The Beat Goes On

This morning we received a phone call that my mother in law died early this morning. We have been witnessing her slow deterioration over the last 25 years, but nonetheless, a call of that nature is always a cruel shock. To add insult to injury, my wife and I have believed for years that she was sick from Tick Borne Diseases (TBD). She would have been 81 y.o. in a few weeks.

Her physical problems seemed to begin about 25 years ago when she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, which is an illness associated with Bartonella. Then she had a heart attack a few years later, and had triple bypass surgery. Then her bypasses became closed and she had stents placed. Then she had heart valves replaced. As things became more complex over the years she was put on more and more prescription medicines, which had bad side effects. Even more medications were added to counteract the anxiety and panic that some of the other medications caused. We feel that she stopped breathing in her sleep caused by over-medication. This is not my main point here.

My point is that we believe that she had LD and coinfections for several decades. The problem is that she was never tested and effectively treated. They live in a very affluent area of northern New Jersey outside of N.Y.C. where they believed the best medical care in the country is to be found. Also they are of the generation that implicitly trusted their doctor. It is ironic that only in the past few weeks my father in law indicated a willingness to take Mary Ann to a high profile LLMD in Hyde Park N.Y. She never made it.

Mary Ann had many of the classic symptoms that our daughter (Heather) had when she was sick. She had profound fatigue, pain, neurological issues, sound sensitivity, anxiety, cognitive issues, etc. They knew the story of their granddaughter (Heather), but their trust for their small army of ignorant IDSA oriented physicians kept them in the dark until it was too late.

Every case has a list of details of which books could be written. I will spare you. Suffice it to say that a scene near the end of the "Under Our skin" documentary comes to mind. Do you remember where Dr. Burrascano is sitting in the file storage room of his closed medical practice? He said "this is all so unnecessary for most of these patients".

A person would think that being so near and privy to the knowledge of the experience of their own grand daughter, that they could have averted a disaster. Its so frustrating and sad. My poor wife had offered to take her mother to be tested, but that offer was always declined. Instead, we will be attending her funeral on Friday.

Don

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother in law and all the suffering she went through needlessly. I understand the frustration of trying to tell them a better route to take and them not listening or trusting it. I went through that with my mother and I got that dreaded call a little over a year ago. It still irritates me that her docs wouldn't listen to me and kept playing on her fears. That generation did have so much trust in the medical system. I'll pray for you and your family during this difficult time.

Thank you everyone for the kind words.

Marie- I forgot to mention that my mother in law had the infamous painful soles of her feet as well- another Bart symptom.

Don