When we have so many soldiers over in Iraq and our country is supposedly under a watch for terrorists, one tends to forget we are in a war everyday with the Lyme Disease Discounters (LLDs). It's not a war we read about in the newspapers or see pictures of -- no battlefield where this war is raging; it's not making the cover of "TIME" magazine, or splashed on our television sets, nor is there talk about it on the radio. However, it's a war! Lyme Disease causes just as much destruction as we saw on 9/11 when the Twin Towers were hit; has more wounded than the final count, and finally, just as many, if not more, casualties. But, there are survivors, too. I am a survivor, in spite of or the military's handling of Lyme Disease!
The military has an unusual take on this disease. They choose to ignore it! Where the civilian world prefers to argue over the diagnostic tests and treatment protocols, the military follows the CDC (Center for Disease Control) protocol to the letter. However, they have failed to actually understand the CDC's protocols that state it is clinically diagnosed and reporting is for tracking purposes. The military has chosen to interpret or decode the CDC's view of this disabling and deadly disease in their usual military fashion -- "MDMP" or the Military Decision Making Process. I know this firsthand, as do thousands of other members of military families, because I was a military spouse (U.S. Army).
My husband served over twenty years. He ate, breathed and lived in camouflage; was an outstanding Non Commissioned Officer; and, was illegally listed as AWOL because I have Lyme Disease and was literally dying from complications. Yes, BECAUSE I have Lyme Disease, a seasoned soldier was humiliated, disgraced and forced to live in poverty. Some end to an unblemished service record!
Our lives were going pretty well. We were a model military couple and enjoyed our green-suit lives. Then, in 1997, while my husband was away on duty, I met a tick. It was a hungry little bugger and I ended up with three EMs (bulls eye rashes) on my upper, left arm. It wasn't long before I had the "flu" that beat all others. The diagnosis was a comedy of errors; treatment was a hit and miss therapy; and, the outcome was one I would never have suspected.
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