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A Spouse's Experience with Lyme Disease Treatment
By: Mike

My wife was diagnosed in January with Lyme Disease and has been on IV Claforan 2 grams every 8 hours at home through a pick line. Do to the HERX that you get when being treated for Lyme Disease she has had to stop and start them many times. Sense they have started the IV treatment I have to take her to the hospital once a week to have blood work drawn for a CBC, MCP and a UA.

The first time we go I get her a wheel chair at the front door and take her to the Oncology (cancer) department on the fifth floor. We go into a room and they have her just stay in the wheel chair in front of the desk, with a pick line in it only takes about 10 min. As we are waiting, I am looking around the room at the eight reclining chairs that are all full. I find my self taking a very close look at these people and they all have a machine hooked up to them. I look to a lady maybe in her late fifties, she is knitting what looks like a scarf I watched her for only about 30 sec. When she moves her arm I can see that there was a hose running into her chest where her right breast use to be. Then I glance to the other side of the room at a lady who is maybe in her early forties, she is sleeping and has a blue handkerchief tied around her head-you can tell she does not have any hair. She looks like she weighs maybe 80 pounds, as I look at her sleeping face the expression is that of pain, worries, suffering even in sleep. As I continue to look around the room, I find my self-looking only at the faces. Two women setting next to each other are talking, I can quickly tell that some of the smiles are very hard to put on, one of the women is on oxygen and it takes her a little long to respond but she always finishes it with a smile. They are talking about their wigs. And then I look over at my wife, the nurse is drawing blood out of her pick line. They are talking; the nurse says something to make my wife smile. At this point I head for the hallway, if not, I will completely break down in front of all those people. I�m not sure exactly what I was feeling at that moment, I think part of it was that I have already been through so much pain and suffering and did not want to see anymore. And the other part was that these people have much more to go through then we do.

We have been going to give blood for the last 10 weeks, and the chairs are always full. I have not seen the same person twice. We are not alone, and it could always be much worse.