Lyme, Long-Covid, and Magic Blue Dye (Part 1)
I was out for the last 3 months recovering from Lyme treatment. Friends and family have been asking me a whole barrage of questions and I've had a lot to brief them on to say the least. I've had a long journey from trying to understand an entire system of chronic disease to even recovery for my family meeting more people than I ever thought that are suffering from the same affliction. I'm not a doctor, but hopefully, my journey helps others.
Esther and Long-Covid
In February 2022, my wife, Esther, and I both got hit hard with COVID for the first time. We were vaccinated already (didn't help). I had a hard time recovering from a lingering cough and actually passed out. My blood oxygen went below 90 and hit 87 for a few minutes, but bounced back out of a miracle.
Shortly after, my wife developed strange symptoms.
She had:
- rapid tachycardia,
- shortness of breath and
- chronic inflammation responses.
As time progressed, anything set off her symptoms: cold weather, allergies, and any foods beyond bland chicken and rice.
Doctors didn't know what it was and after several ER visits, they pretty much gave up. Other caregivers frankly treated us like crap saying it was in her head or maybe she was "stressed".
Getting Into Stanford
I was actually applying to Stanford at the time for the MSx program and had heard about Dr. Mitchell Miglis, an autonomics expert at Stanford Hospital through a podcast as we were trying to get answers.
American Medical Association
Esther and I realized that the care in Albuquerque, NM was probably still very far behind those of bigger cities. It was clear that we needed to go to the leading research institutions and hospitals for answers.
I wasn't sure where I wanted to go B-school yet. My options were the big three: Harvard, Stanford, Wharton. I got rejected by Harvard, accepted by Wharton (where I went for undergrad), but I was hopeful for Stanford in particular because of Esther's condition.
I was praying about it and as I was scrolling through Dr. Miglis' page, I got a call from Mike Hochleutner, the Director of the MSx program. I had a childhood dream of going to Stanford, but I never expected the mix of emotions with my wife's condition overwhelming me when I got the acceptance call. I wasn't actually concerned about the school. I was more concerned about her getting quality care and I let Mike know just how much it meant to me and family and that I'd accept the offer of admission immediately.
I thought that would be the end of the journey, Esther would be healed shortly, and that would be that. Unfortunately, it wasn't...