- Tonight on ""WPBS Weekly Inside The Stories" part four of our addiction prevention and treatment series.

We talked to the experts about various treatment options and an unknown illness, stumps residents in new Brunswick, Canada.

Side effects include muscle tremors and memory loss.

Also delight in the unique sounds of musician, Trevor Gordon Hall, will take you to Boldt Castle for this incredible talent.

Your stories, your region coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly Inside The Stories."

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] "WPBS Weekly Inside The Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation.

The Watertown Oswego, Small Business Development Center.

CSX.

The Oswego County Community Foundation at the Central New York Community Foundation.

And by the Richard S. Shineman Foundation.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone.

And what welcome to this edition of "WPBS Weekly Inside The Stories."

I'm Stephond Brunson.

Tonight, we wrap up our four part series addressing addiction, prevention and treatment.

We know addiction does not discriminate.

Anyone can be affected and thanks to the dedicated and experienced folks in the north country, treatment is widely available.

(soft music) - [Tina] Addiction is when someone has something that they have formed a habit and are unable to break.

- Addiction can impact anybody in our community.

It's in our high rent districts it's in our rough neighborhoods, it doesn't discriminate based on sex or race or sexual preference.

It's something that can impact absolutely anybody at any time in their life.

- Some of the signs that you might be addicted are an increased tolerance to the substance.

Often thinking about the substance, the next time you're able to use.

It becomes everything that they are thinking of.

Every move they make, there's drugs involved, there's alcohol involved, and they can't have any of their other daily living normal as they know it.

And other signs that the drug addiction may be causing a real problem and it might be time for you to seek help is when you're no longer having the same relationships that you might have had in the past.

You may be cutting yourself off from family or friends or maybe they've cut themselves off from you.

Some people steal for drugs, but that isn't always the case.

These things can happen to anyone.

So you can be someone who's highly successful and still have a problem with alcohol or drugs.

There are several types of treatments available for someone who's suffering with addiction.

There are support groups, there's out-patient treatment, there's detox, in-patient treatment.

And then there's more intensive treat such as half-way house, inpatient rehab.

And some of this is available here locally as well.

- When a person enters treatment, they're going to experience a way of living that they're certainly not used to.

Oftentimes, they'll find it to be a bit more regimented than they're used to.

They're gonna be asked to do things and talk about things that can be uncomfortable.

And that's really an important part of the treatment experience because it's important to bring out what causes our addiction or our problems in the first place.

For a person to enter into recovery, sometimes that will happen with treatment.

Sometimes they can do it on their own.

Sometimes it'll take multiple treatment attempts.

It's really important that a person take the time and really reach out for assistance.

It's rare that a person with a serious substance use disorder can do it on their own.

And oftentimes, it may take more than one attempt at treatment.

We experience different treatment programs, different helpers within the treatment system differently.

And it might not mesh at that first try but it may down the road.

I've had clients who were in treatment with me as teenagers, and it wasn't until several years later that they entered into recovery.

They just weren't ready at that time, but they kept trying and entered into recovery and lived happy and healthy lives as a result.

- So you hear a lot that treatment doesn't work and that's why people continue to use.

But what we hope is that people will keep trying because oftentimes, there isn't a connection the first time.

And when you're in counseling, there has to be that connection, the person has to kind of click if you will, with the person on the other side of the desk.

And so we're hopeful that the person who's coming in, seeking help, will see that other people have gotten help and have found recovery and maybe they'll come back and try again.

And so there's always all sorts of different kinds of treatment that you can get.

And there isn't, you know, one size fits all.

So that's the hope is that people will keep trying.

- If a person is in recovery, sustained recovery, and has what we might call a relapse or a slip, and they use, it's really important for them to get right back into a treatment setting or reach out for help because that's not a whole overreaching failure, that's simply a glitch in their recovery process and in their journey.

And they can get back on that journey with the right assistance.

- There was a legislation that was passed about a year or so ago where all insurances have to cover addiction treatment and it's all realms of addiction treatment.

So that's in-patient, out-patient, detox.

Now there are people without insurance.

So what we do at Samaritan and also Credo does this as well, they can help people who come in without insurance get insurance so that we know that they'll be covered.

- Addiction or substance use disorder is a chronic disease.

It's no different than diabetes is a disease of the pancreas or high blood pressure is a disease of the heart.

Those are lifelong diseases that have to be treated appropriately throughout our lives.

- So recovery is a lifelong journey and people in recovery are probably gonna tell you that.

So every day, they're working towards that in some fashion.

And a lot of times people in recovery then go into the field.

They may become a counselor.

They may become a peer advocate.

They may be a lead in a meeting, an AA meeting or an NA meeting.

But each day, they find that they're going to have to do something that's gonna help them in this recovery, because it's a lifelong journey.

- [Narrator] If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction, help is available.

No judgments, no guilt trips, just help.

And happy to provide it.

Contact one of the numbers or websites on your screen.

(soft music) - Meantime, in the province of New Brunswick, several residents have reported symptoms of dizziness, tremors, speech impairment and memory loss to their doctors.

A community is on the edge of their seats, waiting for information on a mysterious illness, plaguing residents.

Niki Anastasakis of "Inside The Stories: CHCH," has more.

(soft music) - You know, it's difficult like sometimes I'm like, do I even bother saving for retirement?

Like, should I just travel with that?

Like, there's a lot of stuff I wanna experience and I don't know if I'll ever be able to do those things.

You don't wanna waste time is so precious, but it's ugh.

- [Niki] Time is of the essence for 33 year old Terriline Porelle who loves to hike, snorkel, and camp.

All of which she's been struggling to do within the last couple of years.

- It was summer 2020, when my first symptoms kinda started.

I got like a sharp pain in my leg.

Over the next few days it happened more frequently.

And then it started kinda spasming like a twitch, kinda like your eye does when you're tired.

And then it was my arms, face, fingers, toes.

And my big red flag was I forgot how to write the letter q at work.

Like I couldn't figure out what it was.

I had just written it down and I'm looking at it and I still couldn't figure it out, or even like duplicate it.

- [Niki] From vision problems, to memory loss and endless twitching.

It was about a year ago when the receptionist from (indistinct) New Brunswick knew something was deeply wrong.

Her health was significantly deteriorating.

She contacted her family doctor who then sent her to a neurologist, Dr. Alier Marrero.

He conducted a series of blood tests and neurological tests, ruling out conditions like motor neuro disease and Parkinson's.

However, one test on her brain revealed something serious.

- It showed the profusion in my brain wasn't working the way it should.

And so that wasn't normal.

And he said, "You know you're not the only one."

He said he's looking into other people who are experiencing similar symptoms that they can't explain or find a diagnosis for.

- Dr. Marrero explained to Porelle that he has seen her symptoms in several of his patients who live in and around Moncton.

The province's biggest city with a population of about 70,000 people.

Ages range with the youngest reported case being an 18 year old up to 85 years old.

- So he said it's to the point where he's like I've asked public health to help him investigate this further because it, he said like, we're not sure if it's something in the environment, in the air, in the food.

- [Niki] Last June, the government of New Brunswick released a memo stating in part, "There have been 48 individuals experiencing an unusual combination of neurological symptoms of a neurological syndrome of unknown cause in the province of New Brunswick.

Despite extensive medical investigation, a diagnosis for these individuals has not been yet determined.

As part of this investigation, PHNB, our partners, have finished an epidemiological investigation questionnaire to gather exposure information."

Tragically, from the current group under investigation, there have been, as of now, nine deaths, believed to be linked to the unknown illness.

The government says brain tissues from the deceased have been collected and are being reviewed both in the province and by federal scientists.

Last October, the government of New Brunswick announced that a special task force of experts had conducted an epidemiological study.

And the results of that study found there were no known food, behavior or environmental exposure that could have caused the symptoms of a mystery brain syndrome.

- I would like to quote from Dr. Gerard Jansen of the CJDSS.

"In these eight patients, no evidence for a prion disease was found nor novel pathology.

We suggest that these eight patients represent a group of misclassified clinical diagnoses."

- [Niki] Now Porelle is deeply skeptical of the province's claims saying without proof that the government has yet to conduct any environmental assessments.

- I don't know if it's that they know something and they don't wanna tell us.

If it comes out, it is something in the water, like the blue-green algae, nobody's gonna wanna come and visit our beaches and you know, be in a province where you have that potential of exposure to that.

And if it's like in the food chain, in our fisheries, like that could do a lot of harm to the economy that's already struggling.

So that's my personal take on it.

- [Niki] For Steve Ellis, it was June of 2019, when his father's retirement came to a screeching halt.

- What's my name?

(indistinct) - [Niki] The 61 year old collapsed at home with a seizure on his 40th wedding anniversary.

- He went to the hospital and that's where he remained for 366 days.

And in that timeframe, he had hallucinations, dementia behavior.

So memory loss, delusions, aggression.

He would be aggressive with staff.

He would have repetitive speech.

(indistinct) - [Niki] Doctor said his father had atrophy in his brain and didn't know what was causing it.

- We were told that he was going to die.

We were told to prepare for that.

He didn't, he's still with us, but you know he's just been up and down and up and down on the rollercoaster.

- [Niki] Ellis said his family's fight for answers lingers on with little communication from the government.

Ellis who started a Facebook support group last March says that cluster of 48 doesn't represent all cases either.

- My father was not part of that count.

I actually was the one who reached out to Dr. Marrero and asked if he could see my father.

And he did and said, "Yes, he checks off all the criteria of other patients."

And he became part of the cluster, the cluster of 48.

That's the only ones that the government of New Brunswick has chosen to investigate.

It's upwards of 150 people.

- According to Ellis, he suspects the disorder may stem from the water, air or soil.

- And the problem with New Brunswick, is there's been a lot of blue-green algae.

And in blue-green algae is the neurotoxin BMAA.

And that federal scientists have indicated previously, that this very well could be why these people are getting sick because they have a neurotoxin in their system.

But the government is not allowing these tests to happen, to rule it out, even.

- [Niki] New Brunswick public health tell us they are currently waiting on a final report from a clinical review of the potential neurological syndrome which is expected to be made before spring.

- We're dealing through a pandemic.

So I don't know that this could have moved any faster.

All of the steps that have been taken have been methodical and well thought out.

- [Niki] But Ellis says the clock is ticking and the government's lack of investigation into environmental factors is a big mistake that could cost more lives.

For Porelle, her journey is long and hard but she's trying to keep head up.

- It's been an ongoing battle.

Like it's really hard not having answers and not knowing like I can't spend all day, every day, thinking like what's going on?

What caused this?

Like what's gonna happen?

Like, will I be able to walk in a year?

Will I still be able to you know, do all the things I wanna do in my life.

- [Niki] For "Inside The Story," I'm Niki Anastasakis.

- Spring time is here.

And for some, that means getting out and exploring the many historic places in the north country.

This spring, we take you on a trip of historic lighthouses.

First up, the Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse.

While this historic structure is privately owned, it can be viewed from the Ogdensburg boat launch, off of Highway 37.

(car hoots) (soft music) - [Narrator] The Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse constructed in 1870, is the second to occupy this low rocky point where the Oswegatchie River joins the St. Lawrence River.

The original lighthouse, which dated to 1834 was demolished in 1871.

For about 25 years, Lighthouse Point was an island.

Trees and shrubbery had died away as water washed away the soil and cut a channel between the lighthouse and the main shore.

An early keeper was Samuel Penfield who came in 1888 and died in 1914.

Later keepers were James Gunn who was there when electric lights were installed in the 1920s and Harold Cook who lived there until 1942, when the lighthouse was decommissioned.

Not everyone was happy to see the old lighthouse torn down and the new one built in 1870.

Some did not like the design of the new building.

The Ogdensburg Journal in 1870, compared the new structure to the old lighthouse and announced the new lighthouse a most contemptible structure.

Fortunately, the newer lighthouse is as endearing to the residents of today's Ogdensburg as the old one was to the residents of 1870.

Later in 1900, the lighthouse's attached tower was raised to 63 feet to increase its visibility.

It was decommissioned in the early 1960s.

The lighthouse is now privately owned.

The family of the current owner purchased the property at a government auction in 1964.

- This was pretty well dilapidated.

All the windows were broken.

A lot of vandalism.

There's a lot of maintenance for the place.

I've renovated quite a bit of it.

Plumbing, wiring, heating, fixed up the structural part of it.

Made it livable, year round.

(soft music) - [Narrator] In 2011, the coast guard placed a light back in the tower.

And it is once again, a navigational beacon.

- [Blair] My mom and dad always wanted to have it to benefit the city and the surrounding areas for tourism, to help draw people into the community.

And so I've tried to help out with that.

Property's always open to people.

We have weddings, people come down, take their pictures.

- Before we head out for the evening, we leave you with the sounds of Trevor Gordon Hall, an undeniably talented guitarist who mixes clean and clear guitar chords with the kalimba creating a unique sound like no other.

We spend some time with him at Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay, here he is with "Morning Sidewalk."

- The inspirations come around daily life.

You know, I remember one time I was at a gas station and I heard a couple of car doors shut in a random way that actually formed a beat.

And that sorta got it stuck in my mind or when you're at the stoplight and you can see the blinkers blinking and sometimes they sync up and sometimes they go back and forth and sometimes I get ideas for rhythms from that, but otherwise listening to really great drummers really great guitar players and great composers.

In my travels, I'm always trying to pick up different inspirations.

Some of the sounds of composition from Portugal or some of the rhythms in Columbia and trying to put those into the mix.

I feel like I'm always drawing from different ideas and putting them into this giant well, I suppose and then when it comes time to compose, that's what I use.

That's what I draw from.

I feel like everything about an environment affects how I feel, you know, a song.

And even though I've played a song a thousand times when it's before an audience, it feels new to them and sort of, I listen through those ears.

But if you're in an environment that I feel really inspired by, I feel like, you know that old saying, what is most personal is most universal.

That if I'm really feeling something, I sort of just take in what the surroundings are and try to use that in the performance and hope that that's the point that you can connect with the audience.

So everything makes a difference.

The way the lights feel you know, or if I'm doing outdoor, everything really comes into the moment because that's what it's about.

We put the screens down and you have an organic moment, human to human.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - That does it for us this Tuesday evening.

Join us next week for a fresh look inside the stories.

We visit a nonprofit in Kingston, that's doing several different projects to connect people with good food, discover all they do.

And cyber bullying is very real.

Learn how one local and one national organization are stepping up to help young folks overcome.

Also, Brasher Falls country doctor Susan Badenhausen passed away in 2018.

We'll tell you more about the legacy she left behind showcasing artists and musicians from the north country.

Meantime, if you have a story idea, you'd like to see us explore, or you're a poet or musician and would like to be featured, email us at wpbsweeklyatwpbstv.org.

Until then, goodnight my friends.

- [Narrator] "WPBS Weekly Inside The Stories" is brought to you by The Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, dedicated to improving the wellbeing of communities by helping disadvantaged children and families.

Online at dmjf.org.

The Watertown Oswego, Small Business Development Center, a free resource offering confidential business advice for those interested in starting or expanding their small business.

Serving Jefferson Lewis and Oswego counties since 1986.

Online at watertown.nysbdc.org.

Additional funding provided by CSX.

The Oswego County Community Foundation at the Central New York Community Foundation.

And by the Richard S. Shineman Foundation.

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