Before I Go

Marion and Dani return for S2, after some really honest conversations about the emotional and psychological cost of showing up authentically in this podcast. S1 began as Marion navigated what she understood to be her final year of life. She had chosen MAiD and was getting things in order. This shared podcast with Dani was part of her legacy. At the end of S1, Marion was approved for a miracle drug...

Season 2 of “Before I Go” returns with mother–daughter duo Marion and Dani as they continue to normalize the conversations most people avoid: about death, grief, illness, and the systems that shape our care. Building on the profound impact of Season 1, they go deeper into the emotional cost of caregiving , what it means to be an Indigenous patient and caregiver within a healthcare system marked by...

Dedicated to our brother and uncle, Bill Blue. Hard to fathom that this is the final episode of Season 1…what an incredible journey. Today, Marion and Danielle begin by talking about the illness their brother/uncle is facing, the pain of this reality, and processing difficult emotions. Dani addresses the difficulty of being a caregiver, recognizing the strength it takes to carry that burden. “Why...

Today, in the second part of our conversation, Marion and Dani talk with Myrna McCallum about choices. About the trauma we carry, and how it informs all of our choices. About recognizing that the legacy of being a survivor of trauma means finding the strength to consciously choose to face each day.  Myrna shares her path to making new and better choices, what led her to advocacy work in the legal...

We would like to dedicate today’s episode to the memory of Ty Iron.  Today, Marion and Dani share a no-holds barred conversation with lawyer Myrna McCallum who shares her lived experience with incredible honesty and insight.  Together they discuss residential schools, the resulting trauma and intergenerational trauma - and carrying the grief of our ancestors. Looking at coping with despair and the...

Today’s episode looks at the term ‘environmental justice’, its meaning historically, and the shift to calling it what it truly is - ‘environmental racism’. Dr. Ingrid Waldron is the author of the award-winning book “There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities”. It is also a Netflix documentary of the same name, co-produced by Waldron, actor Elliot Page,...

Today’s episode talks about the term ‘reconciliation’, and how including Indigenous voices and involvement is the way to see true change regarding the code of ethics and systemic racism within the Canadian Medical Association. The potential for harm as the only indigenous person in the medical education system and the medical system itself, has informed Dr. Cashin’s activism. From growing up in Co...

In this episode Dani and Marion talk about Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), about the care Marion has received, about advocacy in our medical system. Lisa Kolkman, Nurse Practitioner (NP) in the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital. She supported Marion’s sister, who had PH, and takes incredible care of Marion today, helping her and her family navigate this illness. Lisa talks w...

Today Dani and Marion talk about MAiD with a non-Indigenous medical professional who also has experience in the legal system and a perspective from the UK, his home before moving to Northern BC. Dr Sandell is a MAiD assessor and provider in BC, as well as a medical advisor to the BC Ministry of Health’s MAiD Oversight Unit. But he is also a GP, an ER doctor, a teacher and mentor, is writing a book...

This episode opens up a medical conversation about MAiD and about Indigenous perceptions and feelings about MAiD through the lens of intergenerational trauma and medical racism. Sometimes it is understood as a loving, beautiful humane process, and other times viewed through the experiences of colonial systems around death. Dr. Cornelia (Nel) Wieman , Chief Medical Officer at the First Nations Heal...

This week’s conversation is a difficult one. After caring for and witnessing the illness and death of her mother and sister, Marion has come to a decision regarding the use of MAiD. Everyone listening will have strong feelings and opinions on the subject. Marion and Dani set the tone with a discussion that is gentle, respectful, holding space throughout for authenticity and compassion. They talk a...

Welcome to the first episode of BEFORE I GO…Embracing the Journey of MAiD. Meet our hosts, Danielle Wilson Brown and Marion Brown as they share who they are, their Indigenous heritage and evolution, the story of their family, of loss, pain and lessons that heal. Allowing us to get to know grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and siblings, Dani and Marion tell the story of their family with humour...

“Death is not an ending but a change of worlds.” Indigenous nations have a long history with ceremony and tradition around death. A member of the Gitxaala Nation in BC, Marion Brown has Pulmonary Hypertension (PH). PH is a chronic progressive condition which will, as with other members of her family, eventually take her life. And so, Marion has made the decision to use the MAiD program, when she f...