Chronic Lyme on News

[mojogal]

On the national news this morning, they reported on Yolanda Foster's battle with chronic Lyme and her recent setback where she said she is unable to read, write or watch TV. It is great the illness is getting covered but sad that it took her getting so ill to do it.

[mojogal]

How can they say chronic Lyme doesn't exist when it is the news more then ever? ARGH!

[kittycar]

You are right, I am not really old enough to have remembered all of the AIDS stuff that went on a while back, but it is a very good comparison. Thank you:)  

I have a friend that is in med school right now and even after she has seen everything that I have been going through, she would still look me straight in the face and tell me the same thing that any other "regular" doctor would tell me.  She has also told me that the homeopathic remedies that I have been doing along with traditional meds are completely worthless and homeopathic medicine is all a quack.  It goes to show what future doctors are learning....So crazy....

[JackieCalifornia]

"The way that our government seems to try so hard to cover up this disease, sweep it under the rug, and punish doctors that treat it.  It does make one think a little harder about what is truly going on."

What is truly going on is, imo, simple human arrogance.  The docs who first 'discovered' Lyme are still practicing, and they are loath to admit that maybe what they have been preaching for a few decades now about Lyme being rare and easy to cure is simply wrong.  Most diseases don't pop up so fast and spread so fast to so many people, and the docs were caught connect the wrong dots.  Humans do dumb stuff, and that includes docs.  

AIDS came close to that pattern of rapid spread, and there was plenty of medical ignorance and pride going around then too, just as with Lyme now:  the white-coated CDC docs got on TV a couple decades ago to intone solemnly that you flatly *could not* get AIDS unless you were (1) gay or (2) Haitian.  Ridiculous, because bacteria don't give a darn where you were born or who your sweetie is.  The bugs just want a free meal, so they take the easiest route to that.  Sociology is not the ruling paradigm.

Conspiracy theories are not needed to explain what the CDC has done with Lyme:  human arrogance by the docs is quite sufficient.

[kittycar]

I saw that article and shared it on my facebook page.  I am so glad that it is getting national attention, unfortunately at a very high price for Ms. Foster.  I have hope (while still remaining realistic) that this will have "normal" people asking questions and wondering why she wasn't able to get diagnosed earlier.  

There is this silly conspiracy theory that Lyme is a man made bacteria developed on Plum Island and intended for biological warfare.  Because Plum Island is only 8 miles off the coast of Old Lyme, CT it was easy for it to hitch a ride to the mainland.  When I heard this theory I laughed out loud and thought how crazy.  I think conspiracy theories are a joke.....however....

The way that our government seems to try so hard to cover up this disease, sweep it under the rug, and punish doctors that treat it.  It does make one think a little harder about what is truly going on.

Not saying that I believe the whole Plum Island thing, but it is a good hyperbole in order to drive home the point that we have a major problem if it takes a B list Celebrity getting so ill in order to get some attention brought to this awful disease.