Today at our house we are celebrating~Click the pic.
Jason Turczi
August 30, 1988 – June 22, 2010
We know your here with us sometimes….
♥
Thank you Erin Ellis of the Vancouver Sun!
People with Lyme disease say
they can’t get treatment
Health officials say they don’t need it. It’s a controversy with a bite.
By Erin Ellis, Vancouver Sun August 16, 2010
Jessica Rain has had health problems for the past seven years after being bitten by ticks. She says doctors’ hands are tied by governments that do not allow them to treat Lyme disease.
Photograph by: Gerry Kahrmann, PNG
Click on the box below to watch this story’s video:
Treating Lyme disease with Erin Ellis and Dr. Murakami.
There is a small 1 min ad. Very worth the watch!
VANCOUVER – What if you picked up a crippling bacterial disease, but your doctor says it’s virtually impossible you have it? Or the doctor agrees you’re sick, but won’t treat you for fear of being drummed out of the profession?
Lyme disease patients in British Columbia say that’s what’s happening to them, and they’re being forced to look outside the mainstream medicalsystem for help.
While health officials say a few hundred Canadians contract Lyme disease each year, patient advocates claim that’s a drastic underestimate.
They say they’re given inadequate tests, denied medical treatment or told something else is causing the muscle and joint pain that leaves them unable to walk. And the few doctors willing to treat them with long-term antibiotics — sometimes administered for months intravenously — fear repercussions from their licensing bodies.
On the other side, public health officials say the risk of picking up Lyme disease here is minuscule, testing methods are accurate and there is no evidence that long courses of antibiotics are helpful. They blame questionable blood tests from private U.S. laboratories for convincing people they have Lyme disease when they’re really suffering from another mysterious condition.
Robbin Lindsay, a research scientist with the Public Health Agency of Canada, says he deals with a number of infectious diseases, including the potentially fatal mosquito-borne West Nile virus, and nothing else stirs up the same level of passion.
“I don’t understand the level of emotion that’s involved there,” he said in a phone interview from the national microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg.
“I suppose it’s the belief from the advocates that they are right and the medical community and the public healthpeople are wrong. And that they are ill and they’re not getting any help. I can certainly appreciate the frustration they would feel, but I think what they really need to do is to work within the medical system.”
Easier said than done, according to Mary de Lisser of Abbotsford, who became ill in 2002 after being bitten by an insect while camping near Courtenay on Vancouver Island. She developed a distinctive bull’s-eye-shaped rash that often — but not always — follows a bite by an infected tick.
She went to a walk-in clinic, but no one recognized the signs. She saw 32 different doctors over the next 10 months as her pain and fatigue increased, landing her in a wheelchair, before finding a photo of the rash online and deciding to pursue Lyme disease as the possible cause. The screening test for Lyme disease used in B.C. came back negative so no infectious disease specialist would see her.
“The tests in Canada are garbage. Getting a positive is like winning the lottery. If they put a poor test in place they keep the numbers down to rare, as they like them to be,” said de Lisser, 58.
The BC Centre for Disease Control recorded 10 cases of Lyme disease in 2009 and six in 2008. The Washington State Department of Health recorded 16 cases in 2009 and says 13 of those were contracted in other states.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says there are 120 to 150 laboratory-confirmed cases in the country each year and about half of those were picked up outside Canada. It adds that this is likely an underestimate because it doesn’t includeclinical diagnoses reached by doctors who treat patients without testing — particularly in the early stages — afterseeing the distinctive rash and hearing that they have been in areas where the infected ticks are known to live.
This is changing, however, as Lyme disease is now a reportable disease in Canada with data being collected for 2010.
What will never be known is how much money Canadians are spending either in the U.S. or for alternative therapy in Canada that’s not covered under medicare.
Shannon Goertzen of Richmond is being treated by Dr. Steven Harris of Redwood City, Calif., who specializes in Lyme disease, and an unnamed local doctor who writes the prescriptions for her antibiotics. She has administered an IV drip to herself each day at home for two years.
She says she’s spending up to $20,000 a year for her treatment, but is now able to enjoy life again after being bed–ridden for months at a time during two years of seeking help.
Goertzen believes she was bitten in Whistler, as were her two sons, who are also ill.
Heat from colleagues
Before Goertzen travelled to the U.S., a Richmond-based infectious disease doctor agreed to treat her because she tested positive for another tick-borne disease, but not Lyme. Thedoctor, however, refused to treat her over the long term.
“He kept saying you don’t have Lyme disease … then he said he’d give me 30 days of IV treatment,” said Goertzen. “He told us point-blank: ‘You don’t know how much heat I’m taking from my colleagues for treating you.’”
Forty-one-year-old Jessica Rain of Vancouver has had a variety of health problems — from fever and chills to vertigo and headaches — for the last seven years after being bitten by ticks in the U.S. and B.C. Interior while working on film locations.
She’s spent about $10,000 on homeopathic therapy over those years — which she said had limited results — and is now launching into another alternative therapy of low-dose antibiotics at a private clinic here, which she expects will cost her thousands of dollars a year. That’s still a promising alternative, in her opinion, to travelling to the United States for consultations costing $500 a visit.
“You’re looking at blowing $50,000 for treatment over a few years,” she says.
“It’s a scary society out there when our governments can choose what they want to treat and what they don’t want to treat. It’s not up to the governments, it’s up to the doctors and the doctors’ hands are tied. The fact that the denial here is so massive, it boggles the mind.”
De Lisser, Goertzen and Rain, like many other Lyme disease activists, did not have a positive result for the disease using the ELISA blood test — short for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which measures antibodies to Lyme disease in the blood. They say it should be replaced with the Western blot blood test that Canadian doctors also use, but only after a positive ELISA screening test.
Many patients pay about $500 for their own Western blot tests from private U.S. labs, but find those results are often ignored here. (De Lisser had an equivocal result on a Western blot; Goertzen and Rain’s test came up positive.) They say thecurrent system drasticallylimits both the reported number of cases and any medicare-funded treatment.
But Lindsay says the two-step Canadian system is superior to any single test.
“I worry that when people get tests outside the country that a greater percentage of those may be false positives,” he said. “Either our tests on this side of the border don’t work or these people are getting false positive results from south of the border.”
Doctors reluctant to treat
Dr. Muhammad Morshed of the BC Centre for DiseaseControl says the reason rates are low is that far fewer ticks in B.C. are carrying Lyme disease compared with ticks in the eastern U.S.
And doctors here are knowledgeable about the disease,Morshed says, adding that many will treat early-stage cases with a short course of antibiotics. Those patients will not test positive — if they are tested at all — because it takes 10 to 14 days after infection for it to be detectable in a blood test.
Dr. Ernie Murakami disagrees that doctors in Canada have an up-to-date understanding of Lyme disease. The retired physician from Hope now volunteers his time to help Lyme disease patients through a not-for-profit society.
Murakami, 79, says he was forced to give up his medical licence two years ago after the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons repeatedly questioned him about his treatment of Lyme disease patients.
“The doctors have a big apology to give the general public,” he says. “Infectious disease doctors don’t even believe that chronic Lyme disease exists. Their knowledge is way, way behind.”
Even if doctors are convinced a patient has Lyme disease, they are reluctant to treat it if it has advanced beyond theinitial stage that requires only a few weeks of antibiotics, says Murakami.
“Doctors in Canada are petrified to talk about Lyme disease,” he says.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons refuses to comment on Murakami, but says it recognizes that some cases of Lyme disease require lengthy use of antibiotics.
Murakami says the college began investigating him after a young woman in Kelowna died in hospital while receiving intravenous antibiotics. Her doctor had spoken to Murakami on the phone for advice, but Murakami says he was not actively treating the patient. She died after having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic and a nurse accidentally administered adrenalin intravenously, he said.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America says most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with less than a month of antibiotics and calls long-term treatment “unwarranted and potentially dangerous.” It also questions the existence of chronic Lyme disease. The society, which represents infectious disease specialists, stuck with that opinion in April after it asked a special panel to look into conflict-of-interest allegations from the State of Connecticut.
Connecticut Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal said in a 2008 news release that he wanted the investigation because insurance companies in the U.S. were denying long-term treatment to Lyme disease patients based on the society’s guidelines.
“The IDSA’s 2006 Lyme disease guideline panel undercut its credibility by allowing individuals with financial interests — in drug companies, Lyme disease diagnostic tests, patents and consulting arrangements with insurance companies — to exclude divergent medical evidence and opinion.”
Eight states on board
Eight U.S. states — Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — have passed laws to allow doctors to prescribe long-term antibiotics for the treatment of Lyme disease.
Dr. Maureen McShane, a Montreal resident who practises in Plattsburgh, N.Y., contracted Lyme disease in the Laurentian Mountains in 2002 and has now treated about 300 patients — many of them Canadians — with antibiotics.
U.S. physicians have been hit with massive legal bills in the fight to keep their licences after doing the same, she said in a phone interview from her home.
Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses are poorly understood, she believes, and need more research beforeruling out antibiotics, which she says work in 80 to 90 per cent of cases.
But Lindsay, of the Public Health Agency of Canada,disagrees that the benefitsoutweigh the risks.
“Antibiotic therapy in the long-term — especially intravenously — is not without its risks,” he said.
“There have been no clinical trials to my knowledge that suggest that more than the standard duration of treatment provides any additionalbenefit, so again you’re into an area that’s very controversial.”
He also noted a case in which the Minnesota Department of Health investigated the death of a 52-year-old woman who was being treated with oral antibiotics for Lyme disease. She developed a so-called superbug, C. difficile, after 21⁄2 months of taking the drugs and died of heart failure in hospital.
Some new players will be added to the mix next month when naturopathic doctors in B.C. who have passed a qualifying exam will be allowed to prescribe antibiotics for the first time.
Murakami says they might be the next hope for Lyme disease patients.
eellis@vancouversun.com
- – -
The latest on the Lyme disease file
Lyme disease primer
Lyme disease is named after Lyme, Conn., where a group of children was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1975. The outbreak was later attributed to tick bites. Since then, it’s become endemic along the U.S. eastern seaboard. B.C. reported six cases in 2008.
The bacteria
Borrelia burgdorferi is the spiral-shaped bacterium that causes Lyme disease.
The insect
Two types of blacklegged tick – one found in Central and Eastern Canada and a western variety on this side of the Rockies — pick up the bacteria by feeding on the blood of infected rodents or deer. They can infect humans when they bite them, but must be attached for a day or two totransmit the disease. Both the nymph and adult stages of the tick can carry Lyme disease, but the tiny nymph is considered more dangerous because most people don’t notice it on their skin. The adult is much more obvious, particularly after it is filled with blood, because it swells to the size of a raisin. Nymphs are more active in the spring and summer; adults in the summer and fall. The tick needs underbrush, leaf litter and moisture to survive. It latches onto hosts who brush by it, often in tall grass. Its habitat is expected to grow with climate change.
The symptoms
Early signs include a reddish, bull’s-eye-shaped rash around the site of a bug bite that spreads with time. Some people experience a round or oval rash. Infected people become tired, feverish, sore and headachy.
In later stages — after weeks or months — patients report arthritic symptoms including severe muscle and joint pain, stiff neck and headache associated with meningitis, confusion and memory loss.
The treatment
If the disease is caught quickly, a couple of weeks of an antibiotic such as doxycycline can stop its progress. If left untreated, it can require months of antibiotics administered orally or through an intravenous drip.
Prevention: Walk on cleared paths and trails. Wear long sleeves and long pants when you’re out in the woods or tall grass. Put an insect repellentcontaining DEET on exposed skin. Check yourself and your pets carefully for ticks when you get home.
Useful websites
• BC Centre for Disease Control on Lyme disease
• Public Health Agency of Canada fact sheet
• Canadian Lyme disease Foundation
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
“Some people DO LOOK SICK.”
Since i have been around the “Lyme disease scene” everyone keeps using the phrase, “But you don’t look sick.”
Well, i am sorry but i must disagree…SOME PEOPLE DO LOOK SICK….very sick,
and i am living proof you can get passed all that and be a:
LYME SURVIVOR! 
The people who love and know you best can SEE you are not to your old self and you are sick.
It would be good if you made a picture trail or video of your Lyme journey!
Pictures say a THOUSAND words…
The CDCs’ Barbara Johnson Story ~
In 1992 CDC Fort Collins staff members (in particular, Barbara
Johnson, a CDC Employee) applied for 5 patents in Europe re DNA from Borrelia burgdorferi for the purpose and intent that this intellectual property be resold (presumably to SmithKline Beecham, since that’s with whom
they co-claim the patents:
http://v3.espacenet.com/inpadoc?submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&CC=WO&NR=932…
Click on any of those 5 patents you will see that one of the
claims of these patents is that there are two classes of Lyme
expression: 1) people who are arthritis-prone and 2) the rest of us.
The first patent (see in the Description) says:
http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/description?CC=AU&NR=43920…
“Summary of the Invention
“In one aspect, the invention provides isolated B. burgdorferi
antigens which are regulated and differentiated by growth of the B.
burgdorferi in a tick vector. Novel antigens of the invention are
listed below in Table I.
“Certain of these antigens are characterized as being B. burgdorferi
B31 (left out of the standard today)strain specific and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) nonrestricted. Certain other of these antigens are characterized as being MHCrestricted. Sera generated to these antigens (B31 MHC
nonrestricted and B31 MHC restricted) are further characterized by the
ability or lack of ability to react with B. burgdorferi JD-1 strain;
the antigens themselves (B31 MHC nonrestricted and B31 MHC restricted)
are further characterized by being homologous or heterologous with B.
burgdorferi JD-1 strain antigens. The most preferred antigens of this
invention, because of their ability to induce cross-strain immunity to
B. burgdorferi in different animal haplotypes, are characterized by
being B31 MHC nonrestricted, JD-1 crossreactive, and JD-1
nonrestricted.Other antigens are also useful in vaccine compositions
and as diagnostics.”
- – -
What that means is that there will be a different antibody profile for
*people* who have Allen Steere’s particular HLA endowment, enabling
them to have a hypersensitivity response (too many antibodies) against
OspA.
You can see that Allen Steere makes these HLA-case definition-relation
claims in 1990 and 1993: ”Association of chronic Lyme arthritis with HLA-DR4 and HLA-DR2
alleles.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2078208
and
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7685738
”Association of treatment-resistant chronic Lyme arthritis with HLA-
DR4 and antibody reactivity to OspA and OspB of Borrelia burgdorferi.”
Therefore, by 1994, it was well-established, both by the CDC and Allen
Steere that Lyme arthritis is a hypersensitivity response or a too-
many antibody response, but that not all people have Steere’s HLA and
therefore, not all people have a hypersensitivity response, or a “too-
many-antibodies” response or an allergy response to Lyme spirochete
antigens.
In 1994 the CDC held a conference on the “standardization of the
testing for Lyme Disease, a/k/a The Dearborn Conference” This phrase means to Western Blot
chromatographers that the METHOD will be standardized; ie;. % Gel,
strains, standardization of the standard, strains that express all the
antigen needed to detect this “species” of spirochete, and other lab-
method parameters of the electrophoresis process, so that the PROCESS
of Western Blotting for Lyme would be the same such that like likes of
a 31 kilodalton antibody-antigen complex detected via the method would
come out at 31 kilodaltons, whether the Blotting occurred in
California or Connecticut.
However, CDC officer Allen Steere had made a proposal in 1992-1993,
while he was in Europe with bogus high-passage strains (that would
drop plasmids and therefore antibody detected in the patients), and
with the recombinant antigens Outer Surface Proteins (Osps) A and B
that had had the lipid removed.
You need the lipid moiety or else antibodies will not be produced.
The microbial lipids are what are typically the initiators of the
immune response. Lipids are in all membranes. The lipid in the
membrane of a bug would tell our bodies that a bug is actually
present. Sometimes (especially before 1994), these
microbial membrane lipids are called endotoxins, as described by CDC
officer Alan Barbour, where he also talks about how Lyme/Borreliosis
is incurable with antibiotics and that he therefore recommends
treating Syphilis patients with “high passage” (wimpy, non-virulent,
like the strains Allen Steere took to Europe to falsify the diagnostic
standard on behalf of eother the CDC or himself or both.
For the love of GOD:
Can someone tell me why someone who owns a patent on the outcome of the diagnosic standard can MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE FDA….ESPECIALLY…when the patent is owned by a Center for Disease Control EMPLOYEE ???
Please look at the following texts and maybe this will help you understand the scientific FRAUD they committed:
Allen Seere reports BEFORE the Dearborn Conference
First CDC Standard —-BEFORE the 1994 Dearborn Conference
Actual CDC booklet of Standard, 1990
The Second National Conference on Serologic Diagnosis of Lyme Disease — READ it for yourself.
Arthur Weinstein and Barbara Johnsons Recommendations
New York Medical College -Weinstein promotes “Trio” and makes more money for failing college
CDC OFFICER Barbara Johnsons Patents
——————-
The funniest part of this whole jig is:
YALE - STEERE – WORMSER (<still being sued over
LYMErix) – New York Medical College – et. al. ARE
NOT GETTING ANY MORE GRANT $$ FOR LYME!!!
awww what a crying shame....Whaaaa....LMAO!
Run Baby Run!
© Dottie L. Heffron
I read quite a bit lately, something that I have to work on very hard since it is not a big passion of mine. Not since I was bitten by a tick, that is. If you want to get to the heart of the problem with Lyme disease you have to read everything you can get your hands on. I contracted Borrelia, Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever and probably an assortment of other bacterial goodies seven years ago. Now, I just can not read enough on the subject.
I look over at the tall stacks of Peer reviewed medical journals and health magazines that adorn my desk. Wow, I think to myself, how come you couldn’t do that in college? I guess I was just too busy making some artsy fartsy thing in art appreciation or building a muscle computer for the lab I taught in part-time.
Today, being a computer administrator, I go over daily reports the server compiles. I noticed a website referring one of my clients and thought to myself, that’s a fair amount of traffic for them to be referring. I was too behind that day and did not have enough time to investigate the site. I just blew it off as one of those sites that boast “donate here for research” we don’t know who or where the money goes- or what it goes for- let’s just raise cash – kind of sites. The donations go to big extravagant “galas” and they never say who they help.
Several weeks later, I was back reviewing reports and what caught my eye was that same website was referring my client. This time the numbers were staggering. Having plenty of time for investigation that day, off I went in search of. Wow, this site is boasting, “I Beat Lyme, so can YOU!” I was floored to see it was an athlete, a woman athlete at that. I began reading over the pages and didn’t notice 2 or so hours went by.
The reading was easy and I loved the way she wrote. I remember thinking to myself; she and I had a lot in common. Lyme-check, Rocky Mt. Spotted-check, loves art-check, alike thinking-check, matter of fact manner-check, independent-check, on a quest to help others-big check and many other similarities. I really like the fact she didn’t side with any one Lyme group but was sympathetic to others. She chose to remain independent, something I promised a Lyme disease mentor long ago. My promise reigns true today as I advocate for the state of Illinois independently.
I think what really caught my eye was; she said she was a survivor of Lyme and not a victim. She stated, “Lyme disease is 100% Beatable, You can Beat Lyme Too!” This is fresh, I thought. Something people infested with this bacteria and other bacterial infections need to hear. When we are sick, it’s not fun. No one wants to be sick and miserable. People have a tendency to complain to each other about their health issues, and that is perfectly fine. Everyone needs comfort and to commiserate with someone. It’s when that commiseration turns into “it’s all about me” stuff, now that turns people off and could be problematic.
If we are going to “survive” with Lyme or co-infections we need to be strong. We honestly have to pick up ourselves and each other up by the bootstraps and dust each other off. If something isn’t working for you, then change it and move on to something else. We know our bodies better then anyone else in this whole world. We know when we do not feel well and if your honest with yourself, you will see which direction your path should take. Read about different protocols and natural remedies to make better informed to make decisions about your health. Take your health into your own hands.
I was so impressed after viewing Perry’s website and stories; I just knew I had to contact her. Having a positive figure in your life is a Godsend. I truly believe that souls pass each others way for life lessons during our journey here on earth. I am so blessed Perry passed my way. That’s the day I went off antibiotics. I emailed her and she so graciously accepted my request for an interview. Before long we would call each other and swap stories and ideas. She is a warm and funny person and this is how I got to know and love her. I hope you will too. Without further ado:
Meet Perry Lewis Fields:
Dottie: Where were you born? What is your home base now?
Perry: Born in Fairfax, VA in 1978. Home base is Greenville, South Carolina. However, I’m pretty transient due to athletics.
Dottie: When you were small what did you want to be when you grew up?
Perry: World’s fastest miler and thought about being an astronaut also because I love space. It’s fascinating.
8 years old and winning already!
(©Perrys’ personal collection)
Dottie: When did you know you wanted to become an athlete?
Perry: It probably was one of the first thoughts I ever had. I must have been around age 3. I was born with hip displaysia so as soon as that was fixed up and I could use my legs I was thinking about “taking off.”
Dottie: Tell us what a training day might consist of Ms. Perry.
Perry: Right now I’m in Colorado Springs training at altitude. I sleep as much as I did when I had Lyme, so that’s 12 hours some nights and its pretty good REM sleep. It’s essential for recovery and repair (not just for athletes, but for anyone who is ill). I spend some time everyday thinking about what I want to do and where I want to be. I’m good at manifesting my destiny and this is something I learned when I was ill. I was training myself in high school for this, but when I got ill I really discovered it. I also spend a lot of time cooking and preparing meals. I’m a stickler about what I eat and eating well really pays off.
I usually train once or twice a day. I had coaches in the past that tried to run me into the ground. Now that I’m older and wiser I realize that resting is just as important in training then the actually workouts. A typical runner will run 6 days a week (many days being double days). I run maybe 3 or 4 days. I’m resting in between those days. But when it’s an ON day, it’s really ON. I’m maxing out. This way I’m mimicking what I do in a race. Racing is really ON. It’s all out. I think I will have a lot of success here with this and so far it’s paid off.
Above photo ©Tom Lasure
Dottie: Tell us what a typical day would be like with you when you’re not training. What do you like to do for fun?
Perry: I’m really into resting so I can recover. I love to cook because it’s a way of taking care of myself and showing myself LOVE. When I’m fortunate to be with my rescued pets, I spend a lot of time with them. I love reading non fiction because I am sponge for information. I’m one of those people that if I don’t know how to do something, I will figure it out…no matter what it is…and that includes beating Lyme and answering every health question related to it.
Dottie: What do you eat/prepare to show yourself some LOVE?
Perry: I like to eat a variety of things. Every time I go to the supermarket I always pick up something I’ve either NEVER had before (exotic fruit for example) or haven’t had in a long time (Swiss Chard for example). It’s good to get your nutrients from multiple sources and keep your body “on it’s toes”, so to speak.
If I don’t know what to do with a strange fruit or vegetable…I’ll juice it and drink it raw so I can get the enzymes from it.
Favorite things to make would be SUPER soups that are easy to digest but contain loads of nutrients. With soups you can put everything in and it’s hard to screw up. I’m all about nutrient dense calories.
Dottie: How about telling us a good recipe?
Perry: One of my favorite all around type of things to make would be my polenta lasagna. My only qualm with polenta is the entire GMO deal with corn so I tried to get organic and hope for the best, but even organic corn is genetically modified these days.
Basically you make polenta and use it the way you would noodles (I’m gluten intolerant so I don’t do noodles and rice noodles are okay but polenta doesn’t get soggy). You basically use different herbs (like basil, oregano and Italian seasoning), Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Paul Newman’s tomato sauces for the seasoning.
Then you can get wild with your vegetables. I like portabella mushrooms, eggplant, onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes and bell peppers. You can do different layers of veggies, polenta and a good quality mozzarella cheese.
You bake it and then you have a nice meal that’s fairly easy.
Dottie: Do you eat only raw or do you heat food?
Perry: I don’t heat with the microwave unless I have no choice, but if I do heat in the microwave I use a frequency card under my food to put the positive spin on the electrons in the food before I eat it. Did you get that one? HAHAHA < I did ;o)
I eat raw mostly in the summer as I juice everyday. In the winter I eat less raw and more cooked, warm foods that are really nourishing. But I do eat seasonally as much as possible. It’s the way nature intended. Winter means yams and potatoes!
Dottie: Are you a vegan?
Perry: NO WAY. I’m an athlete so I can’t do it. Plus I think tofu is bad for you. Too much soy in everyone’s diet these days…it’s not a good thing I tell ya. Most soy is GMO also.
I understand the vegan thing because I hate how animals are processed in mass. However these days almost anyone can go hook up with their local farmer and get a cow or whatever and have it slaughtered in house (the good ol’fashion way). There is no excuse anymore because almost everyone can get quality meats that are hormone free and cruelty free. So everyone should do their detective work. I read an article in the WALL STREET journal of all places about traveling slaughter houses and how cool they are. The farmers think it’s a noble death for their animals usually because each animals is cooed away from the herd and killed so quickly that there is no cruelty to it…or at least very little.
It’s really quite bad to eat animals that go through the mass processing as they are scared to death when they die and their adrenaline gets in the meat and then we eat it. NOT GOOD.
I do eat meat (usually beef) three times a week because I’m an athlete, but I think anyone with Lyme needs to make sure they are getting the right kind of healthy protein in their diet. It’s essential to recovery.
Dottie: Do you eat organic?
Perry: Yes, as much as possible. I also eat local. That means things I can go get from Farmer Joe I go and get from him directly and not the supermarket.
Dottie: What are some supplements you take to cleanse?
Perry: Cleansing and detoxing is a big part of healing. I did so much I tell ya its crazy! But I continue to do this for maintenance because you have to detox and help you body rid waste. We live in terrible pollution and are usually completely unaware of the problem. And with genetics coming into play and liver enzymes being muted or defunct it’s not wonder why so many people are starting to develop these heinous autoimmune disorders.
Milk thistle is a good one to take. I like N Acetyl Cysteine and a good strong aloe juice and aloe oil like the one on HealthtoHeart.com. Aloe cleanses and repairs and the oil of aloe has amazing properties to clean out organs like the lungs.
Also know that to assist your body to cleanse; you really need to have all of your vitamins, minerals and electrolytes totally balanced on a daily basis. When you have the proper ratios specifically for your own body chemistry you body can do it’s JOB. I take the full kit from HealthtoHeart.com. I’ve never seen anything else like it. I hound people about taking this but honestly I ever person who is on it has nothing but amazing stories to tell about it.
Dottie: How about cleansing the colon?
Perry: Yeah, I do this once a year. I think the colon cleanse is really more of a liver cleanse to be honest and that all that nasty stuff that comes out from a colon cleanse where you are doing a little fasting with it, is actually build up in the liver. That’s quite disgusting, but it’s important to clean the liver out significantly so you can function properly.
Some people just take physillum husks or whatever but the colon cleanse on HealthtoHeart.com is the best that I’ve done. It’s got a number of herbs that work synergistically to remove “the problems.” It really “frees” you up if you know what I mean!
Dottie: What else do you like to do for fun?
Perry: I’m also an artist. I have been involved in art since I was a child. When I launch the book I wrote about Lyme, I may just have an art show at the same time around that general theme. I wasn’t inspired when I was ill, but just used art sometimes to help me cope with the situation, but now I’m totally inspired looking back by my own success. Nobody can take that success away from me and that’s really cool.
Photo ©Perrys’ personal collection
Artwork © Perry L. Fields – Personal Art collection
I also am an outdoors enthusiast (hence the tick bite). My dad used to take me hiking and rock climbing when I was a child and it stuck with me. I wouldn’t consider myself an adrenaline junkie but I love skydiving and just found a new fondness in motorcross and riding dirt bikes so I will be doing this in the near future.
Dottie: What drives you? What is your motivation? Or is it a who?
Perry: Ah motivation is a strange force. I would say my motivation is tied to the will to prove everyone wrong. I grew up hearing white girls couldn’t run fast (I grew up in SC)….so it was like don’t tell me what I can’t do!
Another reason is to prove to myself what I’m really capable of. I thought about moving into the wilderness for a year by myself to see if I could survive that long. (My mother doesn’t know this by the way).
I find some historical figures very motivating like Amelia Earhart, Jesse Owens (the sprinter at the “Nazi” Games), or Christy Owens (for whom the movie My Left Foot was about).
Dottie: Do you train with someone?
Perry: Coming back from Lyme I’m doing a lot of things different. When I got out of college I trained with a group of Africans mostly and a few South Americans. My coach was Luiz Oliveria who was the long time coach of Mary Decker Slaney (former World Record holder and American Record holder for my distance) and Joaquin Cruz arguably the best 800m runner of all time (again, another one of my distances).
Because my coach had some personal issues our group split. I then went to get coached from Brooks Johnson (4 times US Olympic Track Coach). He coaches world class sprinters mostly but I knew that training FASTER would make me race faster so I switched to a different training philosophy. I was only with him for about a year until I almost dropped dead in a race with the beginnings of Lyme coming out.
Now, I keep in touch with Brooks and will reunite with him later next year, but right now I’m in Colorado Springs doing my own thing. I wanted to train at altitude, be inspired and work out some of these emotions by myself. Nobody knows my body better than me. At 30 I can say that now. It’s strange but dealing with and treating myself I am now very knowledgeable about exactly what care I need. There is no pressure to show up at the track to do a workout if I am already spent. On the flip side because I’m taking care of myself so well I’m running better than I ever have.
Dottie: What do you see for your athletic future?
Perry: I will break all the American records from the 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 1600 in the next 3 years. I will be looking to break the world records at some of these distances within the next 5 years.
I will have a short career but I plan on winning everything. I always wanted a short career also because I have other interests. I want to win BIG and then go do something else. Running is not the only thing I’m good at, but because it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done (specifically those distances are extremely difficult and taxing to train for) I have this wild desire to be the absolute world dominate in all of them.
Dottie: Take us back to the day you were bitten. When and where were you?
Perry: In 2003 I was in North Carolina at the Scottish Highland Games with my family. I ran the kilted mile for fun and was sitting in the woods with hundreds (thousands) of other people listening to music. Two days later I was scratching at the base of my neck at what I thought was a scab. I pulled a hard bodied tick off the back of my head. I honestly think this was just another time I was bitten looking back now. I think I have had Lyme as a child but was still always very healthy. This was kind of like the straw that broke the camel’s back. This bite was what made me terribly ill two years later.
Photos©New York Road Runners
Dottie: Did you realize you might get Lyme from that bite?
Perry: No. I had no idea about Lyme and since I’m from the country I have been bitten by lots of things and never thought anything of it. I had no idea what I was in for. I never got treatment because I was weeks away from going to altitude in Bolivia in 2003 to get ready for the 2004 Olympics. I was excited that I was finally out of college and could control my running career. I had chosen Luiz to coach me and I was getting ready for this big opportunity.
Dottie: When did you start thinking you were sick from the bite?
Perry: I actually ran well for two years, but looking back I knew there was something array but wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I didn’t recover so well. In college I had a gluten issue that wasn’t diagnosed until my last year in college. It really screwed me up. So I knew it wasn’t that because I changed my diet severely. Some of my problems in college were also due to EBV (Epstein Barr virus) and I believe I had Lyme as an issue also.
I ran one of the fastest 800m in the US in 2004 (one year after I was bitten in NC).
In 2005 I was under a huge amount of stress. Luiz had some personal problems and it destroyed our running group. I drove from Tucson to Orlando to be with this new coach in the middle of the season with everything I owned in my car.
When I got to Orlando I had no place to live and had to live with the guys for a few weeks (WOW, it was awful) and the stress was unbearable. Two months later I’m at US Nationals and I get cold and start having neurological problems in the middle of my race (800m). I knew I was in serious trouble and that I had a major medical issue.
After the race I felt like everyone abandoned me. It was the race that I was supposed to win in a BIG way. Nobody on that track that day was in the shape I was in, but on the flipside I was also extremely ill. I was a ticking time bomb and I basically went off in front of everyone.
Dottie: Did you seek medical mainstream doctors; if so how many did you seek out? Or did you go to a LLMD straight away?
Perry: I did actually. I went to see Dr. Jemsek in North Carolina. I felt like everyone who has Lyme, that you can go see an LLMD and get this taken care of ASAP. Well if it’s chronic you aren’t screwed like everyone says you are, but you can’t just go to an LLMD expect a full recovery. No offense to any LLMD.
Dr. J didn’t believe that I had run for two years so well and had Lyme. He put me on everything. I don’t care to mention all of the drugs but it was about 4 different drugs to be taken everyday…all day for a month. It almost killed me.
I never went back. I honestly saw him once and refused to see him a again after his nurse practioner was telling me that I could go back to running and then take a break from running to do another round…I thought this is hilarious because I can’t even walk! I was basically bed ridden at this time and had many nights I thought I was going to pass away in my sleep. She apparently had no idea what exactly she or Dr. J was really doing by this approach. It was blasphemous!
Photo©Prettysporty.com
I knew my answers were out there but I knew I was going to have to figure this out myself. When I was sitting in his waiting room with all of those sick people with picc lines I knew that I didn’t belong there no matter how sick I was. It didn’t feel right. My heart and soul was telling me not to go back…so I didn’t. It was the right decision and it paid off.
Strangely enough my desire about getting well literally manifested into wellness as I was guided to all the right people to gather info, to get treatments, to put the puzzle together. I even had dreams about what I had to do and my questions were starting to get answered in my sleep.
That’s when I say if you read my story or meet me and you have Lyme, then you might be an idiot if you don’t seek my guidance and just brush me off. People meet for a reason.
Dottie: Tell us some highlights of your story.
Perry: Well since I started taking my own care into my hands and started doing all of the right things to transform myself into the picture of perfect health, I got to the point early on that I never regressed at all (this was after I got over the effects from the antibiotic “blast”). I think people who are on the cycle of feeling decent and then getting really ill are doing something wrong. I literally went from being half dead to bigger, faster and stronger that I ever have been although it took me 3.5 years. I got to the point about 2 years ago that everything I did just solidified my health even more and there was never any regression and till this day, as the days go by my health just gets better and better. I still am wondering how awesome I can really get.
Dottie: I love your candid take on Lyme. Who did you get your freethinker, matter-of-fact manner from?
Perry: I’m just very passionate. People either love me or hate me but I make no apologies for who I am because I know what a good person I am. Some people need tough love (especially those with Lyme) so if I have to be that person who says quit being an idiot…then so be it. My parent’s were tough on me. Every time I cried growing up my mother would tell me to stop feeling sorry for myself!…EVERYTIME.
Usually the people who hate me just don’t really know me well at all and make assumptions. The truth is I’m always joking around and trying to get people to laugh. Lyme is serious subject but you can’t get down on yourself just because you have it. It will pass if you take control of the situation. I try to get people to do that. You can’t blame your doctors. You can only blame yourself if you don’t get well. That’s a fact.
That’s why the book I wrote, The Tick Slayer, is called just that. It will help anyone who has an auto immune disorder understand how the individual needs to take control and how they can do it. I think it’s very inspiring on many levels, but also dives into what I had to do. Obviously it doesn’t give personalized help like my coaching does, but it really is the platform for many people to get inspired, jump into it and get the job done! I think many people will have lots of “ah ha” moments reading and this will be my contribution to the Lyme Disease cause for sure.
Dottie: How long were you sick?
Perry: I was ill in 2003-2004 but was running well and ignored the signs. In 2005 in the summer I crashed. Then in 2007 (at the end) I felt good enough to try to go for the 2008 Olympics, but I was too eager and tried to come back too soon. Lyme wasn’t the problem, I had health issues that I needed to work on. Lyme (amongst other problems) left my body weak and I had to BUILD myself back up, so I stopped running in Feb of 2008 and it was a crushing emotional blow. I was so close! I had to watch my teammates and friends get medals and break records. It was one of the worst times of my life for sure.
Then at the end of 2008 I wanted to go for it again, but something strange happened. I decided to write The Tick Slayer. It’s being edited still, but I felt the need to say LOOK you can defeat this. I still don’t see too many happy stories at all about Lyme so I’m surprised.
In the summer of this year (2009) I started doing a lot of cross training. I swam long distances, started cycling a bit and building my athletic side up. Now it’s full blown training again… Just in time for the World Indoor Champs in March.
Dottie: How long did you stay on antibiotics?
Perry: 30 days. That’s it. No kidding. No other drugs.
Dottie: Oral or IV? Why did you go off of them?
Perry: Oral antibiotics- 30 days of EVERYTHING. J It was a major BOMBING. But I honestly think it did more harm than good looking back. There was no plan outside of just bombing my body to death.
Dottie: Did they help you?
Perry: I’m sure they were killing Lyme, but there are so many better ways. Lyme honestly isn’t the main issue anyways. It’s a host of problems that come together that create the environment for Lyme to thrive and if you don’t clean that mess up then you will never beat it. You can’t just pop pills and be lazy. People who do this will suffer until the day they die.
This is the problem with the medical world because everyone likes quick fixes and Big Pharma has everyone on everything. Soon everyone will be 80 and popping 20 different things wondering what they are all for. Drugs should not be thrown around like they are these days. There are always alternative solutions to EVERY problem that are lasting that you can actually rebuild yourself instead of just masking the problem. Drugs should be used as a last ditch effort and they SURELY aren’t.
Dottie: Are you still sick from Lyme?
Perry: Not AT ALL. No trace. ;o)
This doesn’t mean I’m back to eating bacon cheddar cheeseburgers with Biggie Fries and a large coke (just kidding, I never ate this stuff), but it means I doing maintenance every year (like major detoxes). If you get my newsletter at www.BeatLyme.com you know of the major things I’ve been doing for maintenance. I get lots of letters of people who are trying these things and having success.
I will continue to use what I have learned over my journey for the rest of my life and because I’ve had the Lyme experience I know my knowledge will keep me from getting cancer and other auto immune diseases in the future. It actually was an OPPORTUNITY. A very big one.
Dottie: You are such an inspiration to others; please leave our readers with some words of wisdom.
Perry: The turning point for me was very clear to me, even till this day. When I was taking antibiotics (and even when I got off it took months to recover from that damage alone) I was so ill that I started to think there was no way out. I contemplated suicide and even had several occasions where I was going to ask my mother to commit me (briefly) because I was having the uncontrollable thoughts…hey but I did control them! I just couldn’t let my mom know how insane I really was. If she had any idea of the thoughts that were in my head she would have been horrified and I couldn’t break her heart like that.
One night I was thinking about what the heck I was going to do about this situation. I kept thinking about Lyme as a biowarfare issue and could biowarfare keep someone ill forever because in nature in made no sense for a tick to inject this bacterium as it gets no benefit from doing so. I believe that nothing found naturally in nature would cause me to be ill forever…that’s not God’s law (or you can say Universal law).
I understood how poison for snakes (for example) helps them kill their prey and I came to the conclusion that biowarfare (if it was truly biowarfare) is meant to mame people who are already ill thus forcing them into an earlier death. It was meant to kill. So if you get ill and you aren’t DEAD from it then you CAN correct it.
Once I had this thought my direction was chosen. I wouldn’t waste time researching how to off myself but to heal myself completely from it and to get over it 100%. And I’ve always been the type to take the harder RIGHT then the easier WRONG.
The hardest part was listening to these Lyme communities at the beginning as I had to kind of turn my back on them. IT’s not that I never support the cause. Obviously I do and the opportunity for further promotion is inevitable from what I’m getting ready to do, I would certainly love to work with these groups in any way possible about sharing something POSITIVE. However, I was raised to take control of the situations I get into (i.e. I don’t play the victim and don’t see myself as a victim ever). Hearing from other people with Lyme was difficult because they gave me zero chance of hope and once that happened I knew that I was an outsider who didn’t really want to belong anyway. It’s hard to believe people sit around and destroy each other’s HOPE, but it happens. I heard it happens a lot in cancer groups also. If you’re with the same doc and it’s been 5 years and you’re still ill…time to move on. I was gone after 30 days (to put that into perspective).
Photo©Tom Lasure
I do feel deeply for everyone who has been affected by this. Who knows better than someone who has gone through this? I can’t even put into words what it’s like to be a top athlete and lose the ability to use my body. But the truth is that there are answers for everyone out there and if you SEEK something you WILL find it. That’s what is so cool about life.
And Lyme is absolutely 100% beatable. Don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise. Those people are called “HATERS.”
Dottie: Thank you Ms. Perry for a candid interview with your personal lyme story! Your such an inspiration!
There you have it folks, straight from someone who pushes the human envelope everyday.How refreshing it is to see a “happy ending” for someone with Lyme. What an inspiration! I hope Perrys’ story will inspire you. We must all work towards healing each other if we are to survive with any disease. Our bodies are such wonderful works of art and it is miraculous how it can heal itself.
Everyone really should stand on some type of common ground. Instead of thinking they or their group will single-handedly solve the Lyme riddle and save everyone from its demise. Donate your time to help bring awareness in your area. You probably already know someone who in need of help.
Perry does personal one-on-one consults for health so just drop her an email. She will be happy to help anyone who wants her advise. Head over to her site and signup for her newsletter and have a look around. Her website has plenty of information for all. You can follow her on Twitter or once the racing starts they can google ‘Perry Fields’ and race results will start popping up. You can also go to USATF.org , PerryFields.com or DieTickDie.com
The next big meets on the agenda for Perry are; US Indoor Nationals, Feb 2010 Albuquerque, World Championships, March 2010 Quatar and then onto the Summer Olympics 2012
I would like to publicly thank Perry L. Fields for picking me up and dusting me off. It came at a time when I needed it desperately. I have renewed spirit for the Olympics and I can not wait to see her run! Meeting her gave me the strength to go off antibiotics, as I believe they were keeping me sick.
As a Lyme Literate Advocate™, I feel good about my choice to stay independent. It is ok to have my own beliefs and be public about them. She restored my faith that there are still good people left in this world. I am praying she does the same for you. I am hoping that you use the information presented in this interview to help heal your body and soul.
And remember, Lyme disease is 100% BEATABLE!
Perry and I are LIVING PROOF!
~ * ~
I’m such a fool for you
Songwriters: Hogan, Noel; O’Riordan, Dolores Mary;
If you, if you could return
Don’t let it burn, don’t let it fade
I’m sure I’m not being rude
But it’s just your attitude
It’s tearing me apart
It’s ruining everything
I swore, I swore I would be true
And honey so did you
So why you were you holding her hand
Is that the way we stand
Were you lying all the time
Was it just a game to you
But I’m in so deep, you know I’m such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger
Do you have to, do you have to
Do you have to let it linger
Oh, I thought the world of you
I thought nothing could go wrong
But I was wrong, I was wrong
If you, if you could get by
Trying not to lie
Things wouldn’t be so confused
And I wouldn’t feel so used
But you always really knew
I just wanna be with you
And I’m in so deep, you know I’m such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger
Do you have to, do you have to
Do you have to let it linger
And I’m in so deep, you know I’m such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger
Do you have to, do you have to
Do you have to let it linger
You know I’m such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger
Do you have to, do you have to
Do you have to let it linger
Nothing Short of a Miracle.
Miracles do happen, and my son Julian Elijah Heffron is just that . . .
. . . a miracle.
Brendan, our middle son came running into the kitchen, it was late afternoon on Labor Day 2007. I knew by the look on his face something was terribly wrong, he was totally void of color and almost clear looking. Everything was moving in slo-mo, i could see his mouth moving but did not really register what he was saying. The look he had on his face was one of terror. He screamed something in long run together sentences and then he ran out almost as fast as he ran in. “Their car just got hit…puffpuff outta breath…. Julian just got hit”, i think i heard him say. We followed like tin soldiers. A bizzillion things crossed my mind as i found myself running out into the front yard.
Our neighbors were all out in their yards and when i looked to the left corner of our street there was a car pushed up to the telephone pole and people were running and screaming around it. I stood there in disbelief when i heard someone say, “There were 4 kids in that car.” Amanda, Julian, Aaron and Jeremiah i thought to myself, Jules wanted a slurpie and Amanda said she would take them. I stood like a deer in the headlights in the front yard. Everyone was so LOUD. I was mortified to see Julians’ friends car pushed up to the telephone poll.
A black woman was standing next to the car. Her hands were stretched up to the sky and she was chanting, for what seemed like forever, “Oh Sweet Jesus, Oh Sweet Lord, Praises to you Lord…. please be with this boy he needs you right now. Lord hear my prayer.” Little did i realize, she was praying for my 16 year old son.
The jaws of life sound resonated in the air while i felt my friends hands squeezing into both of my arms. “Do NOT go over there, he’s OK”, he was saying in my face. It was like i was in a sleepy dream while the ambulances, fire trucks and tons of people were gathering. I saw Aaron, Julian’s friend walking around holding his head. He was muttering some incoherent words and crying. Everything was so slow, yet too fast to comprehend what was really going on.
Julian was terribly hurt, possibly dying, i thought, and i needed to be by my son.
I did not remember how i ended up in my car, but reality finally hit me. I found myself running from my car and up to the emergency team, screaming, “WHY ARE YOU TAKING SO LONG, MY SON IS DYING” my arms were flailing around like i was guiding in a 747.
The ambulance personnel were moving so slow, i could not imagine why they were taking so long. The men held me back and one was telling me to go to the hospital, they would have him there as soon as they can. “He is unconscious Miss, but he is alive.” I just stood there weeping.
There we were waiting for the ambulance to get to the hospital and when they finally arrived, it was total chaos. The little hospital in Centralia is no way equip to handle such a travesty so ”Life Flight” was coming to whisk him away to the St. Louis Trauma Center. They just couldnt’ get there quick enough for me. The medical personnel were trying to cut his clothes off and he had regain consciousness and was crying and moaning. They kept asking him questions and he grew more agitated and his crying turned to begging. He wanted to die.
While all this was going on, there was little Amanda, the driver of the car standing in the ER crying, with glass shards sticking out of her forehead. She stood there crying and bleeding. Where was her help? I took her hand as she was looking and crying for Julian.” He will be OK huni, let’s get someone to help you,” i said. I was not very polite to the staff as i yelled, “SOMEONE NEEDS TO HELP THIS CHILD,” all heads turned to us.
Finally Julian was life flighted to SLU Trauma Center. Of course he does not remember anything except looking up and seeing the truck about to make contact with them. The flight to SLU is about 20 minutes, i tried to add up the “golden hour” and it was over the time he had to survive. I think i floated all the way to the Trauma Center, i did not worry about my speed, it just seemed like the drive was lasting forever.
Upon arrival, i remember i left my car at the front and didn’t care if it ever got parked. The trauma team had him resting comfortably in a T-position, arms outstretched away from his body. My initial thought was — that is what it is like to be crucified. The elevation of his upper torso with the dusky St. Louis skyline as his backdrop made his silhouette seem even more cross-like. My initial thought was, he is still here. Thank you my sweet Lord.
Hours passed for what seemed like years and the sounds of the ventilator and other contraptions were simply maddening. Several different doctors and medical personnel spoke with us, but i to this day really can’t remember what they were saying. I was totally in shock.
About 3 a.m, i needed a stretch, so i went for a walk. I sat down on the steps to the lower parking lot. It was a warm morning and there were still hundreds of stars twinkling in the dark blue sky. I started to speak out loud. I found myself saying “I know he is in the best of hands my Lord, and i know its all up to you. i really would love him to stay here with us, but if you have a higher need for him, then it shall be.” I felt i needed to surrender my own selfishness and let it just be, as it was not up to little me anymore.
Tears rolled down my face as i glanced up to the heavens. At the very moment i finished speaking, honestly, i felt this most tender, incredible love surrounding me. Total Love are the only words i could think of that even came close to what i was feeling. It was the lightest color of blue i’d ever seen and it had the sweetest of smells. It left as soon as it came, but i was left with feelings of oneness and wellness.
One of the 50 or so doctors who saw Julian told us we needed to get some rest and they would call if there was any kind of changes in his condition.
About 7 a.m. the phone rang. I let it ring a few times before i answered with a mousy hello. I heard the voice on the other end telling me, “We woke him up and he could not speak but he did nod when we asked him if his name was Julian, so he does know who he is. He does not know where he is or why he is here, but he is showing great signs.”
When i hung up, my eyes were drawn to the streaks of morning light coming through my bedroom window. They were so bright and lightest of blues. I stayed there a few minutes before getting up and basked in the total love we were all given that day.
Julian survived in a space that was approximately 8 inches wide.
He was a passenger and was sqaushed in between the arm rest and the door.
This is the vechicle that hit the kids. The speed limit is posted 35 mph.
The other young folks who were in the car had minor injuries and recovered. Julian sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) which has left him no memory. He can not remember his childhood before the accident and he can not remember simple everyday tasks. He struggles everyday with things you and i might take forgranted. He also a fractured pelvis and now finds it hard to run. Aside from some adjustments for everyday living, Julian leads a happy and healthy life.
He is a survivor and a miracle. He recently had his 19th birthday with friends and family all around. Admittedly, he tells others he doesn’t really like to ride in a car anymore, but he’s getting more comfortable over time.
Julian is here with us for a reason. He brings hope to all who reads his story of survival. They too can overcome adversity and turn something bad ~ into something not so.
JBoogie, you are so very loved.
♥
*NOTE* A special THANK YOU to the St. Louis University Trauma Center and especially the 9th floor. Your kindness in times like these is worth all the gold in the world.
Special Note: About a month after the accident, I went looking for the woman who was praying over my son. I had to Thank her for having such a kind heart.
After we hugged, we both stood there crying tears of happiness.
Love ♥
♥…..from “The Prophet” by K. Gibran
Then said Almitra, “Speak to us of Love.”
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
A dream goes on forever…
A million old soldiers will fade away
But a dream goes on forever
I’m left standing here, I’ve got nothing to say
All is silent within my dream
A thousand true loves will live and die
But a dream lives on forever
The days and the years will go streaking by
But the time has stopped in my dream
We all have our everyday hopes and fears
And you’ll find no exception in me
But that doesn’t get me through a sea of tears
Over life’s biggest tragedy
You’re so long ago and so far away
But my dream lives on forever
I guess I believe that I’ll see you one day
For without it there is no dream
You’re so far away and so long ago
But my dream goes on forever
And how much I loved you you’ll never know
‘Til you join me within my dream
Happy Birthday MasterX!~
MasterX_HackerX~
Sending you much love and hugs!!!
You say it’s your birthday
It’s my birthday too, yeah
They say it’s your birthday
We’re gonna have a good time
I’m glad it’s your birthday
Happy birthday to you.
Yes we’re going to a pally party
Yes we’re going to a pally party
Yes we’re going to a pally party
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance
You say it’s your birthday
Well it’s my birthday too, yeah
You say it’s your birthday
We’re gonna have a good time
I’m glad it’s your birthday
Happy birthday to you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * Dr. James Schaller
* * * * * * * * * * Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt
* * * * * * * * * Dr. Eva Sapi
* * * * * * * * Dr. Ernie Murakami
* * * * * * Dr. Judith Miklossy
Mood : Invincible 
B Collection