TOUCHED BY LYME: Maneuvering the medical maze
I often tell new Lyme patients that two of the most important tools for fighting this disease are a three-ring binder and a hole punch. By this I mean it’s essential to keep good records. Get copies of everything—lab tests, medical procedure reports—and stick them in your binder, keeping this important information easily accessible. Now, somebody has come along to improve on this idea considerably.
It’s called My Lyme Guide. It is a three-ring binder—and a lot more. It’s the work of former Lyme patient Marjorie MacArthur Veiga, who is also the mother of a teen with Lyme, and their Lyme doctor, Sarah Fletcher, MD, with additional content from Joseph Burrascano, MD.
With tabs, pockets, and forms, it helps you pull together the information you need to maneuver the medical maze of paperwork, appointments and medications.
Contents include charts for tracking:
- Symptoms and side effects
- Diagnostic tests
- Prescription, vitamin and supplement intake on a daily, monthly and longitudinal basis
- Prescription refill schedules
- Fluid intake
- Blood pressure/heart rate
- Exercise type and frequency
- Insurance paperwork
- Detoxification & Biotransformation Checklist
Other forms include:
- Medical Records Request
- Fax Cover Sheet
- Doctor Appointments Management
- Pharmacy Order Information
- Healthcare Bills Tracking
- Insurance Contact Information
In addition there is useful information on the following topics:
- Lyme Disease Rules for Patients
- Recommended Nutritional Supplements
- Tips Regarding Children and Medicine
- Teens and Chronic Illness
- Managing Yeast Overgrowth, Pain and Herxheimer Reactions
- When IV Treatments are Prescribed
- Education Options for Ill Children
- Ideas for Activism and Advocacy
- Resource section for gluten free diets, low cost vitamin sellers, support group locator, laboratories, and recommended reading
- Tips for Caregivers
- Managing Health Insurance Information
My Lyme Guide is available for $35 from the authors’ website. Click here for more information.
The TOUCHED BY LYME blog is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, CALDA’s VP for Education and Outreach. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.
I bought this guide which is worth the cost if only for the awesome logs and charts that we all intend to set up for ourselves. Marjorie is a lovely woman who has served the lyme population in Northern Virginia tirelessly.
I’m glad I chose to read this one. Nice work!