NEWS: Her dying wish was for Lyme recognition in Australia. RIP, Theda
Theda Myint, Lyme sufferer from Perth whose story has been followed around the world, has died. Her government continues to insist Lyme disease doesn’t exist in that country–though many of its citizens are seriously ill from it.
I am upset I cant get any volume on the video. bless you Theda
A very sad story, a beautiful talented girl who lost years of her life. It’s not just Australia, this ignorance is everywhere including here in Scotland. The sad thing is nobody has to get this disease – it takes time for the tick to start feeding/passing on the infection (maybe not always the 24h that’s suggested in many texts, but certainly not right away) and even if you are infected, the acute phase can be treated with antibiotics usually resulting in a cure. We’re trying to develop a preventative technology that would allow infections to be detected in ticks (blood tests take more time and are not all that sensitive). This would provide information that could be used to provide a rapid diagnosis, leading to prompt, effective treatment. Wouldn’t have helped sufferers like Theda but it could save a lot of people from going through years of pain, discomfort and depression.
Theda was the most amazing young lady, beautiful inside and out. She was going to do wonderful things in the world. Her loss is everyone’s loss, and the terrible thing is that it never needed to happen. Fly free Theda, no more pain, no more years of darkened rooms. Your courage was extraordinary to have borne it as long as you did. xxx
My friend lives in Manchester, England and has been ill for over 30 years and has had several diagnoses of illnesses. She remembers when she was 17 returning from Malta and was ill with flu like symptoms. She had a course of antibiotics and was fine until she stopped taking them. Now through her own persistence she asked her GP to send her blood to Porten Down in Wiltshire for full testing. The results came back positive for Chronic Lyme Disease. I am fundraising at the moment to raise money for her protocol treatment which is a course for 18mths from Dr Cowan in America. Since we started this, 4 people have come forward with the same symptoms as Karen and are now asking their GPs for full blood testing…the Elisa, which comes back negative and the Western Blot. If it proves she is well after the course of treatment…then someone has got to sit up and listen and many people can be saved.
18 months may be just a start. Treatment ends only 2 months after all symptoms are gone. if symptoms are still present after 18 months ask Dr. Cowan to reevaluate.
I had a severe case of lyme’s disease in 1992…and believe me..it exists.I still suffer from the damage it did to my body.It desinigrated my gall bladder and the valves at the upper part of my stomach,damaged my short term memory and immune system.I have fibromyalgia, IBS and acid reflux disease all as a result of this disease.I have never felt such agonizing pain as I did when I had this disease..the panic attacks and the joint/nerve pain was intolerable.Imagine being eaten alive from the inside out..thats what it was like.I just pray that the medical community and governments will realize this is not just a psychosomatic illness.Wake up world…
We face the same thing in Canada – I really don’t know how long the government can keep this up. There a 100s of 1000s people suffering with this disease – unbelievable.
The government Did kill this beautiful woman. I also have been fighting to get help. I have a positive from America and I have never been out Australia. My son who is six now is also suffering.
Wow that is sad. To the scotland mate, it does NOT take time to pass the infection, if the tick attaches itself common sense would tell you the bacterium can get into your bloodstream at any given moment, where in the heck is the evidence showing the infection just simply cannot pass in seconds?! It IS possible. The ignorance is EVERYWHERE, especially in the U.S. . Doctors all deny treatment here also due to the IDSA guidelines. I encourage everyone to watch the Documentary Under Our Skin as well as Under The Eightball if you want to know everything about lyme and why it is being ignored…Screw the new blood tests, Dr’s just need to accept the fact it is REAL and treat the persons adequately and not ignore them when there is a tick bite, ticks carry pathogens not only borrelia but microfilarial worms and parasites as well….I have no faith in drs. This illness is all over the world, and here in the USA it is an epidemic. So sorry to hear about Theda.
REST IN PEACE THEDA 😉
my heartfelt sympathies go out to her beloved mom/family who cared for her for 14 years.
shame on the australian govt. and many other countries and here in the USA for NOT taking how serious and DEADLY lyme disease and all the VECTOR-BORNE other illnesses the ticks carry.
i’m glad she was able to be at MAY lyme awareness project! YOU have left your mark in this world.
hugs/prayers always to your family during their deep loss of your companionship and love.
bettyg, iowa activist
God Bless you Theda…your fight will continue on with all of us lyme supporters.
God Bless you Theda..your fight will continue on with all of us lyme supporters!!
Amen.
I have Lyme Disease.. I have for over 9 years, I’m 22 years old. It has literally stolen my life.. I life in the USA and officials say almost the same thing. They don’t deny Ticks carry the disease, but they deny that chronic Lyme exists and insurance companies won’t cover any treatment. This disease is debilitating, and I know I could die any day.
USE PYRETHRIN!
As someone who was diagnosed with Lyme here in the US, and quickly got treatment, it saddens me to see such reluctance in Australia to diagnose Lyme and at least give a short course of antibiotics. I got diagnosed a week after I was bitten, and I’m 100% healthy again. The key is quick treatment and awareness of symptoms. Naturally doctors here were on the lookout since they know Lyme is in the area, but there’s no reason why the same awareness couldn’t exist in Australia.
Since then, I’ve been extremely careful about covering up with Pyrethrin treated clothing when doing ANY outdoor activity. I wear an Under Armour (skin tight sweat wicking clothing) tops and bottoms. I also treated my shoes with Pyrethrin. Pyrethrin is so toxic to ticks, that they will actively crawl away from clothing treated with it even a month ago (I have tested it)! Since I began doing this, and treating my dog’s hair with Pyrethrin I have not found even a single tick on myself. I should have been doing this before, but you live and learn.
Moral of the story, cover up with PYRETHRIN treated clothing, do it NOW before you get bit by some tick with an evil disease. Don’t depend on the medical profession to heal you after the fact, because they MIGHT NOT! The Australian Lyme association needs to update their webpage with good PREVENTION tips.
Such a sad story and one that we hear far too often. My sister and i both have Lyme Disease a run a support group in Canada although we do have others from many countries. We also live in a country that refuses to recognize and treat those of us with this horrid disease. We have to have testing done in the US and most also must see a Dr. in the US as well. Canada and Australia should both feel ashamed for the way they have stood by and done absolutely nothing for their fellow countrymen. We are sick, we are in terrible pain and we need help NOW. Theda has gone but she won’t be forgotten. The Lyme Community has no borders and d Theda was and always will be part of our community. Blessings to her beautiful mother.
While I feel saddened at the loss of life, I must correct the title of this post. Theda was NOT dying. You cannot say this was her DYING wish. Theda, chose suicide, for whatever reason or reasons. She had attempted suicide before and was very outspoken in what she wanted after her death. She’d throughly planned this out to make sure she succeed this time. It was NOT a dying wish she was NOT dying. She was sick and committed suicide. BIG DIFFERENCE !!!
I’m hoping that others do not follow suit because this was her choice and her way of what she felt would bring some attention to her cause. I am homebound and have been for years. I fight every day to struggle to survive. Theda did not have to kill herself to prove a point. There are multiple studies which have shown that borrelia exists in the brain, tissue, organs of patients. Dr Alan MacDonald’ studies of multiple samples from various peoples brain tissue has proven this.
Please if you are reading this, don’t resort to extremes. As long as you give yourself the opportunity of TOMORROW you can still heal. Theda cannot, we cannot watch observe and read and hear about her recovery. If something is not working for you, try something else, research, read, consult, find out more. But do not please do not give up. Once you give up, you give others loss of hope too ! Reach out to the community and help to save yourself. Bless you all.
Theda did not kill herself to prove a point. Theda Euthanised herself because she could no longer tollerate the pain she was in. Her head was on fire and felt as if it would explode. She had seen a Neurologist that day who could not help. Theda had not slept for a week, nothing the doctors prescribed gave her any sleep or pain relief she was the bravest person I know. Theda did not want to die she loved life and had so many plans for when she got well. She was being treated by a doctor in America, who said she was too week to tolerate Lyme treatment. She could see no future for herself. Euthanasia is thought out and planned. For Theda it was scary and sad. I know how she suffered spending years in a dark room,able to cope only with audio books. Often I could not hold her hand as it was too painful. How do I know all this? I am her Mother and nursed her for 14 years, I was with her when she was insulted and patronised by the medical profession. My beautiful girl wanted to live.
We will all miss you BEAUTIFUL Theda and so wish our Australian medical system had looked after you better. We respect your final decision as the right one for you facing an unknown future of severe illness. Our thoughts go out to the wonderful people you leave behind that did all they could to support you and who loved you dearly. You helped many of us in the ME/LYME world with your openness and love. We miss you very much.
This is such a waste of a wonderful human life. Lyme is a growing problem worldwide,
and the actual numbers are clearly higher than governments and medical industry spokespeople would admit.
Why would this particular systemic illness be denied or likened to a matter of faith; of belief as to whether or not someone is suffering from it?
A doctor doesn’t believe in chronic lyme. A medical facility doesn’t believe in chronic lyme. Is this a new religion of denial? Since when does the concept of belief trump microbiology and human suffering? Would a doctor or politician who developes lyme, still not believe in it?
Can someone tell a woman who is suffering from breast cancer that they don’t believe in it? Is the persistent denial of chronic lyme, then not a reason to suspect a conspiracy? If not a conspiracy of its biological origins, which numerous researchers conclude is a gmo, then a conspiracy of denying a new pandemic.
We must not be judgmental regarding this young lady’s decision to end her life. I am not saying it is OK, but it is not our place to judge what drove her to this end. I have had Lyme since 2007, with unbearable anxiety and depression being my worst symptoms — worse than the pain and the inability to function as I used to. At the worst times, the pain in my mind was so horrific and unbearable that I wished to end my life. If I had, the reason would have been because I could no longer bear this pain, it would not have been to make a point. If Lyme drove Theda to suicide, then it was Lyme that killed her. We have no right to judge another, whose pain we do not know. And it is still criminal that doctors refuse to help or even recognize this insidious disease. They are leaving people to die and others to wishing they could die.
Shame on you Australia!
Lyme can happen to anyone even to those who claims lyme doesn’t exist in this country.
Bless You Theda and family and all the sufferers around the world
May
So young, so sad.
What we are all faced with enduring Lyme Disease without support from our medical communities, and pushing people over the edge like this. So tragic…
R.I.P. Theda!
My condolences to her lovely family.
My condolences to the family! This disease took my spouse three years ago. There is now new evidence that Lyme can be contracted not only in the woods but also the bedroom. I believe that this NEW STD is bigger than HIV and if the medical society does not come to recognize the epidemic soon it may be to late for all of us! Millions all over the world have this, many not diagnosed or MiS diagnosed with MS, ALS, Parkinson’s, fibromyalgia,chronic fatigue and mental disorders. I too have it and the past three years have been a living hell. YELL at the top of your lungs because LYMEE’s are multiplying every minute and our next generation will be a very sick generation that may re.ally be the beginning of the end!