Saturday, July 21, 2012

Lyme spirochete is an "Equal Opportunity" bacteria.

                                        Young and Old, Male or Female . . .

When this patient staggered into the Clinic, she  was just out of a wheel chair.
In AussieSpeak, she did not have the strength to pull the skin
off a rice pudding
-- let alone pull a 40lb bow.

The bug does not belong in you, 

                          time to take your life back . . .

After about 20 HBOT treatments, Vickie came into my office and said "Sandsie, the brain fog is gone . . .  my languages are back." And she immediately translated "For God so loved the World . . ." into Hebrew, Greek and French.

Now fully recovered and healthy, she now lives in Monaco. Yes. THAT Monaco.

Sandsie's Comment:

      At the outset, you will think that I am biased for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. You are correct. High density oxygen is a powerful bactericide. I have personally witnessed more than 85% of Lyme patients regain their lives using HBOT. The eradication and the rehabilitation of a Lyme illness requires a  multidisciplinary approach and HBOT should be under the purview of a Lyme Literate Doctor. 




To quote Dr. Caroline Fife from the Texas A&M pilot study on Lyme:
  • "It remains to be seen if HBOT can be considered as a adjunctive treatment to a rigorous regimen of antibiotic therapy. It does seems clear that HBOT improves or eliminates the symptoms in patients  who have been treated with antibiotics for several years and have shown no further mitigation of disease symptamology. Moreover, the results described here suggest that the further improvement observed is due to HBOT, which is the only factor that changed in the long-standing  treatment regimen."
     This posting of three such patients (two of  which had many years of IV antibiotic therapy with no gains) shows that. five years later, these patients are taking their lives back and their life-style activities show that they have actually eradicated (killed) the Bb bug along with its little shirt-tail riding co-infections. I have already talked about Megan Guthrie's happy recovery in a previous post.
    So, let's just have a pictorial look at a young woman who, like Vicky, did not have the strength to walk properly. Her story  at a later date. The  pictures show her NOW


Cute as a button --
"Being this well Never looked or felt so good."
"Why do Cowgirls and other horse riders get Lyme?
The ticks fall down their collars going through the brush,
land at the top of your jeans and settle right in."

Don't try this at home you other Lymie's. This should encourage you to believe that
THERE IS LIFE AFTER LYME DISEASE.
 Sandie's Comment:
    So, now you have met with Alisha. Time to meet with Caz. His personal story will sound just like your own. I might mention that he was at the San Diego Center at the same time as Megan. He had an IV and Megan was done with antibiotics. 
    Caz says some nice things about me and the San Diego Center. Thanks heaps Caz. Remember, I am retired, One thing that we found is that Lymies are so emotionally fragile and arrive feeling hopeless, we have to give them lots of TLC and make sure that they get their emotional support in a friendly environment at no extra cost. Why? By the time Lymies finally find out what works, they usually do not have enough dollar resources to feed their pets.


       In Feb of 2007 I was diagnosed with stage three chronic Lyme disease after 3 years of intense illness. At the time of my diagnosis I was bed-ridden and emaciated, pain-ridden and miserable. Over the next two years I underwent antibiotic treatment under the care of a Lyme-literate doctor, slowly recovering to a point where, in early 2009, I could function almost like a normal person, leaving the house and running errands, etc. However, although I could function well on a basic level in regards to these everyday tasks of work and chores, I was frustrated by how fragile my functionality seemed to be- for after two years of treatment, I was still unable to exercise, miss sleep, or exert myself in any way without immediately feeling ill again.
     It was because this frustration that I decided to embark on a more aggressive treatment plan (consisting of a combination of IV antibiotics and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments) in attempt to break through the flat spot in my recovery. Enter Bob Sands and 2 months at the San Diego Gateway Center for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. 1-888-691-1482



   Upon arriving at the clinic in June of 2009 I was immediately struck by the atmosphere of the place. Rather than being rushed in and out for my appointments, I was encouraged to stay at the clinic, relaxing and sharing knowledge and support with other patients. Every single staff member wanted to hear my story, know about my lifestyle, ask what I had tried before. It became clear after a few days that the San Diego HBOT center wasn’t just a clinic treating patients with Hyperbaric Medicine, it was a social hub for patients and caregivers dedicated to improving the quality of life of its patients by whatever means possible, supplementing Hyparbarics with healthy helpings of moral support, real-time assistance, and advice on alternative treatments. I was consistently struck by just how comprehensively dedicated everyone at the clinic was- more times than I could count I witnessed staff and patients (including the technicians and even the front desk attendant) having long discussions on how they were going to make it possible for a severely ill patient to attend the clinic, developing a ride schedule in which they would personally pick up/drop off the patient, make sure they were fed and had all the proper meds, etc. All of this was done for free, with never a single comment as to whether or not it was necessary, or a complaint as to who would pay for gas. It was just accepted that these things were too important not to be done. They will even provide locations of non-affiliated centers at locations near you if you call them.  



      And of course, let’s not forget the effectiveness of the treatment itself. After 3 weeks of combined hyperbaric and IV rocephin treatment at the San Diego center, I was shocked to find myself PLAYING SPORTS again with no lasting pain, breaking through that plateau of health that had limited me to every day basic activities. After 20 treatments I had joined an intramural soccer team, and was regularly attending the gym. My body felt stronger, my mind felt clearer, and I found myself enjoying better health than I had experienced since first becoming ill in 2003. By the time I left the clinic (after 40 treatments total) I was confident enough in my health to register for classes the following term, and subsequently returned to my academic career. In fact, I was so impacted by my treatment at the San Diego HBOT Gateway Center that I changed my scholastic goals, and after a year of schooling I am now a registered EMT and a Hyperbaric Medical Technician Intern at a San Francisco area Hyperbaric clinic. I am happy, healthy, and dedicated to paying forward the spirit of proactive healing I learned from Bob Sands and all of the staff at the San Diego HBOT center.
"Sailing the World, spearfishing and enjoying life. Hard to believe!"
Caslin Tomaszeszewski




Sandsie's FINAL Comment:
    Plenty of testimonials out there attesting to what help Lymies to recover, along with the photographs. In the instance of those of this post, you might notice that Caz has sailed around the World, speared fish, and had wonderful pain-free adventures. And, five years later, no signs of relapsing into Lyme.




In the next post I will answer some serious scientific questions about HBOT and Lyme.  Keep the faith in yourself, you Lymie's and also you fibromyalgia and CFIDS foks. 


YOU CAN AND WILL GET YOUR LIFE BACK


MAHALO -- Sandsie


     Please remember that the results as shown here and demonstrated by the Fife study were in hospital grade 100% hyperbaric chambers. You cannot expect and will not get the same results from a a 4 psig air inflatable bag chamber. In fact, there are now hundreds of hospital quality chambers  in U.S. free-standing centers (no, your hospital will not treat you for Lyme in their chambers) that you can actually be treated for about half the cost of purchasing one of these so-called mildHBOT(bag) chambers.
    The ONLY inflatable chamber in the entire world that   is the British   HyperLite SOS chamber. It has code approval  and provides 100% Oxygen and appropriate pressures  that can eradicate bacteria and fungi. 





Thursday, July 5, 2012


No matter how Brave the Face . . .

Janine . . .  sleeping on her feet in 2005

Lyme and Fibromialgia show pain and fear in their eyes. PART 2

The Survival Diary of Janine Thill

Sandsie's Comments:
The latest post is an echo to the last one on Lyme disease.  Two comments trigger this post:

The first: A female Lymie  went beyond scolding me to an all out attack of the nasties. The woman claimed that hyperbaric oxygen therapy does not work in curing Lyme. She ranted at me accusing me of having zero  experience in medicine. Then she made the comment that only a person with Lyme could understand and cure a Lyme patient.  In truth, she was not doing such a good job on herself  . . .

It made me think of Janine Thill.

The second: This morning’s email was an enquiry: “the folks giving me hyperbaric therapy said that I have to have chelation before starting  hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), since the pressure of oxygen forces the heavy metals deep into the cells’.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. This demonstrates that many,  who claim to know about and dispense HBOT, are profoundly ignorant of the mechanisms of gas effects on mammalian physiology. 

Again, I thought of Janine.

Janine in 2012 . . . No  longer in Lyme Green.
What are those patches on her lab' Jacket?

Excerpts from the Survival Diary of Janine Thill . . . . 
“In 2003 .. I started developing extreme fatigue, neuralgia, muscle spasm, acute joint pain in multiple locations.  Depression followed, along with chemical sensitivity, extreme cognitive and memory problems.

Finally in the beginning of 2005 I was tested for Lyme Disease. I was POSITIVE. Three of the four members of my family also tested POSITIVE.

We all started treatment as recommended by the doctors which included many drugs: Doxycycline, Flail, Amoxicillin, Zithromax, Mepron, Ketec, etc, . . .  The list goes on an on . . .  We did months of IV treatment. Our livers swelled, we had extreme headaches, sweats and fevers, lost vision, had tremors, lost muscle control.

Sandsie’s Comment:

After dispensing HBOT to more than seventy Lymies in San Diego prior to my retirement it seems to me that patients that have had extensive antibiotic treatment  prior to commencement of HBOT (with the same comments as Janine)  have a longer rehabilitation period after the HBOT has eradicated the Lyme spirochete. “It is crazy to poison and compromise the immune system with antibiotics” (from Dr. JW -- HCI Science Advisory Board)

If any of you wish to have a list of antibiotic side-effects sent to you electronically, you can email me at info.hboinfo.com.


 Excerpts from the Survival Diary of Janine Thill . . . .
My husband was so sick my fifteen year old son would drive him to work (we are self employed) and then do the work for him while he laid in his work truck. My daughter and I were both so sick we had to drop out of a nursing Program at the local College, after attending four and a half years. This, after a year and a half of conventional antibiotics.

Finally, in 2005, a friend told me about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (“HBOT”.)  I was skeptical but started my research. Around that time a childhood friend tried HBOT and got his life back. It was an amazing transformation.  I decided to try myself. It took a little while but I raised the funds and credit to have my daughter and I to travel to San Diego for HBOT.

At San Diego Hyperbarics, the staff was excellent and the treatments were comfortable. In the beginning it seemed like NOTHING was happening except I felt toxic, as usual. I was very fatigued and emotional the first half of my treatments. By the 15th treatment my husband noticed that I had more energy and was more positive (I did not realize it at the time, but he did!)

Then by the 21st HBOT treatment I noticed that I started to remember phone numbers. I had my ups and downs with Herxing, and I still  had some neurological symptoms with spasms of  weeping in frustration at my slow progress. Little by little the pain disappeared in my joints and then finally the muscle spasms were gone. 

By the 26th treatment that when I came out of HBOT, I felt good and had more energy than when I went in. At the end of the week, my sister visited  – after a day of working – for dinner and a movie at night. It was the first time in years I could function and night and we had a great time. And I haven’t stopped since.

Sandsie’s Comment:
Janine followed a typical recovery path with Lyme and co-infections. Depending on how entrenched the bacterial load is, the more HBOT Tx. it takes. Lyme differs from chronic fatigue (“CFIDS”) and its neurological pains. In the instance of CFIDS, the patient gradually curves upwards, with less pain and more vigor to the point on a chart in which the patient claimed “cure”

On the other  hand, since Bb is a gramm-negative bacteria, it gives off endotoxins in death. Thus the patient has a bad Jarische Herxheime’rs reaction during treatments and then up to three days before the proverbial “make-up attack” (with females) the patient still feels that all the money and time has been wasted.  Typically, the elevator ride of  “I still have Lyme” to  “It’s over, I am well again” is about three days.

From memory, Janine was distraught two days before her last treatment over “not all that much has happened,” when she bounced in and said “Sandsie, I went to the movies with my sister last night – first time in years, and this morning I just feel great.”

 Excerpts from the Survival Diary of Janine Thill . . . .
I am so thankful. Although everyone’s response can be different to HBOT, some patients may need more treatments then others, why wouldn’t you want to stop suffering and be the BEST you can be. Do it now! I only wish I done Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy sooner!”

Sandsie’s Comments:
Dr. Oz recently made the observation that  once a patient survives a serious or life threatening illness, they are never the same. 

So too with Janine. 
She opened her own hyperbaric oxygen therapy center in Marin County!

One of the classiest and  the highest award-winning free-standing hospital-quality oxygen centers in the State of California.


I retired as you all know. I do not need to beat the drum for any particular HBOT Center. In this instance I am. Especially in view of my comments at the start of this post. Janine really has first-hand knowledge of the misery of Lyme and has a high end scientific understanding of the disease.

One thing worse than being put into second place . . .
Getting a good pinching in front of 250 people.
The look in Janine's eyes? You tell me. No longer a Lymie in 2008.
  
Phone: (415) 785-8652  Email: 
I just love the YouTube presentation  from one of Janine’s physicians  since, while you watch it, you will see the chambers I designed and then, in the background while  Dr. Ekolm explains the science, there is a large screen and you will see me being featured in the Discovery Channel’s “The Healing Chambers” special of  2002. Ego. It squares away for the public pinching (actually I deserved it.)



Sandsie’s Final Comment:
About chambers: You CANNOT get the same results an inflatable chamber. They do not work, and I hold the very strong opinion that they are a sham and a waste of time for any chronically ill patients. If you do your due diligence on me, you will see that the very first chamber that I applied for a patent on was an inflatable in 1983 for the Australian Government. Science could  not prove them as useful.
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.
Raises  O2 saturation to from 21.7% to26% .

Sandsie with a bag chamber  . . .

"I have strong opinions on the uselessness of these about 

treating   Lyme and other infections.

There is now some scientific opinions that breathing 

compressed air  
for long periods of time, 

in
creases nitrogen loading to the patient's soft tissue 


and may be subtly detrimental"