For several years I've had a disabling neurological condition, and now I also suffer from a dangerous heart problem. Due to our broken healthcare system here in Canada, I am without proper diagnosis or treatment. This ongoing series will explore my attempts to find the health services I need, to remain alive so I can care for my wife and 2 young children.
Please note...
I recognize that Canada's healthcare system, despite being less functional than it was decades ago - and far from ideal - is still better than can be accessed in many parts of the world. I mean no disrespect to people living in these regions with my attempt to expose the shortcomings of Canada's situation.
Also, please be aware the details in this series may be distressing to some readers. I am including information that may bring up unwanted memories or emotions, but without being inclusive, a complete medical picture will not be possible. Thank you for understanding.
Potential advantages of writing this series:
- to document my struggle to locate healthcare in Canada, which most believe is world class and easily accessed
- to receive valuable support or suggestions from readers
- as an ongoing update of my situation for my friends and followers
- to gather all the information in one place, so I can see it from a new angle
- for my family in the case of my death
- as support for others going through something similar
My Situation
I am a 47 year old male of European descent. I am 178 cm tall (5'10") and weigh 165 pounds. I currently live in a town of about 20,000 people in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. I had a normal birth, met all developmental milestones, enjoyed a stable family environment, excelled in public school, did several years of college, and had a 10 year career in nursing. I have 2 siblings, both with addiction issues and one with prolactinoma. Our parents are alive and relatively healthy. We have a family history including some issues with the heart, thyroid, and gut.
I began and operated successful ventures, such as a collectible card business, a silver bullion shipping company, grassroots cannabis activism projects, and viral social media content. I had very good overall health for my first 40 years, but then developed a neurological disorder in mid 2016. I have not been able to obtain a full diagnosis or official treatment. I have not been working outside the home for several years, although I continue some of my activism and content-creation. In late 2021 I developed potentially-deadly heart problems that also have not been properly diagnosed or treated. The combination of my symptoms makes it increasingly difficult to care for myself, my wife and children, and our home, or to carry on my extra projects.
I have had 4 healthy children - 2 with my previous wife who are now young adults, and 2 with my current wife @MediKatie who are young children.
Current Symptoms
- chronic nerve pain (since 2016, now in partial remission)
- chronic back and joint pain (since 2016)
- episodic muscle, skin, and organ pain (since 2016)
- general fatigue (since 2016, now in partial remission)
- insomnia (since 2016)
- vision problems (worsening since 2016)
- bladder problems (worsening since 2016)
- chronic muscle twitching (since 2016, now in partial remission) (see here and here
- other unwanted movements like tremors, spasms, breath shuddering, lurching (since 2016)
- restless legs and urgency to move especially at night (since 2016, now in remission)
- unexplained sensations like cold, wetness, tingling, bugs crawling, numbness, etc (since 2016, now in partial remission)
- mental fog and decreased concentration (since 2016)
- depression and anxiety (since 2013, worse in 2016, now in remission)
- PTSD (since 2016, now in partial remission)
- arrhythmia aka nonstop heart palpitations (since 2021)
- shortness of breath (since 2021)
- dull or stabbing chest pains (since 2021)
- swelling lower legs in evening (since 2022)
Confirmed diagnoses / Medical history
As a child, I had regular nosebleeds and low iron. At age 6 I had what was referred to as the flu, bedridden for weeks and vomiting blood. Along with my brother, I was sexually assaulted by a babysitter at age 8, and did not receive support for it. I developed behaviours like teeth grinding, hair fiddling, restless legs, obsessive counting, etc. I acquired astigmatism / nearsightedness at age 12. I fell out of a tree at about 13 years old, damaging my neck and upper back, but did not receive medical treatment for it. I sought relief for upper back pain with a chiropractor at age 18. As a nurse, I was coerced into taking the swine flu vaccine in 2006 and was sick with flu symptoms for 2 weeks. In 2007 I began using cannabis before bed. In 2012 my access to my 2 older children was severed and I experienced some depression. In 2013 I started having IBS symptoms. In 2014 I began the job of caring for my dying grandmother full-time. My stress level was very high as she was dying through 2015, and my brother was financially and emotionally abusing my wife and I. I felt physically healthy going into early 2016, when she passed away.
After her death, my family sold the house quickly. My wife and I weren't able to find anywhere to rent in time, and had a stressful few months living on a friend's couch, with reduced sleep and nutrition. I noticed the first fasciculations (twitches) in my motor muscles, and after we moved into a rental apartment, began experiencing severe fatigue, and unexplained pain almost everywhere in my body. My weight dropped dramatically despite eating nonstop, I couldn't concentrate or sleep, my balance was bad, I had tremors in my hands, and I had to give up on my longtime collectibles business. One foot dragged along the ground when I walked. I became anxious about the physical symptoms, and depressed about my situation as my family would not acknowledge them. I upgraded my diet and began supplements with the supervision of a naturopathic doctor. I had terrible pain in my nerves, feet, and jaw. I finally went to the ER, which did some bloodwork, not finding any obvious abnormalities. In August I had arrhythmias and chest pain, which led to some heart tests that found nothing except a minor murmur. I also had what seemed to be prostate issues, and increased pain all over my body. My vision became blurry and doubled. I had a CT of my head which turned up nothing. Finally, I was able to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with depression and PTSD and started me on Venlafaxine (Effexor), which seemed to improve my mood and reduce my physical pain level. I started a gluten-free diet and my energy improved somewhat. By the end of 2016 I was able to restart some of my previous hobbies and social activities.
In 2017, my wife and I were made suddenly homeless by a "renoviction" scam, leading to my nutrition and sleep suffering, and increased stress. Not being able to work, and without family support, our financial situation was a constant worry. MediKatie's health deteriorated and she had a cancer relapse scare. We went through an abusive short-term rental situation in the summer, as I continued to visit the psychiatrist, who did not offer supportive therapy but did increase my Effexor dosage. I suffered a broken rib, a kidney stone, and severe repeating nightmares (possibly from the Effexor). I finally located a safe rental apartment in the Vancouver suburbs late in the year, and was accepted for disability benefits to help pay the bills.
In 2018, many of my symptoms began going into partial remission and my finances stabilized. My weight crept back up to my normal 170 or so. I had enough energy to take care of myself and put some time into content-creation on the blockchain. I was no longer seeing any doctors, and began weaning myself off the Effexor, substituting it for cannabis extracts. I was able to finally stop taking daily doses of Tylenol and Advil. I was still in pain, but it was less pervasive, and mostly limited to my back and joints.
Early in 2019, I weaned myself off the Effexor completely, and my energy and mood continued to improve. MediKatie's health also improved, and suddenly she conceived after 10 years together, something which supposedly wasn't possible due to her extensive radiation for childhood spinal cancer. The pregnancy was high risk, but we decided to change our lives and have a family. My insomnia, pain, muscle twitching, and vision problems flared up. I started to get serious again about finding a proper diagnosis and treatment, so that I could be an effective parent once the baby came. I got an Xray of my cervical spine which led to a diagnosis of cervical spondylosis, and C4/5, C5/6 disc space narrowing. I saw a chiropractor for the pain, which didn't seem to help. MediKatie and I decided to move away from Vancouver up to BC's Okanagan region, to be near family in the hopes they would want to be involved in the coming baby's life. The pain, fasciculations, blurred vision, and insomnia continued after the move, but my stress went down and I was happy to have a rental house and yard. When the baby was born, my family still wanted nothing to do with me. A new specialist there diagnosed me with fibromyalgia, and a lumbar Xray led to diagnosis of disc narrowing, degeneration, and spina bifida occulta.
In 2020, Covid-19 came along, and I got what was probably Covid in February, making a full recovery after some lingering chest congestion. My statist parents distanced themselves further due to my understanding the pandemic and lockdowns were engineered to control people. My specialist retired early thanks to the lockdowns and restrictions, and my new GP was completely useless, so I stopped trying to find a diagnosis. We raised our son alone, through a year and a half of lockdowns, never seeing my family members who lived just minutes away. My muscle twitching slowly improved, but my pain and vision problems went on. I spoke out against the experimental mRNA injections about to be unleased, and decided my family and I would not take them.
In Spring 2021, we found a local group of activists protesting the lockdowns and mandates, and got involved. Our son became the group mascot, and we met many people who had lost family members due to Covid drama, so we finally had a community again. My previous health issues remained in partial remission through the year. I attended weekly protests, as well as several large events like 2 healthcare worker walkouts in the summer. MediKatie conceived again, and this time the pregnancy was less difficult. Late in 2021, I developed shortness of breath, then periodic chest pain and heart palpitations.
In 2022, I was having regular arrhythmia, sometimes for several hours at a time. Our daughter was born in February at the height of the Omicron craze, Freedom Convoy, and discrimination against unvaccinated people. We stabilized after her birth, but my previous neurological symptoms and my recent heart problem continued. In the summer, I sought help from my GP, who said I was too sick to be seen by her and must go to the ER. I went to the ER, which ran some tests and told me they couldn't find anything wrong with me. I tried a doctor within the alternative community, who agreed to put me on a waitlist for a Holter monitor, which would confirm a diagnosis of myocarditis/pericarditis. Then our landlord decided to sell the house, and the new owners gave us 60 days notice to move out. Unable to find anywhere in the region to rent due to the ongoing housing crisis, despite having plenty of income to cover monthly costs, we had to move to northwestern BC where Katie's family members had a rental house available. I wasn't able to get through the long waitlist for a Holter monitor before the move. It was tough to leave the friendship and support of our activist community, but we had no choice if we wanted a roof over our heads. The move was botched by a huge mistake by Air Canada, causing massive financial and mental strain on our family. We currently have no doctors here, and very little family support, but we have somewhere to live. My arrhythmia is at times very severe, lasting many hours or even days, leading to shortness of breath and chest pain. My heart becomes tired of beating 160+ irregular beats every minute, but nothing seems to settle it. I have given up cannabis and most carbohydrates in the hopes of keeping my pulse down.
Diet, Supplements, Medications, Drugs
I eat a mostly vegan diet, plus free-range eggs and shrimp. I avoid most processed food and refined sugar. I eat 4 large meals every day, plus things like fruit or toast in between.
I take daily Vitamin C and D, Iron, Magnesium, N-Acetyl Cysteine, and Coenzyme Q10. When my immune system needs a boost I take Zinc, Quercetin, and/or Ivermectin.
I am not on any prescribed medications. I take Tylenol and Advil for pain.
I do not use any recreational drugs like caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, or cannabis.
Social situation
As noted above, I live with my wife and our 2 young children. We have little or no family support here, and don't know anyone else in this town. We try to stay in touch with friends we met in Vancouver and the Okanagan during our years in those places.
Finances
I am currently receiving disability benefits which cover the basics like rent and food. I don't have much in the way of savings, other than a few silver coins I received as gifts, and some cryptocurrency which has been greatly devalued over the past year.
Things I might try next
There are no doctors taking new patients here in town. The walk-in clinics here are also not seeing anyone who isn't already a patient of one of their doctors. There is a hospital emergency room (ER) that is understaffed and currently full of people that have respiratory problems, thanks to damaged immune systems from isolation and mRNA injections.
In early 2023 I plan to go to the ER in the hopes they catch my arrythmia on an EKG, or put me on another waitlist for a Holter monitor, in an attempt to get diagnosed with the myocarditis and pericarditis.
I also hope to receive information and advice from readers of this article, which may lead to other options I can try.
Conclusion
This is a rough draft. I will post again soon, updating this information. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to give them! Also, please ask questions in the comments. If you want to get in touch directly, my email is drutter (at) protonmail (dot) com.
I have been through an exhausting 6 and a half years of physical suffering, without a day off from these symptoms, and at times it is hard to remember what it was like to feel normal and healthy. I have tried focusing on it and attacking the problems directly, and I've tried giving up and trying to ignore them. My wife and I have done hundreds of hours of medical research. I do everything I can to improve my health and situation, and have documented most of the above as it happened, in my YouTube channel and here on the blockchain. Now I have decided to post it all in one place, in the hopes it will help me figure out what to do next.
The healer is now in need of healing. This is my attempt to find healthcare in Canada.
DRutter
In 2012 I became aware of a condition that should have killed me at that point. With no trust in "the system" I became destitute.
Yesterday was my 10th year of survival. 🤬🥓
I'm glad you're still with us.
Flow on! : D
Thriving
🥓
I knew you had health problems, but this is astonishing! Boy, have you had a hard time!
So both ends of the "care" are useless. Having better "insurance" would do you no good at all.
Do you think the neurological issues are swine flu vaccine injury?
Have you tried any of the health services cropping up, at least in the US, that do not take insurance and so can offer care that is NOT one-size-fits-all? Your condition is so complicated, I imagine if you could get "care," it would consist of an army of specialists who do not care what your other symptoms are, only those they "treat."
Maybe the Wellness company, https://www.twc.health/, could guide you. They are treating vaccine injuries, as are the frontline doctors here, although I can't get to their website even via a Brave browser search. They do not take insurance, but their fees are quite low.
May 2023 be a much better year for you and your family!
Thanks Owasco!
Yes, I too wonder if I had a vaccine injury from the swine flu shot in 2006. Back then, I wasn't as skeptical of vaccines (not that the Covid shots are real vaccines, of course). I was starting to wake up in a general sense, realizing the wars in the middle East were unjust, that parts of the medical system were mostly for profit and not to help people, that governments lied, etc. But I was part of the system, and still only doing the preliminary research into things. I certainly had no idea vaccines caused major health issues or came with serious risks. When my boss started to lay on the pressure, I kept saying "but I feel fine, and I never get sick, I don't think I need it". She said "you might pass on something to a patient, and get us all in trouble, you have to have the vaccine or you might get fired". Weasel words. She never said I would definitely be let go. But the pressure was real, and I didn't want to be in trouble, so finally I relented. And yeah, sick for 2 weeks, missed work and everything. First time I had been sick in years. I seemed to make a full recovery, but looking back on things now, I can see that I did start to have serious health issues just a few years later. They were transient, and not too disruptive... just things like IBS and a little pain. But within 10 years of the injection I was completely messed up. A lot of doctors pointed at my grandmother's death as the culprit (early 2016), saying "stress and sadness take a real toll on the body". They would point to my anxiety, which was the result of my horrible physical symptoms, as the cause of those symptoms. That just made me more upset... and when I got upset they said "I told you so - you are anxious and stressed, and it manifests as all the symptoms you're complaining about!" Really maddening. Nobody wants to do anything, they just want to blame the patient for everything, literally, and tell you to get therapy or take SSRIs.
Thanks for the TWC link. I'm a fan of the FLCCC and their protocols and research. And the frontline docs, but they are exclusive to the USA. I like paying for things out of pocket when it comes to healthcare. That's not very common here in Canada, but as I've said for years, free healthcare isn't free - and you get what you pay for. The "free" system is essentially useless unless you cut yourself or break a bone. They can't handle complicated and/or chronic issues and you just get bounced around forever. Paying for care directly hurts, when you're on limited income and already paying for the "free" care through taxes, but I find it much more effective. For example, before we moved I had a doctor in the Okanagan who was somewhat awake, unvaxxed, and willing to bend the system rules a bit. She charged $40 a visit to keep the private clinic open, but I was willing to pay, because she actually listened and eventually got me the Holter monitor booked (not that I was able to get it done before we moved). In 2016, I was seeing a naturopath, which also charged per visit because it's not considered real healthcare by the government here, but she was great with supplements and diet, something no standard doctor will ever talk about. I've actually asked doctors if my diet could have anything to do with my health issues, and some LAUGHED at me, or at the very best, said "definitely not". Do they not know diet is at least half of health? Or do they feign ignorance because that's what their employer (Big Pharma / the government) tells them to do? In any case, I find paying for care to be a good thing, even if it cuts into my pocketbook.
A very happy and healthy new years to you and yours :))
Thank you! And to yours!
Western med is not health care, it is poisoning. I'm so sorry you are having these problems. Another option is homeopathy, which I have seen work wonders. The remedies are soooo cheap, and the practitioners generally not obscenely expensive for an hour or more of their time, unlike western doctors for their 30 seconds of attention.
Well, placebos can work for some people. And at least there are no side effects to water! :P
Not a believer I see. It's cool. I have a story to tell about homeopathy though, so here goes:
My eldest, then only 5 or 6, was having super high fevers on a cyclical schedule - every few weeks she'd shoot up to 106 degrees, and we'd run to the ER, where they could find nothing wrong. Cue an endless stream of doctor visits. We finally got a diagnosis of some very rare and dread disease for which there was no known treatment. You can imagine our fright.
So we called a homeopath. He prescribed one dose of a tissue salt (Calc carb I believe, but it was long ago) and she never had a high fever again. Placebo?
Maybe - that's exactly how placebos (sometimes) work. But if you don't know the dosage or even the name of the drug/medicine/compound used, I can't research it. The good news is you don't have to deal with those sudden fevers anymore!
I really like that "Wellness Center" site, and trust McCullough 100%. (Hilarious if you read his wikipedia page... the section on his "covid disinfo" section reads like it's my own blog, LOL) They are clearly evidence-based and anti-big-pharma. Pro-freedom, even... a lot of people are afraid to identify that way for some sad reason. So I checked it out, and seems Canadians are welcome to join, but it may be more expensive, and some parts may not be accessible to me. It's okay, I'm used to that! Everything costs, of course... I'm used to that too. Seems they only accept credit cards. I'm unbanked and always will be, but I can buy prepaid credit cards. Sadly, those work for less and less things nowadays. I can't even buy from Costco online anymore! (And they don't have a location within 500 km of me, so I can't shop there at all now.) I think prepaid credit cards are being phased out completely. We had trouble spending the last one we got... even places like gas stations and grocery stores barely accept them anymore. I wouldn't be able to find out if they accept prepaid cards without buying one and trying, unless their online chat thing works. It's closed for the night but I'll try tomorrow. So if I got through those hurdles, then there's another: "Access The Wellness Company’s services in the palm of your hand!" I am unsmart, and always will be. Seems they require a smart device to access most of the services. Definitely for any kind of consult with a doctor, which I would want. It's their main feature as far as I can tell, other than buying their products. Their products do seem good (gluten free and vegan, made in the USA) but I can get all that locally as far as I know. Just maybe not in a cool bottom with Peter McCullough's name on it! Anyway, I will try to use the chat feature to ask questions tomorrow while the baby's napping. Thanks again for the link :)
Hope you can get on the waitlist for the Holter monitor.
Thanks. Seems that's one of my best available options right now. Strange though, why a person has to prove they have a fast irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) to a machine, so there's official record of it. Didn't we used to be able to tell our doctors what was going on, and they believed us, then acted accordingly with diagnosis and treatment? Or at least, put a finger on my pulse, and confirm it for yourself! But now everything (here anyway) is "doctor by numbers". You present with a complaint/symptom, and they have to go through a certain process. It's very rigid, and not often the best for the patient. I've been trying to show my arrhythmia for almost a year now, and either the equipment isn't available, or when I get hooked up, I have a rare moment of normal rhythm. "Nothing to see, sorry, try again later!" I've gone 14 months with this now. They say you have 3 to 5 years once myocarditis makes itself known, assuming you get proper care for it, and more than 1 of those has already passed. I guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope for luck... and that I don't have to move halfway through the process and start all over in a new town!
Here is a story about a Canadian man trying to access the healthcare system to deal with side effects he got from the Covid injections.
"A Gatineau, Que., man who developed a severe skin condition after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine says he's ready to give up on Canada's health-care system and seek treatment abroad."
"Otahbachi, who has no family doctor, went to the Gatineau Hospital. After waiting 23 hours and learning it could be many more, they left. He tried every doctor's office he could find in Gatineau, then began calling medical clinics in Montreal, Mirabel, Terrebonne and even Quebec City, more than 400 kilometres away. None were accepting new patients. Numerous attempts to book an appointment at a local walk-in clinic proved equally fruitless."
"His faith in Canadian health care shattered, Otahbachi has begun exploring treatment options in Morocco and Turkey."