I wanted to post an update in regards to Lyme disease treatment. I was having a conversation with a new friend of mine, she was asking what my symptoms are for Lyme disease. I had to think a little bit harder than I have in the past when asked the same question…that was a good sign! when I tell someone what the symptoms are; I share what my symptoms are first…its easier to explain something you are very familiar with like feeling specific pains everyday vs. remembering other symptoms of Lyme that I dont have. It is different for each person and depending on how long you have had it, the severity will be different. Here is a more detailed list, you’ll see why I refer to my own rather than THE list! Lol! Check it out if your interested:lyme-disease-research-database.com/lyme-disease-symptoms.html
As I was telling my friend about my symptoms I was realizing that a few of them are gone and alot of them are lesser in the severity. What encouragement! I’m very thankful for all the medicine I’m on…even though I hate it…its working. Jeff & I have been on a herbal protocol Samento since April 2010 (so a little over a year now) I have been on antibiotic treatment Clarithromycin since July 2010 (about 7 mos.) Bicillin injections since October 2010 (about 5 mos) Ciproflaxin since December 2010 (about 3 mos)
When I asked my Lyme Literate doctor how long we would be on treatment; she said about 2 years. So, I’m encouraged to look at the big picture and see that its coming close to 1 year being treated. hopefully just 1 more year will rid us of these buggers for good! There are always stories of people stopping treatment and then getting sick again~ or roadblocks/complications that come up. For instance Jeff was on Bicillin injections and simply his body could not tolerate it. he had major reactions to the medicine and had to stop. we are waiting until our next follow up appointment (phone consultation) with our doctor to see what alternate treatment he should be on. Our treating LLMD is in California, wich works out for us to have phone meetings only and we will see her this summer when we visit our family in California; but we are searching for a doctor here as well. There is a naturopath doctor I will be checking out as well as we are seeking a primary care physician who will hopefully work in conjunction with out LLMD that way some meds could be covered with insurance. were not sure if it will work- its very difficult getting insurance to cover Lyme treatment; sometimes impossible. but with a cost of around $500 a month in medicine…..we need insurance to cover some of this! So please pray with us in regard to this.So, treatment is going good and we are getting better slowly. There seems to be more good days than bad days lately. Thank you everyone for your prayers, and support. Many of you have helped us finacially through this journey and we are very greatful. this is road that we dont walk alone because of many of you! thanks & God bless~

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2011) — Family doctors can take more than a month to record ovarian cancer, once diagnosed by a specialist, in one in 10 cases, indicates research published in the launch issue of the new online journal BMJ Open.

Ovarian cancer was also incorrectly or prematurely classified in 11% of cases, the data show.

The authors base their findings on the "free text" data available in patient records, which are submitted to the General Practice Research Database (GPRD).

The GPRD contains long term anonymised medical data on more than four million patients on the lists of a representative 500 primary care practices across the UK.

The information, which is created during the course of GP consultations or correspondence relating to specialist referrals and diagnostic tests, is widely used for studies on aspects of disease and drug safety.

The authors focused on the Read codes relating to a diagnosis of ovarian cancer in women aged 40 to 80, between 2002 and 2007.

Read codes are used to code symptoms and diagnoses electronically in primary care in the UK. They provide the option to enter free text for each code, such as a letter from the specialist and a date when the ‘event’ occurred.

The authors also looked at this free text information to establish the time lag between when the specialist notified the GP of the diagnosis and the date it was officially coded as such in the patient’s record.

There is a good deal of free text in the database, but it is not always coded by GPs nor accessed by researchers, say the authors.

During the study period, 344 women were given one of three Read codes indicating a diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Most cases (90%) had free text relating to ovarian disease, and in almost two thirds (64%) this confirmed a diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

But in one in five cases (22%) free text information confirmed this diagnosis before it was officially coded as such in the patient’s record. in one in 10 cases more than four weeks had elapsed.

The free text information also showed that mistakes been made in 11% of the records.

Four cases coded for ovarian cancer did not have the disease at all; in another six cases the cancer was a recurrence which was not evident in the coding. and in 35 cases, patients had been coded before a definitive diagnosis had been made

"for diseases which rely on hospital consultants for diagnosis, free text (particularly letters) is invaluable for accurate dating of diagnosis and referrals and also for identifying misclassified cases," conclude the authors.

Email or share this story:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

1. A Rosemary Tate, Alexander G R Martin, Aishath Ali, Jackie Cassell. Using free text information to explore how and when GPs code a diagnosis of ovarian cancer: an observational study using primary care records of patients with ovarian cancer. BMJ Open, 23 February 2011 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2010-000025

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.