Jenna’s Lyme Blog

The brave heroine of our story is Amy Scher.  There are no others who can tell the tale she has for the Lyme community, but she has allowed me to take excerpts from her blogs with links back to her blog so that you can read the whole story.  I will be giving you part of the story as best as I can.

Destiny: defined as a predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control.

Ten years ago, with a bulging belly and swollen ankles, I could have never imagined being where I am today. I was healthy and strong, donating my eggs for an infertile couple in Los Angeles whose last hope for a baby was a donor (me). I was the opportunity of new life for a family who wouldn’t have had it otherwise. I went through hormone therapy, mood swings (oh, the mood swings), ultrasounds and uncontrollable cravings for bagels and lox – all in the name of love. Someone else’s little bundle of love.

And now, when I need it most, the gift seems to be coming back to me halfway around the world. I keep joking that I must have karmic eggs.

Enter destiny.

(Read more from Amy’s personal blog at: http://www.amybscher.com/Site/Journey_to_India.html )

So Amy DID find her destiny in India – cold turkey, with the understanding that she would be a test patient – in fact  Amy would be the first patient using stem cell therapy for Lyme disease.

Her frazzled nerves became overwhelming early into her first visit due to terrible nausea after her initial treatment, and then being late to her repeat brain scan, which she missed on the 7th because she was stuck in the hospital for two days vomiting uncontrollably.

Here is the rest of the excerpt from Amy’s other blog: Healthcare Hacks

Finally, we arrive at the scan. Tim, a 19-year-old patient from Australia has kindly been sharing his sweet mother Wendy with me since my own left. She couldn’t fathom me going alone to South Extension, dealing with the challenges of getting anything done in India. When they ask for the previous month’s scan, I don’t argue. I know the doctor who did them at this same facility has them, but I have copies in my backpack and feel prepared, like it is somehow a make-up opportunity for my irresponsibility last time. The doctor is probably still disappointed from then that I didn’t have my reports from the states, and I don’t want any trouble again.

I am escorted back to the little closet-like room they use to inject the dye into my veins — after I wait 45 minutes for them to boil it. I am used to this painstakingly long process by now: boil, wait, inject, wait, scan. It’s familiar to me, which is actually a bit sad but more so, comical. I sit and pray in my spare time, hoping this will be the last one for awhile. I know next time, I will be back in San Francisco’s fancy digs in a quiet, dark room where I can relax without the sounds of Indian music and the buzz of burnt out fluorescent lights. The dye is injected and I am instructed to “Close eyes and stay still for one hour.” They pull the curtain and I try to follow directions. A half-hour later they come to get me up. It seems they need the room. They take me into a brightly painted orange waiting area lined with chairs, and lights that make it all that much more stimulating. Wendy comes to keep me company. I don’t question if being awake, eyes open and stimulated will affect the test. I have been in India long enough to know the answer — “no problem.” I trust my brain will behave accordingly and all will go well.

Another half-hour passes while a baby screams in the injection room. I try not to let my brain register the piercing cries. Wendy and I reminisce about our times here, as she is leaving the next day and I have been cleared to leave on Valentine’s Day. Before we know it, it’s my turn in the testing room. I’m strapped to the table, the scan is taken and I’m deemed free to go. The results will come via e-mail later. I’m surprisingly not anxious for them at all and think nothing more of it after my head and arms are unstrapped from the table that I realize my body doesn’t fit quite as well on as last time.

When I was sick for the few days, the scan wasn’t important on my get-done list, or Dr. Geeta Shroff’s. But the night I finally felt back to normal, I had a dream that I got the scan and it came back improved from January’s scan. So, I decide to go for it, regardless of what most literature says about how long it takes for these test to show improvements after the patient notices a difference in their symptoms.

I barely get back to my room when Dr. Geeta Shroff calls. “I just got back,” I said, assuming she was just checking. “I know,” she replied. “I just talked to the doctor and there has been an improvement in the left side of your brain.” I’m ecstatic even though I have to wait until Monday to find out details.

Even a tiny, itsy bitsy noticeable change on a scan is more than I could have expected. I know things are changing because I feel them, but to see proof is a sweetness hard to explain. The repeat scan was basically just to have two from the same lab before I left, according to what Dr. Geeta Shroff tells me. But I know how she works and there was definitely a “what if…” in the back of her mind. Great pioneering minds always think ahead of what science believes.

Tomorrow morning after physio, I leave to go to the old hospital in Gautam Nagar. I’ll be getting my first and only spinal procedure before I leave on Thursday. Two syringes full of stem cells will be injected into my tail bone area which will help boost power in my lower body. I have to lie down with bricks under the bottom of my bed for 6-8 hours and then I’ll be taken back to my regular room at Green Park.

Here is the complete post from Amy at Healthcare Hacks:

http://healthcarehacks.com/embryonic-stem-cell-spinal-procedure-set-for-monday

Similar Posts:

• One Year Mark For Amy Scher
• Where is Amy Scher? Did Her Stem Cell Treatment Cure Her Chronic Lyme Disease? Partt1
• Tick Talk Ireland’s Fantastic Blog
• The Road Back – Importance of Amino Acids for Chronic Lyme Disease
• Lyme Disease Brain Lesions Disappear With Stem Cell Therapy
• Pamela Weintraub Continues to Write About Neurological Lyme Disease
• Why Are My Ears Ringing? Its Driving Me Crazy!
• Dr. Burgdorfer Explains Existence Of Chronic Lyme Disease And Similarity To Syphilis
• Do You Have Neurological Lyme Disease?
• Duke Cancer Researcher Nearly Dies From Chronic Lyme Disease

Posted on December 17th, 2008 under Personal stories • Tags: Curing Lyme Disease, Stem Cell Therapy. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback