🧭 CCJ Lived Realities Part 2 of 3

🧭 CCJ Lived Realities
This is the Canadian Citizens Journal.

For many Canadians, retirement or reduced work does not bring relief.
It brings a collapse in health.

Years of stress, physical labour, and delayed care catch up all at once.
Pain becomes constant.
Fatigue sets in.
Chronic conditions worsen.

This is when doctor appointments begin to pile up.

Family doctors are hard to access.
Specialist referrals take months or years.
Tests are delayed.
Follow-ups fall through the cracks.

People are told to wait.
They are told it is just aging.
They are told to be patient.

Healthcare becomes a full-time job.
Phone calls.
Paperwork.
Travel.
Parking costs.
Time spent in waiting rooms.

Even in a public healthcare system, the costs add up.
Prescriptions.
Dental care.
Vision care.
Physiotherapy.
Private tests people pay for out of desperation.

All of this happens as income drops.

Canadians are told retirement is when they can finally focus on their health.
The reality is they finally have the time — but the system does not have room.

People are not suddenly falling apart.
They are finally stopping after holding themselves together for decades.

This is not normal aging.
This is the result of being pushed too far for too long.

This is the Canadian Citizens Journal.