A former Humboldt resident's life has many questions surrounding his health, after losing 40 pounds, unintentionally, over a span of mere months.

Rod Gardner, who grew up in the city, is currently at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota with his wife Keri, where they are hoping to finally get a concrete answer about what is wrong with him.

She says that this has all come on very quickly.

"It started in December and January, he was not well. I kept sending him to the doctor. Fast forward to March, where there were some tests done and everything was coming back normal," she explained. "Fast forward to July where Rod was down 40 pounds. He started off at 210 and was down to 169 pounds. He was rapidly losing weight for no reason."

Gardner's frustration with wait times in Saskatchewan prompted them to travel to the United States to seek an answer.

"(The Mayo Clinic) started testing in the last week. They are telling us a diagnosis for Rod will take eight to ten business days for a diagnosis and treatment plan," she noted.

"If we were to wait in Saskatchewan, and for Saskatchewan or even other provinces for his health care needs, we would just be meeting with those specialists now."

Gardner added that Rod has four or five appointments with specialists at the end of September, but she fears that if they keep waiting for appointments in the province, that her husband will die, or they will be told bad news in the form of it being 'too late' for help.

In looking to help lead the change in the province, Gardner has launched an online petition, which has quickly gained steam.

The petition is seeking 15,000 signatures, and currently, has over 11,000 people who have signed the document.

She says that the petition is sent directly to Health Minister Jim Reiter, as well as others involved in the field in the government, where they receive direct e-mails every time someone signs the petition.

Gardner also visited the Chief of Staff and showed the drastic change in Rod's health.

"I held up my husband's picture from last fall. I said 'this was my husband', and then I held up the picture showing a 40 pound weight loss and said 'this is my husband now'," she explained. "I said 'this is about a person. It's not about a stat, it's not about any figures you're going to throw out, it is a person', and I think the government needs to realize that."

Gardner says that they have dubbed it as Rod's Health Journey, and it has led them to form a charity entitled For the Love of Rod, which will help future patients who are in a similar situation as the Gardner's.

She added that while she is upset with the system and is hoping that something will change in the future, she wanted to make it clear that the doctors in the province are not the issue.

"He doctored for seven months in Saskatchewan, and I think we have wonderful doctors in Saskatchewan and wonderful nurses in Canada, however, it's the system that needs to change."

Gardner updates Rod's condition on a daily basis through their Facebook page. You can also view more information about their journey and sign the petition by clicking here.