tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64634713921399411242024-03-13T10:49:47.439-07:00Voyaging LymeVoyaging through Chronic Lyme Disease, the different co-infections, what the symptoms are, how to recognize them, and how to best get help.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-90442075230565094172013-05-26T17:24:00.000-07:002013-05-27T13:34:07.835-07:00Let's Really Clear It Up<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Infectious Disease Society of America (<a href="http://www.idsociety.org/About_IDSA/">IDSA</a>) and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (<a href="http://www.ilads.org/">ILADS</a>) have very different guidelines for the treatment of Lyme disease. An article recently posted in the Huffington Post entitled "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/lyme-disease-myths-facts_n_3287872.html#slide=more221510">Lyme Disease Myths: 9 Things You should Know About The Tick-Borne Disease</a>" follows the <a href="http://www.idsociety.org/uploadedFiles/IDSA/Guidelines-Patient_Care/PDF_Library/Lyme%20Disease.pdf">IDSA treatment guidelines</a>, which are misleading. As a result, many people are not given the correct diagnosis, treatment, or recognition and are severely impacted for the rest of their lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lyme disease is real and prevalent. The <a href="http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines_summary.html" target="_blank">ILADS treatment guidelines</a> treats for both Lyme disease and considers chronic Lyme disease a very difficult group of infections to eradicate. They believe in using antibiotics over the long term along with different nutritional supplements, which the IDSA disagrees with in every aspect. Unfortunately, for the consumer, this controversy can mean the difference between health and years of chronic illness and suffering. I encourage everyone to discern for themselves which group to follow, to dig deeper, and to study all the information out there. Education is the key to stopping this widespread epidemic. </span><br />
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<b>Below you will find the corrections to each "myth". I have kept the word "myth" </b><b>because that is how the Lyme subjects </b><b>are </b><b>described in the article.</b></h3>
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<u><b>Myth: All Ticks Carry Lyme Disease</b></u></div>
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<b style="text-align: justify;">HP Article</b><span style="text-align: justify;">:</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><i style="text-align: justify;">There are a number of types of ticks, but only blacklegged ticks (commonly called deer ticks) carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lone star ticks, the American dog tick, the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the brown dog tick do not transmit the disease.</i><br />
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: The deer tick is not the only type of tick to carry Lyme disease and other co-infections. All types of insects carry Lyme, including all types of ticks, Mosquito's and fleas. The CDC criteria that defines Lyme disease misses 90% of infections.</u></div>
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<u><b>Myth: All Deer Tick Bites Result In Lyme Disease</b></u></div>
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<b>HP Article</b>: <i>First of all, not all deer ticks are infected with the Lyme disease bacterium. "In areas where [Lyme disease] is very common, one out of every four or five ticks might be infected," says Paul Mead, M.D., MPH, chief of epidemiology and surveillance activity at the CDC. "In other areas where it's much rarer, that may be more like one in 100."</i></div>
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<i>Second, if a tick is removed within 24 hours of biting, risk of infection drops dramatically. "It's important to take a definitive step quickly," says Mead. "If you look for ticks every day and -- [if you] find them -- remove them, you aren't likely to get Lyme disease."</i></div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: To report that Lyme is rare in other parts of the world besides the N.E. portion of the U.S. is a fallacy. Lyme is now found worldwide, they have even found ticks in Antartica with Lyme. It is common in every state in the nation. In ticks sweeps last year about 90% were infected in the N.E. and 40-50% in Northern California. Secondly, it has been documented by Lyme Literate providers that infection can occur in less than 2 hours. Remember that Lyme disease is carried in the tick's saliva so that as soon as the ticks bites and embeds it can potentially infect a person.</u></div>
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<u><b>Myth: The Best Way To Remove A Tick Is To Burn It </b></u></div>
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<b>HP Article</b>: <i>Folk remedies like burning the tick off of your skin or suffocating it with nail polish just prolong the window of time for that bugger to infect you. Instead, use tweezers to remove the offending insect as quickly as possible. Mead explains that the CDC recommends grasping the tick with the tweezers as close to the skin as possible, then pulling upward without twisting. Be sure to clean the area after -- and your hands!</i></div>
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<u><b><b>The Reality</b>: </b>This advise is correct. Be especially careful to get the head out, and careful to avoid squeezing the body of the tick as that is the way co-infections are injected into the body. Lyme is found in the saliva of the tick so completely removing the head is very important in stopping more transmission of infection.</u></div>
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<b><u>Myth: You Only Have Lyme Disease If You Have The Telltale Bull's Eye Rash</u></b></div>
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<b>HP Article</b>: <i>While it is a very common sign of Lyme disease, and perhaps the most obvious one, not everyone develops the characteristic rash. It shows up in about 80 to 90 percent of people, according to the American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF), and usually appears as a red blotch with a red ring emanating from the site of the tick bite. It may be warm to the touch but usually isn't itchy or painful. If you've been bitten by a tick and notice other possible symptoms, like fevers, headaches and muscle pain, consult a doctor as soon as possible.</i></div>
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<i><i>However, it's not unheard of for someone not to develop the rash -- or to simply not see it, according to Mead, especially if it's somewhere hidden like the scalp. "The symptoms sound like flu symptoms, but they occur in the late spring and early summer," Mead says. "If you get those symptoms and live in an area where Lyme disease is common, you may want to consider that possibility."</i></i></div>
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<i>The longer Lyme disease goes undiagnosed and, therefore, untreated, the more severe the symptoms can become. Untreated infection can cause a paralysis to facial muscles called Bell's palsy, irregular heartbeats, arthritis and short-term memory problems, says Mead.</i></div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: The Bull's Eye rash is seen as little as 20 percent of the time. If you see the rash you do have Lyme. It is diagnostic. Any flu like symptoms, joint pain, or nerve changes like burning or drooping are signs of Lyme.</u></div>
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<u><b>Myth: There Is No Cure For Lyme Disease</b></u></div>
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<b>HP Article</b>: <i>When treated with antibiotics in the early stages of the disease, Lyme disappears in almost all people -- and quickly, too. But in a small number of people, symptoms like muscle and joint pain or memory problems persist. Researchers are currently trying to determine how long a person should be treated with antibiotics in these instances of what is sometimes referred to as "chronic lyme disease," according to the National Institutes of Health.</i></div>
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<i>Experts don't know the exact cause of this cluster of lingering symptoms, more properly called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, Mead explains. There is ongoing debate among experts as to whether or not ongoing symptoms reflect continuing infection or "whether it is a post-infectious complication," he says. Imagine, he explains, a person who has broken his leg. If it doesn't heal right, it's not that it's still broken, but it may continue to cause pain or weakness. So too might a prior Lyme infection cause continuing discomfort. Studies have shown, however, that further treatment with antibiotics has no benefit -- and can be harmful</i>.</div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: If it is an acute infection and is immediately treated with 6-8 weeks of antibiotics, the chronic form can usually be prevented. If you have symptoms then taking antibiotics until all symptoms are gone should be considered. The disconnect between the two groups who talk about and treat Lyme disease is huge. The Lyme-literate group disagrees with the post Lyme syndrome diagnosis, and believes Chronic Lyme is an active infection that includes multiple infectious agents, and that antibiotics and other supplements are necessary to heal from it. There are many studies that prove the persistence of Lyme and other co- infections. The longer a person goes untreated the more difficult it is to recover. Lyme does not resolve on it's own. It can change form and lie dormant in the body until something triggers infection, like another tick bite.</u></div>
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<u><b>Myth: A Blood Test Is The Best Way To Diagnose Lyme Disease</b></u></div>
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<b><b>HP Article</b>: </b><i>It depends on how long after a tick bite we're talking about, says Mead. "The most widely-used test for Lyme disease doesn't test for the organism itself, but for antibodies that your immune system makes," he says. "When you are first infected, your body hasn't had time to make those antibodies, and you can test negative in the early stages of the disease."</i></div>
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<i>If, however, someone has been infected for months or even years without knowing it, -- say they go to a doctor for symptoms of arthritis and don't even recall having a summer fever the year before -- "then the test is quite good for detecting infection," he says.</i></div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: Most testing for Lyme disease is poor with many false negatives.The only reliable test for Lyme is from Advance Labs. It is a culture and costs $600.00. The other tests are not reliable and do not rule out Lyme with a negative test. Igenex Lab in California also has more reliable testing than most national labs. The state of Virginia now mandates that providers inform patients of this fact. </u></div>
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<u><b>Myth: You Can Get Lyme Disease Everywhere In The U.S.</b></u></div>
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<b>HP Article</b><b>: </b><i>More than 97 percent of all cases of Lyme disease occur in the northeastern and north-central parts of the country, says Mead. Your chances of being bitten by an infected tick outside of those regions are very small. While there have indeed been reported cases in nearly all 50 states, Lyme disease is reported by state of residence, not necessarily the state of infection. A child from Wyoming who spends the summer in Pennsylvania with Grandma and comes down with Lyme disease will count as a reported case for Wyoming, says Mead, even though her chances of getting Lyme in her homestate are tiny.</i></div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: It is true that you can get Lyme anywhere in the U.S. and other places. It is found worldwide. It is a fallacy to say that 97% of all infections occur in the NE of the US. Lyme is in every state in the country. A study done by U.C. Berkeley in the early 90's proved the existence of Lyme, Babesia, and Erhlichia in Sonoma Valley in California.</u></div>
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<b>Myth: Lyme Disease Can Spread Between People</b></div>
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<b>HP Article</b><b>: </b><i>From time to time you do see a husband and a wife, for example, who both come down with Lyme disease around the same time, says Mead, but there's no solid evidence to support the idea that one of them passed it to the other. It's much more likely that they were both bitten by ticks, especially since young ticks can be so small, he says.</i></div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: Lyme and other co-infections can be transmitted sexually; through blood by organ donation and blood transfusion; through the placenta to a fetus; and through breast feeding. This has been documented in studies. The CDC is concerned about the transmission of Babesia and Ehrlichia in the blood supply, but still does not test for Lyme. </u></div>
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<b><u>Myth: You Can Get Lyme Disease From A Pet</u></b></div>
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<b>HP Article</b>: <i>Fido and Fluffy can get Lyme disease, but there is no evidence to suggest pets can spread the disease to humans. However, "pets are important vehicles for ticks to get into the household and come into contact with humans," Mead says. Pet owners may want to consider tick control powders, sprays, collars or other products for their furry friends.</i></div>
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<u><b>The Reality</b>: Your pets can carry the tick into your home, crawl on you and bite. Make sure to always check your pet for ticks after walks, hikes, or after being in any area a tick could catch a ride. Most products do not prevent the tick from grabbing on, only from biting. Additionally, if your cat or other pet scratches or bites you and is infected, it can transmit that infection to you. </u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is so important to become informed about the epidemic of Lyme disease. Go to <a href="http://lymedisease.org/">Lymedisease.org</a> and <a href="http://ilads.org/">ILADS.org</a> for more information. To ensure you completely recover see a Lyme-literate provider. It could make all the difference in your life.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-49880303409477489742012-12-05T17:37:00.000-08:002012-12-05T17:37:17.860-08:00Biofilm<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">Before hearing about biofilm at ILADS, I had this image of an umbrella or a hunter’s blind that the bugs could hide under. That image was shattered when I heard about the current research being done by Dr. Sapi on Biofilm. Biofilm has a 3D architecture and is like Facebook for bugs. The bugs form colonies that communicate with each other and there are many different kinds of bacteria found in Biofilm. They exchange genetic material and information, which means they can change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">According to Dr. Alan Mac Donald, Biofilm is well structured, especially the ones created by Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). It is a structure that creates a leather-like crust that is difficult to penetrate. Bb morphs into many varying forms of itself including Blebs and Persister cells. Blebs are not true bacteria but are like liposomes that contain the DNA of the bug. They can only be seen with an electron microscope. They are compounds that contain Osp A, C, etc. The cystic form of Bb sheds Blebs as well.<span> </span>They are capable of doing injury and act like weapons which cause transfection by penetrating T Lymphocytes, causing more Lyme. Once a person is transfected they have Lyme for life. Blebs also cause autoimmunity, stimulating a T and B cell immune response.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Persister cells are identically the same as original cells and cause recurrence of infection after treatment is ended.<span> </span>They hide in the Biofilm and go dormant, continuing to survive until they are shed to repopulate outside of the Biofilm. Persisters are killed by pulsing antibiotics, using multiple antibiotics or herbals, and by dissolving the Biofilm.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Once Biofilm is mobilized it requires massive doses of Biofilm busters. There are several different Biofilm busters available to use.<span> </span>I recommend you seek the advice of your Lyme literate provider for which ones are best for you. Some require an order. Others can be dangerous in too high dosing so monitoring different labs is an important aspect of treatment. Examples of Biofilm busters include Bolouke or Lumbrokinase, Nattokinase, Serpetidekinase, Claire’s Interphase, and other plant enzymes. I like to muscle test for which ones work and which dose is most effective. Samento and Banderol work well together. Tinidazole and Rifampin also break apart Biofilm. Ca EDTA is a heavy metal chelator and works to disrupt Biofilm. <span> </span>Finally, Heparin is effective but can only be used for a month as it causes osteoporosis if used too long. However, if you are sensitive this can be too much for you. Remember that when the biofilm is melted, you have more bugs circulating, which can cause a more severe HERX. It is all about balance when treating and each person is unique. Please work with your Lyme-literate provider to find the perfect biofilm treatment that works for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Blessings, Mara</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-43336435735391566002012-11-19T16:38:00.000-08:002012-11-19T16:38:54.709-08:00A Powerful Step Toward Healing<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I continue reading comments from numerous people with Lyme, expressing their rage and hopelessness about their illness and the marginalization by the current system that denies Lyme exists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Being caught in the place of anger and fear is a stuck place. A large part of recovering from Lyme is understanding that this illness requires your complete attention in every aspect of your being. Energetically, to remain in rage and despair can stall recovery. It does not matter how many antibiotics, herbals or other medicines you take, in my professional experience, rage will slow your healing.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Lyme is an excellent microcosm, a perfect example, of the world today. We are all being asked to expand our awareness, to become more conscious of our surroundings and how we interact in each moment, to help ourselves and each other grow and heal, whether we have Lyme or not. With Lyme I feel this is a necessity.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Denial will keep you from healing and recovering. Begin by asking yourself what trauma(s) have you suffered in your life? What can you do to forgive and move past the trauma? Recently, I was speaking with one of the MD's I work with. We were talking about treating newly activated Lyme and he suggested adding a second or third antibiotic if there was trauma as part of the history of the patient.<u></u><u></u></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What can you surrender that no longer serves you? What habits prevent a return to health? We all have our favorite foods. I’m not suggesting total abstinence of comfort food and drinks, although I do ask that you consider moderation more than indulgence. Are you addicted to sugar? Lyme feeds on sugar and yeast. Does gluten make you feel bloated or gassy after eating it? Dairy? Soy? All of these foods are inflammatory. Do you smoke cigarettes? What is holding you back that you have the power to change?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I have seen people quickly move to recovery once they completely integrate healing in all aspects of their mind, body and spirit. No one asks to get Lyme. It is a terrible illness that undermines your life and those of your loved ones. I live this every day with my daughter, so this is not only a professional take on healing but a personal one as well.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I recommend you gently and kindly look in the mirror and see what it is you need to resolve so that you can move forward into recovery. It is a powerful step toward your own healing for both Lyme and in life.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-83380856313897857712012-09-02T14:10:00.001-07:002012-11-19T15:50:47.529-08:00Gratitude<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gratitude, if you look it up in a dictionary, is "feeling appreciation". This does not describe the power of feeling gratitude. For me, it is "A deep, in every cell, feeling of thankfulness". When I feel grateful for something, it fills my heart with joy, and every cell of my being experiences this joy. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am filled with gratitude! Every moment I am experiencing a deep abiding gratitude for everyone who took part in helping to raise enough money to have a successful <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/InannaHouse?a=850784" target="_blank">Indiegogo Campaign</a> for <a href="http://www.inannahouse.org/" target="_blank">Inanna House</a>. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many people who shared this experience with us. <a href="http://asliceoflyme.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sarah Lamando</a>, who decided to do something to get Inanna House really moving toward fruition and created the campaign. She got people to donate their art, books and other goodies so that those that gave received as well. I am forever grateful to Sarah. Throughout the campaign she was diligent and attentive to the process of working for success, despite her own struggles with Lyme disease. She is one of my heroines! <a href="https://twitter.com/SaraLDonnelly" target="_blank">Sara Donnelly</a>, who took our vision of Inanna House and shared it with you all. She has created and maintained the websites and social media platforms, building valuable relationships and keeping them active and interesting. Without her efforts, we would still be dreaming about this project. There are many individuals who posted daily, asking their friends and family to participate and donate. We could not do this without you! And to those of you who did donate, I honor you! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My <a href="http://www.inannahouse.org/our-vision.html" target="_blank">vision</a> for Inanna House began many years ago and I have always known it was a collective vision. We are manifesting this vision now. It is happening because all of you are giving your energy to this project. I know in every fiber of my being that we will succeed, and Inanna House will thrive. Together we are creating a new paradigm in health and healing while creating a place for those sick with Tick-Borne Disease to find a way to recover.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Blessings, Mara</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-12018381693845775902012-02-17T14:04:00.000-08:002012-09-23T16:37:09.909-07:00Supporting People Who Are Ill And Surviving It Intact<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;">As a lyme literate practitioner and as a mother of someone with Chronic Lyme Disease, I want to share some insights I have gained in the last two years. Amanda has had active disease since she was 15. She is now 37. We have been treating her for almost two years. Before I became lyme literate I was like any other family member frustrated by the incredible variety of symptoms Amanda complained about. I kept telling her to get help for her emotional issues and to get on with her life. As a 'knowledgeable' health care provider I just couldn't put the array of problems together into a diagnosis that made sense. Amanda would sometimes rage, literally, with anger that was scary. She would get panic attacks and these increased in intensity and frequency as the bugs became further entrenched in her body. Antidepressants were ineffective. Amanda would complain of severe pain, total body pain, joint pain that would migrate, hip pain that made her feel like her bones were breaking, muscle pain, stomach pain, abdominal cramping, and headaches. Wow! It was overwhelming to hear about this and feel helpless to help. She has had horrific stomach issues and would throw up often and feel nauseous constantly. I attributed these symptoms to her inability to resolve her emotional feelings. Yet I believed she needed psych help to get over the pain, that these symptoms were related to the trauma of the rape she experienced at a young age. For many of her family members it was Amanda crying wolf over and over again. Her emotional lability pushed people away as did her rage. I was the person the rage was directed at mostly and eventually I just wanted to disengage from it all. I did not make the connection of Lyme until I became Lyme literate and then everything she had been saying for years made sense.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Initially, I felt guilt for not believing her and helping her to find help. Fortunately we have so much guidance now. But when we had to interact with the current health care system, I thought that because I was 'one of them' they would believe what she was experiencing, listen, and help. I was foolish to believe this. The disconnect between IDSA guidelines and ILADS guidelines rang loud and clear. I became the drug seeking, interfering mother and my gravely ill daughter became a psych case. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Amanda lived about a mile from us at the beginning of treatment. As <a href="http://voyaginglyme.blogspot.com/2012/01/lets-save-some-lives.html" target="_blank">I have written before</a> we had a hellish year of 17 ER visits and 7 inpatient hospitalizations before I took her home and started treating her. My husband and I give her medicine every four hours around the clock and have for over 6 months now. She gets IV hydration, nutritional support and antibiotics. We prepare her food, do her laundry, help her with personal care, and are helping to raise her 12 year old daughter. In-between all this we work and make time for our relationship. Hundreds of thousands, probably millions, are doing this across the globe. Imagine the impact this is having on the global economy, as well as the emotional costs for those involved. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">The financial costs of treating CLD physically run into thousands of dollars a year and can go on for several years. People lose their homes, their jobs, their relationships. Insurance companies refuse to pay for something that 'doesn't exist.' The burden of this is great and those that have no resources suffer for years. Many simply give up. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">For those with the disease, healing on all levels is necessary. This encompasses not only the physical but the emotional and spiritual. The disease is a message to change the way they have been living their life. As Katina states so eloquently in her book, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Out-Of-The-Woods-Book/160000327432323" target="_blank">Out of the Woods</a>, " The more debilitated and stricken people are, the more time has been created in their lives for reflection and realignment with their life dreams and purpose. It's not random that those who have the most to offer the world-those who are working hardest and have the most altruistic attitudes- can get hit the hardest by this illness as they push themselves so hard, with little self-recognition. We must learn how to love our very selves with true compassion, through the tender and tragic mercies of this insidious and erratic illness". This aspect of CLD is as critical to address as the physical. The infections will not resolve without doing this work. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">I believe this applies to those of us that care for their loved one as well. It is a consuming experience that requires surrender to each moment to avoid burnout that can come with care-giving. The rhythm of each day is dictated by the needs of one person and it can be overwhelming. Some family members walk away when they decide they have done enough. Many choose to believe the mainstream hype that CLD doesn't exist. But for those of us that are able to remain steadfast, hold love in their heart, the reward of watching health restored is amazing. It is worth every moment of exhaustion and frustration. I get to assist someone I adore in her transformation; and, like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon, I am witnessing my child coming back to life. The process is slow, agonizingly slow, but each small step is a gift. One of my mantras is 'God gives nothing but good, either gifts or lessons, and really, they are the same.' Another is 'everything is perfectly manifesting.' This reminds me to embrace the moment and learn so that I can shift my consciousness ever higher, and return to a place of peace and acceptance. Those who are desperately ill with CLD need their loved ones to be present and whole. Like the birthing of a child, a woman is alone with her experience of labor, yet she needs support while going through it. So does someone who is chronically ill, frail, weak, exhausted, and in severe pain. My daughter, who is so ill, is the same being she was before she became sick, working to heal from an all consuming disease, and she needs all the assistance we can give. I will be here until her healing happens and she can move forward in her life once again.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Blessings to you all...Mara</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dirty-Needle-Chronic-Disease/dp/1937445097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329515856&sr=8-1" target="_blank">You can buy "Nature's Dirty Needle" here</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Natures-Dirty-Needle/262532950434794" target="_blank">Love "Nature's Dirty Needle"? Click here to become a fan</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Out-Of-The-Woods-Book/160000327432323" target="_blank">Click here for more information on "Out Of The Woods" by Katina Makris</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-2777999252556016412012-01-10T15:25:00.000-08:002012-01-10T15:25:34.263-08:00Let's Save Some Lives!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">It has been awhile since I spoke of Amanda, my daughter with CLD. She has had active disease since she was 15 and will soon be 37. As I look back on this journey with her for the last almost 2 years, I remain optimistic that she will completely heal. </span><br />
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</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Amanda has been bedridden for the last 5 months. For the first part of her treatment we tried oral antibiotics, a binder, probiotics, multiple supplements, some homeopathics, and herbal tinctures that target the different infections, but nothing worked. Her GI tract was riddled with Bartonella, causing horrible nausea and vomiting, and she had leaky gut. From September 2010 to September 2011, we visited the ER 17 times because she became dehydrated from vomiting out of control. Seven times in that year she was hospitalized. Each time I would plead with the hospitalist to treat her for infection with either Rocephin or Gentamycin and each time I was refused. "Your daughter does not have Lyme disease as it doesn't exist! Let's call in the therapist". The last time she was in the hospital we had to deal with a particularly challenging young MD who had been involved in her care there at least three previous times. Amanda was so distraught about having to "be at his mercy" that I took her out and we never looked back. Now I have emergent IV meds at home in case her vomiting gets out of control again. Fortunately, we have avoided this by ensuring that Amanda receives her meds every four hours around the clock. With the PICC line I am able to keep her hydrated and give her extra nutrients. We are treating her with IV antibiotics and it has made all the difference.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Once I realized that the current health care system was not going to help her, and we started to treat her at home, she started to turn around. It was scary to start the antibiotics at home initially. Dr. Nathan and Dr. Gordon are supportive and helpful, which gave me the confidence to proceed, but it was still scary. What if she had an adverse reaction to the meds? Or she started to herx so bad that I couldn't control her symptoms? But I knew if we didn't do it she would not make it so it was a no brainer to proceed. We, my incredible husband, and a friend, Emily, and I stood around Amanda and blessed the medicine and it's effectiveness and away we went!</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">We have completed two rounds of Gentamycin, which targets the Bartonella primarily, but also targets the Chlamydia pneumonia, Mycoplasma and Lyme a bit. During the first round her joint pain increased and her nausea almost went away. it was the first time in over a year that much of her energy was not wasted on stopping herself from throwing up and she started to really rest, sleeping deeply for up to 18 hours a day. The second round the nausea came back but the pain decreased. Instead of 8/10 pain, even with morphine, it is now consistently a 5/10. She no longer has severe abdominal cramping and sharp shooting pains. Her mind is clearing and she is more present when she is awake. Her world is not as small. Her daily headaches are less and the sharp-shooting nerve pains are gone from her legs, feet, arms and hands.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Now we are using Rocephin which targets all the bacterial infections, but especially the Lyme, Mycoplasma, and C. pneumonia. We will be using Flagyl and Rocephin in a pulsing manner to get at all forms of the Lyme. We are giving IV Phosphatidyl Choline daily for use as a binder as it helps to remove cellular debris and supports the liver. We are making progress.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Now she needs to gain about 15 pounds, eat more protein and alkaline foods. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Amanda must work on the emotional, mental, psychic and spiritual issues to clear them. She will not get well unless this is accomplished.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">From this experience I am learning to move past my own anger over how Lyme patients and their families are treated. The truth is the current system does not get it yet, so it is necessary to work around this denial. As a group, the Lyme community is strong, supportive, discerning, courageous, full of love, and compassion. But many are still stuck in their rage. Rage that their illness was not treated in time to prevent CLD and all the suffering that goes with it. Rage at the ignorance of the current health care system and the IDSA. Rage at insurance companies for failing to cover expenses that having insurance should cover. Rage of family members as they watch their loved one suffer. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Anger keeps us in fear and enslaved. It keeps us stuck. It steals our personal power and our life force. It stops us from moving forward and into love. We are either in fear or love. While fear takes away personal power, love gives it back. By forgiving and moving past the anger, we are able to heal and move past the limitations caused by CLD and the trauma that is a part of it. Love empowers us, not just to stand united and demand proper treatment and recognition, but in our everyday lives in every moment. And, individually, by moving past all the trauma we get to heal, completely heal all parts of our being. The spiritual and emotional must be addressed in order to heal. I have stated before that I have not met anyone with CLD who has not experienced some type of significant trauma-abuse of any kind, loss of a loved one, physical trauma, or severe physical illness that precipitates the expression of CLD. This must be resolved. By staying in anger this cannot happen. Find some way to get past the rage and into a state of love and forgiveness, and in doing this, reclaim your power. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">One last comment I wish to share is this: It is time for the world to learn about CLD. If those that are unfamiliar with the danger of a tick bite become informed then CLD can ultimately be eradicated or, at the least, relegated to a very small percentage of the population. If providers are educated about the necessity of 6-12 weeks of antibiotics after a tick bite or the first signs of symptoms then CLD doesn't happen. My fervent desire is to spread the word and increase awareness so that people can learn to demand proper care after exposure to a tick bite. Since the health care system is not responding to the epidemic, then as individuals, we must. Let's shine the light on this so awareness grows. Let's save some lives!</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Blessings, Mara</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-26150646909918083702011-12-06T14:52:00.000-08:002011-12-06T14:52:51.793-08:00Sharing The Message Of Hope<div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">The Holidays are here. It is a time for <i>Family and Love, </i>and a time to <i>Share the Message of Hope </i>for the coming year. If you are struggling, or know of someone who is struggling, with Chronic Lyme Disease, I would like to suggest <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Natures-Dirty-Needle/262532950434794" target="_blank">Nature's Dirty Needle</a> as a Holiday gift. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">I have consistently been told that <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Natures-Dirty-Needle/262532950434794" target="_blank">Nature's Dirty Needle</a> is informative, easy to understand, and most importantly, <i>Hopeful</i>. My book not only sheds<i> Light</i> on Chronic Lyme Disease, but it also sheds <i>Light</i> on those who are sick and have felt like they were living in darkness. Now many feel <i>Heard</i>, <i>Supported</i>, <i>Acknowledged</i>, and <i>Less Marginalized</i>. One spiritual law says that if you focus your attention on an issue, it will <i>Grow</i> and <i>Expand</i>. Focusing <i>Light</i> and a<i> Message Of Hope</i> on the issue of Chronic Lyme Disease will allow <i>Positive Awareness</i> to multiply.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">It feels as if there is a shift occurring. <i>Awareness</i> is increasing outside of the Lyme community. As a community those that know and understand Chronic Lyme Disease are there for each other. It is now time to get those that don't have a clue how many hundreds of thousands of people are sick with these infections, to become aware. My good friend, after reading <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Natures-Dirty-Needle/262532950434794" target="_blank">Nature's Dirty Needle</a>, was amazed at how under-reported and denied Chronic Lyme Disease is. She could not believe that something so devastating was not being acknowledged. My experience has been that once someone is aware of the existence of Chronic Lyme Disease and what is happening to those who are ill, they become advocates and educators, spreading the word. Like a ripple in a pond from a pebble, it becomes known when one person <i>Speaks</i>, and those that <i>Hear</i> tell others. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Natures-Dirty-Needle/262532950434794" target="_blank">Nature's Dirty Needle</a> sheds <i>Light</i> on the subject of Chronic Lyme Disease and how to get help to become well. Stories from those who have suffered are told. Their stories are compelling examples filled with <i>Courage</i>, <i>Determination,</i> and <i>Hope</i>. Some have moved past illness, yet continue to be present for those who are still sick, shining<i> Light</i> and standing witness to the struggles of those with Chronic Lyme Disease. I am honored my book is seen by those who read it as a <i>Light</i>. I encourage everyone to read <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Natures-Dirty-Needle/262532950434794" target="_blank">Nature's Dirty Needle</a> and <i>Share </i>the <i>Message Of Hope</i> with everyone they know. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dirty-Needle-Chronic-Disease/dp/1937445097/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323208339&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Click Here To Buy Nature's Dirty Needle</a></i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-31060859871166258852011-11-16T16:41:00.000-08:002011-11-16T16:41:24.382-08:00My Story: Guest Blog Posted On Lyme Chick and A Slice Of Lyme<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I recently had the opportunity to guest blog on <a href="http://lymechick.com/">Lyme Chick</a> and <a href="http://asliceoflyme.blogspot.com/">A Slice Of Lyme</a>. These two women have brought an uplifting voice of strength to the Lyme community. It is truly an honor to be part of it. Thank You both! </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>My Story: </i></span></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Hello, my name is Mara Williams and I am a <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 51, 102) !important; border-bottom-style: dotted !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(153, 51, 102) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif !important; font-size: 18px !important; font-style: italic !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static;">Nurse Practitioner</span>. Three years ago I was working for an Integrative Doctor who discovered her daughter had Lyme Disease. She decided to begin treating it and spent the next few weeks with LLMD's. Anything that she did, I needed to learn as well, so I dove right into it. I listened to ILADS workshops, studied power point presentations, and read whatever I could find about the disease. Needless to say, I was absolutely stunned by the medical controversy, the political conflict of interests, and the horrific marginalization of care that our current healthcare has bestowed upon those who suffer from Chronic Lyme Disease.</i></span></span></i></span><br />
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<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
</i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i>Eventually, I left this practice and moved on to work at <a href="http://www.aaimed.com/" style="color: #4c1130; text-decoration: none;">Gordon Medical Associates</a>where I began what I call, "<span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 51, 102) !important; border-bottom-style: dotted !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(153, 51, 102) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif !important; font-size: 18px !important; font-style: italic !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static;">Grad School</span>" for CLD as well as other Chronic Illnesses. Then, about a year and a half ago, I was shocked to discover that my own daughter, Amanda, had Lyme Disease. She fell gravely ill, and our journey began in earnest on Sept. 26, 2010, when we first went to the ER for unrelenting vomiting and severe dehydration. Since that day, we have been gone an additional sixteen times for the same symptoms, and she has also been admitted seven times as well. We tried several different hospitals, but they were all the same in how they chose to address her condition.<br />
<br />
On our seventh trip to the ER, I finally realized that Amanda was not going to get the support or treatment she needed for her illness. The only thing the hospitals were willing to do for her was to get the vomiting under control and give her IV meds for a few days until she was able to take food and fluids by mouth. Because her initial CT Scan and labs came back normal, no diagnostic work-up or antibiotics were given to her. One doctor wanted to diagnose Fibromyalgia, another Rheumatoid Arthritis, and most just saw Amanda as a Psych case.<br />
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I knew then that what was needed was a center where those with tick borne diseases could go for treatment and support in a compassionate setting and receive care as if they were in a hospital with 24/7 nursing care and other support.<br />
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I began talking to friends about creating such a place that I would call, "Inanna House" and telling them how I envisioned it. One friend advised me to write a book so that I would have some clout when I presented a business plan to those with the resources to fund the center.<br />
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This motivated me to write, "Nature's Dirty Needle". The book describes what it is like for those who suffer from Lyme and its co-infections, how it affects their families and friends, and how it impacts their lives on every level, and in every way. I wanted the book to be a resource for those still undiagnosed, and for those family members of Lyme sufferers who do not believe that they are sick, and mistakenly think it's all in their head. Reading story after story of cases with so many similarities brings home the reality of Chronic Lyme Disease, and how devastating it is for everyone concerned.<br />
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I have been asked many times to write another book with more stories after Inanna House is up and running and cannot wait to do so, and share all the success stories we will have to tell from it.<br />
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Inanna House will be a place of hope, healing, and peace. I envision a retreat-like setting in the country, private rooms, safe pathways for walking, pools and hot tubs, an <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 51, 102) !important; border-bottom-style: dotted !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(153, 51, 102) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif !important; font-size: 18px !important; font-style: italic !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static;">infrared sauna</span>, energy treatments, IV treatments, IV antibiotic treatments, detox programs, organic, healthy foods to eat, and emotional support. I believe that the mental, psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects need addressing in order to completely heal from any disease, and this will be a part of the program as well. I also plan to create an endowment so that those who have depleted their resources can still come and experience this unique type of healing. At this center, the best of all worlds of medicine will be incorporated into the program.<br />
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Inanna House will also have MD supervision. There will be treatment rooms, a clinic, and room for conferences and classes. I hope to be able to offer residencies for health care professionals so we can increase the number of Lyme literate providers. I also hope to use the clinical data we collect to further prove to the nonbelievers that we aren't crazy, and that these infections do indeed exist, and in epidemic proportions.<br />
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Currently, we are treating Amanda at home. We give her IV hydration everyday, and include amino acids and minerals, and phosphytidal choline, which helps bind the die-off toxins, clean cellular debris, and enables the liver to function better. We are giving her meds around the clock every four hours. </i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
</i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i>Her pain with the Herxing is incredible, but after fourteen doses of Gentamycin for Bartonella, her eyes are more clear, her brain is more sharp, and her nausea is better. She is encouraged and feels that she is finally moving forward. However, it's unbelievably shameful that we are forced to do this at home because hospitals either don't believe she has an infection or are in fear of their liability. </i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
This MUST change, and by creating Inanna House, I believe that the Lyme community will be taking their first step in the right direction, and will soon be shown the acknowledgment they deserve in our current healthcare system.</i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
</i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i>Thank You,<br />
<br />
Mara Williams, NP</i></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
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</span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dirty-Needle-Chronic-Disease/dp/1937445097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318979685&sr=8-1">Click Here To Buy Nature's Dirty Needle</a></i></span></i></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="http://asliceoflyme.blogspot.com/">Click Here To Read More Of A Slice Of Lyme</a></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://lymechick.com/"><i>Click Here To Read More From Lyme Chick</i></a></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br />
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</i></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-6126617804706850592011-11-15T17:19:00.000-08:002011-11-15T17:19:14.357-08:00Author Interview On 50 Women Project By Jessica Buchleitner<div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mara Williams, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, has been a healthcare provider for 30 years and is the mother of a <a href="http://www.lymemd.org/?gclid=CNak2ujXsqwCFSgaQgodyHrtXg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD)</a> patient. She currently specializes in treating people with <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Tick borne </a>diseases. Her new book,<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dirty-Needle-Chronic-Disease/dp/1937445097" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> “Nature’s Dirty Needle”</a>achieved bestseller status within the first few weeks of its release.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In her book, which serves as a guide for Lyme Disease patients, Mara featured the story of <a href="http://50womenblog.org/2011/05/10/a-monamorphosis/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Mona Motwani</a>, a woman I interviewed in April 2011 who is currently suffering from CLD and whose story will also be featured in<a href="http://www.50womenproject.org/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> “50 Women”.</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I decided to chat with Mara about “Nature’s Dirty Needle” and her upcoming plans to build the Inanna House, a full treatment center for patients our healthcare system has failed to heal due to the conspiracy and corruption surrounding the diagnostic practices of treating CLD.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1. What motivated you to write “Nature’s Dirty Needle”? </strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The idea came to me when I was sitting in the ER with Amanda, my daughter, for the 7th out of 17 visits in the last year due to her struggle with CLD. I realized the current system is so broken that it would never serve her or others like her. A friend encouraged me to write a book about my experiences helping my daughter through Chronic Lyme Disease and the book evolved from there. Since I have been told many times that the people who watch their loved ones suffer become motivated to do extraordinary things. It has certainly been a motivator for me! I am planning another book with more stories as I have been asked several times since it came out to do another with more stories in it by those who want their story told. Lyme patients are too overlooked and the current healthcare system is inefficient to help them.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">2. You have a medical background treating CLD patients. What are common issues you observe in your profession for these patients as far as treatment obstacles?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Common Lyme Treatment obstacles I have observed are: Patients typically see between 10-30 providers before finding a lyme-literate practitioner. The western health care system does not recognize CLD as a legit disease, even though it is an illness caused by bacteria. For this reason, CLD is not a consideration for many of these physicians in their differential diagnosis when seeing someone. If they do think about it, then they run what is called an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELISA" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Elisa test </a>which checks for antibodies in the blood. The issue with this test is that it tends to be negative as the bugs hide from the immune system and within fat cells. There is usually no further testing so the CLD patient is told that “nothing is wrong with them” or that its “all in their head”. Then the physician offers antidepressants because they then believe the illness is psychosomatic.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Once properly diagnosed, if they have been sick for greater than a year, which is too common, then treatment can be challenging as the bugs have had ample time to burrow into different tissues, disrupt the immune system, hormonal system, and nervous system. Also, detox pathways become disrupted and eliminating the die-off and toxins produced by the bugs complicates treatment. Other considerations are heavy metals, mold and chemicals which can increase symptoms and slow progress.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">3. You mention the corruption in the medical community regarding Lyme Disease in “Nature’s Dirty Needle”. In what ways do you feel the system allows patients to fall by the wayside? What do you feel needs to change? </strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The <a href="http://www.idsociety.org/IDSA_Practice_Guidelines/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">IDSA or Infectious Disease Society of America</a> claims CLD doesn’t exist. This allows the western health care system to deny diagnosis and treatment. It allows insurance companies to refuse to pay for treatment and to go after providers who treat CLD and ruin them by threatening their license and livelihood. Insurance companies have sued some doctors for over prescribing antibiotics and won! When someone with CLD is forced to deal with this part of the system they are told it is all in their head and offered antidepressants. The way most providers practice allows them 5-10 minutes with a patient per visit. Someone with CLD requires much more intensive time and intervention. Most providers don’t want complex patients so frequently a patient will be given the Antibody test mentioned above for Lyme which is not reliable and usually is negative even when someone has Lyme. If patients were correctly assessed initially they would be less sick and easier to treat and cure. If ER docs had better knowledge of Lyme they could treat more acute cases, prevent CLD and the years of suffering and years of money spent on care that wouldn’t be needed.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">4. You included the story of Lyme Disease survivor, Mona Motwani, a woman also featured in “50 Women”. What made you decide to include her story in “Nature’s Dirty Needle”? What is your hope for Mona? </strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mona’s story is a classic Lyme story. Mona tells her story in a compelling way that grabs the reader. She is filled with passion for life despite her illness. Mona is getting better, getting her life back and it is my hope that she beats CLD fully.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">5. Your eventual plan is to build a treatment center. Why is this necessary? Can you tell me about some of the programs and treatments you would like to include? </strong></div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Inanna House is necessary because the current system refuses to help with treatment. Just a few days ago Amanda (my daughter) and I went to see an infectious disease specialist at the local hospital and he repeatedly told us the hospital would be able to care for Amanda if she needed support like IV fluids and meds to stabilize her but would not consider giving her IV antibiotics because of the liability of treating her for an infection she doesn’t have. He must have said at least five times that his group does not agree with the CLD diagnosis despite the fact that so many are sick with it. Thus the need for an inpatient facility to support patients and to start treatment in a safe and professional setting is crucial. As I mention in my book I had a vision for a healing center that I knew was a collective vision. This was in the early 1990′s. For a long time I had let it go and then when I was in the ER with Amanda for the 7th time I realized that the focus of the center needed to be for those with CLD and other biotoxin illnesses. Currently such a place does not exist. I plan to have 24 private rooms initially. Stays would range from a week to a few months depending on the needs of the person. Treatment could include several different options: detoxification, nutritional support both oral and IV, beginning Iv antibiotics in a setting with 24/7 nursing support and MD oversight, clean food and energetic healing modalities. It would be in a retreat like setting on land with open space and an organic garden would supply food to guests and the staff. There will be a commercial restaurant that prepares clean organic food as well. This would allow 3 different income streams: patients, garden and restaurant. Someday we can include treatment for animals as</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> well.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It is necessary to raise several million, about 25 million dollars , to support the center so those with no resources left can still come for help. It is common for someone who has been ill with CLD for several years to have lost their homes, and all their savings, owing over $100,000 or more in healthcare costs.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Additionally, we would not be able to take any insurance as that would limit the treatment protocols we could perform. We are creating a new paradigm to include the best of all health care worlds.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">6. Can you tell me about some of the most revolutionary physicians you have worked with in helping Lyme Disease patients? </strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The MD’s I work with at <a href="http://www.aaimed.com/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Gordon Medical </a>have all practiced what I call ‘out of the box’ medicine, always looking for ways to help people get well. They are Neil Nathan, MD; Eric Gordon, MD; Wayne anderson, ND; and Azra MaEl, MD; who have traveled the world finding new ways to approach illness and help people. They are great investigators and researchers who refuse to give up and settle for the status quo or standard of care. They step up out of their comfort zone, are open-hearted, compassionate and willing to share their knowledge and expertise. They are not afraid to say ‘I don’t know”.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">7. Question of the day, Mara: If you had the chance to give all women advice, what would you say to them? </strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">We all come into this life with gifts from God or our higher source, all of us. I would say-discover your gifts and find ways to use them passionately and for the highest good of all. The rewards are amazing! It is living a win-win life!</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Order the book</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mara’s book “Nature’s Dirty Needle” is available for order by clicking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dirty-Needle-Chronic-Disease/dp/1937445097" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">here</a>.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I recommended this book for anyone dealing with CLD down to those who think they may have CLD. The medical advice is sound and the real stories of Lyme survivors are uplifting and informative.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-54511403521436212042011-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:002011-10-24T14:50:58.202-07:00People With Chronic Lyme Disease Feel Terrible<i><u>People with Chronic Lyme Disease feel terrible</u></i>. Imagine feeling exhausted most of the time, having no energy. You hurt everywhere, especially in your joints. The pain can be severe. You may be nauseous every waking minute and eating takes effort. Brain fog is persistent, and you cannot concentrate. Headaches are a daily occurrence, with light and sound sensitivity that drives you away from people and into your home. Depression is pervasive, and sometimes ideas of suicide enter your thoughts. Neurological symptoms, such as tingling and numbness, and electrical, painful shocks travel up your arms and legs, coming and going. <i>It is hard to get out of bed in the morning and function in daily life activities</i>.<br />
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Besides feeling terrible and having to struggle to get from place to place, you go to one doctor after another who tells you there is nothing wrong because all the test results are negative. Then you are offered an antidepressant because it must be all in your head. Unfortunately these are bacterial and parasitic infections affecting different parts of the body, antidepressants are usually infective.<br />
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Later you are sent to a specialist, a rheumatologist or an infectious disease specialist, and they again do testing which is negative; therefore, again it is believed you don't have any disease. <i>Instead of looking at the clinical picture being presented to them, these physicians say there is nothing wrong</i>. It is implied that it is all in your head. Over and over again, this scenario plays out until you feel like you are going crazy.<br />
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Family members look at you like you're going insane, and your loved ones begin to turn away from you. However, you remain caught in this horrible cycle of feeling terrible, not able to function on a daily basis, and in pain most of the time. It is devastating in every which way *<i>Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually, Mentally, and Financially. </i>The emotional cost to a patient and their families is horrendous. How does an ill person participate in life? People with CLD are dependent on family and friends to take care of them, to prepare food for them, to do errands, to pick up their medicines, to call the doctor and arrange for appointments, to help with their children, if they have any. *<i>Basically any activity healthy people take for granted.</i><br />
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Since insurance will not pay for a problem that does not exist, the costs are extremely high. Not only must you pay for a health insurance policy and the attendant co-pays that go with it, you go to doctors who say nothing is wrong. Then you seek out, if you are lucky to find one, a Lyme-Literate provider who does not take your insurance. Most Lyme specialists have cash practices because they could not stay in business otherwise. It takes one to two hours in an initial visit to tease out the problems and begin to address them. At your primary doctor's office, you pay your co-pay, the doctor bills your insurance the remainder, and this doctor only spends five to ten minutes with you. How can anyone know what is going on in such a short period of time? It is not possible. <i>Your story, your symptoms, how you live on a daily basis are important in diagnosing your illness and deciding on the first step in treatment</i>.<br />
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<i>It is time for something new</i>. There are many differences between the way Western health care and Eastern health care deal with Lyme Disease and other co-infections. While most of the providers who practice in our current system fail to acknowledge CLD, it is often an acupuncturist or naturopathic physician that suggests the possibility of CLD to a person and gets them to begin looking for other providers who understand what they might be going through.<br />
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In an integrative practice, the best of both worlds are utilized in a blended way by using herbals, neutraceuticals, and antibiotics. Using nutrients and herbals, instead of drugs, can control many chronic conditions, as they have fewer side effects and are accepted by the body more readily. There are herbal tinctures specific to the treatment of Lyme and the co-infections that work well in combination with antibiotics. A well as other supplements utilized to help the body clear toxins from the bugs and support the lymph and liver system.<br />
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As a knowledgable health care provider and Lyme Literate, I find it incomprehensible that the current medical system shuns and marginalizes people with CLD. The suffering this disease can cause exemplifies this wrong and shows the need for a place those with CLD can find <i>Solace, Support, and Respect</i>, as well as treatment that moves them toward a healing state.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-21215844234858511382011-10-21T13:42:00.000-07:002011-10-21T13:42:31.471-07:00A Vision For A New Paradigm In Health Care<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Inanna is the queen of Heaven and Earth and the Goddess of Love from the Sumerian Civilization that existed in 3000 BC in what is now known as Iraq. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the first chapter of "Nature's Dirty Needle", I mention that the current health care system is broken, possibly beyond repair. A new health care system is needed. The time is now. It is necessary to address all aspects of an individual * <i>Physical, Emotional, Energetic, Mental, and Spiritual </i>* at the same time. There is not one way to accomplish this. Complexity demands that each individual be considered separately * <i>As An Individual</i>. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the current health care system, there is no place for the millions who are ill with CLD to get help when they are in need of more intensive support and care. No hospital exists that recognizes and treats these infections. For hyper-sensitive people, there is no place they can go to start IV antibiotics and get the needed hydration and IV medicine to control their symptoms while they react to the die-off and toxins. The costs for treating TBDs are staggering and insurance companies refuse to pay for them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every person that I have spoken with who is ill with CLD has mentioned their frustration that there is nowhere for them to go to get help when they are relapsing or herxing.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is time for a change, a different way. It is time for a new paradigm for true health and healing. Inanna House will offer an oasis of <i>Peace, Health, and Healing</i>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Over 20 years ago, I was in Mexico on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, floating in the water late one night, when I had a vision. I do not have visions very often, but this one was like a movie reel playing in my head, showing a place where people could come and receive the care needed to heal. I was aware that my visions was not unique, that many others would have a similar experience because it is so important and the world needs a new paradigm of health that truly serves everyone. For years, I held this vision. When my daughter was lying in the hospital, in agony, being under treated and misdiagnosed, I realized that the time has come to create my vision. It became clear that this population of people with CLD desperately needed a place to go for help. A place where there would be competent care and treatment that would move them forward and help them to heal.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Inanna House will be a residence for debilitated chronically ill individuals, a place to receive supportive therapies in many modalities and to start treatment with IV antibiotics in a safe environment. The program is designed in one week modules, although extended stay beyond one week would be very common. It is a program designed to address all aspects of healing * <i>Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, and Energetic.</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">An endowment will be created in which people can invest, so that those who have depleted their resources can get help as well. Inanna House will not be able to use any government or health insurance monies, because then the government would be able to dictate what could be done and what could not. It would unacceptable to limit my vision of what should be possible. The intention is to blend all the best of what health care has to offer, using various modalities in a synergistic way to <i>build and support, cleanse, and detoxify</i> the body so that treatment of TBDs can be maximally effective.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Inanna House will be the first facility of many to model the new paradigm. It is part of the vision that Inanna House be built around the world. Many of these centers are needed as millions are in need of help.</span><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can read in more detail of my plans and what type of treatments Inanna House will offer in my book </span></i><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dirty-Needle-Chronic-Disease/dp/1937445097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318979685&sr=8-1">Click To Buy Nature's Dirty Needle Here!</a></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-1686217959707625202011-10-18T15:56:00.000-07:002011-10-18T15:56:18.507-07:00Why I Wrote "Nature's Dirty Needle"As a Nurse Practitioner, I have been blessed to work with some amazing and courageous physicians who practice "out of the box" medicine. Using herbals, neutraceuticals, as well as pharmaceuticals to offer the best of both natural and allopathic ways of health care, this group of providers gives their best to help people discover the root cause of their problem and get well. They listen and take the time to understand what is going on with a person, what their story is telling them, and the clinical picture being presented. The past three years, I have focused on Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD) and other illnesses that cause chronic and debilitating illness. Then a little over a year ago, I realized that my daughter was very sick with CLD. It was a stunning moment. Fortunately, I work with providers who can help her as I had to assume the role of mother once again. What our family has endured when it becomes necessary to interact with the current health care system is a horror story. It is this experience that has compelled me to write <i>"Nature's Dirty Needle"</i>. My daughter's story and the others that are in the book must be told. Hopefully, this will lead to a greater awareness of the worldwide issue of CLD, the politics around it, and how to get and help and feel better.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463471392139941124.post-9740986296339746402011-10-14T13:21:00.000-07:002011-10-14T13:21:43.586-07:00Nature's Dirty Needle: Book ReviewBook review for "Nature's Dirty Needle" written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>"The image of heroin addicts sharing dirty needles is a strong one. Most people understand it’s a bad idea, an easy way to spread diseases like HIV and hepatitis.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>The image of ticks as “nature’s dirty needle” is also dramatic. Ticks stick their mouth parts into mice, birds, squirrels, deer and untold other wild animals, picking up viruses, worms, protozoa and oh yes, bacterial infections like Lyme disease. By the time the tick sticks its dirty needle into you, you risk contracting a variety of different pathogens, some of them not even named yet.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>In her book, “Nature’s Dirty Needle,” Lyme-literate nurse practitioner Mara Williams explores the topic of chronic Lyme disease as the end result of this toxic soup transmitted by tick saliva. The Lyme spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, is only part of the mix.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>The complexity of chronic Lyme, with its myriad coinfections, is one reason it can be so confounding to diagnose and treat this disease. And why it’s essential for Lyme patients to find a knowledgeable practitioner. Williams describes symptoms, treatment and some of the politics surrounding Lyme and coinfections.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>She interweaves personal anecdotes from individuals with Lyme, spelling out how difficult it was for them to get properly diagnosed, as well as the ups and downs of their experiences with treatment.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>Ultimately, she sums up a bleak picture: “In the current health care system, there is no place for the millions who are ill with CLD (chronic Lyme disease) to get help when they are in need of more intensive support and care. No hospital exists that recognizes and treats these infections….Every person that I have spoken with who is ill with CLD has mentioned their frustration that there is nowhere for them to get help when they are relapsing or herxing.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>At the end of the book, Williams lays out her ideas for a healing center called Inanna House, which she would like to build in Sonoma County, CA. <span> </span>It would be geared to the needs of chronic Lyme patients, a place to receive supportive therapies and start IV treatments in a safe environment. It would offer both in-patient and out-patient care, as well as workshops and classes. It would incorporate a range of healing modalities, both western and alternative.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>I don’t know how far along her plans are, or what it would take to open and run such a facility. But as I read the last chapter, where she describes her vision for Inanna House, I could imagine Lyme patients everywhere giving the idea a standing ovation."</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.lymedisease.org/news/touchedbylyme/dirtyneedle.html">http://www.lymedisease.org/news/touchedbylyme/dirtyneedle.html</a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08453997984029847630noreply@blogger.com0