The Lyme Controversy - Part 2
posted 10:34 pm Wed November 07, 2007 - Lynchburg, VA
My sister is named Laury. My story actually begins with hers.
Laureen (Laury) Peck, Noreen's Sister - "It was in the summer of 1967 or early fall, and I was 9 years old."We lived on
Laury - "About the time it faded away, I started getting really bad joint pains in my knees and they would travel, here a day or two and then the other knee, then neck was stiff, groin."
Vic Turyn, Father - "You couldn't touch her she was in extreme pain, I'd have to pick her up to take her to the bathroom, and she'd just scream, that's how painful it was."
But at the time, no one had even
Laury - "Crutches one time, the cast another time, I remember being in a wheelchair for a week at one point and then, the pain started to fade away and I seemed to be fine."
Flash forward 35 years. The pains returned. Plus numbness, migraines, tingling. A neurologist diagnosed her with Multiple Sclerosis, but the medicine made her worse.
Laury - "It was horrible, and the doctor said well it can't be from the medicine, which it was Copaxone at the time, because it doesn't cause that. It's just your MS getting worse."
That's when Laury did her own research, and learned the symptoms for Lyme can be similar.
Laury - "I sent this info to my doctor and he said you've got to stop looking at this internet stuff, you've got to stop that."
But Laury didn't stop. She flew to
Laury - "You don't want people to worry about you but I wish you had told me sooner."
Vic and Eileen Turyn - "You didn't tell us anything about it."
That's because at first, I didn't know there was anything worth telling. About 5 years ago, I started getting pain in my right hip muscles. It was intermittent, mainly annoying. I often felt rundown and noticed a frequent low grade fever. But I brushed it off.
Within a few years, my right shoulder joined in. The pain became more frequent, steady. I thought it was my mattress, so I bought a new bed. My pocketbook must be too heavy. It must be the way I sit at my desk. I'm just getting older.
In the last year and a half, the fever has been daily and the pain steadily increasing, more constant.
Noreen - "Actually I'm having extreme high pain today and yesterday."
It's like when you hit your thumb with a hammer, imagine that lingering pain I spread out in your body, and never,
Laury - "Constant pain, Hello! Tired all the time? Hello! Check it out, maybe they'll rule it out, but check it out!!!"
She was absolutely insistent that I see an LLMD. I found only four in
Dr. Sabra Bellovin, LLMD - "Hello, how are you?"
Noreen - "Well, I wish I were better."
Dr. Sabra Bellovin spent more than 2 hours with me on my first visit. She's an outright detective. She looked at my past tests, took a thorough list of symptoms, my history. I hadn't realized my constant sleep disruption, night sweats and fatigue were all clues as well. And lower vitamin levels.
Dr. Bellovin -"You were diagnosed with Scurvy, which is low vitamin C and I see that in a lot of patients with spirochetal illnesses."
Despite negative test results, Dr. Bellovin diagnosed me with Lyme Disease. And she hadn't even seen
Noreen - "This used to be my vitamin pill case, this is my case now."
Now I'm on a number of prescriptions, antibiotics for Lyme, several others for possible co-infections. And
My sister has residual hearing loss, and I've seen
But I'm hearing numerous heartbreaking stories of suffering, and mine is definitely not one of them. My sister and I just hope by sharing our stories we may be able to help people shorten their search.
Do your research but be prepared, because there isn't just one answer out there, in fact the medical community is at war over this. We'll have more on that Thursday.
Latest Comment on The Lyme Controversy - Part 2
johnnylate715
10:37 am on 12/19/07
Hi,
Just want to thank you for covering this awful disease.I went through hell and back to find the right doctor. I was sick for 7 years and was getting so bad that i could hardly walk and my eyes were failing me. I started seeing double and I had so many symptoms I lost count of them. I am a late stage 3 lyme patient and its going to take many years of treatment to recover. we need more coverage so these so called doctors will wake up to lyme disease. My doc says there is different strains of lyme disease and thats why the 30 docs i went to missed it. thanks John
Not a member yet? Click Here to sign up.
Please leave your comments below:
Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene or otherwise objectionable content; have spam, commercial or
advertising content or inappropriate links may be removed and may result in the loss of your posting privileges.
Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly.
Never assume that you are completely anonymous and cannot be identified by your posts.
© 2008 WSET-TV, Inc.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The 'RUNNING MAN' icon is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc.
ABC 13 to leave comments on news stories.