My Roller Coaster With NPR
It was a roller coaster couple of days for me. On Monday, February 27, the producer of The Diane Rehm Show, NPR, called to invite me on the February 29 show with Diane, discussing chronic Lyme disease. My emotions soared to the sky! I was to fly to D.C. and be on our Nations’s #1 radio talk show, with 2.5 million listeners, sharing my insights on this seriously overlooked epidemic. The producer, Sandra, was regaling how much she loves “Out of the Woods”.
Within 24 hours Sandra called back, a glum tone in her voice. “I can’t swing it to have you on the show,” she states. “The influences to have a medical professional and panel only are pressuring me. I really wanted your voice and story as both a representation of the havoc Lyme can create, as well as the holistic side.”
My heart dropped. Bummer.
“I understand the carefully considered nature of producing a Lyme segment,” I replied. “It is such an intensely opinionated topic, with infighting and hostility amid the various camps about diagnostics and treatments.”
“Yes, my head is swimming. It’s been an exhausting day,” Sandra shares.
“But, Sandra. It’s going to be a monotone show. You need a Lyme patient there,” I urge.
“I agree. I’ve tried for hours to make that point. We did a show like this about 2 years ago and I wanted something more honest now. I don’t think it can happen,” says Sandra.
I sense disappointment in her voice. “I tried,” are her words.
We chatted a few more minutes, Sandra telling me she has told 6-7 others to read “Out of the Woods: Healing Lyme Disease – Body, Mind & Spirit”, and what a wonderful job I’ve done with the book. That felt comforting.
Today, I listened to the radio show at 11 am. It was ok. Diane Rehm clearly believes in the sorry saga of lack of doctor awareness and diagnostics surrounding chronic Lyme. Dr. Samuel Shor (internist, private practice and associate clinical professor at George Washington University) and Dr. Stephen Barthold (professor, Department of pathology, microbiology and immunology Center of Comparative Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis) shared frank and solid information on the quixotic yet real presence of long term Lyme infections creating chronic illness. Yet, the whole tone was very dry. Of course, I feel my emphatic, vivid voice of natural medicine would have been lively. Oh well! I understand Sandra’s predicament.
The two most salient facts I gleaned from the show were these:
Dr. Barthold, who has been involved in 25 years of lab studies on Lyme Disease in animals, stated that the Lyme bacteria FOREVER stay in animals’ bodies throughout their entire lives , antibiotic use or not.
Some animals had no symptoms, others did. In other words, some were more capable of “hosting” the Lyme bacteria successfully, others’ immune systems were plagued to “fight” it relentlessly. Could that be true for us humans too?
Dr Shor noted Eva Sapi in Connecticut found that Banderol and Samento (cats claw) in test tubes were more effective in killing off the Lyme bacteria than the antibiotic doxycycline.
I beat my long term case of Lyme with 5 years of steady use of Samento. After 2 years of excellent health, I stopped the Samento and my health slipped and blood values found Lyme to be “hatched out”. As I share in “Out of the Woods”, the correct herbals can be great allies in overcoming Lyme.
All in all, I learned from the NPR Show. Thank you Dr. Shor, Dr. Barthold and Diane Rehm. I’ll see you next time around!
This “close hit” was exciting and promising for me and my message of inspiration. I feel the heavens aligning to hoist me and “Out of the Woods” in just the right position for our global debut!
For a full transcript of the Diane Rehm show “Diagnosing and Treating Lyme Disease” go to http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-02-29/diagnosing-and-treating-lyme-disease/transcript
Katina I. Makris 