Lyme Disease and th Healthcare Reform Bill

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With the healthcare bill in place, I wonder if I would have been given IV antibiotics when Lyme disease was first diagnosed 9 years ago? Oh, wait, I _WOULD_ have received IV antibiotics because the insurance company wouldn't have been able to hide behind an "equivocal" Western Blot. If you don't believe that to be true with the new healthcare bill, then we Lymies know what we should unite for!

When I was diagnosed clinically, I needed a motorized wheelchair to get around, was in such horrible spinal and joint pain that I was on Oxycontin 100mg twice a day, plus Soma for the muscle spasms, needed a large dose of Restoril to get some sleep, had lost so much hair, I was trying Rogaine and had bought a wig, had a totally black tongue that nobody seemed to be able to diagnose or fix, had brainfog so bad, I withdrew from the pubic speaking I had been doing in my support groups, and was so depressed, it was a question of when, not if, I was going to take my life. By then, I had lost my career, my new marriage, as well as most of my friends and acquaintances.

I don't want anyone to go through what I did. I'm certain you share that wish. A quick clinical diagnosis by a reputable and competent MD would prevent that from occurring. Think of the disabilities payouts that could be avoided. Think of the marriages that might not be dissolved because of one partner's illness. Think of the careers that wouldn't be lost.

Yep, I'm putting a lot of pressure on the new healthcare bill. While it certainly won't be the panacea to everyone's problems, I do expect that we all will be better off because of it.

The new healthcare bill will undoubtedly be reworked to some extent and I believe that while it may prove beneficial to a lot of people, we need to make sure that Lyme Disease and those invisible diseases that we were all diagnosed with before Lyme was found in us, are not excluded in any way.

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