December 2015
Mad World and Prayers
Awareness makes me weak in the knees. To go back in time to June on that fateful Strawberry Moon and become infected with Lyme Disease all over again, and let's imagine things were different.
Had I not been informed prior by friends and others with Lyme, I would never have known to speak up for myself and against all of the doctors telling me that I would be fine after a month of antibiotic. I would have gone back home, still feeling crappy and when my symptoms progressively continued to get worse, I'd have done what many people abused by the health care system had done and gone back to the doctor and explain that I am still ill and want to feel better. Then, they would have proceeded to tell me that I was crazy. That I had been imagining my symptoms. Then, the Lyme would have slowly but surely taken over my body. Eventually, I would have died.
People DO die from health complications caused by Lyme Disease. It usually manifests as inflammation in the heart (a heart attack) or inflammation in the brain (seizures). The symptoms that lead up to these final stages are many, and include but are not limited to Alzheimer symptoms, dementia, paralysis and major arthritic pain and discomfort.
I can only imagine how many people have died this way, and my heart cries out to all of them and to their families.
Had I not had the means to afford an LLMD (Lyme Literate Doctor) I might have suffered that same fate. Who knows? In the future I might not be able to afford one or obtain one, and treatment for Lyme is open ended.
LLMD's can be pricey, and insurance does not cover anything, beside some prescriptions and the lab tests. The vitamins, food and water you consume are what's important for the immune system to do it's thing, and none of this stuff is cheap. There is also usually a distance to drive, and the time and money for gas can be hard to come by also.
Once again. I think of all of the people that don't have the funds to treat their Lyme. The destitute and the disabled. The elderly. What about children with Lyme? Doctors lie to their parents and then they suffer in their entire lives in silence, thinking that the pain is normal.
I feel sick to my stomach when I think of how I evaded this death by luck in circumstance, and how it may be my end in the future. I think about how many people suffered with Lyme until they died from it, all because they were either misguided by those they thought they could trust or because they didn't have enough money.
I think about those who are suffering right now because of money, because of misinformation, because of greed.
I wish I could help them all.
America is the only place that I know of that has LLMD's. Canada doesn't have any even.
In other countries, people are suffering and dying from Lyme disease due to a number of things including lack of education and lack of means.
There are people walking around right now, amongst all of us, that have Lyme Disease and don't know it.
A woman I spoke to at MD Junction (A GREAT forum full of information and great people for Lyme support) said that she had just assumed that her symptoms came naturally with middle age. The tiredness, brain fog and arthritis. She found she had Lyme and Coinfections. Lyme left untreated is lethal. Had she not found out, she would have died.
There simply isn't enough awareness. With awareness come questions. With questions come conversation. With conversation, more learn and things get done. The chance of mass hysteria and demanding of proper treatment for Lyme patients certainly wouldn't hurt either.
My prayers (wishes/intentions/vibrations etc.) tonight go out to all of the suffering. The light within shines toward to them and to their families. May they find peace and eventually rest from this jilted reality.
My prayers go to the doctors behind Lyme research. My they one day find a cure for this increasing epidemic.
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