Thursday, June 28, 2012




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"The Kiss" Norman Lindsay 1932

How to navigate through Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) caused by a health crisis 



Thirty years ago, I worked briefly with a medical scientist who made said to me: “You can keep a patient alive sometimes with procedures that will deprive them permanently of one of the three basic human appetites -- sleep, food and sex. If you do, the patient will almost always self-destruct – suicide. These are basic hungers that must be satisfied”

Your physical journey from health through the misery  of chronic ill health and back to health again will leave you changed forever. Emotionally and mentally. I have relied on some really bright men and women of different ages, from health professionals to lay persons, from the healthy to those in constant pain and distress, to offer constructive criticism in the preparation of this post. I do claim to know a lot about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and more than a little about navigation, mentally, emotionally and actual.

My  generalized observations is these:
·         Parents, siblings and once-close friends distance themselves,
·         female care-givers tend to stand by their ill men-folk for the duration of the illness,
·         male care-givers have a much shorter time-line.
All too often chronic illness shatters relationships.
YOU WILL GET BETTER BUT YOU WILL NOT BE THE PERSON YOU USED TO BE.

Having raised a family and having worked with chronically ill and challenged children for over twenty years, some “human economic” subjects are a bit heavy for young people under eighteen years of age. This is most likely one of those subjects.

It is 2012 – a “new age. ”  Navigating our emotional environment when chronically ill, we must add science to intuition and observation.

“You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss” from the 1942 movie “Casablanca.” An old song, written by Herman Hupfield in 1931, leaving an indelible mark. As you read this, no matter what your age, you mind has already got the melody in your brain and the next line of words . . .

                A classic example is the emotional ups and downs of “finding” love, Usually we blunder along on intuition until we find the one we think is right for us. However, we could  add some science to our intuition. Here is an illustration of intuitive observation: About fifteen years ago I had a  Clinic patient earned his living as a pimp. One day, he blurted out “I forbid any of my girls to kiss clients. ” I asked why? “They fall in love with them. When they give passionate kisses, that is the end of their working life – they fall in love and they’re gone . . . ” An intuitive observation from a 1990’s version of navigator  Álvaro de Mendaña  (more about this unfortunate navigator shortly).

Fifty years later, Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote an intuitively lovely song “Passionate Kisses”  
“Shouldn’t I have this? Passionate kisses from you.  ”
 Am I going overboard to want that touch
I shout it out to the night
"Give me what I deserve, 'cause it's my right"
“Give me what I deserve, passionate kisses .  .  . from you.” [i]

Hit the link  right now and listen . . . and watch the lovely images. Just three minutes of you time.

Let us stay on the subject of actual navigation and sailing uncharted waters.

1500s – a “The Age of Exploration”  Observation  and Intuition to navigate a  “New World”.

In 1566 the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was searching for the fabled Terra Australis, sailing across thousands of miles of trackless Pacific Ocean from Peru. His two-year voyage was grueling and perilous. By chance, in 1568, he became the first European to land on the Solomon Islands, a bedraggled cluster  -- Guadalcanal and others. Hoping to lessen the King of Spain’s anger at the cost of the expedition without financial gain, he named them Islas Salomón.

Finally before his King, Mendaña claimed to have found the legendary King Solomon’s Mines. “Go back” instructed the King . . . unfortunate Mendaña. He tried but could not find the Islands again despite a larger two-year expedition that lost three ships and over one hundred of his crew. Mendaña  was actually sailing on his own “sea of heartbreak and finally lost his own life.

Sounds a little like the search for true love.

1700s – a “Newer Age of Exploration. ”  Adding Science to Intuition, to  navigating the World.

Captain James Cook rediscovered the Solomon Islands about two hundred years later. Mendaña relied on his intuitive observations” whereas Cook used his uncanny abilities of observation as well intuition. . . then added the latest science of his day. Cook had the newest navigation equipment, -- a chronometer (invented by Harrison in 1761) a sextant (1767) a nautical almanac (first edition – 1767). Adding  scientific equipment of that time to a keen eye enabled future navigators to arrive on the Islands from that day forward.

Today the World has satellite navigation – Global Positioning Satellites or “GPS”


2012 – Chronic Illness dumps you into uncharted waters, a  “New Emotional Environment.” Brain scans  can be the GPS of emotional navigation.

When a newborn arrives, it is a tiny lump of protoplasm and its little head is filled with neurons. Trouble is none of them – well very few of them – are wired together. Humans have a DNA structure that is extremely sparse when compared with the fruit fly or a wild duck. You can hold the baby upside down and the little bubs does not know it. All it can feel in those first hours are its lips, instantly ready for suckling.  

Humans enrich themselves  with life’s experience, both good and bad.

When navigating the brain we have known from long time that we have two very precise connections crossing both hemispheres.  Picture a plastic half-headband, the sort that women keep their hair back with – stretching from temple to temple. Right on the surface of the brain that first one is known as the sensory cortex and the one just behind is the motor cortex. Of interest is that in both, over 45% of sensory and motor input and output is devoted to our lips. This never changes in our entire lifetime.

Scientists from Rutgers University, New Jersey, used scans to monitor women’s brains during orgasm and found that different brain parts are activated when various parts of her body are aroused. “Lips are packed with nerve endings — 100 times more than the fingertips. As a result, kissing kick-starts multiple mechanisms in the brain, releasing chemicals that lower stress and boost mood”, says Chief researcher, Dr Ghosh.

Mary Chapin Carpenter knew something. Male or female, feeling stressed?  Go look for some passionate kisses – and your stress will melt. Not the Hollywood peck-on-the-cheek, with the empty “remember, I love you”  tag.  Not the usual screen-kiss where the two actors finally kiss,  both missing each other’s lips, either the top or the bottom. I am talking about a really passionate kiss, smack on the lips.

Whoa, there! We all remember high school and at seventeen, the sweetness . . . and where a passionate kiss might lead.

The Rutger’s research indicates that leading up to orgasm women receive a huge surge of a hormone called oxytocin. Orgasm and childbirth. This neuromodulator, oxytocin, causes women to be more trusting, more relaxed and it creates a bond. Produced by so much pleasure,Oxytocin is known as the cuddle or bonding hormone.

According to Professor Deb Laino, of Philadelphia University and Willmington University who has meticulously analyzed positron emission tomography (PET) scans:
“In females something even more interesting has been found. Female brains go what might be called silent during orgasm. Specifically, the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, areas seem to deactivate. Surprisingly these areas are involved in things like self-control and social judgment. ”


            Yes, men get some of this too during smooching and eventual horizontal pleasure. However the male brain gets a much larger dose – in fact huge release of dopamine -- and this is not a bonding hormone but a simple “pleasure” hormone. Thus the female is more vulnerable and more devastated when even a short-term intimate relationship ends (resulting in PTSD?), whereas the male just goes off looking for the next Carnival Ride with the nearest susceptible female.

Unfair? You bet!
"Desire" 1919 Norman Lindsay

Emotional Navigation . . . Knowing your new emotional location is vital!

Dr. Anne Moire, the founder of “Brain-Sex Matters” made a perceptive comment after her seminal 1992 book and television show “Brain Sex.”  She clearly identified that men’s brains are not the same as women’s. Intuitively she hit the target. However, despite the differences, like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, men and women  can fit snugly together. The “human givens” that she mentions can be distilled down to the basic appetites of food, sex and sleep.

The starting point to understanding these ramifications is a profound truth: that every living thing has to take nutriment from the environment to develop and sustain itself - something inanimate matter doesn't do. We can easily identify each nutriment because Nature makes us feel a need for it - we are all born with essential physical and emotional needs. These needs have evolved over millions of years and, to help us fulfill them, Nature has also given us innate resources, or guidance systems.

These needs and resources are our common biological inheritance, whatever our race or cultural background. Thus, they are called 'human givens' - they are the givens of human nature and common to every human being. Whenever our emotional needs are not met, or when our resources are being used incorrectly, we suffer considerable distress. And so do those around us.

At this point, do not go rushing off to the nearest medical laboratory for a brain scan  . . . do some research.

Global Positioning Satellites that help us find our way from one side of town to another were put into the sky at unimaginable expense. Primarily, GPS systems were put there for military use. Imagine you are the Commander of a nuclear submarine and your orders were to lob a missile at a hardened target – say, 2,000 miles away. Your accuracy must be within three feet to be effective or you might hit a school or a hospital. Thinking that you have your own location spot-on is not good enough. You must know exactly. If your launch site happens to be half a mile from where you think you are, your missile will land half a mile wide of the target.

With the latest understanding of how our brains work and the need to have our emotional needs satisfied, some self examination is needed. Time to put aside the “I am a bird with a broken wing” syndrome. Examine the way you brain works, decide where you are and what you need emotionally. Then fire that rocket and hit your target.

Ladies, it is your turn!
Before we get to launching rockets in any direction, a little bit of honesty is required. And to prove this up, we will fix our bearings on the pornography industry and its effects on both men and women. In the year 2006 statistics showed that a new pornographic video was produced in the United States every 39 minutes. No, not just in the U. S., pornography is all over the world. Hold on to your hats.

In 1996, the pornography industry was larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink:
·         South Koreans were the big spenders at $526. 00 per capita annually,
·         Australians (blush – the author was born in Australia) come next with $156. 00 each person each year,  
·         Americans are way down the list with $44.00 spent each year per person with what amounts to one-dimensional pleasure,
·         The Dutch, are the lowest on the scale with $12.00 each per year (the liberated and famously uninhibited - horny Dutch men and women appear to prefer 3-dimensional sex . . . the real thing.)

Now, let allow the  careful statistics as compiled by Family Safe Media, a U. S. based research organization to knock your sox off:
WOMEN WATCH THE SAME AMOUNT OF PORN’ AS MEN!

Feeling guilty if you do? No need at all. Pornography thrives because of what Dr. Anne More observed were the unmet emotional needs of people. Is it harmful? Probably not. Lonely? Certainly.

However, Porn’ creates some level of timidity with both men and women, once the screen is turned off. The women performers had flawless skin, no cellulite, tight buns. Is this what men expect of me?
The males were all “flatbellies” with pumped muscles and six-pack stomachs. Will women find me acceptable?

Play Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song about passionate kisses again and remember the fire it lit when you were an awkward, self-conscious teenager. Nothing has changed since those days for you.

The best advice the author can give is to find out where you are in the so-called emotional geography of your life, and then target where you really wish to be. Otherwise, you will wander the emotional oceans of life, and perish, unfulfilled, as did the Spanish navigator of the 16th century.

Women, Men, PTSD and . . . The Tyranny of Geography, Distance, and Chronic Ill-Health

Another of my patients - a vibrant young woman in her early thirties, a diminutive bubbly Sprite with the figure of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat – recently asked me “Sandsie, tell me about men. Why is it that my man cannot accept that all of my sexual experiences prior to meeting him – the man of my dreams – made me the person that he fell in love with?” The result of course is a little bit of fPTSD and mPTSD – both sides were hurting.
My response was “well, if this fellow does not value what he has in you, then you are teamed up with the wrong man in your life. Go find another with some degree of maturity. ”

Easier said than done? Not really. You have to know where you are emotionally and if your “village” is not an actual location – say a church-group, family clan, or an unhappy relationship . . . you can always shift, either physically or mentally. Pioneering women advocate this. Helen Gurley Brown is one of them. Born in 1922 and growing up in a prudish time, she eventually took control of the Magazine “Cosmopolitan.”

Commenting on her magazine, Ms Brown said
“the message was: So you’re single. You can still have sex. You can still have a great life. And if you marry, don’t just sponge off a man or be the gold-medal-winning mother. Don’t use men to get what you want in life - - get if for yourself. ”

"The Kiss"  Auguste Rodin, 1886  -- Tate Gallery


Brown's famous quotes fill volumes of feminine minds and enraged American men . . . (or so they claimed): “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”

No, God, (“The Universe” or “Great-Spirit-in-the-Sky”) did not turn Helen into a pillar of salt. The elfin-like woman turned 90, in 2012. Just before her birthday Ms. Helen G. Brown and her beloved husband donated thirty million dollars to the Columbia and Standford Schools of Journalism . Why? To assist women to be equal to men.

In an interview with the British Guardian newspaper (February 19, 2012) the current editor of Cosmo’. Ms. Louise Court fixed her piercing blue eyes at reporter Emine Saner, and reflected on 40 years of trying to establish feminine self-confidence there is still much that hasn’t changed . . . “ There are still sexual inequalities. There are still pockets of society that judge women’s love lives in a way they would dream never of judging a man’s”

Easier said than done when chronic illness chains you . . . How to change you physical or mental location.

Things are changing in this world – The authors mentioned in this  blog positing are all splendid reading. Western attitudes are slowly changing to be more akin to other cultures where the concept of Yin and Yang never judges you. If you live on the East Coast of the United States, move to California or go in the other direction if you can and avoid those that are constantly judging you.

However, most chronically ill folks have exhausted their funds and even their ability to borrow from institutions, relatives and friends. So giving advice about packing up and leaving a location is not all that helpful. “Sympathy without relief is like mustard without beef,” so observed the Scottish poet, Robbie Burns.

If you cannot change your actual geographic location, you can at least change yourself or Heal Yourself as Louise Hay pointed out in 1976 in her pamphlet which later became the 1984 blockbuster “You Can Heal Your Life”. Her work was originally ridiculed by religion and Western medicine -- who would take notice of a tall, elegant and beautiful blonde woman that had been a Bill Blass model? While the pundits rejected the concepts she espoused, her work resonated with women all over the world. Over 40 million copies were sold.
The essence, of Hay’s philosophy was “go join a different tribe -- even if it is inside your head.

Louise is a friend of mine. Highly intuitive, she reminds me of the Polynesian navigators of the 16th Century. While Álvaro de Mendaña was blundering around the vast Pacific Ocean, those Islanders, using observation and intuition alone, could repeatedly sail two thousand miles and arrive on the same island time and again. A decade ago I asked LuLu the secret of her health and success. She responded “Sandsie, it is all in your mind and the people you choose to be your friends. I chose wise partners in both business and personal relationships.” Today’s science proves up LuLu’s observations.

Doctor Mark Hyman, M.D. recently commented on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in a piece he wrote for Huffington Post (February 19, 2012) -- if you hang about with fat friends, you are likely to also be a fatty. However, when you join a “community” that promotes a healthy lifestyle, with group support you too will shed those excess pounds. He goes on to link health and longevity to shedding relationships and quotes his colleague Dr. Christine Northrop in the newly revised edition of her book The Wisdom of Menopause:
What is rarely acknowledged or understood is that as these hormone-driven changes affect the brain, they give a woman a sharper eye for inequity and injustice, and a voice that insists on speaking up about them. In other words, they uncover hidden wisdom -- and the courage to voice it. As the vision-obscuring veil created by the hormones of reproduction begins to lift, a woman's youthful fire and spirit are often rekindled, together with long-sublimated desires and creative drives -- if it does not find an outlet -- if the woman remains silent for the sake of keeping the peace at home or work, or if she holds herself back from pursuing her creative urges and desires -- the result is equivalent to plugging the vent on a pressure cooker: Something has to give.”

Very often what gives is the woman's health, and the result will be one or more of the "big three" diseases of postmenopausal women: heart disease, depression, and breast cancer. On the other hand, for those of us who choose to honor the body's wisdom and to express what lies within us, it's a good idea to get ready for some boat rocking, which may put long-established relationships in upheaval. Marriage is not immune to this effect. "

Dr. Hyman commented on his friend’s science . . . . “And neither are your relationships with other family members. Relationships change as we evolve. Sometimes changes you are trying to make cause the people around you to feel uncomfortable. This is especially true when you are working on profound dietary and lifestyle changes -- changes that are often needed to heal your mind, body, and spirit. Your friends and family may wonder how your newly adopted lifestyle will affect them. They may ask: ‘Are her dietary choices a subtle judgment on me? What if I don't want to eat the same foods she does? (This one especially comes up in families.) What will we do together now that she has chosen to spend her time doing new activities?’ Sometimes even changing your hairstyle is enough to stir the pot!”

With all of this 2012 New-Age Science . . . Ready to sail uncharted waters and heal your PTSD?
Is all that oxytocin generated by your last love like a tattoo . . . a permanent reminder of a temporary sensation? The answer to that is a resounding NO. However, science indicates that the fastest way to get over man (or woman) is under the next one that we take a fancy to, since oxytocin is equally an enabler to uncouple the bonding process in our mind. It is important to remember that life is just a carnival ride and that all appetites can be indulged in, sensibly, without shame or guilt. In truth, they must be sated.

I am not advocating a promiscuous lifestyle, philandering or cheating. It is all about science and science also teaches us that chronic illness or age can reduce or evaporate our libido. That is OK too. You just might need a hand to hold for the moment


A rear-view mirror on the negatives of our lives – particularly during the terrible years of chronic ill-health -- really stops us from adding quality of life for ourselves in the future.

However, a sure sign that a female patient recovering from a lingering chronic illness is seeing her wear her jewelry, or her “main squeeze” walking around in the Clinic with a bemused happy smile, or having the patient comment “I slept like I was shot last night.” The health scientist that I met thirty years ago was correct.

Mind you, something must be said about romance, flowers that arrive when you least expect them (yes even men appreciate a bunch of flowers), candlelight dinners etc. Viva the difference between sexes. Women are not to be idolized, men are not to be attributed as a woman's sole source of support or pleasure -- we should accept the difference between each of us and respect and forgive each other abundantly. Different jig-saw puzzle pieces that fit so neatly together, emotionally and physically. If that concept won’t work for you at this moment, time to find another tribe or another tribal-mate. Time to change what is going on inside your head.

So how can you manage these situations? Here are some ideas from The Wisdom of Menopause that men and women can also apply in their journey back to good health: 
1.       See life for the Petri dish it is. Experiment and expect resistance!
2.       Remind yourself that it's okay not to be the good girl (or boy!) who sees to everyone's needs except her (or his) own. This goes for any pattern you're trying to break.
3.       As you end or update some relationships, you may feel a little sad. That's okay. Grieve and let go. By doing so, you'll be protecting your health for years to come.
4.       Laugh. Bringing humor into a situation as it almost always eases tension.
5.       Distance yourself -- even if it means skipping the traditional family get-together -- so you don't become emotional or stressed by others' behavior.


Not quite ready for your next Voyage?

Sooo . . . You go and look in a mirror. Don’t measure up the physical perfection that you once had or that of  folks that have not endured chronic ill health? Or, perhaps the ravages of age have left some wrinkles and sickness as left surgical scars? Or, back from the war – male or female – you may be missing bits and piecess?

Relax. Mr. Right is out there for you. Or a Mr. Right-Now. For the PTSD sufferer, a Ms. Right or a Ms Right-Now. 

Go to your computer, and YouTube Mary Chapin Carpenter and listen to the words. You deserve passionate kisses. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=_rvt5kPlUyY

Out there, just somewhere, a set of sincere lips are waiting for yours. What are you waiting for? Trust me, those kisses will be just as sweet at seventy as they were when you were seventeen.    

Thus we introduce a verse of the 1931 hit  “As Time Goes By” . . . a verse that few have heard:
We get a trifle weary 
With Mr. Einstein's theory. 
So we must get down to earth at times 
Relax, relieve the tension . . .
You must remember this 
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh. 
The fundamental things apply 
As time goes by.
The world will always welcome lovers 
As time goes by.



[ii] © 1931 Warner Bros. Music Corporation, ASCAP


[ii] Interested in the subject of orgasm – and who isn’t? – what Whipple and  Barry Komisaruk, a neuropsychologist at Rutgers–Newark, share in their new book, The Science of Orgasm (Johns Hopkins, 2006), is nothing less than a comprehensive survey of everything scientists know about the complex biological processes leading to orgasm. http://news.rutgers.edu/focus/issue.2007-05-29.3499861600/article.2007-05-30.5568864748

[ii] Dr. Laino is a Psychology Professor at Philadelphia University and Wilmington University where she teaches courses ranging from Group Dynamics, Interpersonal Communication, Abnormal Psychology, Lifespan Development, Human Sexuality, Human Sexuality Counseling, Theories of Personality, and a host of other regularly taught courses every semester. http://delawaresexdoc.com
[ii] Dr Anne Moir, founder of Brainsex Matters, is an internationally recognized and widely published authority on the rapidly developing science of neuropsychology. She is an award-winning documentary producer/director/writer and is the author of three international best selling books. http://www.brainsexmatters.com




[ii] Mark Hyman, M.D. is a practicing physician, founder of The UltraWellness Center, a four-timeNew York Times bestselling author, and an international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos onYouTube, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to his newsletter. http://drhyman.com/

[ii] Dr,. Northrop was  a practicing physician in obstetrics and gynecology for over 25 years, Dr. Northrup has dedicated her life to inspiring women to flourish. She encourages women to create health on all levels by tuning into their inner wisdom. http://www.drnorthrup.com/about/
Learn more about navigating your own "change" in The Wisdom of Menopause. Dr. Northrop’s books are published by Loise Hay’s Hay House Publishing. http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=3647



Friday, June 22, 2012

No matter how Brave the Face . . .

Lyme and Fibromialgia show pain and fear in their eyes.

Megan Guthrie, aged 26, 2009

Is a Happy Ending possible?

"If things are not happy, then it is obviously not the ending"

Sandsie's Comment:
    Megan and her Mom arrived at my San Diego Center, having travelled all the way from Florida. Megan looked like a little angelic 16 year-old doll, barely able to walk. On that first day I said "Let's go upstairs to my office" and Megan asked "where is the elevator?" 
    I wanted to see how strong she was "No,we are taking the stairs." Megan made it up the first three steps. That was it.  I grabbed the back-belt of her jeans and helped her up the remaining15 steps.. 
    Megan still complains about the "super-wedgie" on that first day of her treatments. 

We will let Megan tell her story:
    "I've had numerous problems, everything from feeling like I was on the verge of insanity to passing out at work from a grand mal seizure. The main symptoms that bothered me the most were severe nerve and muscle pain in both of my legs, severe migraines, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue just to name a few. Pretty much every symptom that is listed under lyme disease I've had. So, to make a long story short, I went through at least 12 doctors before I finally found one that would treat me. For about 2 1/2 years I was on oral antibiotics (along with several other medications) and they never seemed to help. It finally got to the point to where my stomach couldn't handle the antibiotics anymore. I was so upset, and I had had it with waking up every day, laying in bed most of the day, taking some pain medicine to try and get up, and then never getting any relief. I felt like a prisoner in my own home, and the pain was just unbearable at times."


Sandsie's Comment:
    Sounds familiar, huh?  The same song, just a different voice singing it.

  "Finally, one day I was just so frustrated with having so much pain everyday, even with all of the pain medicine that I was on. I was determined to find a treatment that would work. I went to the computer and typed in "lyme disease treatment centers". The search results came back with "hyperbaric oxygen treatment centers". I didn't know much about this, but I did research, called a bunch of the clinics that I had found online, and finally found a great hyperbaric oxygen clinic in San Diego, CA called Healing Chambers International. I found them on www.hboinfo.com, 
At this specific clinic they are very aggressive with lyme disease. They go down further than any other clinic I could find---2.8 atmospheres. This is very important for lyme disease. The lyme bacteria cannot survive in 100% oxygen. So, when you go down that far, it is pressurized so that you are breathing in 100% oxygen, and it kills the bacteria. Crazy, huh? Yet it's so simple. I don't know how to explain everything to the exact detail, but I do know that when I made the decision to find a way to go to San Diego and get these treatments, I was making a life changing decision and at the time was not even aware just how much this was going to change my life. This summer I went and got 39 hyperbaric oxygen treatments and I think it's safe to say that I am now a new person. I still am amazed at the difference between the way I felt 2 months ago compared to right now, present day.
Sandsie's Comment:
    Remember that I am retired and not plugging for any particular hyperbaric oxygen therapy  (HBOT") center. Only to use  HBOT as a valid adjunct Rx. for the treatment of Lyme and also fibromyalgia.
Important Note:     
 Regarding inflatable air-bag chambers: Recent media attention to the so called “mild HBOT” inflatable air-bag chambers is misleading.  I believe these devices cannot be adequately pressurized  and are a waste of time and money to their users in treating infections. They ARE NOT hyperbaric  oxygen chambers. They CAN NOT provide the healing effects of hyperbaric chambers where the patient breathes 100% oxygen.
1.3 ATA on Air (21.7% O2)  F.D.A. rules.Only raises  O2 saturation to 26% .

Sandsie with a bag chamber  . . ."yes, I have strong opinions on the uselessness of these in treating Lyme and other infections."
You cannot get or expect the same positive results from an inflatable chamber, mislabelled as mildHyperbarics.  Notice that the "Fife Texas A & M Study" used hospital grade chambers and pressures. Click on the link to get details on YouTube. You will also get to see Megan on the day of the "giant wedgie."


Back to Megan -- however, stop and think about mental process and the depression that she talked of . . . "Will I ever get better?" "Will I ever meet someone who loves me?" "Will I ever marry?

Sandsie's Comment:
    Twelve years of chronic illness means that when the bugs are finally dead, rehabilitation of the body is needed. Megan abandoned her addiction to soda drinks (like drinking sugar flavored battery acid), exercised. Even so, it took thirteen months of careful weaning off pain medication, under the supervision of Pain Specialist Dr, Brenton Wynne, for Megan to become medication free.
    After her HBOT sessions in San Diego, back home in Florida at last . . .
Check out Megan's eyes after the Lyme spirochete had been eradicated by HBOT
"I'm so happy and still in shock. I just cannot believe that this whole time I was suffering, there was something all along that actually works so well, and it's all natural. Now that I'm doing so much better I want to tell everyone about it so that they can get help. My family was so impressed with the way that it worked, that they decided to open up a hyperbaric clinic themselves, so we cannot wait to start helping others move on to the path of healing." 

Sandsie's Comment:
   The Guthrie Family, already in healthcare did just that. April 2011 the opened their own hyperbaric oxygen therapy center in the Florida town of Bonifay.
Megan's Mom, Vickie and her sister Paige treating patients.
     This time I am  plugging a Center. The Guthrie Family's first-hand knowledge about all aspects of Lyme allows them to treat patients with constant kindness, knowing just what the patients are going through. 

Hospital Quality at best prices  850-768-9323

Sandsie's Comment:
   Megan wrote her story in 2009. We will give her the last word her. But before we finish with Megan,  the question at the start of this post was
Is a Happy Ending possible?

"If things are not happy, then it is obviously not the ending"

I hope that maybe my story somehow might help someone out there. Please, if you are suffering from lyme disease, I've been where you are. I've felt that pain. Find a way to go to Healing Chambers International. www.hboinfo.com. My family had to have a fundraiser for me to raise money to go, and without a doubt it was worth it. The people that work there really do care about your health and about getting you better. They're wonderful people! So, get on it and go get better! They're waiting on you!!! Good luck to everyone and I hope you get to feeling better! Peace!!
Megan Guthrie

2012 --  Megan Guthrie-Newin with her Prince Charming Scott
Just look at Megan's eyes now! There is life after Lyme disease . . .