Margaret (Maggie) Bristow describes her chronic pain as “excruciating” and “crippling,” living with degenerative disc disease, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis, arthritis in her spine, as well as bulging discs and bone spurs. “It feels like people are taking ice packs and shoving them into my chest … My skin feels like it’s burning off my body 24 hours a day,” Bristow said from her couch, sitting as still as she could. She said she has been sleeping sitting up for two decades due to back pain. “The last little while, I feel like the bottom of my spine is going to pop out of my skin,” Bristow said, wincing in pain. Bristow describes her successful career decades ago in the aerospace industry as “one of the best moments of my life.” She was also passionate about fostering shelter dogs and fondly tells stories of falling in love with each one of them. But from 1998, the pain started and her health began to decline significantly. WATCHES | Bristow describes her journey:
Woman forced to travel for medical help to die after being denied in Ottawa
Margaret Bristow, who has lived with severe chronic pain since 1998, says she was glad to finally have access to medical help when she was dying after being turned down three times by Ottawa-based evaluators. He plans to travel to Brampton for the procedure in August. After seeing a neurologist, neurosurgeons, pain specialists and trying various treatments and opioid medications for her chronic pain, Bristow said “nothing really worked for me.” Bristow said she has applied for medical assistance in dying, also called MAID, three times since the procedure was decriminalized in 2016 — twice before and once after recent legislative changes in 2021 that broadened eligibility criteria for patients. All three times, she said, her Ottawa assessors declared her ineligible. “I could have taken another route, instead of [them] it drags me and makes me wait, makes me hope. They chose to make my life horrible,” Bristow said. When she asked why she was recently denied, Bristow said she was told her assessor wasn’t “comfortable” approving her. “They left me lying on the side, like I was suffering.” Bristow sits in her living room in Ottawa in July. That month, she heard news that her MAID request had been approved in the Greater Toronto Area. (Nick Persaud/CBC)
He was forced to turn elsewhere
A patient must have “a serious and irreversible medical condition” to be eligible for MAID, according to the federal framework — meaning they have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability. are in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capacity; and are enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to them and cannot be relieved under conditions they consider acceptable. From 2021, patients like Bristow are eligible even if “natural death is not reasonably foreseeable”. Bristow said her family doctor connected her with MAID evaluators in the Toronto area this spring. Last month, Bristow was told she was approved. “[I’m] just over the moon that finally, after so many years of fighting, I finally manage to get what I need,” he said. Her procedure will take place on August 10. She will travel to Brampton, Ont., where her provider is located — taking strong pain medication to help her get there. She chose to do it in a hospital because she wants to donate her organs. “I thought Ottawa was the capital of Canada. Why don’t they give me the same thing? Why did they make me go over their heads and make me travel,” said Bristow, who was housebound for years. “Shame on Ottawa.”
Eligibility results may vary by clinician
Dr. Chantal Perrot, a Toronto family physician and MAID provider, said she has evaluated some patients from Ottawa who had trouble finding an evaluator in time. “That’s part of the challenge,” he said. “There aren’t that many of us around the country.” Perrot explained how MAID coordination is not standardized across the country. For example, while Ottawa has a regional network, there is no such network in Toronto. Bristow had been trying to get medical help to die for years in Ottawa, where she lives. Although several evaluators rejected her here, she was approved and will go to Brampton, Ont. for the procedure next week. (Nick Persaud/CBC) It’s not unusual to hear about patients traveling to get MAID in Ontario, he said, because there may not be health professionals nearby, willing or able to provide MAID in some areas. Some even travel from province to province. Each assessor makes a clinical decision about a patient’s eligibility on a case-by-case basis, based on their interpretation of the law, the patient’s history and circumstances, he explained. “It happens not infrequently that a person is deemed ineligible by one assessor but found eligible by another,” Perrot said.
Ottawa MAID respects physicians’ rights to refuse
The Champlain Regional MAID Network, which is run by The Ottawa Hospital, declined an interview. In an email, the network said all health professionals participate on a voluntary basis. If a doctor or nurse is “unavailable or inconvenient” during the procedure, the network said it makes “every effort” to refer patients to other providers who can support them. “The right to conscientious objection is a core value and principle of MAID,” the statement said. “If a provider is unwilling to accept a case, we respect that right.” The provincial health ministry also declined an interview. He said if a regional network turns a patient away, their care coordination service helps connect them with alternative clinicians. A regional network may have its own issues with capacity, resources or internal policies that may prevent it from providing MAID to some patients, the ministry said.
The world is losing “a gem,” says the friend
Ann Marie Gaudon met Bristow through the Chronic Pain Association of Canada and calls her a good friend. “I’ve seen an incredibly proud woman, I’ve seen grace, I’ve seen thoughtfulness, generosity, abundant love and even moments of humor despite the situation,” Gaudon said. He calls Bristow “a survivor, timeless.” “Maggie is a gem and we will all miss her. The world will miss her,” Gaudon said. A photo of Bristow’s late fiancé and “soul mate” Brian sits on her coffee table. (Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang/CBC) Bristow said she wants to share her story in hopes that others won’t face similar obstacles in the future. For people who have been denied MAID, she recommends seeking help from a family doctor, a specialist or advocate, or the province’s care coordination team. While holding a photo of herself and her late fiance Brian, Bristow said she was looking forward to reuniting with her “soulmate”. “This is the love of my life,” he said. “Not many people meet their true love. And I have him and have had him for four and a half years.… And I hope to see him soon.”
