The Current - Jennifer Brady fought for her health — and won

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

Jennifer Brady was suffering. The Nova Scotia woman was living with lymphedema, a chronic condition that causes painful swelling in the arms and legs. She couldn't get treatment there, and the government refused to pay for treatment out of province, so she applied for Medical Assistance in Dying. A year ago, we heard her story on our program. Ultimately, her case not only caught the attention of the Nova Scotia government — it has also prompted change. Now, a year later, Angela MacIvor brings us Jennifer’s story in her documentary, The Fight.

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Jennifer could not find a single doctor in Nova Scotia to treat her lymphedema, a painful condition which causes chronic swelling, typically in the arms or the legs. The government of Nova Scotia was refusing her request to get surgery out of province. Jennifer has two small kids, and because of the debilitating daily pain, she took the desperate measure of applying for medical assistance in dying. Ultimately, her case, not only caught the attention of the Nova Scotia government, it also prompted change.

And so now, a year later, the CBC's Angela McIver brings us this documentary, The Fight. Perfect. Thank you. As Jennifer Brady boards her direct two-hour flight from Halifax to New Jersey, she points out, for most people, this short hop would be pretty ordinary. But for Jennifer, the journey to get here is anything but routine. This trip is the result of six long years fighting for her life. To get through all of the turmoil that it took to get here was really difficult because it felt for so long like it wasn't going to happen.

So now being at this point, it's still, there's a part that still feels surreal. The whole thing feels surreal. Jennifer is going for surgery, paid for by the Nova Scotia government, something health officials tried to prevent and even fought in court. It's been, you know, a constant battle to get here that just felt like there was constantly new hoops to jump through and having to jump through hoops that my own government was creating. I think was part of the frustration, but it was frustration, but also, you know, you feel like not, it's like dehumanizing in a way as well to say, I need this care and the government to say, like,

not only no, but we're going to try to stop you from getting it. Jennifer has lymphedema, a chronic disease that causes extreme fluid build up in her legs. It's a side effect from having her lymph nodes removed during a hysterectomy in 2019. to treat cervical cancer. Come on, pup. I meet Jennifer and her two dogs for the first time in her home in Halifax. It's September 2024,

and most of her days are spent inside. So the first two are actually relatively relatively easy to get off. It's the last one. You'll see that I take off. That's hard. She wears high-grade compression stockings to manage the painful swelling.

My life centers as revolves around managing my legs and experiencing pain every day. I'm doing all this work to manage this disease and it continues to get worse. The swelling is painful. Even wearing the stockings, which is something I have to do to help manage the condition, they're tremendously painful. They cut into the back of my ankles. They cut into the top of my foot. They cut into the back of my knee. You know, that's despite having proper fittings and measurements. So I've done all that. She only takes them off to bathe and when she uses her massage machine. It's a blue inflatable suit she has to climb into. Covering from her chest to her feet, it's hooked up to a machine that controls

the pressure. The suit is designed to move the fluid in her legs, but it means for six hours a day she's tethered to her couch, not able to move. The whole time, her mental health slowly eroding. My nurse practitioner tried me on five different antidepressant medications and they all almost immediately caused my leg to swell up considerably. So I had to stop taking those. So I essentially have untreated depression that, you know, as it does for anybody hugely impacts your day-to-day, your, yeah, your desire to live even. It greatly impacts, yeah, my kids in a big way. That's probably one of the hardest parts is just watching my kids watch me have to go through this

and the pain that it causes and my inability to do things. And then the burden and responsibility that falls to them. In May of last year, Jennifer couldn't take it anymore. At 46 years old, the single mother of two applied for medical assistance and dying. It's hard to imagine that I'm at the same. that point. And I think probably most people looking at me would not think that I'm as sick as I am or as sick as, you know, getting to a point that I'd apply for made. The impact of the disease, though, as I kind of mentioned, is like, it's taken away. I'm living, I'm living a half of my life

or a quarter of the life that I used to be able to lead. You know, like I said, it's taken away everything that I enjoy, things that are meaningful to me. And so I, you know, applying for maid is really just a reflection of feeling like what's the point of living. When most of my life is spent trying to manage my legs that still are not very well managed because the conservative therapy is not enough, like I need surgery. Jennifer shared this during our first interview. At the time, she hadn't told her kids yet, or even her mother. But behind the scenes, her case had already caught the attention of the head-made doctor in Nova Scotia.

His name is Dr. Gord Goobitz, and he wrote a letter to the health department in June of 2024, urging them to reconsider her case. Jennifer shared the letter with me, and I asked a colleague to read part of it aloud. It is not unreasonable to think that ongoing assessments and possibly surgical interventions may result in an outcome that would alleviate her symptoms to the point that a maid request would no longer be necessary. I have reviewed dozens of atypical made requests but have never found myself in the position of writing a letter such as this. In my experience, people do not request made unless their life circumstances have become so dire that it is the only option to request a maid assess. is not an easy thing for most people to do so when one is only 46 years old, otherwise healthy, and as two children at home is almost unthinkable.

Here's the thing. Jennifer is well-educated. She has a Ph.D., and she's a university professor. She teaches courses on advocacy. So when she went public with her maid application, Good evening. Halifax woman in her 40s has applied for medical assistance in dying. Some questioned whether it was a a tactic to get the government's attention. I asked her point blank if that's what she was doing. Her response surprised me. Yeah, it's a good question. I totally understand it. So it's hard to answer. I want to say that, yeah, it was all that. But the truth is that it wasn't. You know, like I don't really want that to be true, but it is true. You know what you mean? And I'm usually an incredibly strong person, and this has absolutely broken me.

So I was in June so close to killing myself. I really, it was really scary. And I think the only thing keeping me here with my kids. And, you know, at some point, that's not enough when I can't even take care of them. So massage starts here because it moves, it starts your lymphatic fluid moving, like with your lymph nodes all around your neck. And then you do your under your arms. For some cases of lymphedema, the painful swelling can be managed with conservative treatments like a massage. Over time, though, symptoms do tend to get worse.

In just six years, Jennifer's condition has become moderate to severe. had several blood infections and it scared her. The only solution was surgery. Most often it's a lymph node transplant or a procedure called lymphovinais anastomosis. As of last year in Canada, three provinces, Quebec, Ontario and BC provided these surgeries for local patients only. I think that should concern all Nova Scotians. As a relatively small province, it's totally reasonable that we wouldn't have every single medical service available in this province. partly because of, you know, just it's not as needed if we don't have as many people in the province, but also just affordability.

You know, we can't, we simply can't afford all of the potential medical services that someone in Nova Scotia may require. Regardless, the services, there should be a means to access those services, especially when that, when the service, this treatment that someone might need is available in other provinces. So the situation for me right now is that other Canadians, have access to this surgery through the publicly funded health care system. Nova Scotians don't. She was told she could get out-of-country care paid for if she got a referral from a Nova Scotia specialist in lymphedema.

Trouble was there wasn't a single doctor in the province meeting that criteria, something Jennifer had to prove herself, all while battling depression. Her mom, Gail Brady, lives in Ontario. She says it's been terrible. to see Jennifer's struggle. Wanting to be there and make it better for her, I couldn't do anything. I would ask her, what can I do?

What can I do? But there was nothing that I could do. I wanted to, you know, get in people's faces, but I couldn't do anything. I couldn't say I didn't know enough about the disease that she was going through. I read as much as I could to understand it, right? But personally, I couldn't do.

there. I couldn't take it away from her. Gail, do you remember last year when she told you that she applied for maid? Yeah, she told me after the fact. I was devastated. I told her, no, she couldn't do it. She's got too much life in her and that she had to keep fighting.

And that's what she always was the fighter and she needed to keep fighting for everything. And I just said that's not the way to do it. You know, she's got two children to look after and she's got a be there for her children, right?

And for all of us in the family, we all need her. How did that conversation go? I was shocked because I didn't know that's what she was going to do or even thinking of that. What kind of person takes on the law? Can they ever really know what they're getting into? A really tough-looking guy came up to us and said, are you part of this gay case?

My family started getting death threats. I wasn't able to go outside alone anymore. I'm Phelan Johnson, host of See You in Court, a new podcast about the cases that changed Canada and the ordinary people who made history. This is David and Goliath we have here. Find and follow See You in Court wherever you get your podcasts. Her family lived with this uncertainty for weeks,

but then came a reprieve. Last October, a judge released his decision after a judicial review Jennifer had filed with another woman back in 2022. They both challenged the province for requiring a specialist when one didn't even exist for their conditions. The judge called their denials of out-of-provence care unreasonable and procedurally unfair. After Jennifer cornered Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston at his election rally earlier that same name, week. I am a Nova Scotian. I have a life-threatening health condition that I have petitioned your government, including Minister Thompson, over and over again, to get out of province care, which is not available here. The Premier finally listened, and after hearing

about the court decision, apologized. No Nova Scotians should have to go through what they went through, so we're really sorry on behalf of all Nova Scotians that this happened to them. We We take the decision very seriously. There'll be no appeal. The decision will stand. And, of course, we're going to, we'll follow the conditions. We want to meet with them and talk with them and we'll see what's possible. And make sure also that on the financial side, we make them whole on the expenses and any further treatments that they're covered for that.

So it's a really sad situation. And I'm sorry on behalf of Nooskosians that had happened. Part of me feels like I want to celebrate, but another part of me feels like, you know, how do you celebrate a win when the battle has cost so much? It was only after she received a settlement and was approved for a consult in New Jersey that Jennifer's mindset began to shift, and she started making plans for the future. It's a day at the beach with my kids. That is, you know, to have that on the horizon. is enormous. In mid-July, she arrived in New Jersey for surgery. The cost of getting here, along with the procedure itself,

all paid for by the provincial government. When it comes to traveling between medical appointments and meals, though, she's on her own. So even once you jump the hoops of getting approved and getting somewhere for care, God help you once you get there because it's really expensive. At the same time, she is grateful to receive a level of care she didn't think existed. Hey, Jennifer.

It's so nice to see you. It's so good to see you. Thank you so much. How are you doing? Please have a C. Thank you. Dr. Joseph Diane is a world expert in lymphedema care. Every week, he's doing procedures that are rare in Canada.

He says there isn't a cure for lymphedema, but he's working on it. I think that the ultimate goal is really a cure. and this is a disease that affects more people than many other diseases that are rarer, but everybody knows about, like MS, for example, Alzheimer's. These are important diseases. It's not to minimize them, but there is a discordance between how many people have lymphedema and that most of the public on the street has never heard of the disease. and most of medicine doesn't know that they're actually doctors that treat it.

In Canada, at least one million people have lymphedema. That's according to the Canadian lymphedema framework, a national organization that advocates for patients. At Dr. Diane's clinic, he sees lymphedema patients each month from all over North America and as far away as the Middle East. Nobody was taking care of these patients. And then when I looked in medical school, there's no specialty. that you want to be a cardiologist, you take people, take care of patients with a heart problem.

But if you have lymphedema, there's no lymphologist in general to go to. It's a huge hole in medicine. And so from an intellectual side, it was very exciting to me to be able to maybe make a contribution and figure out this puzzle. From a human side and personal side in my heart was very personal to me to be able to help patients that are turned away that fall through the cracks. Jennifer hasn't been alone in her struggle. Crystal Ellingson is the woman who fought alongside her in the judicial review.

Crystal has a condition called lipidema. It causes a build-up of fatty tissue. She also had to go abroad for surgery and was repeatedly told no. They continue to support each other. Hey, how are you? Tonight, they do that over Zoom. You look lovely. How was your appointment?

My appointment was really good. I got to see Dr. Diane, and he just always makes me feel so calm, because he's just so calming and reassuring, and he's lovely. Having professionals who can help you manage your condition, just it's a game changer. So I'm really excited for you. Thank you. The night before surgery, as Jennifer packs her suitcase for the hospital, she can't admit how she's actually feeling. She doesn't want to go there because it stirs up too much emotion. I feel like a little bit of game face

and I need that right now so yeah I guess excited is the only thing I can come up with because that is helping the game face I guess in the operating room Dr. Diane is using a tool that identifies which lymph nodes in Jennifer's armpit

can be safely removed he's about to do a lymph node transplant on her. He goes on to a extract them and then carefully places them into her calf. So it's like planting seeds in the leg and you do have to wait for those seeds to grow and they'll sprout and attract new lymphatics to grow into the node. Once those connections are made, then fluid from the leg goes into the lymph nodes that were transplanted and out the vein and out the leg. Dr. Diane says the end goal is to improve function and reduce swelling. He says it usually takes patients six months to a year

before they experienced the full effect. Just hours after Jennifer's surgery, she records a video of herself in the hospital. One o'clock in the morning here, and I've been in and out of sleep all day, thankfully. But yeah, feeling pain-free for sure and pretty good. The nurses have been great. And I think just hopeful

for the first time in a long time, actually. I think I'm just realizing that now. Crystal made the trip to New Jersey to help take care of Jennifer and get her to appointments while she's in a wheelchair. Nothing to press. Nothing is accessible. More than anything, she's here for emotional support. I'm glad I'm here for you.

Thank you. I am overjoyed you are here for me. Thank you. Crystal aims her phone at Jennifer to take a video. Crystal and I were just joking about what all the fun things that I'm going to do when we get back to Halifax. And I thought to myself, when I was Saturday night, my mom stood to be with my kids, I'll have to stay home.

I won't be able to get to do any fun things. And Crystal reminded me that I've basically just had surgery a week ago. And I'm probably not going to be doing too many fun things for a little while so I can make sure I'm healed up. and stuff like that, but I also then, in Crystal laughing at me, because it was a ridiculous idea, just realized that, like, I haven't looked forward to something in so long, and that's been shifting for a long time now. But Wednesday, when I had my surgery, especially, I think it just lifted a weight off my shoulders. And that's made space for me to look forward.

forward to something. Where's Daisy? Where's Daisy pup? Coming home to Halifax, Jennifer looks like a different person from a year ago. She's standing up straighter and she's smiling. As for that inflatable massage machine, well, it's packed up in the corner. Not being in it for six hours a day means Jennifer can

now have more time to focus on things like packing up a cooler to take her kids on a road trip. And she's able to laugh. Yeah, you know, it's funny because I've always been a fighter. So I think in some ways it hasn't changed me. It's just confirmed what everyone already knew, which is I'm stubborn. I'm persistent. I don't say this in a mean way, but like they kind of mess with the wrong person. I am a tenacious person. Jennifer plans to keep pushing government. Nova Scotia's auditor general has just begun a formal review of out-of-provence care

and how requests are processed. Jennifer hopes to help with that, but her main focus is to let go of the anger. She no longer wants to die. It was almost exactly a year ago we were sitting here for the first time, and you were heavenly contemplating made very serious about that. Where does that stand now? I almost can't believe it. Looking back, I know that is how I felt at the time. And it wasn't that I wanted to not be here. I wanted to be here, but it just felt impossible. You know, I know a lot of people didn't understand me applying for Maid. I heard from some of those people.

Friends and family were very upset with me that I had applied for Maid. I got a lot of public criticism. I just, I don't expect everyone to understand because I don't think it's something I even would have understood if it wasn't happening to me. You know, I think there's lessons that the government needs to take out of this, but I think there's lessons that we all can take out of this. all can take out of this, which is, you know, how to respond to someone when they're suffering. She never wanted to leave her children, so dreaming of spending a day at the beach with them and now actually doing it allows some of that pain to wash away. So what does this mean to you right now?

Just normal, just a fun day at the beach with my kids, you know, like back to the things that I always love to do being able to take my kids out on summer vacation for a few hours right now. But, you know, just, yeah, just being able to be here. I love the beach and I haven't been able to do this. So I feel like I've got my life back a little bit. She's not fully recovered. She still wears compression socks and can only be on her feet for a couple of hours at a time. Even so, it's all with a smile on her face.

A documentary, The Fight was produced by CBC reporter Angela McIver in Halifax with help from the CBC's audio documentary unit. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.com. slash podcasts.