Evidence of meeting #41 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was services.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Okay, good.
Was that service helpful to you?
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Good. Thank you.
I will pass on.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
I do have a few somewhat unrelated questions to each other perhaps.
For the first one, I have the same preamble that you should feel free not to answer. You say your husband's name is Marc. What's his thought of your being here today, and what's his reaction to that?
As an Individual
He's proud of me and he told me to say whatever I need to say.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
That's a very good answer.
I only joined the committee about a week ago, so I am learning a lot about this very quickly. We heard quite a bit of testimony about how boot camp breaks you down into a soldier, and when you leave there's nothing to build you back up into a civilian.
In your view, when Marc came back from the war, what would have been the perfect process? He would still have had the trauma; he would still have had the experiences. What is the correct process, which in a perfect world we would do so that we could then pass it on? I know it's a difficult one.
As an Individual
In my opinion, it would have been initial help. He got psychiatric drugs pretty soon after I urged him to get help, because instantly I knew there was an issue. But it was a lot of fear. They've been trained. They know how to pass those tests that they've been given about their psychological well-being. They know what they need to say in order to...say, “Oh, you need help.” But he went and got the help right away, so initially he got medication.
I think it's initially dealing with the trauma right away, instead of something happening, and “Oh, here's some beer and we'll get together.” That isn't going to solve anything.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Right. You also mentioned the cost of the VTP. Can you give a sense of what your out-of-pocket costs have been over the past four years in taking care of him? I know that's a difficult one. I think it's important to put it on the record.
As an Individual
I don't think I could put a ballpark figure because we paid for a naturopathic doctor. That's not covered. The things for his neurotransmitters, the supplements, aren't covered. I wouldn't even be able to put a figure. I'm sorry.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Stephanie, thank you, and thank you to your family for being here. I get a sense that you and Marc are a very good team together, and I suspect he's probably listening at home. So I am going to say, “Thank you for your service, Marc.”
But I want to talk again about mefloquine. First, was he ever told that there were any potential side effects from mefloquine?
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Okay.
You don't know anything about informed consent, whether he signed it or not?
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Maybe that's information he can pass on to us subsequent to this.
With the concoction of drugs, the pharmaceuticals that he was on, was medicinal marijuana ever an option for him?
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
How did you find the difference between being on the concoction of drugs he was on and the medicinal marijuana?
As an Individual
Medicinal marijuana was better, but that also had to leave our house. Just recently, he's tried the medicinal oil, and I don't know why, but I see a difference with the oil than with....
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Right. Because there are different methods. There are creams; there are oils. Do you know how many grams he would have been prescribed in that?
As an Individual
I don't know. He didn't use it very often because of the stigma of that. He didn't want that. We volunteer in the community. He did not want anybody.... Here's the public forum, gosh. Sorry, Marc.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
It's important because we're talking again, Stephanie, about dealing with PTSD, dealing with occupational stress injuries. One of the things we've found over the course of the past several years is that a lot of those who are suffering are trying to get off the opioids. They're trying to get off the concoction of medications because they're finding that medicinal marijuana, in whatever form, whether it's smoking it, oils, cannabutter, or whatever, is giving them their lives back.
I love the walking the dog.... You're involved, I suspect, with a lot of other spouses as well. What's your sense, from the others you're talking to, on that experience of being on the concoction of pills versus other treatments, whether naturopathy or otherwise?
