I've even conveniently compiled 162 options for you to give to him
Excellent tipping point for Canadians, don't let it get away.
The contact page for Public Health Agency of Canada is here:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/contac-eng.php
Or the public phone and address here;
Dr. David Butler-Jones
Chief Public Health Officer
Public Health Agency of Canada
CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER
130 Colonnade Road
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Canada
Telephone : 613-954-8524
Secure Telephone : 613-941-3780
Fax : 613-954-8529
Secure Fax : 613-941-3780
Be very specific and quote research studies when you contact him. Don't let him brush you off because you aren't part of the medical world. He needs to understand that if these research items pan out lots of neurons will be prevented from dying as part of the neuronal cascade of death. And he could have saved lots of his neurons from dying. Guilt trip him and ask if he's willing to allow his kids not to have any better stroke therapies than he did because it will take 20-30 years to get there.
http://www.570news.com/news/national/article/427831--don-t-ignore-warning-signs-top-doctor-says-as-he-recovers-from-a-stroke
All Dr. David Butler-Jones saw was a glow of light. And then strange things started happening.
At
first, he thought it was a migraine coming on. But soon, Canada's
chief public health officer realized that it was more than just a
headache.
He was having a stroke.
Butler-Jones,
dubbed Canada's top doctor in his role as head of the Public Health
Agency of Canada, has been recovering since he was stricken in mid-May.
It's been a difficult struggle.
From the outset, he was his own worst enemy. Being a doctor, Butler-Jones said he started to self-diagnose.
"I watched it evolving, trying to talk myself out of it being a stroke," he said.
At
first he felt an "aura" of light passing his eyes. During supper, he
noticed a difficulty swallowing. Feeling tired, Butler-Jones went to bed
for the night. The next morning, things got worse.
By
then it was too late for any kind of emergency treatment for stroke,
such as a clot-busting drug known as tPA (tissue plasminogen activator).
A
tPA is a thrombolytic drug that can stop a stroke caused by a blood
clot by breaking up the clot. It can only be given to patients who are
having a stroke caused by a blood clot, or ischemic stroke and must be
given within three hours of the onset of symptoms.
Despite
clear symptoms, the 59-year-old still thought twice about seeking
treatment _ something he now regrets, especially given his family
history.
His dad had his first stroke in his early 50s. His grandfather died at an early age from a heart attack.
Butler-Jones himself has asthma and an underlying immune deficiency that makes him prone to pneumonia.
"They
say that doctors don't make the best patients, and that's probably
true," he told The Canadian Press in an exclusive interview.
Butler-Jones said he didn't want to be a burden on busy emergency room doctors, especially if he was just getting a migraine.
He gave in the next morning when he realized he had difficulty moving.
"I
never thought seriously about a stroke... but when I woke up in the
morning, suddenly it's like 'oh, I'm walking funny'," he said.
Butler-Jones'
initial reaction to having a stroke is not uncommon, says Dr. Michael
Hill, associate dean of clinical research at the University of Calgary's
Faculty of Medicine.
"A stroke
by definition affects the very organ that gives you insight into what
you're supposed to be doing," said Hill, who is also director of the
stroke unit for the Calgary Stroke Program.
"Most
times it's actually a bystander or a family member who is activating
the emergency medical services to get somebody to help."
Those
ads seen recently on TV and in publications across the country about
recognizing the signs of stroke aren't so much for people who are hit by
one, said Hill.
Rather, they are more for people who notice that someone else might be having a stroke.
Butler-Jones is perhaps best known as one of the main faces of Canada's response to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009.
He
has had a long career in public health, both in Ontario and
Saskatchewan, where he served as the province's chief medical health
officer from 1995 to 2002. He was named Canada's first chief public
health officer in 2004, following the 2003 SARS outbreak.
His
biggest fear once the reality of having a stroke set in was that he
wouldn't be able to return to work, just as his father's career ended
following his stroke.
But after months of therapy, Butler-Jones is back at work, at least on a part-time basis.
It hasn't been easy, going through the challenges of therapy, dealing with bouts of depression and trying to improve his memory.
And
Butler-Jones is resigned to the fact that he may never fully recover.
But there is hope, he said, because he's still alive, and now able to
work again, even if it's not at full speed.
"People, they can have a life and do well, in spite of the challenges," he said.
"So there's still hope. And that's my job now, to play the cards I've been dealt as best I can."
Upwards
of 50,000 Canadians suffer from strokes each year. About 16,000 die,
more often women than men, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation
of Canada.
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