Two New Comments (Anonymous & Robb)

**** My Not Me Monday automatically posted ... scroll down to see this *****

I would like to address two comments I received today. One is from an Anonymous person that I bet I know on a forum. Since she didn't leave his or her name ... I don't know who it is.

And I quote:

Living w/chronic lyme is not really living. The only treatment that has REALLY helped me has been declared illegal in my state. I was infected in 1988, not in the wood but in a suburb doing yard work. I found the tick and removed it. I was not diagnosed until 1998.
In the midwest, many doctors still deny that Lyme even exists and especially not here. It's everywhere and the symptoms can be anything. A microbiologist discovered more than 110 subspecies of the organism, many very virile and others very mild. It depends on the strength of the infection in the tick and that of the infected person's immune system and ONLY then can you determine how that person should be treated. I feel that each day I wake up is a gift for me. The lady who spoke about her life in the documentary "Under Our Skin" died a few months ago at 51. Her heart was so compromised that she just didn't wake up that day. What a blessing for her. I hope I am as lucky. I do plan to donate my body to a facility that is doing research on lyme at that time.

Hello dear friend. I completely agree with EVERYTHING you said. I am doing really well now with treatments that also controversial. I know I could have a set back at anytime, but I choose to live day to day with the HOPE that my LLMD has given me the best he can offer and even things that aren't traditional. I found out about Leslie almost as soon as it happened. I am assuming that is who you refer to in the statement I bolded. It is so extremely sad for her family, her friends, her doctors, and her "fans." I hear her sister is not doing well either.

Because this is a text basis thing and I can't read into the emotion in which you were writing, I am not sure if you are trying to educate my readers or me. Or if you were just angry because of how Lyme attacks the body of innocence or how the political aspect of Lyme attacks the doctors. You have an excellent style of writing in any case. I would love for you to be my guest blogger in the future as an educator of Lyme. So please comment if you would consider this and let me know how I can get in touch with you. I'm sure you're on the internet somewhere! :P Have a blessed day. I am so sorry that Lyme has havoced your life. No one gets Lyme until they GET Lyme. I heard that once froma friend of mine that has Lyme before I was diagnosed. She was completely dead on ... I couldn't understand what she was going through until I was diagnosed. However, I already had a fairly good idea because I had those same pains and symptoms. I just wasn't diagnosed ... I wasn't Living the Lyme Life. It may not be living in the same way a healthy person lives, but it IS a way of life. I eat, sleep and breathe Lyme Disease. I wake up with new ideas on how to stay healthy and write my congressman about the doctors that treat me.

Thanks for the comment dear friend, whomever you may be. It has inspired me to write early this morning.

Hello,

My wife found your blog. (very nice) I have lymes or so we think many Docs and pick lines later I still feel very sick. Im in Charlotte and I wanted to see if you mihgt telll me who your LLMD is? I would go to the ends of the earth to get well. I have sot just been put out to pasture on oxicotin and percocet for pain. You have very strong faith. Mine seems to be being tested. So if you could email me or call me with you LLMD s Name and number I really need some help and hope this hs been a long 21 months with no end in sight, going back to seee my infectious desies doc on thursday. I dont care where I have to go on to geet ride of the mean of stuff.

Robb
(left out your address & telephone number so it's not so easily findable for others)

Dear Robb,

I am so sorry that Lyme Disease may have touched your life in some way. If you have done any research at all, you will know that it is a political battle on physicians that treat for Lyme specifically. You are in an area where one of the BEST LLMD's is in the country. Many people would drive to the ends of the Earth to go visit him. I chose a different path because he was in a huge political/medical battle at the time of my still trying to find what was going on with me. And because of that fight, many people with Lyme will never say his name outloud on a public forum or even over the phone for fear of retribution. I am the same way with my doctor. However, I can forward you in the right direction. You or your wife (how did she find my blog? :) love her for that) should find the NC Lyme Disease Foundation. There is a place on there to email the founders. Those wonderful ladies will give you two suggestions for our area on doctors who treat Lyme. One is the gentlement I just referred to and the other is an Integrative Medical Physician in Raleigh (my doctor). They both treat differently and they are both very smart. I know patients who even see both doctors. One to get the more traditional treatment of Lyme and the other to get the more alternative treatment.

Both doctors will cost you quite a bit as neither takes insurance. I chose my doctor in Raleigh because at the time I wasn't even sure if I had Lyme Disease. It was just one of the many things I thought I might have. I chose him because he was a doctor that treats a variety of illnesses and I knew he did not have Lyme blinders on. I started this blog for two reasons. One for education and one for inspiration. My faith is one of the top reasons I believe I am doing so much better. I had (have) faith that God would provide. God always provides. Maybe not in the manner of our heart's desires, but he does provide. Keep the faith.

Now I will tell you depending on the severity of your illness and your body's resiliency, it may take quite a long time to get on the path to normalcy. I am not a doctor, but I did once stay at the Holiday Inn. :)

If you would like to talk more extensively, please leave a comment again with a way to email you. Email is a more convenient way for me to get in touch with people. Once I receive your comment with an email, and we correspond ... I will delete your comment so that is open to others as little as possible. I would hate for you to be exposed for the whole world to see and email. :o) With that said, I will probably delete your previous comment because I can not edit it to remove your address & telephone number. I wanted to be able to have your comment so that's why I posted it in this blog posting.