October 21, 2008

The good news is that Christopher and Andrew seem to be right on track in their treatment...meaning that they're bodies are responding and they are healing, though they still have a little way to go.

We gave Matthew a B12 shot, which he did not appreciate, in an effort to see if his energy level is a lack of B or if he's still struggling with co-infections. I did not see an immediate improvement...we'll see if there's a long term improvement.

Garrison still struggles with sleep issues. I have found that when I give him his Silverbiotics and his vitamins more regularly, he does better. He was sick over the weekend. Not sure what it was. He had a fever, headache, sore throat, and vomited every time his temperature got close to 101. As long as I gave him Silverbiotics every few hours, his fever would go down, he would stop vomiting, and he stopped complaining about hurting. He had a headache off and on for about a week, but the high fever came on during the night Friday night. By Sunday morning, his fever broke and he's been fine since. Whatever it was, the Silverbiotics killed it. If I didn't believe in the stuff before, I do now. I've never seen such dramatic, immediate response to it before. Maybe there's hope for his immune system after all.

As for me, the doctor is thankful for our new insurance. He's been wanting to treat the Bartonella co-infection for some time, but my mini-medical didn't cover the necessary meds for it. The treatment will last about four months and I am expected to experience severe herxheimer's reactions...basically, I'm going to experience the "flu" off and on for the next few months: fatigue, aches and pains, fevers, diarrhea, etc. Let me just say that the aches and pains that come with a herx is at least twice as bad as any flu you've ever had. Not fun! But, if it kills the little "beasties," I'll be so happy to get rid of them.

At this point, the neurological feelings are spread all over my body and very irritating. The best I can describe it is when you've been out in the cold for too long and you come into a toasty warm room and you feel tingling and pin-pricks accompanied by the painfully numb, hot/cold feeling in your skin as your body begins to warm. This is what I experience every moment of everyday and all over my body. It's also accompanied in patches sometimes by deep itching that can't be satisfied by scratching. I'm hoping this treatment will take care of it and that this is not permanent damage caused by the disease.

Please pray for me as I've already started herxing. Thankfully, I don't have to work as much and I can quit if I have to. Right now, I'm experiencing stomach pain, intestinal discomfort, low-grade fever off and on, fluctuating headaches, soreness, pain, aches and fatigue. According to the docs time-line, it's a little early for a herx, so maybe I'm just fighting whatever Garrison had.

In my P.S. I'm going to talk a little about Bartonella for those who are interested.

Also, here is an interesting news link talking about Lyme disease and the film that came out called "Under Our Skin." http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3150614&referralPlaylistId=searchlyme

Thanks, again, for all your love, support, and prayers!

Love,

Linnette


P.S. Let me try to explain a little about Bartonella.

First, it is a gram-negative pathogen - simply, a disease causing germ:
A pathogen (from Greek πάθος pathos "suffering, passion", and γἰγνομαι (γεν-) gignomai (gen-) "I give birth to"), infectious agent, or more commonly germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host.[1]
The term pathogen is derived from the Greek "that which produces suffering." (Wikipedia)

Normally, your body's immune system can fight off pathogens. However, Bartonella is an opportunistic bacteria, meaning that when the immune system is compromised in any way, they proliferate and cause harm to the host (the one infected). See http://www.stopticks.org/ticks/bartonella.asp for a summary of symptoms.

Bartonella is transmitted by insect vectors such as ticks, fleas, sand flies and mosquitoes.

Bartonella is a proteobacteria meaning it can move throughout the body under its own power by either "swimming" or "gliding". Escherichia, Salmonella, Vibrio, Helicobacter are other examples of proteobacteria.

Bartonella commonly causes "Cat Scratch Disease" (among other illnesses) - a serious illness which can is overcome typically within weeks or months unless you have a compromised immune system (such as someone who has Lyme Disease), in which case more severe complications tend to occur.

Here is a site with a quick read of information on Bartonella: http://www.stopticks.org/ticks/bartonella.asp
You'll also find info and links for other tick borne diseases.

Hope this has been helpful. Honestly, I don't know which of my wymptoms are caused by the Lyme bacteria and which are caused by the Bartonella. Together, they make for an unpleasant illness and most of the time, that's all I need to know.