Part 12 of 13 of Anna’s Story at CanadianLymeStories.com
I was lucky to have found my doctor. He adjusted my thyroid medication (adding in a little desiccated thyroid to increase the free T3 in my blood). He suggested I take some natural hormones. He told me to replenish my Lyme-stripped mineral stores with supplements. He told me to take ATP Fuel, a supplement for mitochondrial support, and Co-factor Q10. With each suggestion I felt gratitude that I had the financing to do what he said. I also felt, acutely, how much more difficult strained economic circumstances, or even having a busy full time job, would make these adjustments.
My doctor also gave me dietary restrictions that were, at first, difficult to follow. These made me feel a great deal better. And it was my doctor who had the knowledge and intuition to test me for Lyme and its co-infections. He sent me to Dr. McShane. As a result I feel that I not only owe him for my present state of pretty good health, but also for preventing future debilitating illness.
This is a rare story. There are thousands of Lyme patients who have had only terrible experiences with their doctors; a true tragedy associated with these cluster of infections. ‘Lyme’ is a divisive issue in the medical community. There are competing points of view. Additionally, the doctoring involved is complicated, personalized, crosses the boundary between many traditional areas of study, and often incorporates non-traditional healing modalities. This is pretty far out of the box for lots of doctors. A patient with one’s own ideas will inevitably meet resistance.
That said; there is profound frustration for a patient in this position, even in her calmest moment, when faced with hostility from the medical community. This person is sick, either very sick or less sick but for a really long time, and the doctors have nothing to offer them. What ails this person is outside of received medicine’s current realm of knowledge. So what else is possible? Will diet help? Supplements? Herbal treatments? Maybe they won’t. There is always a risk that people will waste their money or make themselves sicker. Doctors have a real sense of responsibility, understandably. But I know a lot of educated, invested, people working incredibly (unbelievably) hard to get better who have been given a really hard time. Infectious Disease doctors often won’t take patients with a positive Lyme diagnosis.
This isn’t a turf war for us; it’s trying to have the energy to raise our kids and stay out of a wheelchair. But for doctors it’s their reputations and their professional lives. So here I have to recognize the bravery and sense of justice of the doctors who are working to help us.
Another thing my doctor does is to facilitate an intravenous drip. The drip’s content is specific to the diagnosis, but each comes with the compassionate expertise of the nurses who administer them. Rita and Zorida are intuitive, passionate cheerleaders for everyone, whatever their health issue may be. To me these women are true healers, listening to everyone’s various complaints and generously sharing their expansive knowledge.
The effect of attending ‘the drip’ was multifaceted for me. Rita and Zorida’s kindness helped me with information and pep talks. I’m not sure I could have stuck it out through the rough patches without their help. They gave me vitamins and minerals and hydrogen peroxide. They also kept in my mind, without saying anything, that no matter what was going on with me, someone else was having it worse. There was someone else who had two little kids, or four, or a boat they just bought to sail around the world, and a diagnosis that was terminal.
On to Part 13: Thanks
Keywords: Getting help, holistic doctor, hormones, mitochondrial support, hydrogen-peroxide drip, friends, support groups, osteopathy, exercise