read. Therefore, I am going to post them all here. Some are very long, but please take the time to read them. He is not just doing this for himself. He is speaking for hundreds, if not thousands, of Nova Scotians (and really anyone in Canada and beyond) that are in the same predicament as him.

Things need to change and that change needs to begin now.

Day 1:

My Hunger Strike Starts Today.

I sent you all an email a week ago. There was virtually no response and, in many cases, not even an acknowledgement. I find that deeply disappointing, although unfortunately, it is not surprising. People living with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have been ignored for far too long.

That has to change.

Today, I am beginning a hunger strike draw attention to this issue and to demand that Lyme disease can no longer be pushed aside or ignored. I am a Canadian veteran who lost his career because of undiagnosed and untreated Lyme disease. I have lived with the consequences for years, and I know I am not alone.

I consider this under strike one of the most patriotic things I will ever do – not because I want conflict, but because I believe standing up for Canadians who are suffering and demanding that our institutions do better is an act of service.

In my previous email (unfortunately I do not have a copy), I laid out the changes I am requesting, I am asking for concrete action, not another acknowledgement or another promise that the issue will simply be “looked into”.

Specifically, I am asking the Nova Scotia Government, the Minister of Health and Wellness, and Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Heath, Dr. Robert Strong, to respond to the following:

1. Public recognition that the current approach to diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and tick-borne illness is not adequately serving all patients who remain sick.
2. A public statement from Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strong, addressing concerns about the limitations of current diagnostic tools and treatment protocols for Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses.
3. An acknowledgement of the harm caused by dismissive language toward people living with Lyme disease, including Dr. Strang’s previous reference to Lyme disease sufferers as a “cult”, together with an expression of regret for those comments.
4. Meaningful action to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and support of Nova Scotians living with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

I am asking each of you who has responsibility for this issue to provide a clear response and to identify what action you are prepared to take. I am not asking for another acknowledgement that my concerns have been received. I am asking for accountability and concrete action.

This is not about asking for special treatment. It is about asking for recognition, accountability, better medical care, and meaningful change for people who are suffering.

People are dying. Families are suffering. Lives and careers have been ruined. Suicide or the MAID program should not be our only viable options to escape this pain.

Bill C-442 was passed in 2014, nothing has changed – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4211343/.

We have waited long enough. My under strike starts today.

Song – https://suno.com/s/wt2cBDLCYptGNzeX.

Day 2 either wasn’t done, or is missing.

Day 3:

It has now been three days since I began my hunger strike, and I have still not received an acknowledgement or response from anyone.

Not from government officials.

Not from anyone with the provincial heath authority.

Not even from the media.

I am disappointed, but I cannot say I am surprised.

For people suffering with Lyme disease, this silence is nothing new.

For years, patients have been asking to be heard. We have asked for better diagnosis, better treatment, better research, and a healthcare system that recognizes the reality of what we are experiencing.

In 2014, the federal government passed Bill C-442, legislation intended to address Lyme disease and improve coordination, awareness, diagnosis, and treatment in Canada.

Twelve years have now passed. Yet many patients continue to say they are struggling to obtain answers, appropriate diagnosis, and effective treatment.

Ignoring Lyme disease does not make it disappear. It makes the problem worse. It leaves sick people suffering. It leaves families struggling. And it places additional pressure on a healthcare system that is already under enormous strain.

I have spent years being sick and years advocating for change. I have heard promises. I have waited. I have asked. I have tried to work within the system. But after so many years, I have reach a point where I feel I have very few options eft.

I am too sick to organize an awareness walk or run.

I am too sick to keep fighting the way I once did.

But there is one thing I can still do.

I can take one final stand.

This hunger strike is my plea for help, for recognition, and for meaningful change – not only for myself, but for the many Nova Scotians and Canadians living with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking to be heard.

After three days of silence, I would appreciate something very simple:

Someone, somewhere, please acknowledge that I am here.

Please acknowledge that people suffering with Lyme disease are here.

Please acknowledge that we deserve to be heard.

Day 4:

Why Lyme disease Can No Longer Be Ignored

To Government Officials, Heath Authorities, Members of the Media, and Fellow Canadians,

Today is Day Four of my hunger strike for Lyme disease awareness, accountability, and change.

I began this hunger strike after repeated attempts to raise concerns about Lyme disease with government officials, medical authorities, health organization, and the media, yet received no meaningful response.

My purpose is direct: I am asking those responsible for healthcare policy and public health to recognize the human and financial consequences of delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment, and continued inaction.

The central question is:

What does it cost patients, families, healthcare systems, employers, and taxpayers when Lyme disease is not recognized and treated effectively?

The human cost can include years of suffering, lost careers and income, reduced independence, and diminished quality of life.

The financial cost may include repeated appointments, investigations, emergency care, procedures, medications, travel, disability, and social-support expenses.

I recently reviewed the medical records available to me. They are incomplete. As a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces, the records I obtained go back only to approximately 2016 and do not include my earlier military medical history. They also do not fully capture private-clinic and naturopathic care, medications, testing, travel, or other healthcare-related expenses.

The records currently available to me document 230 medical encounters between approximately September 2016 and September 2026, including:

• 168 hospital, doctor, or clinic visits;
• 57 emergency-department visits;
• 5 hospital stays.

Some entries on the same date may represent service connected to the same episode of care. Therefore, this total should not be interpreted as 230 separate trips to a hospital. It does, however, demonstrate the healthcare burden documented in my records.

I am a Canadian veteran. I lost my Canadian Armed Forces career after years of Lyme disease and related health problems.

In 2015, while working at 14 Wing Greenwood, I suffered a seizure. In 2016, I was medically release from the Canadian Armed Forces because of numerous medical problems.

Years later, I left Canada seeking appropriate answers and treatment for Lyme disease.

I continue to ask:

What if my Lyme disease had been recognized and treated earlier? Would my health be different? Would I still have my military career? Could some of the appointments, investigations, hospital visits, or treatments have been avoided?

I know Lyme disease was a significant part of my illness. I also know that delayed recognition and inadequate treatment can prolong suffering and increase medical and economic costs.

“In the fullness of time, the mainstream handling of Chronic Lyme disease will be viewed as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of medicine because elements of academic medicine, elements of government and virtually the entire insurance industry have colluded to deny a disease.” – Dr. Kenneth Linger, Internal and Critical Care Medicine, Private Practice, New York.

The larger question is whether it costs more to diagnose and treat Lyme disease properly or to allow patients to remain sick for years.

When people become too ill to work, employers lose experienced workers, families lose income, governments may incur disability and social-support costs, and healthcare systems continue paying for repeated appointments, investigations, emergency visits, and treatments.

Nova Scotia and Canada should investigate these medical, social, and economic costs.

This hunger strike is not simply about me. It is about Canadians with Lyme disease who feel ignored; people who have lost jobs, careers, savings, relationships, independent, and years of their lives; and families watching loved ones deteriorate while searching for answers.

My initial letter outlining my concerns, request for change, and intention to being a hunger strike on October 1 was sent on September 24. I received no meaningful response.

At midnight on October 1, I began my hunger strike and sent another message to government officials, health authorities, and members of the media. I also sent a message on Day Three.

Today is October 4 – Day Four.

I am still waiting.

I am asking those response to:

• Acknowledge this message.
• Examine the evidence and documented healthcare burden.
• Meet with Lyme disease patients and advocates.
• Support transparent research into diagnosis, treatment, healthcare use, and costs.
• Acknowledge that current policies are not effectively serving patients.
• Adopt improved diagnostic and treatment protocols without delay.

Ignoring Lyme disease does not make it disappear. It leaves patients, families, healthcare systems, employers, and taxpayers carrying the consequences.

Day 5:

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Five days without food.

Five days drinking only water.

Five days without a single acknowledgement from government officials, health authorities, or the media.

Not even: “We received your message.”

I began this hunger strike because after years of Lyme disease advocacy, letters, promises, and asking for change, I felt that nobody was listening.

I am a Canadian veteran. I served my country.

Today, I am asking my country to hear me.

I am not asking everyone to agree with me. I am asking for acknowledgement, dialogue, and action on Lyme and tick-borne illness.

Five days without food should not be necessary to get someone to answer an email.

To government and healthcare leaders: Please talk to me.

To journalists: Please ask questions.

To Canadians: Please share this message.

Day 5. Still waiting. Still asking.

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Day 6:

DR. ROBERT STRANG – WILL YOU MEET WITH ME?

Today is Day 6 of my hunger strike. And no one has acknowledged me or responded.

For approximately six years, I have tried to meet with Dr. Robert Strong about Lyme disease.

Promises were made. A former Nova Scotia health minister and my Member of Parliament requested meetings on my behalf. I have written numerous emails. I am still waiting.

This isn’t a small or disappearing problem.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 28,033 human cases of Lyme disease were reported in Canada between 2009 and 2025, including a preliminary 7,105 cases in 2025 alone. And here in Nova Scotia, 2,350 cases were reported in 2024 alone.

Those are reported cases.

Behind every number is a person.

At the heart of my concern is diagnosis. Bill C-442 itself cited concerns about the adequacy of Lyme disease diagnostic testing and called for improved detection and diagnosis.

Think of it this way:

You go fishing with a net whose holes are too large to catch small fish. You pull up an empty net and conclude there are no small fish.

But the fish may be there.

SOMETIMES THE PROBLEM ISN’T THE FISH. SOMETIMES IT’S THE NET.

Doctors can only work with the tools they are given. But when a diagnosis tool has limitations, those limitations must be acknowledged and better tools pursued.

Medicine is guided by a principle every patient understands:

FIRST, DO NO HARM.

Harm can also occur when illness is missed, patients are dismissed, and people spend years searching for answers while their health deteriorates. For patients, this isn’t an academic debate. The consequences are measured in health, careers, families and years of people’s lives.

Dr. Strang, I unterstand you will soon be retiring. Before you go, I would like to sit across from you and respectfully ask one question:

When you look back on how Lyme disease and the people suffering from it have been handled during your years in public health, do you have any regrets?

I don’t want someone else to answer for you.

I want to hear your answer.

Today I am on Day 6 without food.

After six years of trying, I am asking again:

DR. STRANG, BEFORE YOU RETIRE, WILL YOU PLEASE SIT DOWN AND TALK WITH ME?

DAY 7:

How Much Suffering Will It Take Before Someone Listens?

Seven days. Seven days without food. Seven days of waiting for someone in a position of authority to acknowledge my appeal.

But the real tragedy isn’t seven days of hunger. It’s the years of suffering that brought me here.

I am a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. I proudly served my country, wore its flag, and took an oath to serve and protect. Never did I imagine that one day I would be fighting my own country’s healthcare system simply to have my illness recognized and properly treated.

Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses have devastated my health, ended my military career, and changed my life forever.

And I am far from alone.

Across Canada, people are suffering, families are struggling, and patients are pleading for answers. Many have exhausted their savings seeking medical care outside Canada.

In 2014, Canada passed Bill C-422, the Federal Framework on Lyme Disease Act. Twelve years later, why are we still fighting over inadequate diagnostic tools, treatment options, and recognition of persistent illness?

For years, I have attempted to meet with Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strong. Promises were made. Even elected officials requested meetings on my behalf. Yet I have never been granted the opportunity to sit down and discuss these concerns.

Dr. Strang, before you retire, I am asking you personally: Will you meet with me?

Will you listen?

To our elected officials, healthcare authorities, and media:

What will it take?

How many more patients must suffer?

How many more families must watch someone they love deteriorate?

How many more years must pass before meaningful change happens?

I am not asking anyone to abandon science. I am asking them to question whether the science and diagnostic tools being relied upon are sufficient, to acknowledge their limitations, and to pursue better answers.

I began this hunger strike because years of letters, appeals, advocacy, and broken promises have left me feeling unheard.

I do not want to die. I want to live. I want others suffering with Lyme disease to have a better change at getting their lives back.

I am asking for three things:

1. A public acknowledgement of the concerns surrounding Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment.
2. A meaningful meeting with responsible provincial health officials, including Dr. Robert Strong.
3. A concrete commitment to reviewing diagnostic practices, treatment pathways, and progress under Canada’s federal Lyme disease framework.

Seven days into this hunger strike, I am still waiting for a meaningful response. Silence is not leadership. Ignoring suffering is not healthcare. And acknowledging a problem is the first step toward solving it.

To every Canadian reading this: please share my appeal. Ask your elected representatives to respond. Help make the voices of Lyme disease patients impossible to ignore.

I have served my country. Now I am asking my country to listen.

Day 8:

DOCTORS, WHEN DOES FOLLOWING THE RULES BECOME PART OF THE PROBLEM?

Today marks Day 8 of my hunger strike for Lyme disease awareness and change.

Eight days without food, and still not one acknowledgement or response from government officials, healthcare authorities, or the media.

Today, my message is directed primarily at the healthcare authorities and doctors entrusted with protecting our health. At what point does following established medical guidelines become an excuse for ignoring the suffering of patients?

For years, Lyme disease patients have raised concerns about diagnostic testing, treatment restrictions, and the dismissal of persistent symptoms. Dr. Kenneth Liegner has described the mainstream handling of Chronic Lyme disease as potentially “one of the most shameful episodes in the history of medicine.”

Dr. Liegner has argued that elements of academic medicine, government, and the insurance industry have contributed to the denial of Chronic Lyme disease, resulting in needless suffering, deterioration and, in some cases, death, when patients are denied timely or continued treatment.

These are serious allegations that deserve serious examination.

As a Canadian veteran, I understand the importance of following orders. But I also understand something more important. Following orders does not absolve a soldier of responsibility when those orders are wrong.

The same principle should apply to medicine.

Doctors have a responsibility to exercise independent judgement, recognize the limitations of diagnostic tools and question guidelines when evidence suggests they need to change.

As what point does repeated dismissal become willful ignorance?

We have witnessed what governments, scientists and healthcare systems can accomplish when confronted with major public-health emergencies.

Consider HIV/AIDS.

Patients initially faced stigma, inadequate responses and devastating consequences. Growing awareness of HIV transmission, including risks to the blood supply, helped drive changes in screening, prevention and treatment.

Then came COVID-19.

Governments mobilized. Researchers collaborated. Funding became available. Diagnostic technologies advanced. Medical guidelines evolved as new evidence emerged.

When a health crisis is recognized as urgent, extraordinary progress becomes possible.

So I ask:

Why can’t that same determination be directed toward improving Lyme disease diagnosis, treatment and patient care>

Is our suffering not considered urgent enough?

Have we simply become too easy to ignore?

I recognize that Lyme disease, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 are medically different. But scientific uncertainty should encourage investigation, not indifference.

Medicine is guided by a principle every patient understands:

FIRST, DO NO HARM.

Harm can occur through missed diagnosis, delayed treatment, dismissed symptoms, and years of unnecessary suffering.

Doctors, I am asking you to take a stand. If you believe diagnostic tools or treatment guidelines are inadequate, speak up.

If patients are suffering without answers, advocate for them.

If the evidence calls for change, challenge established practices.

I am not asking doctors to abandon science.

I am asking them to uphold it.

After years of advocacy, broken promises, and now eight days of hunger striking, I am still waiting for someone in authority to acknowledge my concerns and agree to a meaningful conversation. We know our healthcare system is capable of change. The question is whether those responsible are willing to listen, investigate, and act.

Song Willful Ignorance – https://suno.com/s/wsQArblyUTWaujjH.

Day 9:

Nine Days of Hunger. Years of Suffering. A Lifetime of Silence.

This Thanksgiving, I Ask You to Imagine It Was You

As Thanksgiving weekend approaches, I want to make a personal appeal to every government officials, healthcare authority, physician, and member of the media receiving this message.

This weekend, many of you will gather around a table with the people you love. There will be laughter, conversation, familiar faces, and perhaps a moment when everyone pauses to give thanks. You will be thankful for your family, your friends, your home, and your health.

I ask you to consider something that may be uncomfortable. What if the person missing from that Thanksgiving table was you? What if you were too sick to attend? What if the person you once were – the healthy, independent, hardworking person you family remembers – had slowly disappeared beneath years of pain, exhaustion, uncertainty, and unanswered medical questions?

imagine being seriously ill, perhaps with cancer, and being told repeatedly that there is nothing wrong with you. Imagine your symptoms being dismissed, your suffering questioned, and your pleas for help treated as exaggerations. Imaging being told that your illness is all in your head. And when you disagree, when you ask questions, when you insist that something is terribly wrong, imagine having your concerns attributed to a mental heath problem rather than receiving the further investigation you believe you need.

Imaging losing your career, your independence, your financial security, and the life you worked so hard to build. Then imaging reaching out to the very people entrusted with protecting your health and well-being.

You write letters. You provide medical records. You ask questions. You appeal to their professional responsibility and basic human compassion.

And nobody answers.

Not even to acknowledge that you exist.

How would that make you feel? How would your family feel? How many years would you continue asking before you begin to lose faith in the institutions you once trusted?

This is not simply an exercise in imagination. Experiences of dismissal, disbelief, prolonged illness, and unanswered questions have been reported by many people living with persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease.

I am one of those people.

The Life I Once Had

I proudly served my country in the Canadian Armed Forces. I wore the uniform. I wore the Canadian flag on my shoulder. I believed in service, duty, responsibility, and standing up for people who needed help.

I was once a strong, capable, hardworking man with a career and a future.

In 2016, my military career ended with a medical release after years of unexplained health problems. What followed was not the retirement I had imagined. It was years of illness, medical appointments, hospital visits, unanswered questions, financial consequences, and a struggle to obtain care that addressed what I was experiencing.

I have spent years trying to explain what happened to me. I have tried to be patient. I have tried to work within the system. I have written letters, contacted officials, sought medical opinions, and advocated for other patients.

And now, after nine days of a hunger strike, I am still waiting for someone in authority to acknowledge my concerns.

I never imagined that after serving my country, I would find myself pleading with its healthcare institutions simply to be heard.

Twelve Years of Questions

In 2014, Parliament passed Bill C-442, the Federal Framework on Lyme disease Act.

Twelve years later, patients are still asking what meaningful improvements have been made in diagnosis, treatment, research, physician education, and patient support.

I recognize that Lyme disease presents difficult scientific and clinical questions, particularly when symptoms persist and their causes remain uncertain. But those uncertainties make careful investigation and compassionate care more important, not less.

Patients deserve to know what has improved, where important gaps remain, and what steps will be take to address them.

They deserve to be treated as human beings, not as problems to be dismissed.

A medical mystery is not a moral failing. A patient asking questions is not an enemy. And uncertainty is not permission to stop caring.

A Promise to Nova Scotia Patients

During his campaign to become Premier of Nova Scotia, the current Premier participated in a Zoom meeting with members of the Nova Scotia Lyme Disease Awareness Group. I remember the commitment he made to take Lyme disease seriously and make it a priority if elected.

That promise mattered.

It gave people who had experienced years of frustration a reason to hope.

Years later, I am still asking what meaningful action followed.

When I contacted the Premier’s office, I received what appeared to be the same standard form response I had received from the previous government. I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for an explanation of what has been accomplished, what remains unresolved, and whether the Premier will meet directly with the patients who were given that commitment.

When people are suffering, a promise is not a small thing. It can become something that hold on to when so much else has been lost.

My Request to Dr. Robert Strang

Dr. Strang, I am asking you to acknowledge my correspondence and meet with me. I want an evidence-based conversation about Lyme disease diagnosis, treatment, persistent symptoms, and the experiences of patients who believe their concerns have not been adequately addressed.

I am not asking you to abandon scientific standards. I am asking you to apply those standards with openness, curiosity, and compassion.

I am willing to discuss difficult evidence and difficult questions. I hope you will be will to do the same.

One Empty Chair

This Thanksgiving, I want to picture a family gathered around a table. There is an empty chair. Perhaps it belongs to a father who is too sick to join his family. Perhaps ti belongs to a mother whose illness has taken away the energy she once had. Perhaps it belongs to a veteran who spent years serving his country and now struggles to manage the ordinary demands of daily life.

Or perhaps the chair is occupied, but the person sitting in it is suffering silently, trying to smile so the people around them can enjoy the holiday.

Chronic illness does not affect only the person who is sick. It reaches into families, marriages, friendships, careers, finances, and futures. It changes celebrations into reminders of what has been lost. And sometimes the most painful part is not simply the illness itself. It is the feeling that nobody believes you. That nobody understands. That nobody is listening.

This Thanksgiving, I am asking you to remember those people. Not as statistics. Not as controversial cases. Not as files sitting on someone’s desk. But as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends, neighbours, and fellow Canadians.

People who had lives before they became patients. People who still have dreams, dignity, and something to contribute3. People who deserve to be heard.

My Thanksgiving Wish

My wish this Thanksgiving is not complicated. I want a meaningful response. I want Dr. Strang to meet with me. I want the Premier to account for the commitment made to Nova Scotia Lyme disease patients. I want healthcare authorities to examine the concerns patients continue to raise. And I want the thousands of Canadians affected by Lyme disease and persistent, debilitating symptoms to receive the attention, compassion, and appropriate medical care they deserve.

I have spent nine days refusing food in an effort to bring attention to these issues. My health is now a serious concern, and I recognize that I need medical care. The purpose of my advocacy has never been to make my life less valuable. It has been to remind those in positions of responsibility that every patient’s life has value.

I should not have to risk my health to obtain a conversation. Nobody should. So, as you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner, please take a moment to consider what you would want for someone you love if they were suffering and struggling to find answers.

Would you want them dismissed?

Would you want their letters unanswered?

Would you want their suffering overlooked?

Or would you want someone to listen?

That is all I have been asking for. Someone willing to listen, someone willing to examine the concerns, and someone willing to help bring about meaningful change.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend.

Hold your loved ones close.

Be grateful for your health.

And please remember those who are not well enough to enjoy the simple things so many of us take for granted. Because illness can change a life without warning. And compassion should never depend on whether the suffering belongs to someone we know.

Nine days of hunger. Years of suffering. A lifetime of silence.

It is time for a conversation.

It is time for accountability.

And it is time for compassion.

Day 10:

When Doctors Refuse to See You, Where Does Hope Go?

Today marks the tenth day of my hunger strike and, once again, I find myself asking a question that no Canadian should ever have to ask:

What happens when the very people entrusted with protecting your health refuse to even see you?

Throughout my years of struggling with chronic illness, I have endured pain, suffering, uncertainty, and disappointment. But perhaps one of the most devastating experiences was discovering that even when my doctors referred me to specialists, some of those specialists flatly refused to see me.

I wasn’t asking for special treatment. I wasn’t asking for miracles. I was simply asking for medical attention, for someone to listen, to investigate, and to help me understand why my health had deteriorated so severely. Instead, I was turned away.

I don’t know what those specialists saw when they reviewed my medical file, or what led them to conclude that I shouldn’t be seen. Bus as the patient on the receiving end of those refusals, I couldn’t help wondering whether they had already decided that I wasn’t worth their time.

Image being desperately ill, asking for help, and discovering that you cannot even get through the door. That is how hope begins to disappear. Not all at once, but piece by piece. Every unanswered question, every rejected referral, every dismissed symptom, and every door that closes, takes something away from a person who is already struggling to survive.

I served my country in the Canadian Armed Forces. I wore the uniform, I wore the flag, and I believe that when Canadians needed help, there would be people and institutions willing to answer that call.

I never imagined that after losing my military career to illness, I would spend years fighting simply to be heard by the healthcare system I had trusted. And now, after ten days of a hunger strike, I find myself confronting that same familiar silence.

Ten days of daily appeals. Ten days of asking for acknowledgement. Ten days without a response.

I have sent these updates to government officials, health authorities, and members of the media. Yet, to date, I have not received a single acknowledgement.

The silence has become so complete that I am beginning to wonder whether my emails are even reaching their intended recipients.

So today I am making one very simple request:

If you have received any of my daily hunger strike updates, would you please take a moment to reply to this email and acknowledge receipt? You do not have to agree with everything I have written. You do not have to provide an immediate solution. I am simply asking you to confirm that my appeals are being received and that someone, somewhere, is listening.

Surely that is not too much to ask.

My hunger strike is about more than my own medical history. It is about the Canadians suffering with Lyme disease and other complex illnesses who fee abandoned by a system that is supposed to care for them.

It is about accountability, compassion, and the fundamental right to be taken seriously when seeking medical attention.

Twelve years after Parliament passed Bill C-442, Canada’s Lyme Disease Act, patients are still asking difficult questions about diagnosis, treatment, and access to appropriate medical care.

How many people must lose hope before someone in authority decides that their suffering deserves attention?

I am not asking anyone to agree with me without question. I am asking that the questions themselves be taken seriously. And today, on Day 10, I am asking for something even more basic. Please acknowledge that you have received my emails. Please let me know that my words have reached someone. Because after years of closed doors, unanswered appeals, and deteriorating health, silence is perhaps the most painful response of all.

Day 10 – Still asking to be heard. Still asking for answers. Still asking for change.

Day 11:

The Silence Is Becoming The Story

Eleven days without food. Eleven days of daily appeals. Eleven days of waiting for someone to acknowledge my concerns.

For years I have found for answers, treatment, accountability, and meaningful change in how Lyme disease patients are diagnosed and treated in Canada.

I have written letters, contacted government officials, appealed to medical professionals, and shared my experiences publicly. Yet the silence continues.

Today I want to ask a question that deserves a serious answer.

Has the continued reliance on Lyme disease diagnostic tests with known limitations become a convenient way to avoid further medical investigation? When an ELISA test comes back negative, does that automatically mean the patient’s suffering no longer warrants investigation? Is it acceptable to dismiss the possibility of infection, abandon further inquiry, and refer a patient to mental health services simply because their symptoms cannot be explained by a blood test?

Mental health care should never be used as a substitute for investigating unexplained physical symptoms. Psychological support and thorough medical investigation are not mutually exclusive. Patients deserve both when appropriate, not one at the expense of the other.

Is this repeated pattern of dismissal merely a failure of medical judgement, or has it become an institutional practice that shields the healthcare system from accountability?

Make it make sense.

Are we supposed to believe that the countless Lyme disease patients, support groups, activists, and advocacy organizations across Canada and around the world exist because people have nothing better to do? That thousands of people simply woke up one morning and decided to invent an illness, sacrifice their careers, exhaust their savings, and spend years fighting for medical recognition? Or is it possible that something is seriously wrong with how these patients are being assessed and treated?

I never imagined my life would come to this. I never wanted my life to become a protest.

I want to live. I want my health back. I want the opportunity to enjoy whatever years I have left. But I also want answers.

How many people must suffer before their voices are heard? How many families must watch someone they love deteriorate while pleading for help?

Surely, compassion should not be this difficult to find.

Today, I am once again asking government officials, health authorities, medical professionals, and the media, to acknowledge my correspondence and engage in meaningful dialogue about Lyme disease diagnosis, treatment, and patient care.

Eleven days into this hunger strike and I am still waiting. I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for humanity, accountability, and action.

Day 12:

What Is It Going To Take to Reach A Tipping Point?

Twelve days into my hunger strike and I continue to ask a question that should concern every Canadian: What is it going to take before our healthcare system and government take tick-borne diseases as seriously as they deserve?

We know that ticks can carry and transmit numerous disease-causing organisms, including Borrelia burdorferi, Babes, Bartonella, and Rickettsia species, among others. Nova Scotia has some of the highest reported rates of Lyme disease in Canada.

This is not just a human health problem. Our pets, livestock, and wildlife are also at risk.

The ticks are doing exactly what nature has equipped them to do. They feed, reproduce, spread, and, when infected, can transmit disease.

The pathogens that carry are doing what pathogens do. They infect their hosts, exploit biological systems and, in some cases, cause devastating illness.

The only part of the equation that appears unwilling, or unable, to do its job is the very system entrusted with protecting us.

Our healthcare system and government have a responsibility to protect, educate, investigate, diagnose, and treat the people they serve, yet patients continue to report being dismissed, disbelieved, and denied further investigation when their symptoms persist despite negative test results.

A negative test should never automatically mean the end of medical investigation. When a patient remains seriously ill, the responsibility to investigate does not disappear.

For years, patients and advocates have called for better diagnostic tools, treated awareness, improved access to knowledgeable healthcare professionals, and meaningful recognition of the4 suffering associated with tick-borne illness.

How much suffering is enough> How many lives must be disrupted? How many careers, families, and futures must be destroyed before meaningful change occurs?

I have spent years asking these questions. I have written letters, submitted evidence, contacted government officials, and pleaded for help.

Twelve days into my hunger strike and I have still not received a single response or acknowledgement from the government officials, healthcare authorities, or others I have contacted.

Long before this hunger strike began, I already felt abandoned, ignored, and dismissed by the very institutions entrusted with protecting my health and well-being. Every day that passes without a response reinforces what years of experience have already taught me: my suffering, my concerns, and my repeated appeals for help have not been met with the attention they deserve.

At this point, it becomes increasingly difficult to view this silence as an oversight. It feels like a conscious choice – a decision not to acknowledge, not to engage, and not to confront the very real suffering that has brought me to this point. What a sad reflection of what it means to live with Lyme disease in Nova Scotia and Canada.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for accountability, compassion, scientific openness, and a healthcare system willing to investigate rather than dismiss.

The ticks are not going to stop. The diseases are not going to stop. And, apparently, neither is the silence.

What is it going to take to reach a tipping point? The never-end cycle of dismissal, denial, and silence must end.

Day 12 – Still waiting for answers. Still asking for change.

Day 13:

Where Is The Media? Does My Life Mean Nothing to You?

Today marks the thirteenth day of my hunger strike. Thirteen days without food and still no response from the government, health authorities, or media organizations I have contacted.

Over the years I have organized Lyme disease awareness events, attempted to educate the public, and repeatedly reached out to the media. My efforts to obtain meaningful coverage have been met with silence. Why?

Imagine a shark being spotted off the coast of Nova Scotia. It would likely make the evening news. People would be warned, beaches might be monitored, and the public would be encouraged to exercise caution. Yet, in the past twenty years, there has been just one widely reported suspected shark attack involving a person in Nova Scotia, in 2021. Compare that with Nova Scotia’s own public health statistics for 2025:

• 2,788 reported cases of Lyme disease
• 681 reported cases of anaplasmosis.

And those are just two of the diseases ticks can transmit.

Ticks are in our woods, parks, fields, and backyards. They threaten people, pets, and animals. Tick-borne diseases can caused devastating illness, disability, and sometimes death.

Where is the urgency? Where is the sustained media attention

I recognize that Lyme disease has received some media coverage. But where has the media been when I organized awareness events, raised concerns about diagnostic failures, and pleaded for help?

I am not suggesting that shark sightings shouldn’t be reported. I am asking why a far more common public health threat does not receive greater attention.

The media has the power to inform, educate, and save lives. With that power comes responsibility.

Now I want to address three individuals directly.

Premier Tim Houston; Dr. Robert Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Heath; and Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness.

For thirteen days I have gone without food. I have repeatedly contacted government officials and health authorities asking for acknowledgement, accountability, and meaningful dialogue.

I am a Canadian veteran. I served my country proudly. I lost my military career and much of my health while struggling with an illness I believe our healthcare system failed to properly investigate and treat.

I have spent many years fighting for answers. Not just for myself, but for thousands of other Canadians suffering from tick-born illnesses.

Does my life mean nothing to you?

Does the suffering of thousands of Nova Scotians mean nothing?

What does it take for someone in a position of authority to acknowledge a citizen pleading to be heard?

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for accountability, compassion, and a willingness to confront the problems patients have been reporting for years.

I am asking you to respond, to meed with patients, and to take meaningful action.

To the media of Nova Scotia and Canada: How much suffering does it take before this becomes a story worth telling?

The ticks aren’t remaining silent.

Why are you?

Day 14:

Hailey Kane – Education is KEY!

Today I want to dedicate my message to the memory of Hailey Kane, a young Nova Scotian whose life ended far too soon.

Hailey was just 17 years old when she died, only days before her 18 birthday. On the very day she should have been celebrating that milestone, her family was laying her to rest.

Instead of birthday celebrations, there was a funeral. Instead of look forward to the future, her family was saying goodbye.

Through my years of Lyme disease advocacy, I came to know Hailey’s parents, Susanne and Aaron Kane. Their daughter’s heartbreaking story touched me deeply and I wanted to do something meaningful to honour her memory and help prevent other families from experiencing similar suffering.

Susanne has also shared her family’s heartbreaking journey in her book, “Life With a Twist of Lyme”, a mother’s account of Hailey’s illness, the struggle to find answers, and the devastating loss of her daughter.

I encourage everyone, especially healthcare professionals, government officials, and members of the media, to read Susanne’s book. Behind every medical statistic is a human being, a family, and a story that deserves to be heard. But there is another disturbing aspect of Hailey’s story that deserves attention. As far as I understand, Hailey’s illness was never officially recognized by our health authorities as Lyme disease, nor was her death formally attributed to the illness. I believe this raises a much larger question about how we recognize, investigate, and record the consequences of tick-borne diseases.

How many people suffer for years with an undiagnosed or untreated illness, only to die without anyone fully understanding what caused their suffering? Some die from heart complications. Others experience organ failure. Tragically, some become so overwhelmed by prolonged illness, pain, and hopelessness that they take their own lives.

I am not suggesting that every one of these deaths is caused by Lyme disease. I am asking whether an underlying tick-borne illness may sometimes be overlooked, particularly when it was never diagnosed or adequately investigated.

If an illness is never recognized, how can we know whether it contributed to a person’s death? And if we fail to investigate that possibility, how can we accurately understand the true human cost of these diseases?

This is a fundamental part of the problem I have been trying to bring to the attention of our heath authorities for years. Hailey’s story should not be forgotten. Her family’s experience should be an opportunity for all of us to learn

That determination led me to organize an event called Fly a Kite for Hailey. I had 500 kites made bearing the message “Lyme disease Education is KEY.” along with stickers featuring Hailey’s photograph. The plan was to bring people together, fly the kites, and have Susanne and Aaron share their daughter’s story. Unfortunately, the weather forced us to cancel the event. I still have those 500 kites, but my own deteriorating health has left me too sick to organize another event.

I also organized two screenings of the documentary “The Quiet Epidemic.” I invited the media, government officials, and doctors.

I want to acknowledge the outstanding support and assistance of fellow Lyme disease advocates Faye Salman, Anita Chisholm, and Donna Lugar. Their dedication and willingness to help made these awareness efforts possible, and I am deeply grateful for their contributions.

Across both screenings, only one physician attended. That doctor spoke about how little training physicians receive concerning Lyme disease and questioned the quality of the training they do receive.

How can we expect doctors to recognize and properly investigate these illnesses if they are not adequately educated about them?

Hailey’s story raises difficult questions about medical education, diagnostic practices, compassion, and the responsibility of our healthcare system to patients desperately seeking answers.

I wrote a song called Hailey Kane, which I shared with Susanne and Aaron. It is both a tribute to their daughter and an expression of the pain, frustration, and desperation experienced by so many people suffering from tick-borne illnesses.

In the song, I directly question Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Heath, about his responsibility to patients and families whose concerns have gone unanswered. But perhaps the most important words in the song are these:

“We don’t want enemies. We are looking for allies.”

And the plea is simple:

“See us. Hear us. Help us.”

These words capture what I have been asking for throughout my years of advocacy.

To Premier Tim Houston; Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness; Dr. Robert Strong, and the media, I ask for you to listen to Hailey’s story. Listen to her parents. Listen to the patients and families who have spent years pleading for help.

Today, on the fourteenth day of my hunger strike, I continue attempting to draw attention to the suffering caused by tick-borne illnesses and the failures patients report in our healthcare system. Does another family have to lose a loved one before meaningful change happens?

Hailey’s life mattered. Her family’s suffering matters. And the lives of those still struggling matter.

I ask you to read Susanne’s book and listen to the song I wrote in Hailey’s memory.

Day 15:

When the Healthcare System Gives Up on the Patient

Today marks 15 days of my hunger strike. Fifteen days without a meaningful response from the officials and healthcare authorities I have repeatedly contacted.

But my struggle didn’t begin 15 days ago. It began years ago, when I became seriously ill and turned to our healthcare system for answers. Instead of answers, I encountered closed doors.

I was referred to specialists who refused to see me. I spent as long as ten hours in emergency departments, watching waiting rooms fill and empty while I continued waiting for help.

After numerous visits to Valley Regional Hospital my symptoms were eventually attributed to psychological causes, yet there were medical findings and symptoms that I believe warranted further investigation.

I underwent two lumbar punctures that reportedly revealed elevated protein levels in my spinal fluid. I also experienced severe, unexplained convulsions.

When I showed neurologist, Dr. Thorne, a video of myself convulsing, he watched for only a few seconds before asking me to turn it off. He never followed up with me to discuss the elevated protein findings.

As my health continued to deteriorate, I sought answers from Infectious Disease specialists. During an assessment with Dr. Barrett at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, I presented testing from ArminLabs in Germany that I believed provided important evidence of tick-borne infections. Dr. Barrett did not accept those results as confirmation of my illness.

With so many questions still unanswered, I requested a second opinion from another Infectious Disease specialist. dr. Barrett refused my request and referred me to a psychologist instead.

I wasn’t asking her to agree with my diagnosis. I was asking for another qualified physician to review the evidence and help explain why I was so seriously ill. Is requesting a second medical opinion really too much to ask?

My experience with mental health refers did little to restore my confidence. During my search for answers I was referred to psychiatrist Dr. Emms. She concluded that I was delusional and recommended medication. Although I strongly disagreed with her assessment, I took the medication as prescribed.

I wanted Dr. Emms to consider another medical perspective so I provided her with an article written by Dr. Virginia Sherr, an American psychiatrist who had written about Lyme disease and its potential neurological and psychiatric manifestations. Dr. Sherr’s work examine how tick-borne infections may sometimes produce symptoms resembling psychiatric disorders, raising questions about the possibility of an underlying medical illness being overlooked.

I believed this information was directly relevant to my situation. I was experiencing severe physical and neurological symptoms, yet my illness was increasingly being viewed through a psychiatric lens.

I gave Dr. Emms the article more than two weeks before our next appointment and asked her to read it. When we met again, she had not done so. I then asked whether she would read it during our appointment. She declined. I wasn’t asking Dr. Emms to accept Dr. Sherr’s conclusions without question. I was asking her to consider another psychiatrist’s published work and discuss whether it might have relevance to my condition.

How can we claim to be practising evidence-based medicine if we are unwilling even to examine evidence that challenges our conclusions?

I have never objected to appropriate psychological care, but psychological care should never become a substitute for investigating unexplained physical illness.

A diagnosis should be the result of a thorough investigation, not the reason to stop one.

These experiences left me feeling that my medical concerns were being dismissed rather than investigated. I was not demanding that every doctor agree with me. I was asking them to listen, consider the evidence, and continue searching for answers.

I am not asking doctors to abandon science. I am asking them to practise it.

When a patient remains seriously ill, should a negative test result bring the investigation to an end? When symptoms and medical findings remain unexplained, shouldn’t we investigate further rather than dismiss the patient?

I service my country in the Canadian Armed Forces. I never imagined that one of the greatest battles of my life would be fighting to obtain appropriate medical care in my own country.

Today, after fifteen days of hunger, I am physically weak, but my message remains unchanged. I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want answers. I want appropriate medical care. And I want meaningful change so others don’t have to endure what I have experienced.

To the Premier, the Minister of Health, Dr. Strang, and Nova Scotia’s healthcare leadership:

I have repeatedly asked for dialogue, accountability, and acknowledgement. I am still waiting.

How many times must a patient ask for help before someone listens?

Fifteen days of hunger. Years of suffering.

The silence continues.

Day 16:

Dr. Robert Strang – 19 Years of Leadership. Where is the Accountability?

Today marks Day 16 of my hunger strike, and I want to direct my message to Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Dr. Strang has held this position since August 2007, more than 19 years. His involvement with Lyme disease in Nova Scotia dates back to at least 2005.

During his tenure, Lyme disease has gone from an emerging public health concern to a major public health problem. Nova Scotia now has one of the highest rates of Lyme disease in Canada.

Dr. Strang, after more than two decades of involvement with Lyme disease, how do you measure your success?

For years I have attempted to engage with Dr. Strang about Lyme disease, the limitations of diagnostic testing, and the experiences of patients who have been left without adequate answers or care.

Dr. Strang has refused to meet with me.

I am a medically released Canadian Armed Forces veteran who has spent years battling debilitating illness, navigating the healthcare system, and advocating for patients whose concerns deserve to be heard.

I am not asking Dr. Strang to abandon science or agree with everything I believe. I am asking him to acknowledge the limitations of medical knowledge, recognize the experiences of patients, and engage in meaningful dialogue.

In January 2019, Dr. Strang shared a social media post referring to the “chronic Lyme cult.” Although he did not author those words, he chose to share them while serving as Nova Scotia’s highest-ranking public health physician.

Consider the message that sends to patients who are desperately searching for answers.

Dr. Strang subsequently stated that he never intended to dismiss people experiencing serious health concerns.

But how can a public health leader rebuild trust with patients when he refuses to sit down and listen to them?

I have repeatedly asked for the opportunity to meet with him. I have questions about diagnostic testing, access to specialists, the treatment of patients with persistent symptoms, and the responsibilities of the healthcare system when it cannot explain someone’s illness.

These are legitimate questions. They deserve meaningful answers, not silence.

Nova Scotia has made progress in Lyme disease surveillance, prevention, and testing. I acknowledge that. But progress does not means every problem has been solved.

A negative test result should not automatically end an investigation into a seriously ill patient’s unexplained symptoms.

Now, after more than 19 years as Chief Medical Officer of Heath, Dr. Strang is preparing to retire.

Dr. Strang, before you retire, I have a few questions.

Do you believe you got everything right?

Do you acknowledge that mistakes may have been made?

Do you regret sharing language that many seriously ill patients found deeply offensive?

Do you believe that refusing to engage with patients who challenge established policies is consistent with compassionate public health leadership?

And, perhaps more importantly, will you finally agree to meet with me?

On September 24, I notified health authorities and government officials of my intention to begin a hunger strike. On October 1, I followed through. Since then, I have continued appealing for dialogue and accountability.

Sixteen days later, I am still asking to be heard.

My health has deteriorated, my strength has diminished, and the questions that brought me here remain unanswered.

I took an oath to serve my country. I travelled the world in uniform, served in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and dedicated much of my life to serving others.

I never imagined that one of the most difficult battles of my life would be trying to convince the healthcare system that I deserved to be heard.

Dr. Strang, your retirement is approaching. Your decisions and your legacy will remain.

Before you leave office, you have an opportunity to demonstrate the humility, compassion, and accountability that public health leadership demands.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for an opportunity to sit across the table from you, share my experience, and receive meaningful answers to legitimate questions.

After 19 years of leadership, surely that is not too much to ask.

Sixteen days of hunger. Years of suffering. And still, no meaningful dialogue.

Dr. Strang, before you sail into the sunset, will you finally listen?

What will it take?

Day 17:

The MAID Program – When All Options Have Been Exhausted

What happens when a patient has exhausted every avenue available to them, but the healthcare system has not exhausted every reasonable opportunity to help?

Today marks the seventeenth day of my hunger strike. I have not received an acknowledgement or response from anyone.

In 2022, I was assessed and found eligible for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID).

I did not want to die. I wanted an end to my suffering.

Before becoming ill, I served more than 30 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. I was an athlete, fitness instructor, cyclist, hockey coach and active member of my community.

In May of 2015, I suffered a seizure while working at 14 Wing Greenwood. My. health deteriorated rapidly. I was medically released in August 2016 and suffered a heart attack just nineteen days later.

Over the following years, I experienced debilitating fatigue, neuropathy, painful convulsions, gastrointestinal dysfunction and neurological symptoms that profoundly affected my life.

I travelled outside Canada seeking diagnosis and treatment for suspected tick-borne illness. I underwent numerous investigations, tried multiple treatments and spent thousands of dollars searching for answers.

Eventually, I received a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

But one question remained:

What caused a previously healthy, physically active man, to become so profoundly disabled?

When Death Became an Option

By early 2022 I was spending most of my life in bed. My wife, Brenda, had become my primary caregiver.

My suffering was relentless, and after years of unsuccessful attempts to obtain meaningful relief, I applied for MAID.

During my first assessment, Erica Maynard asked:

“Are you ready to die?”

I responded:

“I don’t want to die, but I can’t live like this.”

On February 21, 2022, psychiatrist Dr. Terry Chisholm conducted my second assessment. She examined my medical history, questioned me extensively and spoke with Brenda.

Following her assessment, she informed me:

“I have completed my assessment and my phone calls, and I do feel that you are eligible for medical assistance in dying.”

Two independent MAID professionals had determined that I was eligible for an assisted death, based on my diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome.

My paperwork was completed, and May 6, 2022, was identified as the earliest date I could received Medical Assistance in Dying.

I had a date when my life could legally end, yet I was still searching for medical help that might improve it.

During this period, I continued experiencing serious symptoms, including breathing difficulties and unexplained findings involving elevated protein in my cerebrospinal fluid.

On on occasion, I sat alone in the parking lot of the hospital in Kentville for hours, struggling to breathe.

I could not bring myself to enter.

After years of difficult and humiliating experiences in emergency departments, I had become frightened of the very system I depended upon for help.

During a recorded telephone conversation with Erica, I explained:

“I’m sitting in the hospital parking lot and have been all day, but I can’t bring myself to go through the doors.”

When patients become afraid to seek medical attention because of how they have previously been treated, something has gone terribly wrong.

When Someone Finally Listened

One of the most troubling aspects of my MAID experience was also one of the most compassionate.

Erica Maynard and Dr. Terry Chisholm listened to me.

They reviewed my medical history, asked questions, involved Brenda and treated me with dignity and respect.

I remain grateful for their compassion.

But after years of rejected referrals, unanswered questions and repeated suggestions that my illness was psychological, I could not ignore the contradiction.

Why was it seemingly easier for me to be heard when discussing assistance in dying than when desperately seeking assistance in living?

I am not criticizing the MAID professionals or the right of Canadians to make informed decisions about their own suffering.

My concern is that MAID eligibility does not necessarily mean every reasonable opportunity for medical investigation, treatment and symptom relief has been explored.

Exhausting every option available to a patient is not the same as exhausting every reasonable option available to the healthcare system.

During my assessment with Dr. Chisholm, I said:

“The disease has disabled me for sure, but the healthcare system has destroyed me.”

That remains one of the most accurate descriptions of my experience.

Two C7s – A Soldier’s Perspective

There is another irony in my story.

During my military career, I carried a C7 rifle in service to my country, prepared to protect and defend Canadians.

On March 17, 2021, Bill C-7 became law, expanding MAID eligibility to certain people whose natural deaths were not reasonably foreseeable.

That amendment created the legal pathway through which I was subsequently assessed and found eligible.

For more than 30 years, I served my country carrying a C7 rifle to protect and defend. Decades later, Bill C-7 made an assisted death legally possible for me.

I recognize that Bill C-7 was intended to provide a choice to people experiencing intolerable suffering. But I never imagined that after dedicating my life to serving Canada, I would find myself eligible for assistance in dying while still struggling to obtain the medical assistance I believed might help me live.

The C7 I carried was part of my duty to Canada. Bill C-7 became part of my struggle to survive.

Seventeen Days – Still Asking for Help

Today, more than four years after my MAID assessments, I am still here.

I recognize that medicine does not have all the answers. Doctors cannot promise a diagnosis,, a treatment, or a cure.

But patients deserve a healthcare system that continues to investigate, coordinate care and acknowledge unanswered medical questions.

I am asking our provincial healthcare leadership, elected officials and those responsible for Lyme disease policy to meet with me, acknowledge the concerns I have raised and engage in meaningful dialogue about diagnostic limitations, treatment and access to care.

I am asking them to consider one question:

How can our healthcare system recognize that a patient is suffering enough to qualify for Medical Assistance in Dying, while that same patient continues struggling to obtain meaningful assistance in living?

Seventeen days into my hunger strike, I still haven’t received a response from the healthcare authorities or elected officials I have contacted.

My hunger strike is not a request for an assisted death. It is an appeal for medical care, accountability and compassion.

In 2022, I was told that I qualified for assistance in dying.

What I wanted then, and what I continue to ask for today, is assistance in living.

Seventeen days of hunger. Years of suffering. Still asking to be heard. Still asking for help.

Day 18:

Who is Accountable When the System Fails? – The Human Cost

Today marks the eighteenth day of my hunger strike.

Eighteen days, and I still have not received a meaningful response from the healthcare authorities and government officials I have repeatedly contacted. But today I want to ask a larger question. Who is accountable when the healthcare system fails the very people it exists to serve?

When a patient spends years searching for answers, when specialists refuse consultations, when legitimate physical symptoms remain unexplained, and when patients are left to seek medical are outside their own country, who takes responsibility?

Is it the attending physician? The specialist? The hospital administration? The health authority? The Chief Medical Officer of Health? Or the elected officials responsible for overseeing the system? When responsibility belongs to everyone, it sometimes seems that accountability belongs to no one.

And while the system debates policies, guidelines, and diagnostic criteria, patients continue to suffer.

I know the human cost because I have lived it.

I have lost my health, my indenpendence, and much of the life I one knew. My wife has become my caregiver. Our lives have been fundamentally changed.

And I am far from alone.

There are Canadians living with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses who have exhausted their savings, remortgaged their homes, or travelled outside Canada searching for treatment. Others simply cannot afford those options.

We have created a situation where there is poor people’s Lyme disease and rich people’s Lyme disease.

The disease does not discriminate based on income. Why should access to medical care?

Today, people have again reached out with possible treatment options for me in the United States. I am sincerely grateful for their compassion and efforts. But that raises another question. Why much Canadians continue looking beyond their own borders for answers and treatment?

My hunger strike was never simply about securing treatment for myself. It was about demanding meaningful change for everyone who has been left behind.

I did not arrive at this decision lightly. I am a private person, and exposing my personal suffering publicly has been extraordinarily difficult. Today has been another physically exhausting day. I continue to experience significant symptoms, and the toll on my body is becoming increasingly apparent.

I want to live. I want my health back. And I want to see meaningful improvements in how Canadians with tick-borne illnesses are assessed and cared for.

Accountability is not about assigning blame to every doctor or healthcare worker. It is about recognizing failures, correcting them, and ensuring they are not repeated.

After eighteen days, I am still asking for acknowledgement, meaningful dialogue, and a commitment to change.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking why so many Canadians must fight so hard simply to receive appropriate medical investigation and care.

How many more patients must suffer before someone accepts responsibility?

And perhaps the most important question of all:

If nobody is accountable when the system fails, what incentive is there to change it?

Day 19:

Premier Tim Houston – What Happened to Your Promise?

Today marks the nineteenth day of my hunger strike. It has proven to be the most difficult and painful day since I began. Hopefully, a better day tomorrow! Most of us suffering with Lyme disease live by those five words. How else could we survive?

Today I want to direct my message to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.

Premier Houston, you are no stranger to Lyme disease or the challenges faced by Nova Scotians suffering from tick-borne illnesses.

Long before you became Premier, you publicly acknowledged that our province needed to do better.

In November 2015, you presented a petition in the Legislature calling for improvements in Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment, along with regular meetings between the Minister of Health and Lyme disease advocates.

In March 2021, you introduced legislation proposing a Lyme Disease Strategy for Nova Scotia.

You understood there was a problem. At least that is what your actions suggested.

Before you became Premier, while you were campaigning, you participated in a Zoom meeting with Nova Scotia Lyme disease advocates.

I was one of those advocates.

During that meeting, I spoke directly with you about my experiences with Lyme disease and the Canadian healthcare system.

Knowing that your father had served in the military, I shared some of my own story as a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. I believed we connected, not simply as a politician and a constituent, but as two people who understood something about military service and the sacrifices associated with it.

I remember your promise.

You told me that if you became Premier, change was coming.

I believed you.

When you were elected, I hoped that after years of frustration, Nova Scotia might finally have a government willing to listen to Lyme disease patients and address their concerns.

But as the years passed, I struggled to see the changes I had hoped for.

When I wrote to you requesting an update, I received what appeared to be virtually the same form letter I had received from previous governments.

Different Premier. Different government. Same response.

So today, I want to ask you directly:

Did you try to bring about change and fail? Or did Lyme disease simply get pushed to the back burner once you became Premier?

I believe that is a reasonable question, particularly considering your own history of advocating for Lyme disease patients.

Premier Houston, for years I have requested a meeting with Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang.

Those requests have not resulted in a meeting.

I am aware that Dr. Strang is preparing to retire but, before he leaves office, I believe there are important questions that deserve answers.

My request to you is straightforward.

As Premier of Nova Scotia, do you have the authority to direct Dr. Strang to meet with me?

And if that authority rests with the Minister of Health, will you ask your Minister to arrange that meeting?

I am not asking you to dictate medical conclusions or interfere with anyone’s professional judgement.

I am asking for an opportunity to be heard, to present evidence, and to have an honest discussion about the policies and practices that have affected my life and the lives of other Lyme disease patients.

On September 24, I notified your government and healthcare officials of my intention to begin this hunger strike on October 1.

Twenty days later, I am still seeking a meaningful response.

Premier Houston, you once stood with Lyme disease advocates and called for change.

Now you lead the government that has the opportunity to act.

I am asking you to remember the promise you made before becoming Premier.

Did you mean it then>

And, more importantly, what are you prepared to do about it now?

I don’t want another form letter.

I want an answer.

Day 20:

Bill C-442 – Fourteen Years Later, Where is the Accountability?

Today marks the twentieth day of my hunger strike. I have had on journalist reach out to me. Stephanie Nagy. Maybe there is some hope after all.

I listened to music today for the first time since beginning my hunger strike. It is almost as nourishing as food. Almost!

Fourteen years ago, on June 21, 2012, Member of Parliament Elizabeth May introduced Bill C-442, legislation intended to address the growing concerns surrounding Lyme disease in Canada.

On December 16, 2014, the bill received Royal Assent, becoming the Federal Framework on Lyme Disease Act.

It was supposed to represent a significant step forward for Canadians suffering from Lyme disease.

The legislation called for a coordinated national approach to Lyme disease, including improved surveillance, education, diagnostic practices, treatment guidelines, and greater collaboration between governments, medical professionals, and patient advocates.

In 2017, the federal government released its framework and action plan.

But here we are in October 2026, more than fourteen years after the legislation was introduced, and patients are still asking more of the same questions.

What has actually changed for the people who are suffering?

To be fair, the federal government has undertaken research, expanded surveillance, developed educational materials, and supported awareness initiatives.

But awareness and action are not necessarily the same thing.

In 2022, the Public Health Agency of Canada’s own evaluation acknowledged that patient advocates continued to identify urgent unmet needs concerning diagnosis and treatment, particularly for patients who did not fit established case definitions.

The evaluation also found that the framework lacked measures to determine its overall success.

Think about that.

Years after Parliament recognized the need for change, the government’s own evaluation was still identifying significant gaps in meeting patients’ needs.

I am one of those patients.

My illness has robbed me of my health, my military career, my independence, and much of the life I once knew.

I have consulted numerous Canadian physicians, endured years of debilitating symptoms, and ultimately had to travel outside Canada seeking diagnosis and treatment.

Throughout those years, I have advocated for meaningful changes to Lyme disease policies and practices. I have written letters, attended meetings, shared medical information, and repeatedly asked healthcare authorities to engage in constructive dialogue.

And now, on the twentieth day of the hunger strike, I am still asking to be heard.

I am suggesting that Bill C-442 accomplished nothing. I am asking whether its implementation has delivered the improvements that patients were led to expect.

Where are the measurable improvements in diagnosis?

Where are the meaningful treatment pathways for patients suffering from persistent, debilitating symptoms?

Where is the accountability when patients cannot obtain the care they need?

And perhaps, more importantly:

Who is responsible for ensuring that the commitments made fourteen years ago translate into meaningful improvements for patients today?

This is not simply a disagreement about medical guidelines. It is about people, their suffering, and their right to have legitimate health concerns thoroughly and respectfully investigated.

I am calling upon federal and provincial health authorities to provide a clear accounting of what has been accomplished under Bill C-442, what remains unfinished, and what concrete steps will be taken to address the concerns that patients continue to raise.

I am not asking anyone to abandon science or accept my conclusions without examination.

I am asking for open dialogue, scientific curiosity, transparency, and accountability.

Fourteen years should have been enough time to demonstrate meaningful progress.

Twenty days of a hunger strike should not be necessary to obtain a response.

And, yet, despite my repeated communications with government officials and healthcare authorities, I still have not received a meaningful response.

Bill C-443 was passed to address a problem. Fourteen years later, patients deserve to know whether that problem is being adequately addressed.

How much longer must we wait?

Day 21:

The Science Acknowledges the Problem – Why Has the Health Care System Failed to Respond?

Today marks the twenty-first day of my hunger strike. Feeling very weak and struggling to concentrate and complete tasks. I have been freezing all day, followed by total body sweats.

On a positive note, I began a personal appeal email campaign with my MLA Chris Palmer. Chris wrote me this morning and told me that he has been following my hunger strike. He asked me if I had any correspondence with the health authorities. I replied to him stating that I’ve heard from no one and that he was my first response. It is 5pm and I’ve not received a response. I write these details because I have real concerns about my health and I need to ensure that I’ve expressed myself clearly.

For years, Lyme disease patients across Canada have been fighting to have their finesses recognized, their suffering acknowledged, and their medical needs properly addressed.

We have been told to trust the science.

Well, today I would like to discuss some of that science. But first, I want to recognize Robert Murray, a retired dentist and Board member of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation (CanLyme), whose tremendous commitment to Lyme disease awareness, research and patient advocacy deserves acknowledgement.

Robert has devoted considerable time and effort to examining the available scientific evidence, analyzing Lyme disease surveillance data and challenging shortcomings in our health care response. He recently contacted me with important research and his own analysis of its implications for Nova Scotians.

Robert represents something that has sustained me throughout this difficult journey: people who refuse to turn their backs on those who are suffering.

I sincerely thank him for his encouragement, his dedication, and his willingness to continue asking difficult questions.

What Does Our Own Government’s Research Tell Us?

In February 2024, researchers led by Dr. Nicholas Ogden of the Public Health Agency of Canada published a peer-reviewed study in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The researchers projected that by 2050, Lyme disease could account for approximately 123,000 to 562,000 new cases annually across five Canadian provinces, depending on the assumptions used.

The projected economic burden was approximately $500 million to $2.2 billion every year.

Perhaps most revealing was the finding that approximately 80% of those costs would come from lost productivity rather than direct health care expenses.

Think about what that means.

People who can no longer work. Families losing income. Individuals unable to participate in activities they once enjoyed. Lives interrupted or fundamentally changed by illness.

These are projections, not confirmed future case counts. Nevertheless, they represent a serious warning from researchers working within our own federal public health system.

And there is something else work considering.

The study did not include the longer-term economic consequences of Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.

Nor did it capture the additional burden of other emerging tick-borne infections.

How much greater might the costs be if those consequences were fully understood?

Acknowledgment From the Scientific Community

In June 2025, the United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a major report titled Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses.

The report recognized that approximately 10-20% of people who contract Lyme disease may develop persistent, sometimes debilitating, symptoms.

It acknowledged serious gaps in our understanding of these illnesses, the absence of validated treatments specifically for Lyme infection-associated chronic illnesses, and the urgent need for better research and clinical options.

It also recognized that patients sometimes experience disbelief when their symptoms cannot be substantiated through available clinical or laboratory findings.

Does any of this sound familiar?

For patients who have spent years seeking answers, it certainly does.

These findings do not resolve every scientific disagreement surrounding persistent Lyme-related illness. But they demonstrate why continue investigation, compassion and appropriate medical care are essential.

Fourteen Years After Bill C-442

Canada has been debating shortcomings in Lyme disease diagnosis, treatment and research for well over a decade.

Bill C-442, introduced in 2012 and enacted in 2014, was intended to establish a federal framework addressing Lyme disease.

Yet here we are in 2026, still discussing gaps in diagnostic tools, physician education, access to specialized care and the treatment of people experiencing prolonged illness.

My questions remains straightforward.

If our own public health researchers recognize the potential magnitude of this disease, why have so many patients continued to struggle to obtain appropriate assessment and care?

What has changed for the patient who remains seriously ill?

What options are available when standard testing does not provide an answer?

And who accepts responsibility when patients spend years navigating a system that cannot adequately address their medical needs?

My Appeal

I am not asking government officials to abandon scientific evidence.

I am asking them to examine all of it, recognize its limitations, acknowledge where knowledge is incomplete and respond accordingly.

I am asking Premier Tim Houston, Nova Scotia’s public health leadership, and the Public Health Agency of Canada to engage in meaningful dialogue with patients and advocates.

People like Robert Murray have invested enormous personal effort in advancing this cause. Their contributions deserve serious consideration, not another form letter.

I have spent years pursuing answers, meeting with officials, documenting my experiences and asking for meaningful change.

Today, on the twenty-first day of my hunger strike, I am still seeking a substantive response.

I want to see a heath care system where patients are heard, where scientific uncertainty encourages investigation rather than dismissal, and where preventable suffering is taken seriously.

The science is telling us that Lyme disease represents a substantial and growing public heath challenge.

The patients have been telling us for years.

What more will it take for those responsible, to act?

Day 22:

When Everyone is Responsible, Why is Nobody Accountable?

Today marks the twenty-second day of my hunger strike. I continue to struggle but I remain committed. Thank you to everyone for your support. Last night I dreamt I was back in Grade One eating my lunch. Some of you might be able to relate. Sitting with my wax paper home made bread with PB&J accompanied with my grape Kool-aid. A nice memory!

Today, I want to examine the relationship between the media, governments, and healthcare authorities, and why meaningful accountability can be so difficult to achieve.

In a democratic society, a free and independent press serves an essential purpose. It challenges those in positions of authority, investigates questionable decisions, and gives ordinary citizens an opportunity to be heard.

Sometimes, when every other avenue has been exhausted, the media may be the only meaningful means of holding powerful institutions accountable.

But what happens when the institutions responsible for addressing a problem simply point toward one another?

For years, patients suffering from Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have raised concerns about diagnosis, treatment, medical education, and access to appropriate care.

Governments have responsibilities for healthcare policy, funding, and oversight.

Health authorities have responsibilities for delivering healthcare services.

Medical professionals and their government bodies operate within their own professional responsibilities, standards, and clinical guidelines.

Yet, when something goes wrong, identifying who is actually accountable can become extraordinarily difficult.

Governments can defer to medical authorities.

Health authorities can refer to government policy and available resources.

Medical institutions can defend established guidelines and existing practices.

Meanwhile, patients are left navigating a system in which everyone has a role, but no single institution appears willing to take responsibility for resolving the concerns.

When responsibility is divided among multiple institutions, accountability should become more important, not less.

This is where investigative journalism has such an important role.

A reporter can ask questions that an individual patient may have spent years trying unsuccessfully to have answered.

A journalist can examine public statements, compare political commitments with actual outcomes, request government records, and challenge conflicting explanations.

But even excellent investigative reporting encounters an obstacle when institutions can respond without committing to meaningful action.

In April 2033, Investigative Journalist, Suzanne Rent, published an article in the Halifax Examiner examining Lyme disease and the experience of patients in Nova Scotia. I was among those she interviewed.

I remain grateful that she too the time to investigate and bring these concerns before the public.

But I find myself asking what should happen after such reporting.

Who is responsible for examining the evidence presented?

Who determines whether the concerns warrant changes in policy or practice?

And when responsibility is disputed between government and healthcare institutions, who has the authority and obligation to resolve that disagreement?

It should not be left to patients, many of whom are already struggling with debilitating illness, to spend years attempting to determine which institution is responsible for helping them.

Nor should journalists be expected to solve problems that elected officials and healthcare administrators are entrusted to address.

But journalists can do something enormously important.

They can follow the trail of responsibility.

They can ask each institution to identify precisely what authority it holds, what actions it has taken, and what remains outside its control.

They can examine whether the explanations provided by different authorities are consistent.

And when institutions point toward one another, they can ask the question that too often goes unanswered:

If this is not your responsibility, whose responsibility is it?

I recognize that journalism faces significant financial and operational pressures, investigations require time, resources, and persistence.

Nevertheless, I believe the public interest is best served when reporting extends beyond identifying a problem to examining why that problem persists.

This is not a call for journalists to abandon impartiality or advocate for a particular medical diagnosis.

It is a call for sustained scrutiny of public institutions and the responsibilities they have been entrusted to fulfill.

The purpose of accountability is not simply to assign blame.

It is to identify failures, establish responsibility, correct deficiencies, and prevent those failures from continuing.

After years of advocacy, I am increasingly convinced that one of the greatest obstacles to meaningful change is not necessarily a lack of awareness.

It is the difficulty of establishing who is responsible for acting on what is already known.

And that should concern every Canadian, whether or not Lyme disease has touched your life.

When governments and healthcare authorities can continue pointing toward one another, patients are left standing in the middle.

A free press may be our strongest means of exposing that problem.

But ultimately, accountability requires the institutions themselves to answer for their decisions and actions.

Twenty-two days into my hunger strike, that is the question I want to place before the media, our elected officials, and our healthcare authorities:

Who is responsible for ensuring that legitimate patient concerns result in meaningful investigation, transparent decisions, and measurable action?

And if nobody can provide a clear answer, isn’t that itself evidence of a serious problem? Everyday that my hunger strike continues without receiving a response is an answer in itself.

Chronic Lyme disease – The Denial Ends Today.

Day 23:

Eleven Years of Institutional Failure – A Response Is Not an Answer

Today marks the twenty-third day of my hunger strike.

I am angry.

Not simply because my daily messages have gone largely unanswered, but because the silence and lack of meaningful engagement I have experienced are part of a pattern that has persisted for more than eleven years. Eleven years of unanswered questions. Eleven years of promises, assurances, and meetings that have failed to produce meaningful change.

Eleven years of watching responsibility passed from one institution to another while people suffering from Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses struggle to obtain recognition, diagnosis, and appropriate medical care.

I have tried patience. I have tried diplomacy. I have tried cooperation. I have written letters, attended meetings, participated in advocacy organization, spoken with physicians, approached elected representatives, and shared my personal medical history in extraordinary detail.

And today, I find myself asking a question that should trouble every Canadian:

As what point does institutional silence become institutional abandonment?

Dr. Robert Strang Has Finally Responded – But Where Are the Answers?

Today, October 23, I finally received correspondence from Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Heath, Dr. Robert Strang, responding to my October 8 letter.

After years of attempting to engage him in meaningful dialogue about Lyme disease, I had hoped that this response might represent an opportunity for an honest and constructive exchange.

Instead, I found his response profoundly disappointing. Frankly, I consider it bordering on insulting.

Why?

Because rather than substantively addressing the questions I have raised about the healthcare system’s approach to Lyme disease, his response effectively directed me back toward the very medical system whose failures I have spent more than a decade attempting to bring to his attention.

Consider the absurdity of that situation. For more than eleven years, I have been explaining how that system has failed me.

I have documented my experiences, challenged medical decisions, requested further investigation, and raised concerns about diagnostic limitations and access to appropriate care. Other Lyme disease patients and advocates have been raising many of these same concerns.

And when I finally receive a response from one of the province’s most senior public health officials, the substance of his advice is to return to the system I have been asking him to examine.

How can directing someone back into a system they are challenging possibly constitute an adequate response to their concerns about that system?

Dr. Strang, I am not asking you to personally diagnose me. I am not asking you to prescribe treatment. I am asking you to acknowledge and engage with the broader concerns that patients and advocates have raised repeatedly about the diagnosis, treatment, and management of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia.

I am asking what has been done to investigate these concerns, what improvements have been implemented, and what evidence supports the province’s decisions.

Instead, I find myself facing another familiar institutional response that appears to avoid the substance of those questions.

A letter may satisfy an administrative obligation. It does not necessarily satisfy a public official’s responsibility to be accountable.

An acknowledgement is not an answer. A referral is not a solution. And directing a patient back into a system they believe has failed them is not a substitute for examining whether that system needs to change.

Has Authority Become a Substitute for Accountability?

Dr. Strang’s response has left me considering another troubling question. Is it possible that some individuals remain in positions of authority for so long that they gradually lose sight of whom they are supposed to serve?

Do years of institutional influence, professional standing, and administrative protection sometimes create a culture in which senior officials no longer feel genuinely answerable to the people affected by their decisions?

I do not know what Dr. Strang thinks privately. But I do know how his response has left me feeling. Dismissed. Unheard. And, once again, directed away from the questions I have been trying to have answered.

A position of authority should never provide immunity from legitimate public scrutiny. Professional expertise deserves respect, but respect does not eliminate accountability. Nor should scientific disagreement become an excuse for refusing to examine the experiences of patients who remain ill.

The greater a person’s influence over public policy, the greater their responsibility to explain the decisions made under that influence. Surely public service must mean more than occupying an office, defending established practices, and referring dissatisfied citizens elsewhere. It must include the humility to recognize that even longstanding policies can be questioned. And that even respected institutions can get things wrong.

Promises Are Not Accountability

Premier Tim Houston, Health Minister Michelle Thompson, Dr. Robert Strang, and the senior leadership of Nova Scotia’s healthcare institutions:

You have been made aware of my concerns. You know that this is not simply a person dispute about one patient’s medical history. It is about a decades-long international controversy surrounding Lyme disease, limitations of available diagnostic approaches, disagreements about persistent symptoms, and the experiences of patients who believe they have been left without adequate medical support.

In November 2015, Tim Houston presented a petition in the Nova Scotia Legislature calling for improvements in Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment and regular engagement with advocates.

In March 2021, he introduced legislation proposing a provincial Lyme Disease Strategy.

In February 2022, representatives of the Nova Scotia Lyme Advocacy Group brought forward three constructive proposals:

• a dedicated clinic,
• improved education for healthcare professionals, and
• a nonpartisan task force that included patients.

What became of these opportunities?

What specific actions were taken?

What decisions were made, and who made them?

If proposals were rejected, what evidence and reasoning supported those decisions?

These are reasonable questions deserving clear, documented answers.

I am not demanding that politicians dictate medical diagnoses or that physicians abandon evidence-based practice. I am demanding that those responsible for our healthcare system demonstrate a willingness to examine legitimate concerns, acknowledge uncertainty, and explain their decisions.

Accountability does not begin and end with sending a letter. It begins with answering the questions that letter was supposed to address.

Where Is The Media?

I must also express my profound disappointment with news organization that have received my correspondence. I understand that journalists face difficult editorial decisions, limited resources, and competing demands for their attention. But independent journalism serves a purpose far greater than reporting government announcements and repeating institutional statements.

It exists, in part, to ask difficult questions of people who would prefer not to answer them. There are documents to examine, political commitments to investigate, experts to interview, and patients whose experiences deserve scrutiny.

I am not asking journalists to accept my account without question. I am asking them to investigate it. Challenge my claims where necessary. Challenge the government’s claims with equal determination.

Ask Dr. Strang what he believes has been accomplished during his years of leadership in addressing the concerns repeatedly brought forward by Lyme disease patients and advocates.

Ask the Premier what happened to the commitments he made before taking office.

Ask the Department of Health what became of the constructive proposals presented by patient advocacy organizations.

And insist on substantive answers.

Sometimes the media represent one of the few effective means through which ordinary citizens can hold powerful institutions accountable. That responsibility should not be underestimated.

A New Direction – Taking This Conversation to Canadians

It has become increasingly apparent to me that traditional avenues of communication have not produced the meaningful engagement I have sought. For that reason, I intend to expand my advocacy through social media under the banner:

Chronic Lyme Disease – The Denial Ends Today

This campaign will examine the documented history of Lyme disease advocacy in Nova Scotia and across Canada.

It will revisit political commitments, government responses, medical controversies, patient experiences, and questions of public accountability.

Where records exist, I intend to share them.

Where questions remain unanswered, I intend to ask them publicly.

And where meaningful improvements have occurred, I will acknowledge them.

My purpose is not to manufacture enemies. It is to encourage an informed national conversation about a problem that has divided patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, and governments, for decades.

I want Canadians to examine the evidence and consider whether our healthcare institutions are doing everything reasonably possible to serve those who remain ill.

A Final Reflection – Leonard Cohen’s Anthem

There is a song by Leonard Cohen called Anthem that has long held special meaning to me. I have watched his live performance many times, and its message resonates particularly strongly today.

For more than eleven years I have struggled to draw attention to what I believe is broken in our healthcare system. There have been moments of profound frustration, disappointment, and despair. But Cohen’s music reminds me that recognizing what is broken does not mean abandoning hope.

I have never expected perfection from our institutions or from the people entrusted with leading them. I have expected honesty, compassion, accountability, and the courage to acknowledge when something needs to change. Surely these expectations are not unreasonable.

Today, I invite everyone reading this message, particularly those holding positions of authority, to take a few minutes to listen to Leonard Cohen’s Anthem. Listen not simply as a song, but as a reminder that acknowledging what is broken is often the first step toward making things better.

We cannot repair what we refuse to acknowledge. And we cannot restore public confidence through correspondence that avoids the substance of legitimate questions.

I am angry. I am exhausted. And I am profoundly disappointed. But despite everything I have experience, I still believe meaningful change is possible.

I do not want to die. I want to live. I want meaningful medical care, the opportunity to regain my independence, and the chance to see a healthcare system that listens to patients even when the answers are difficult.

My hunger strike continues, and the substantive questions that led me to undertake it remain unanswered.

I want those in authority to understand that my continued protest reflects the depth of my frustration with years of institutional failure. It should not take a threat to someone’s health or life for legitimate concerns to receive serious consideration.

We do not need enemies.

We need allies.

And above all, we need people prepared to turn their words into action.

Day 24:

The Letter Arrived. The Answers Did Not. The Clock is Still Ticking.

Today marks the twenty-fourth day of my hunger strike.

Yesterday, October 23, I received a letter from Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang, dated October 20.

After more than eleven years of advocacy and twenty-four days of a hunger strike, I had hoped that this correspondence would represent the beginning of meaningful engagement. It did not.

Instead, I received an explanation of how Nova Scotia’s healthcare system operates, references to established clinical guidelines, and a recommendation that I return to my family physician and medical specialists.

Dr. Strang, the healthcare system you have recommended I return to is the very system whose shortcomings I have spent eleven years trying to bring to your attention. I did not write to you because I did not know how to find a doctor. I wrote to you because, after years of investigations, consultations, referrals, hospitalizations, and deteriorating health, I still have unanswered medical questions.

I have also witnessed what I believe are serious deficiencies in how Nova Scotia addresses patients suffering from persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

My correspondence was not simply a request for personal medical assistance. It was a request for systemic accountability. And those questions remain unanswered.

Another Weekend. Another Missed Opportunity.

It is now Saturday.

The government offices have closed for the weekend. The political and medical officials responsible for responding to these concerns have finished another working week.

I cannot know what discussions may have occurred privately. What I do know is that I have received no clear commitment to a meeting, no substantive answers to my central questions, and no communicated plan for meaningful engagement.

Meanwhile, my hunger strike continues.

Twenty-four days.

I have described the weakness, exhaustion, chills, sweating, disrupted sleep, and physical deterioration I have experienced during this protest. Yet the correspondence I received offered no acknowledgement of the immediate medical danger created by a prolonged hunger strike.

That omission is difficult to understand.

How can my circumstances be acknowledged without the urgency of those circumstances being addressed?

I am not asking anyone to abandon their responsibilities, medical standards, or professional judgement. I am asking those in positions of authority to recognize that this situation is no longer an ordinary exchange of correspondence. It requires a timely, meaningful, response.

My Demands Are Clear

I want to remove any possible confusion about what I am requesting.

1. A direct meeting with Dr. Robert Strang – I am requesting a meeting involving Dr. Strang, appropriate representatives of the Department of Health and Wellness, and Lyme disease patient advocates. The purpose is not to demand that anyone endorse my medical conclusions. It is to discuss diagnostic limitations, physician education, persistent symptoms, patient experiences, and public health accountability. If Dr. Strang believes these matters fall outside his authority, I expect him to help identify and engage those who are responsible.
2. Accountability for commitments and proposals that have gone unanswered. In February 2022, the Nova Scotia Lyme Advocacy Group presented three proposals – (1) A dedicated clinic or coordinated care service; (2) Improved education for healthcare professionals; and (3) A nonpartisan task force with meaningful patient representation. I am requesting a written account of how these proposals were considered, what decisions were made, and who was responsible for those decisions.
3. An independent, patient-inclusive, review of Nova Scotia’s approach to Lyme disease. Such a review should examine diagnostic practices, the limitations of available testing, access to specialist assessments, treatment pathways, and the experiences of patients with persistent, disabling symptoms. It must include appropriate medical expertise and meaningful participation by patients.
4. Measurable accountability for physician education. Dr. Strang states that updated information is disseminated annually. I want to know how many physicians receive meaningful training, whether that training is mandatory, what it covers, and how its effectiveness is evaluated. Distributing information is not the same as demonstrating that patients are receiving informed, appropriate cate.
5. A coordinated care pathway for patients remain unexplained or inadequately managed. The AMMI Canada position statement referenced by Dr. Strang supports compassionate, comprehensive, evidence-guided care for people experiencing persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease. It also encourages provinces to consider specialized models of comprehensive care. I want to know what Nova Scotia is doing to provide such services, particularly for patients who have spent years moving between specialists without a satisfactory plan.

These are not unreasonable demands. They are request for dialogue, transparency, measurable action, and patient involvement.

The Urgency Cannot Be Ignored

Premier Tim Houston, Health Minister Michelle Thompson, Dr. Robert Strang, and every elected representative who has received my correspondence:

I ask you to consider what it means when someone believes that, after more than a decade of trying established channels, a hunger strike is the only remaining way to obtain meaningful engagement.

I did not begin this protest without considerable thought. I understand that I am placing my health and life in danger. But I also understand that eleven years of asking questions, seeking meetings, and requesting meaningful investigation have not produced the engagement I have sought.

I am not asking you to accept responsibility for examining whether existing policies and services adequately meet the needs of the patients they are intended to serve. I am asking for direct communication. I am asking for a meeting. I am asking for an accountable process with identifiable participants and realistic timelines.

And I am asking that these matters be treated with the urgency they deserve.

Acknowledgement Is Not Action

Receiving a letter from Dr. Strang is a development. I recognize that. But the arrival of a letter is not the resolution of a problem. A reference to guidelines is not an evaluation of patient outcomes. An explanation of institutional responsibilities is not a substitute for identifying who is accountable. And advising someone to return to a healthcare system they have spent years unsuccessfully navigating does not address their questions about that system.

There is an important distinction between explaining what government and health authorities currently do and demonstrating that what they do is sufficient.

That is the distinction I have been asking Dr. Strang and the Department of Health and Wellness to address.

What Happens Next?

I am asking for three immediate commitments:

First: A direct acknowledgement from the Premier’s Office or Department of Health and Wellness recognizing the seriousness and urgency of my situation.

Second: Written confirmation of who will participate in a meeting to discuss systemic Lyme disease concerns, together with a proposed date.

Third: A commitment to provide substantive written answers to the outstanding questions about diagnostic practices, physician education, comprehensive patient care, and the proposals submitted by Lyme disease advocates in February 2022.

I am requesting a response by Monday, October 26.

These commitments would not resolve every disagreement, nor would they instantly repair the deficiencies I believe exist. But they would demonstrate a willingness to engage. And that is something I have been asking for since 2015.

I Want to Live.

Let me repeat something I have said throughout this protest:

I do not want to die. I want to live.

I want to regain my health, my independence, and some measure of the life that chronic illness has taken from me.

I want other patients to have better experiences than mine.

I want healthcare professionals to have access to the best available evidence, and I want patients to be heard when existing approaches do not adequately address their circumstances.

I want government and health authorities to recognize that acknowledging a problem is only the beginning of addressing it.

Dr. Strang, your letter arrived. But the answers did not.

Premier Houston, Minister Thompson, and the other officials who have received my correspondence: I am still asking you to engage.

My twenty-fourth day of hunger striking and my questions are still unanswered.

The requests remain on the table.

And the need for meaningful action becomes more urgent with every passing day.

Day 25:

Twenty-Five Days – We Have Identified the Problems. Who is Prepared to Discuss Solutions?

Today marks the twenty-fifth day of my hunger strike.

For twenty-five days, I have written to the Premier of Nova Scotia, the Minister of Health, Dr. Robert Strang, elected representatives, healthcare authorities and the media.

I have shared my personal experience, raised questions about the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, identified what I believe are serious failures in our healthcare system, and called for meaningful accountability.

But today, I want to focus on something different.

Solutions

I did not being this journey eleven years ago looking for a confrontation with physicians, politicians, or public health officials. I began it as a patient seeking answers to a debilitating illness.

Over time, my personal struggle became something larger: a determination to challenge a system that I believe is failing too many people living with complex, poorly understood, and persistent symptoms.

I recognize that medicine does not have every answer. I recognize that Lyme disease and persistent symptoms following infection involve legitimate scientific questions and disagreement. But scientific uncertainty should never become an excuse for institutional inaction.

A Response Is Not the Same as Engagement

On October 23, I received correspondence from Dr. Robert Strang, dated October 20.

While I appreciate finally receiving a response, the letter largely directed me toward existing healthcare services and procedures.

Those are precisely the services and procedures I have spent years attempting to navigate.

My concern is not simply whether Nova Scotia has guidelines, diagnosistic procedures, or medical referral pathways.

My concern is what happens when those systems fail to provide answers, appropriate investigation, or meaningful continuity of care.

Who examines those failures?

Who listens to the patients?

Who is responsible for ensuring that policies are producing acceptable outcomes?

And who is prepared to acknowledge when improvements may be necessary?

These are legitimate questions of public health policy and accountability.

They deserve more than another referral back into the same system.

A Concrete Path Forward

I believe there are five reasonable steps the Government of Nova Scotia could take to being addressing these concerns.

1. Establish Meaningful Dialogue – Arrange a formal meeting involving Dr. Strang, appropriate representatives from the Department of Health and Wellness, and representatives of the Lyme disease patient and advocacy community. The purpose would not be to assign blame or demand agreement on every scientific question. It would be to identify specific problems, examine existing policies, and determine where improvements are possible.
2. Review Existing Diagnostic and Treatment Pathways – Undertake an independent, evidence-informed review of how patients with suspected tick-borne illnesses and persistent unexplained symptoms are assessed. This should include examining diagnostic limitations, access to specialist consultation, the handling of complex cases, and what happens when patients remain seriously ill despite following established medical pathways. A patient should not be left without a meaningful plan simply because their condition does not fit neatly into an established diagnosis.
3. Strengthen Physician Education – Review the education and clinical resources available to Nova Scotia healthcare professionals concerning Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections, diagnostic uncertainty, and persistent symptoms. Education should reflect current scientific evidence clearly distinguish established findings from unresolved questions, and encourage appropriate investigation rather than premature dismissal.
4. Establish Patient-Inclusive Oversight – Revisit the proposals brought forward by the Nova Scotia Lyme Disease Advocacy Group, including a dedicated clinical pathway, improved physician education, and a nonpartisan task force that includes patient representation. Patients should have a meaningful voice in evaluating healthcare policies that directly affect their lives. Their experiences are not a substitute for scientific evidence, but they are essential information when evaluating whether a healthcare system is working.
5. Create Accountability Through Measurable Commitments – Any resulting review or working group should have Cleary defined responsibilities, realistic timelines, and publicly available findings. Without measurable outcomes, even well-intentioned meetings risk becoming another exercise in reassuring patients without improving their care.

What I Am Asking For Today

I am asking Dr. Strang and the Government of Nova Scotia to agree in principle to a meeting with patient and advocacy representatives within the next fourteen days.

I am asking the the meeting have a clearly defined agenda, that specific concerns be documented, and that responsible officials provide written follow-up identifying the next steps.

I am not asking the government to resolve decades of scientific controversy in one meeting. I am asking it to demonstrate a willingness to examine whether its current approach can be improved. That is a reasonable request.

We Are Not Looking For Enemies. We Are Looking For Allies.

I want to acknowledge the people and organizations who continue to advocate for those living with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Their persistence and dedication are evidence that this issue extends far beyond my personal circumstances.

We may not agree on every strategy, every interpretation of the science, or every proposed solution. But surely we can agree on something fundamental.

Patients deserve to be heard, their symptoms deserve serious clinical attention, and healthcare policies deserve ongoing, independent evaluation.

I have spent more than eleven years seeking meaningful answers.

Today, after twenty-five days of a hunger strike, I am asking those with the authority to make decisions to take a constructive step forward.

Open the door.

Bring the appropriate people together.

Listen to the concerns.

Examine the evidence.

Identify what can be improved.

And establish a process that turns discussion into measurable action.

I do not need another explanation of how the system is supposed to work.

I am asking for a serious discussion about what happens when it doesn’t.

Twenty-five days.

Eleven years of advocacy.

Surely we can begin with a meeting.

Day 26:

Hope Is Not Weakness

Today marks the twenty-sixth day of my hunger strike.

For nearly four weeks, I have written daily about pain, silence, frustration, and the failures I believe exist within our healthcare system. I have spoken about being ignored, about the difficulty of being heard, and about the toll that eleven years of illness and advocacy have taken on my life.

But today, I want to speak about something different.

Hope.

After so much struggle, hope is something I need.

Not false hope.

Not empty reassurance.

Not another carefully worded response that explains how the system is supposed to work while avoiding what happens when it doesn’t.

I mean real hope.

The kind of hope that gives people the strength to take one more step when they are tired, discouraged, and unsure whether anyone is listening.

When I think about hope in this country. I think about Terry Fox.

Terry began with very little except a believe that when he was doing mattered. He began with determination, purpose, and a hope that reached far beyond himself. He ran not because success was guaranteed, but because hope demanded that he try.

His Marathon of Hope brought a nation together. It reached into the hearts of Canadians and, ultimately, far beyond our borders. Terry’s courage gave people something larger than a fundraiser or a cause.

He gave them belief.

Many years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Betty Fox. I believe it was around 1998, when I had started the Terry Fox 100K Club and was being recognized with a certificate for serving as a Terry Fox Run Organizer.

That memory has stayed with me.

I remember telling Betty that completing ten kilometres a day for ten days was not always easy. Finding the time was often difficult. I recall that on about the eighth day, I found myself out running at ten o’clock at night.

I was on the dark back roads of Greenwood.

And I told Betty Fox something I have never forgotten:

That out there in the darkness, I could hear Terry’s footsteps.

That may sound strange to some people, but I knew exactly what I meant.

I was thinking about what it means to keep going.

To continue when it would be easier to stop

To believe that one person, driven by conviction and hope, can inspire others and perhaps make something better possible.

Today, on Day 26 of this hunger strike, I find myself reflecting on that same spirit.

Hope is not denial.

Hope does not mean pretending everything is fine.

Hope does not mean ignoring suffering, minimizing injustice, or surrendering to silence.

Hope means believing that even after years of disappointment, something better may still be possible.

Hope means believing that people can still choose decency, courage, and compassion.

Hope means believing that governments and institutions are still capable of listening, learning, and doing better.

Hope means believing that patients who have suffered for years are not invisible.

And hope means believing that this struggle has not been in vain.

I do not want this hunger strike to end only as a story of decline.

I want it to become part of a larger story – one in which people finally decide to listen, to engage honestly, and to act with integrity.

I want to believe that the Premier, the Minister of Health, Dr Robert Strang, and others in positions of responsibility are still capable of choosing dialogue over distance, engagement over silence, and action over indifference.

That is what hope asks of them.

Hope is not only something felt by the person who is suffering.

It is also something that requires a response from those who have the power to help.

Terry Fox showed Canadians that hope is not passive.

Hope is movement.

Hope is sacrifice.

Hope is determination.

Hope is taking the next step, even when the road is dark.

Today, I am trying to hold on to that kind of hope.

I am holding on to the belief that somewhere within this long and difficult struggle, there is still the possibility of meaningful change.

That a meeting can still happen.

That honest discussion is still possible.

That patients can still be heard.

That accountability can still matter.

And that compassion and courage have not entirely disappeared from public life.

I have spoken often about frustration, failure, and silence.

Today, I want to say something else.

I still believe hope matters.

I still believe people can do better.

I still believe this cause is worth fighting for.

And like Terry Fox on a long road with no certainty about what lay ahead, I believe that sometimes hope itself is the reason to keep going.

If Terry’s footsteps could be heard by a runner on a dark road in Greenwood, then perhaps hope can still be heard here too.

Today, I choose to believe that it can.

Day 27:

Patients Should Not Have to Build Their Own Path To Care

I am exhausted today, but there is something I need to say.

When patients have to organize their own help because they cannot access a thorough assessment, appropriate follow-up or a clear care plan, the healthcare system is failing them.

Across Canada, organizations such as CanLyme, the Canadian Lyme Coalition, Lyme Ontario and the Association Quebecoise de la maladies de Lyme contribute research, education, advocacy, or patient support. Alongside provincial and local groups, they form a network that people can turn to for help. I am grateful for their work. But patients should be Abe to count on accessible healthcare as well.

Support groups should offer connection and understanding. They should not have to become the place someone turns to ask: “Where can I find a clinician who will help me?”

Advocates should contribute to improving care. Patients should not need an advocate simply to get their unresolved symptoms taken seriously. And when people seek private care or travel for help, governments need to examine what drove them there – and what happens to those who cannot afford that option.

The existence of these organizations alone does not prove a healthcare failure. The unmet needs patients bring to them are what authorities must investigate and address.

I know the burden of becoming your own researcher, navigator, and advocate while ill. I have lived it.

My call for change goes beyond my own case. Every patient deserves timely, appropriate and compassionate care, with someone responsible for follow-up.

To our health authorities and governments:

Where is the pathway for people who remain ill?

Who takes responsibility when referrals lead nowhere?

What will you do for patients left without a care plan?

Meet with patients and their organizations. Identify the gaps. Assign responsibility. Publish concrete actions and timelines.

Patients have already done the work of coming together and asking for help. They deserve an answer that leads to care.

Day 28:

A daily email was not sent today as Brian wasn’t feeling up to it.

Day 29:

I Asked for Action. I Received the Same Political Playbook

First, I apologize for not providing a Day 28 update. I was simply too unwell to write it. As each day passes, finding the strength and concentration to put these updates together becomes more difficult.

The lack of meaningful response is demoralizing. After years of seeking care and twenty-nine days of this hunger strike, I feel that the way I have been treated and ignored is inhumane.

If you receive this email or letter, please share it. Help spread the word about what is happening and why I am asking for change. My ability to keep telling this story is becoming more limited. I need others to help carry it.

Throughout these twenty-nine days I have provided my MLA, Chris Palmer, with updates explaining why I am taking this action and what I am asking our government to do.

There has been considerable correspondence. When he asked questions, I answered them. Yet the direct questions I have repeatedly put to him remain unanswered.

His latest response offers no genuine path forward, just further engagement and opportunities for discussion.

After years of advocacy and broken promises, I recognize this language. it leaves me with no commitment, no deadline, and no answer about whether he will help secure the meeting I have requested with Dr. Robert Strang and the Minister of Health.

How much correspondence does it take to get a straight answer?

Mr. Palmer’s questions have steered the conversation toward gathering more information. I have participated in good faith. But answering his questions has not brought answers to mine.

Patients and advocates have already done considerable work. The Nova Scotia Lyme Advocacy Group presented its requests to the Progressive Conservative caucus in February 2022. An Open Letter followed in 2023.

What became of that work? What recommendations will this government act on? Why are patients being asked to start another round of preliminary discussions while previous requests remain unresolved?

Mr. Palmer also relies on his meeting with my wife, Brenda, to explain the direction his office is taking. I had explicitly told him that this meeting did not represent my wishes or replace the need to speak directly with me.

I am the person undertaking this hunger strike. I have explained my concerns in my own words, repeatedly. There should be no uncertainty about what I am asking.

Yet he has never once asked me about my hunger strike or my well-being.

Twenty-nine days of updates, and that question has never come.

Mr. Palmer presented himself as someone who would challenge the status quo rather than simply toe the party line. I have been waiting to see that independence translated into action.

Instead, his response follows a familiar pattern: acknowledge the concern, suggest more discussion, leave the difficult questions unanswered.

From where I sit, he has settled into that role comfortably. A politician’s politician, fluent in the language of cancer while offering little that patients can hold him accountable for delivering.

What I find especially difficult to accept is his willingness to speak publicly about Hailey Kane.

How dare he speak Hailey’s name and then leave patients facing the same unanswered questions?

Her story deserves more than an expression of sympathy. Invoking her experience carries a responsibility to pursue meaningful change – and to explain publicly what has been done.

Mr. Palmer, what acton can you point to? What has changed for patients because you raised her story?

These questions deserve answers.

I have experienced this political playbook before. Following our November 2020 meeting, former Health Minister Leo Glassine promised to help arrange a meeting with Dr. Strang. That meeting never happened.

Now his successor offers another possible path forward, with no clear commitment or timetable.

Different representative. Familiar language. The patient is still waiting.

I am asking you to account for what you will do with the responsibility you already hold.

Have you requested a meeting with Dr. Strang and the Minister of Health? Will you support my request to participate directly? Will you seek answers about the recommendations already submitted by advocates? When can we expect a response?

If you will take those steps, say so. If you will not, say so.

I have spent years trying to obtain care and advocating for change. Other patients and families have carried this burden alongside me. We deserve to know where our elected representatives stand.

Twenty-nine days into this hunger strike, I should not still be struggling to get a straight answer from my own MLA.

Day 30:

Brian’s Day 30 email was thanking Patsy Stevens, Canadian Lyme Coalition, for the preparation of a press release and reaching out to media outlets.

The press release is as follows:

A 61-year-old veteran is four weeks into a hunger strike. Brian Milligan has struggled to find a pathway to diagnose and treatment for his ongoing Lyme disease symptoms. He was found eligible for MAID, while unable to obtain the Lyme disease care he requires.

Brian spent 30 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was an enthusiastic outdoorsman who encountered tick many times. He has severe fatigue, weakness, neurological pain, tremors and convulsions, digestive problems, and difficulty sleeping, among other symptoms. His mobility is severely limited, and his spends much of his day in bed. He is doing his hunger strike at home as he is too sick and weak to do it in public.

For more than eleven years, Brian sought answers and appropriate care while also asking governments to address the broader problems faced by Lyme patients. He has written letter, met with representatives, spoken publicly and sought help through the healthcare system. He has approached both the Canadian Forces Ombudsman and the Veterans Ombudsman. He has felt shut out of care and has been repeatedly directed back to a system that has not resolved his situation.

Brian has seen approximately 30 doctors and like many Canadian Lyme disease patients, finally received his Lyme diagnosis from a doctor in the United States.

Brian wrote to Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang; Minister of Health and Wellness, Michelle Thompson; and Premier Tim Houston, asking to meet with them. He wants the people responsible for health policy to listen to patients and address the gaps in recognition, diagnosis, and care of Lyme disease. On October 23 he received a letter from Dr. Strang. It did not address his request for a meaningful discussion of the systemic concerns he has raised. It referred him back to the healthcare system he had already spent years trying to navigate.

Brian needs to see meaningful changes to the healthcare system when it comes to Lyme disease. No one knows how much longer he can continue like this. His health is fragile and he is increasingly weak. He is running out of time.

Day 31:

Another Holiday Passes. The Need for Change Remains.

Another weekend is here and my hunger strike continues.

I began before Thanksgiving. Today is Halloween. Still, I have received no meaningful government or health authority response addressing the reasons for my protest.

There has been correspondence. But the responses have not directly acknowledged my hunger strike or addressed the urgency of my circumstances.

That silence feels painfully familiar.

For those of us living with persistent illness associated with Lyme disease, it reflects something we have experienced for years: the feeling that if our suffering is not acknowledged, those responsible can continue behaving as though it does not exist.

Here is the news bulletin: our suffering exists whether you acknowledge it or not.

It is as real as a heart attack. The pain is real. The disability is real. The loss of independence is real. Disagreement over terminology, testing, or treatment does not make a sick person well.

While officials avoid these difficult conversations, ticks continue to transmit infections. People become ill. Some experience lasting disability. some tick-borne infections can be fatal.

And life keeps moving around those left behind.

Another Thanksgiving. Another Halloween. Soon, another Christmas.

For many of us, holidays and changing seasons are things we watch through a bedroom window. We hear about gatherings we cannot attend. We see photographs of celebrations we were too sick to enjoy. We watch our families carry one while illness keeps narrowing our own lives.

These are losses that never appear in a government response.

A missed family dinner. An afternoon with grandchildren. A walk through the autumn leaves. The simple ability to make plans and trust that our bodies will let us keep them.

We deserve care that takes those losses seriously. We deserve honest acknowledgement of the gaps patients encounter, meaningful investigation of persistent symptoms, and a clear commitment to improving access to care.

It has been said that there is a season for everything.

I believe this is the season for change in how Nova Scotia responds to Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Premier Houston, your government and our health authorities have the responsibility to answer these concerns. Please meet with affected patients, address the proposals already before you, and tell us what you will do and when.

Another season of our lives is passing. We cannot get it back.

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I am going to stop including Brian’s daily updates for now but will add more as I receive them.