gryffindorseeker's imagination journal.

things have been a-happenin' and i have not updated this thing!

1. i posted my infamous dawlish-centric one-shot today. clicky (m).

2. i stayed up 'til 3 a.m. answering reviews last night and am almost caught up!

3. i'm transferring colleges! the ivy league was not for me and i'm very happy to go to a less expensive and less crazy school. if you think i'm insane or whatever...well, look at the insane stuff i write.

4. tim russert and george carlin died. why oh why?

but this is a public service announcement! because i love you guys, please get tested for lyme disease.

as you do not know, for i have kept this very dl, i have chronic lyme disease. so does everyone in my family...even my dog. it's not usually terminal, but almost anyone who's ever been outside is at risk. it's usually thought to be present only in north america, but like any good epidemic, it has spread all over the world.

the american center for disease control works alongside insurance companies to discourage doctors from diagnosing people with lyme. i wish this conspiracy wasn't true, but it is. lyme should be covered by most insurance, but the insurance companies don't want to pay for people's treatment. the cdc insists that all cases of lyme only last for two weeks, and then you're all better. this is an umbridge and fudge-sized lie. i'm no medical researcher, but all i know is that my little brother couldn't walk for six months. he missed school, he was in pain, and he was not making it up.

sorry to be so somber...i'm just feeling angry right now. almost all lyme sufferers go undiagnosed because of the corrupt cdc, and that isn't okay. even if you're not american, listen up because this thing spreads like the black death.

fun facts! (adapted from the international lyme and associated diseases society, 12+)

1. lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of a tick, and the disease is prevalent across the united states and throughout the world; a patient's country of residence does not accurately reflect his or her lyme disease risk because people travel, pets travel, and ticks travel

2. it is caused by a spiral-shaped bacteria (spirochete) called borrelia burgdorferi; the lyme spirochete can cause infection of multiple organs and produce a wide range of symptoms

3. fewer than 50% of patients with lyme disease recall a tick bite -- because i share the exact same strains of the bacteria as my mother, my doctor believes that i got it congenitally

4. the cdc surveillance criteria for lyme disease were devised to track a narrow band of cases for epidemiologic purposes; as stated on the cdc website, the surveillance criteria were never intended to be used as diagnostic criteria, nor were they meant to define the entire scope of lyme disease

5. the elisa screening test is unreliable; it misses 35% of culture proven lyme disease (only 65% sensitivity)

6. the western blot test is not much better, but it's the best laboratory test we've got

7. there are 5 subspecies of borrelia burgdorferi, over 100 strains in the u.s., and 300 strains worldwide

8. there has never been a study demonstrating that 30 days of antibiotic treatment cures chronic lyme disease; however there is a plethora of documentation in the u.s. and european medical literature demonstrating by histology and culture techniques that short courses of antibiotic treatment fail to eradicate the lyme spirochete; short treatment courses have resulted in upwards of a 40% relapse rate, especially if treatment is delayed

9. many patients with chronic lyme disease require treatment for 1–4 years, or until the patient is symptom-free -- but, you see, insurance companies don't want to pay for this, and have bought the government's support

10. like syphilis in the 19th century, lyme disease has been called the great imitator and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of rheumatologic and neurologic conditions, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, somatization disorder and any difficult-to-diagnose multi-system illness

again, sorry for the drama, but i've volunteered for various dumbledore's army-style lyme advocacy groups for years. but there's something wrong with the system when you go undiagnosed with a chronic condition for 15 years. since then, i've made marked improvements. =D even if you think it's impossible for you to have lyme, please please please get tested. the western blot is the only one to bother with in the u.s., but i think they have better tests in europe. anyway, get tested, especially if you get the bulls-eye rash! and if you find a tick on you...pleeease get tested! you don't have to live in the deep forest to be at risk! heck, there's a chance you've been infected if you've ever played soccer or sunbathed in the grass!

i know i probably sound more mental than usual...i just care. lyme has hurt so many people in the world that it isn't fair that the u.s. healthcare system prevents diagnosis.