However, I felt like God gave me a gift, a sign from Him yesterday. Maybe He knew I needed it because this is the first time in about 3 years that I have felt this level of panic, fear and anxiety and it truly terrifies me. So let me share the story of yesterday.
About 3 months ago, I was searching for a doctor here in Australia who knew how to treat Lyme who could work hand in hand with my LLND in the states. I found Dr. Mayne of Laurieton Medical but he is on the East Coast of Australia and I am all the way on the West Coast. His was the only name in all of Australia to come up after extensive google searching of doctors who treated Lyme in Australia. So I e-mailed and asked about becoming a patient. They said, I very well could but that Dr. Mayne suggested I see another doctor here in Perth and gave me her name. Earlier this week I made an appointment for Wednesday with her at noon but got stuck in traffic (40 minutes of it) and the appointment came and went and I had to call in and tell them I couldn't make it due to traffic on Highway 2 North. This is the first time I had ever left at 11:30am and been stuck in 40 minutes of traffic trying to get somewhere. They rescheduled me for Thursday, same time. Two of my kids were home from school that day, one is in 3-day Kindy and the others tummy was not so well so I took them with me. When I got to the doctors office (which was right by the gorgeous Indian Ocean!!!) and sat down to fill out the paperwork, anxiety filled my stomach. Anxiety is coming quite easily these days. I was nervous to meet this doctor. What would she think? Did she actually even treat Lyme or was it a doctor that Dr. Mayne had just suggested because it was his only contact over here. I had no idea. I was going to try and test the waters and see if she would be open to re-writing my LLND's prescriptions for my Lyme medications but as doctors are as diverse as their patients, and often not open to anything outside what they already know, I assumed there would be a fat chance of that actually happening. Only in my dreams.
Interestingly enough, after showering that morning, I took a moment to pray to God about the appointment as it takes emotional strength to go in and face a new doctor and tell them the story - or what parts of the story they want to know - and wait for their reaction. No part of me really anticipates this with too much hope as I have been hopeful in the past and disappointed. While I was praying, I felt like God say to me, "She is going to support you" and I just ignored it thinking it was my own wishful thinking - making my hopes be what God is saying to me rather than it being actual reality.
So, my name was called and in I went toting my 10 year old and 5 year old children. I showed her the brown spots on my lips that worry me and told her that I looked it up and it listed a few causes of what they could be - cancer (scariest of all), uv sun damage (Australia has highest rate of skin cancer in the world but I have only been here 3 months - gheesh!!) or b-vitamin deficiencies. I figured the last was most likely of all because I had noticed a couple of weeks ago that I haven't been taking my b-vitamins for perhaps months (!!!) because I hadn't replaced a bottle that had gone empty. Anyways, I have yet to know what is actually going on and she has ordered a few vitamin b tests as well as other things before proceeding with a small biopsy. I don't think either of us think it is anything serious but with Lyme you just don't know and need to be safe.
Then I told her I have Lyme disease and that I am being treated by Dr. N, who is a naturopathic doctor from the United States. I also let her know that in the United States, Naturopathic Doctors are licensed to prescribe medication which is different than in Australia where they are not licensed to do so. No US doctor is licensed to prescribe medication in Australia - even MD's - as only Australian MD's are licensed to do so, so I needed someone to rewrite my prescriptions from Dr. N in Australia because they were not valid coming from a US doctor at an Australian chemist (pharmacy). Annnywaays, when she heard Dr. N's name, she just immediately went to her computer and looked up an e-mail she had just recieved from patient that morning who had Lyme Disease and wanted her to know about Dr. N. I told her that I needed someone as a liason so re-write my prescriptions and she said sure, and sat back and told me she had chills going through her body in reference to my coming in, a patient of Dr. N's all the way from the United States to her office the very day that she had been made aware of Dr. N from another patient of hers via e-mail. We talked through my treatment, my lyme test results. She asked what were my most immediate needs and I told her that would be to bring my stress level down before starting any Lyme treatment as it can knock my rear and give me more stress. She ordered some labs and I am to go in and review them with her next week. She will do the monthly liver, kidney function tests just to make sure the medications aren't hurting my body. My anxiety dissipated and calm and gratitude filled my soul. I told her I believed she was an answer to prayer. I had brought a copy of Dr. N's book with me and showed it to her and she said that she would love to speak with Dr. N. She said that many people are coming and wanting to be tested for Lyme now but the tests are so expensive and turn around time is long because they need to be sent to the US ( I know extensive co-infection testing is expensive but the initial lyme work up is only about $100-$200 US dollars plus overnight shipping which would be about $100 more) and also that not much is known on Lyme in Australia.
As I left this appointment, as I was in awe at the hand of God in my life. It could be chalked up to coincidence but it is mighty rare as the doctor I met with had never heard of Dr. N before and the day I walked through her door she had just eceived an e-mail regarding Dr. N was the very day I walked through her door, fresh from the USA, saying Dr. N is my doctor. Dr. N travels to Australia, 3 times a year (I think) to do clinics for patients here. Wouldn't it be fantastic if she did them in Western Australia as well as helped educate doctors over here so that the patients suffering from borrelia (Lyme) related illness could have justice, hope, peace and wellness that they haven't had before? I left feeling like God cares about me and God cares about people and even though I am going through a hard time right now, and am suffering, He is here in the midst and he gave me a sign of confirmation that I am on the right path as well as a sign to the doctor I met with as well. I am so, so blessed my this. I am grateful for His encouraging me on this journey and am hopeful for a good outcome, however long it may take me to get there.
After returning home I took a look at Dr. N's website and her information on Lyme and read this from one of her blog posts:
For me, my motivation in working with Lyme disease is to be able to provide something that patients often don’t find anywhere else – someone who listens and who cares. And of course, being that I grew up in Sydney, Australia is very close to my heart – it’s a real honor (pardon me, I mean honour) for me to go there and see Lyme patients and try to share the knowledge that I have accumulated through my studies and work in the United States over the past few years. If I can play a role in bridging those two worlds then I will feel fulfilled and know that I am living in the true calling that God has on my life.
I am so grateful for doctors who have the courage to stand up for the weak and those who can't stand up for themselves. I am so grateful for those who are open to being God's hand's in bringing justice to the afflicted in the world. I am grateful for organizations and people who are putting finances into late stage Lyme Disease research so that in the future young doctors who go to medical school will have the research and facts they crave so that they can treat chronic Lyme Disease with confidence and have the scientific data behind their treatments to back them up. I am thankful that this is taking place today and soon will turn the tide in the favor of those suffering so much today and many not knowing what they are suffering from.
Psalm 72:12-14
People who are in need will cry out, and he will save them.
He will save those who are hurting.
They don't have anyone else who can help them.
He will take pity on those who are weak and in need.
He will save them from death.
He will save them from people who beat others down.
He will save them from people who do mean things to them.
Their lives are very special to Him.
Psalm 82:4
Stand up for those who are weak and those whose fathers have died.
See to it that those who are poor and those who are beaten down are treated fairly.
Save the weak and those who are in need.
Save them from the power of sinful people.
Amos 5:24
But let justice roll down like water, a righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Yes, and amen.
Every now and again, the hand of God appears and lets you know He is there, in the midst of the suffering, the pain and the anxiety and He wants to help and bring "justice to the afflicted among the people" and to you.
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