When you know better, you do better

"Do the best you can until you know better.  

Then when you know better, do better." 

                                            - Maya Angelou

                                          
When you know better, you do better.  Such a simple concept that I sometimes tend to forget.  But I do honestly believe that most people are inherently good, and that when they know better, they will do better.  Of course there are exceptions, but I firmly believe that they are just that - exceptions to the rule.

For this reason, I am determined to share with the world the reality of Lyme & Co. and the destruction and havoc it is wreaking upon our society, the totality of which we may not know for years to come.  Because in my heart, I know that once people become aware of the truth they will be as outraged as I am and take action.  Once the eyes of mankind are opened to the enormity of the situation we are facing, the fact that time is of the essence and that we have a legitimate epidemic on our hands that will eventually affect everyone, change will be set into motion.  People will start to wake up and really listen.  They will stand up in solidarity with millions of Lyme sufferers and demand that the medical community recognize what is truly a desperate situation in need of immediate attention.

People are sick.  People are in pain.  People are suffering.  People are dying.

I believe with all of my heart and soul that I, along with many others, am on the right side of history.  I have never had so much clarity on anything in my entire life.  They say that once you find your true passion or your "calling", the feeling is one that you can't deny or ignore - it's indescribable.  Similar to joy but not quite...it's like a fire has been lit inside your soul and you don't ever want it to go out.  Because it makes you feel so alive and full of purpose.

That is how I feel about my mission to spread awareness and educate humanity about Lyme Disease.  All I ever wanted to do was to become a mother.  Being a mom to my three enchanting little souls is truly the thing I am most proud of in this life.  Nothing could ever surpass it.  I love my kids so much it overwhelms me at times...their pain is my agony, their joy is my elation, their fear is my extreme terror, their sadness is my complete sorrow.  Watching them watch me be sick was sheer torture.  So desperately difficult.  The worst part of this nightmare, by far.

In many ways, I feel like I am doing this for them, to show my children that our challenges and hardships can be transformed into something amazing.  That we can rise above our own pain and help others overcome theirs.  Yes, I want to help bring awareness about this disease so that their generation will not have to suffer the consequences.  But I also want my kids to be proud of me, to know that I am the kind of person who is willing to stand up in defense of others and speak up for what I believes is right and true.  And I want them to know that we can turn our suffering into something positive to help others.

I have always told my kids that kindness is the most important thing to me, the quality I most want to instill in them.  I have repeated over and over to them that being kind and loving toward others is more important to me than anything else they could possibly achieve in life.  I also tell them that being kind involves being brave enough to stand up to bullies and defend other kids when necessary.  If you are not part of the solution, I tell them, than you are part of the problem.  Don't be afraid to stand up for what is right and don't worry about being cool or popular, because those things don't matter in the long run.  And I want them to believe that I don't just talk the talk, I actually walk the walk.  I want them to know that these are not just words that I speak...but actions I am willing to take when I bear witness to an injustice in this world.

The situation with Lyme & Co. is one of the greatest examples of injustice and inhumane treatment I have ever seen.  In my opinion, basic human rights are being violated every single day.  Human dignity is being denied and ignored for reasons that are political and financial in nature.  I find this disgraceful and so should you.

I recognize that I am putting myself out there to be criticized, judged and even ridiculed - but I honestly don't care.  It's a risk I am willingly to take, without hesitation or pause.  As I said, I know I'm on the right side of history and that years from now people will look back in horror and disbelief at the atrocities being committed in our towns, in our cities, in our country and all over the world.  They will be disgusted.  They will be in utter disbelief that nothing was done for so long to stop it.

Admittedly, the issues and controversies surrounding Chronic Lyme Disease and it's co-infections are so complicated.  When trying to sort it all out, it's hard to determine where the blame actually lies and who is aware of what pieces of this giant jigsaw puzzle.  I go back and forth about mainstream medical doctors and how much of the truth they really know.  I, along with many, many others, witnessed some very strange behavior, the consistencies of which are hard to ignore.

At the same time, I recognize that most doctors are simply acting based upon evidence that they believe to be true.  Evidence provided by the CDC, the AMA, medical schools, etc.  So a part of me wonders how we can really blame the physicians who are just doing what they think is right.  I choose to believe that if they knew better, they would do better.

But the part that I struggle with is their unwillingness to listen and think outside the box, their tunnel vision and inability to recognize what is going on right before their very eyes.  I am bothered by the fact that most doctors simply don't seem to want the information.  They cover their ears with their hands, close their eyes and sing loudly, pretending not to hear.  Or they chock it up to "anecdotal evidence" that is not based on scientific studies - seriously, if I hear that response one more time I'm going to vomit.  Why are they choosing to bury their heads in the sand???  I just don't understand - I feel like I must be missing something.

In his ground-breaking book, first published in 2013, aptly titled Why Can't I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme & Chronic Disease, which I highly recommend to anyone affected by Lyme or any other chronic illness, Dr. Richard Horowitz writes, "Medicine is a continuously changing and expanding field, and it is said that almost half of everything that we learn in medical school will usually be proven to be wrong in five to ten years.  There are numerous examples of the undeniable blessings of modern medicine: antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals; new high-tech diagnostic machines and tests; groundbreaking surgeries; and public health initiatives have extended human life (most especially in infancy) and increased well-being in the general population.  But along the way to modern medicine, some medical pioneers have been dismissed or even attacked for what others believed were their heretical ideas.
      For example, consider Dr. Ignaz Philip Semmelweis, a nineteenth-century Hungarian physician, who is now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures described as the "savior of mothers."  Semmelweis made an important scientific observation: When he washed his hands before delivering babies, the women in his clinic did not die as often from puerperal sepsis (a bacterial infection that kills women shortly after giving birth) as those in another clinic in the same hospital, which had a death rate of 10 percent.  When he shared this important observation with his colleagues, he was ridiculed.  As patients abandoned his colleagues and begged to deliver in his clinic, he was ostracized by his medical society and driven out of medicine.  He was committed to an asylum, where ironically, he died of septicemia only fourteen days later, possibly the result of being severely beaten by his guards.
      Dr. Louis Pasteur was another example of a scientist who was ridiculed.  It was years before his theory of the germ origins of illness was proven to be correct.
      Helicobacter pylori were first discovered in the stomachs of patients with gastritis and stomach ulcers in 1982 by Australian doctors Barry Marshall and Robin Warren.  The conventional thinking at the time of their research was that no bacterium could live in the strong acid environment of the human stomach.  They also proposed that the treatment with antibiotics rather than those practices then in use, which included stomach removal, were best for ulcer patients.  Their discovery was ignored for almost twenty years, while patients had their stomachs removed because of bleeding ulcers, or were told to drink large quantities of milk, or were cautioned that their ulcers were due to stress alone.
      There is a long list of other examples available for anyone who wants to explore the history of medicine.  Many of these pioneers pushed the boundaries until the paradigm of that specific disease process was transformed.  Are things different today?  Have we learned to listen to those challenging the medical establishment?  Certainly not with respect to Lyme Disease and associated tick-borne disorders."

Powerful words from a well-respected physician who has become an expert in Lyme Disease after treating thousands of patients. Dr. Horowitz is an example of a doctor who clearly listens to and cares deeply about his patients.

Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Blood Sugar Solution writes, "Chronic Lyme disease affects millions, yet few doctors know how to diagnose or treat it, and few patients get better...Dr. Richard Horowitz provides the first comprehensive explanation of why, and thankfully provides a road map to wellness by addressing the root causes of this debilitating illness.  His approach reflects the future of health care.  Medicine would be much better if all doctors understood and treated illness like Dr. Horowitz."

For quite a while after I started to get better, I was very angry.  Angry at my doctors, family, friends - anyone and everyone who didn't believe what I had been desperately trying to tell them, that I was suffering from an infectious, physiological illness.  But recently I had an "aha" moment (as Oprah would say) and realized that there really was no malicious intent.  Everyone was just trying to help, doing the best they could with the information they had been given by trusted authority figures.  I can't blame them for that.  I don't want to be angry anymore - but I do want to be resolute, non-apologetic and fully committed to making sure that I do whatever humanly possible to expose the reality of the situation with Chronic Lyme disease.

My motivation may not be fueled by anger anymore but I am no less determined to defend those who are too sick and too weak to defend themselves.  I am even more committed to speaking up for those whose voices are muffled by the misery of Chronic Lyme disease.  I refuse to stop until the powerful stop pretending not to hear us and actually start doing something to right these wrongs.  The truth will prevail.

Believe in yourself. Trust your gut. Follow your heart. Tell the truth. Be brave. Do your best. Be yourself. Do hard things. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Love yourself. Love others. Stand up for what you believe in. Defend those who can't defend themselves. Speak up for those who have no voice. Do the right thing.

I believe you and I will stand up for you, my friends.  I promise you, your voices will be heard!