It's Unanimous

Lynette's been sitting on the couch for the last 4 hours infusing a liter of lactated ringers. This stuff is supposed to be a good flush for all the crap in her system that is being killed off by the antibiotics. Angie at Jemsek Specialty Clinic told us to use it on an "as needed" basis. Unfortunately they never told us what rate to administer it at. We're taking it nice and easy. Lynette is catching up on her DVR inventory.

The Governor of Connecticut has signed into law a bill that provides protection for doctors who treat Lyme disease. It allows for a Lyme disease diagnosis based on clinical findings with or without positive serology. It also includes language supporting the existence of chronic Lyme disease. The bill protects doctors from medical board scrutiny solely on the basis of their prescribing long term antibiotic therapy. Of course the bill still does not protect doctors who provide substandard care.

Here's a press release from the Lyme Disease Association about the new law:

http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/NewsReleases/20090621.html

The fact that the bill was passed unanimously by both chambers of the Connecticut state legislature is extremely encouraging. Even so there were some questions whether Governor Rell would sign the bill or not. But this looks like the first time that the we have had significant legislation that tells the cronies at the Infectious Disease Society of America that they are not in tune with what is going on with this disease.

The town of Old Lyme Connecticut is where Lyme disease was first identified. In 1975 local resident and mother Polly Murray called the CDC to report that 12 children in their community, her own included, had been diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. 4 of these children lived on the same street. The cause of the illness was found to be Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent in Lyme disease.

Even though Connecticut is ground zero for Lyme disease, residents have been faced with the same stonewall tactics from physicians and insurance companies that people in other states see. Hopefully enactment of this legislation is the beginning of a movement to improve recognition and treatment options nationwide. I have no illusions that these changes are going to be of avalanche proportions. The pace of change will be more like the spread of infected ticks to areas that aren't used to seeing them. It will take some time for states like North Carolina, where Lyme disease is not as common, to adopt similar policies.

I have recently found a couple of blogs similar to this one. I haven't had much time to browse them. They are both similar stories to what you read here and what I see from other Lyme patients on the Internet. Both of these blogs are updated by ladies who suffer from the illness. You can check them out here:

http://dizzygrl05.wordpress.com/

http://www.mylyme.typepad.com/