As I read this, all I could think was...here may be another victim of undertreatment after a rash. Sounds like me on my way to chronic lyme. But the docs say he's fine because there has beenno recurrence of the rash! REALLY?
I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone, and I hope for his sake his doctors are correct in saying these episodes are a result of his flu in June. nan
Though President Bush has had episodes of mild vertigo in recent weeks, they have not interfered with his work, and he is in excellent health, the White House said yesterday in releasing findings from his annual medical checkup.
Related President Bush's Physical Exam and Medical History (findlaw.com)
The bouts of unsteadiness, which were reported as having improved, began after Mr. Bush had a viral infection in June at the Group of 8 meeting in Germany, the White House said. Such dizziness often follows viral infections, usually of the upper respiratory tract, and can last a few weeks. The symptoms may be continuous or intermittent.
Mr. Bush has sinusitis and has recovered from serous otitis media, an ear infection, in the last few days, his doctors said. The medical report said Mr. Bush, 61, was treated last August for a skin rash over his left shin attributed to Lyme disease.
The White House did not disclose the diagnosis last August because Lyme disease had not interfered with Mr. Bush's duties, as when he temporarily turned over the powers of the presidency to Vice President Dick Cheney when he had a colonoscopy in July. Mr. Bush's doctors described him as "fit for duty," a standard military phrase.
Scott M. Stanzel, a White House spokesman, likened Mr. Bush's episodes of imbalance to the feeling that can occur in someone who has just gotten off a boat.
"The president goes for lengthy bike rides on narrow trails in the woods and does not have any problems with his balance," Mr. Stanzel said.
Mr. Bush rearranged his schedule at the Group of 8 meeting because he had a head cold and was not feeling well. The periods of unsteadiness began after that, Mr. Stanzel said.
The doctors attributed the unsteadiness to mild vestibular neuronitis in the president's left ear. The serous otitis media was in the right ear and was first detected last Friday, but has since cleared up. The sinusitis involved the right maxillary sinus.
The findings are consistent with viral illnesses that can be followed by periods of unsteadiness for several weeks, said Dr. Michael G. Stewart, the chief of ear, nose and throat medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. Untreated Lyme disease can lead to nerve damage, often involving the eighth cranial nerve, the same one affected by vestibular neuronitis.
But Mr. Bush's doctors said they did not believe the Lyme infection was linked to his vestibular neuronitis because the skin lesion had not recurred.
The White House doctors evaluated Mr. Bush for Meniere's disease, another inner ear ailment that can produce vertigo, hearing loss and ringing in the ears. But the doctors ruled out Meniere's disease because Mr. Bush did not have some key signs and symptoms, the White House official said without disclosing what they were.
Dr. Richard J. Tubb, physician to the president, and Dr. Kenneth Cooper of Dallas oversaw 11 other doctors who examined Mr. Bush in sessions starting July 17.
Mr. Bush weighed 192 pounds, 4 pounds less than last year, a change he attributed to "less birthday cake."
Posted by Ruth Ruth (Member # 11059) on :
I'm with you Nan.
I'm hoping we are wrong but it sure looks possible that he is "another victim of under treatment after a rash."
I know we have these "lyme is everywhere" glasses on due to our own struggles, but maybe it really is!
What happens when everyone is slowly going mad together? Does it look like the fall of the Roman empire, or what?
Posted by minimonkey (Member # 8693) on :
Ummmmm... his doctor says that the later symptoms are not linked to lyme because the "skin lesion has not returned" ??!!????
Of course, he was examined by Wormser, perhaps among others...
Posted by Boomerang (Member # 7979) on :
But Mr. Bush's doctors said they did not believe the Lyme infection was linked to his vestibular neuronitis because the skin lesion had not recurred.
Sounds like the President is getting the same wrong diagnosis many others have had, and needs to go to an LLMD.
Posted by Greatcod (Member # 7002) on :
How can we possibly tell if he is Lyme infected?
Watch Letterman's "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" segments and you'll know what I mean.
[ 15. August 2007, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Jenifer ]
Posted by Vanilla (Member # 11155) on :
Remember when Dubya claimed he choked on a pretzel and fell off the couch and received a black eye...
Was it a lyme related vertigo fall they did not want us to know about so they turned it into Pretzel Gate?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
****Such dizziness often follows viral infections, usually of the upper respiratory tract, and can last a few weeks. ****
So if he got this virus in June, why is he still having vertigo??
Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
NY Senator Schumer is also being treated - my friend with Lyme just sent this to me:
I predicted this, too, because if you go to www.antennasearch.com and plug in the White House address, it is literally SWARMING with cell phone towers and antennas, which I believe are behind chronic Lyme and its reason for being persistant.
So cool! Soon the entire government will have it!
Posted by Vanilla (Member # 11155) on :
Unsteadiness certainly.
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
After reading all this in the last week, I also believe there is a good chance that Bush has untreated lyme disease.
It explains so much about his language and cognitive difficulties, so similar to mine when I became ill.
Vertigo and unsteadiness have also been my symptoms.
I guess it takes us to recognize a fellow lyme-disease sufferer! Wonder if he was tested, at least, for babs. Not if Wormser is his doctor.
You would think that the Bush family would be too saavy to be a victim of the Wormser/IDSA idiocies of lyme treatment. But of course his family, powerful as it is, have always stood up for insurance (corporate) interests.
Posted by dontlikeliver (Member # 4749) on :
Many of us have had chronic Lyme way before the cell phone towers appeared. I do not think that has anything to do with it.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
****"Scott M. Stanzel, a White House spokesman, likened Mr. Bush's episodes of imbalance to the feeling that can occur in someone who has just gotten off a boat."****
Loss of weight.
Sounds like babesia is a possibility. That is exactly what babs did to me.
----------------
Too savvy to be snowed?? NOPE. 98% of the population believe their doctor's every word. Didn't you before you were Lymed?
Posted by Dave6002 (Member # 9064) on :
quote: But Mr. Bush's doctors said they did not believe the Lyme infection was linked to his vestibular neuronitis because the skin lesion had not recurred.
They still think that Lyme is a skin disease.
In fact, Lyme is a disease mainly affecting the nerve system.
That's why different patient may have different symptoms, or the same patient may have different symptoms at different time.
Cause the Lyme pathogens may attack different parts of the brain in different person, or at different time for the same person.
Symmetric symptoms may indicate lesions in the central nerve system, while asymmetric symptoms may suggest damages to the peripheral nerve system.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
quote:Symmetric symptoms may indicate lesions in the central nerve system, while asymmetric symptoms may suggest damages to the peripheral nerve system.
Thank you for that information. I have never heard anyone say it before.
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
MAKES ONE WONDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Paula 007 (Member # 8002) on :
Anyone waiting on disability for Lyme disease MAY be impacted by this announcement. Since he can be the so-called President of the US and have Lyme, why in the world can't we go to work every day?
Social Security isn't going to take into account that if we did our jobs like he does his, we'd all get fired after a day.
I am truly worried about the impact this will have on us.
Posted by Michelle M (Member # 7200) on :
quote:Originally posted by lou:
quote:Symmetric symptoms may indicate lesions in the central nerve system, while asymmetric symptoms may suggest damages to the peripheral nerve system.
Thank you for that information. I have never heard anyone say it before.
Ditto. Very interesting. Thank you!
Michelle
Posted by Vanilla (Member # 11155) on :
Could presidential karma have taken the form of a LD tick bite?
I heard senior or senor Bush had word retrival issues as well. Could lyme be an in vitro issue in the Bush family? What other world leaders or Kings and Queens have had their thinking clouded by this dis-ease?
Once again food for thought my possums. Lyme does many strange things.
Paula very good point!
[ 15. August 2007, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: Jenifer ]
Posted by Dave6002 (Member # 9064) on :
You are welcome.
I have painful, numb and burning palms and fingers, and soles.
These symptoms are symmetric, I tend to think that I don't have damages or infections locally, but I have central nerve system damages so that the signals from my hands, soles or other parts can not be interpreted correctly by the brain, rather either pain signals are exaggerated or other signals are mis-interpreted as pain signals.
The affected area in the brain is the common processing center for processing signals from both hands and legs.
So, at least in my case, Lyme therapy should be direct at eliminating the infections and repairing the damages in the brain.
Posted by EWT1638 (Member # 11315) on :
Let's not turn this into a Bush bash. If he has LD still, or a co-inffection that he is unaware of, he is a fellow suffer.
A human being in pain, just like us.
Posted by Boomerang (Member # 7979) on :
Amen to that, EWT.
Posted by Ruth Ruth (Member # 11059) on :
I am sooooo glad no one is here on this forum to tell me that somehow I am horribly sick because someone in my family commited some sin against the universe and now I am paying for it in some cosmic accounting setup!
I will not ever assume that sick people somehow deserve it.
I will never assume the healthy people earned their right to a perfect life.
It would be wrong (and possibly mean-spirited) to draw those kind of conclusions.
Who would want to be like that?
Posted by GenaD (Member # 11988) on :
I know how it feels to hear that this is a "generational curse!"
A "friend" of mine told me he was listening to some pastor talk about this.
After I unleashed some Lyme rage and told him that MY Source is loving and forgiving and not punishing, and ESPECIALLY not punishing others for things that their ancestors did, I hung up.
Some people believe some crazy, cruel stuff.
As far as Bush, his politics/decisions and his Lyme disease are apples and oranges. If we believe he is getting punished, then basically we buy into that we're being punished, too.
I think it's more likely we have to endure all this to learn something, and probably to teach others some compassion.
Posted by SouthernCO (Member # 11167) on :
GenaD,
You said, "If we believe he is getting punished, then basically we buy into that we're being punished, too."
You are exactly right.
Whatever my family did, I sure wish they would have made some money at it like the Kennedys and the Bushes.
Posted by JeffM (Member # 8919) on :
God forgive me, I hope he gets worse. Right now this news item sends the political message that lyme is just a tic bite and a few weeks of antibiotics.
If he were to get worse, it would be a political statement we activitists have been hoping for.
Like Dr. J. said when his license was suspended: "Someday one of them or their kids will get lyme, and they will come to me to get treated . . . "
Well, as Dr. B. says, it's a matter of response to abx, genetics, and lifestyle . . . and with Bush's stress level, I wonder . . .
Posted by Foggy (Member # 1584) on :
Notice how there's no mention of Co-infects?
Posted by Greatcod (Member # 7002) on :
The core of the issue is that if his continuing symptoms are the consequence of Lyme infection, he may not be be metally competent to lead the country. Very, very serious business. I for one do not want to have a Lymebrained President.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
The national/international consequences are why we should not get into a public debate about whether he still has Lyme. Because it will turn into a partisan battle, with powerful forces who will pull out all the stops to insist that Bush is competent, that chronic lyme does not exist, that his continuing symptoms are something else. A battle of elephants ends up with a lot of dead stomped mice. We could be the crushed mice, and worse off than before.
So, our best approach is to use Bush's previous treatment as a teaching moment for the real nature of lyme disease and the continuing problems of the lyme community, but not promote the idea that he has chronic lyme. If he does have it, it will become more apparent with time, possibly while he is in office and maybe afterwards. Private approaches rather than public ones would be better for suggesting that the family might want a second opinion on his symptoms.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by lou: The national/international consequences are why we should not get into a public debate about whether he still has Lyme. Because it will turn into a partisan battle, with powerful forces who will pull out all the stops to insist that Bush is competent, that chronic lyme does not exist, that his continuing symptoms are something else. A battle of elephants ends up with a lot of dead stomped mice. We could be the crushed mice, and worse off than before.
So, our best approach is to use Bush's previous treatment as a teaching moment for the real nature of lyme disease and the continuing problems of the lyme community, but not promote the idea that he has chronic lyme. If he does have it, it will become more apparent with time, possibly while he is in office and maybe afterwards. Private approaches rather than public ones would be better for suggesting that the family might want a second opinion on his symptoms.
DITTO!
Posted by Vanilla (Member # 11155) on :
By the way I will be moving to Queensland Australia in the next 6 days so I will be posting some items for sale over on Craigslist if anyone is interested. They will be posted under the name Ex Pat. I am leaving in a hurry so the prices will all be fire sale low. The spell checking will be provided by Lymetutu.
[ 15. August 2007, 01:07 PM: Message edited by: Jenifer ]
Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
dontlikeliver - We know how 'honest' they've been with all of us as to the health consequences of Lyme Disease. Do you really think they are being honest with us about the safety of cell phone towers?
Did you ever do a search to see all the massive cell phone towers and antennas surrounding our President?
The worst part is that he is being zapped so chronically with cell phone signals that the parts of his brain that would ordinarily make him aware of this are probably burned out by now.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i feel sorry for anyone who has lyme. i don't care who they are or wht their politics are.
no one should have to suffer, whether they be president or bricklayer.....
well, it does go to show that everyone is equal tho. he's getting the same crap that we all are...
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
and the fact that he is not getting expert care is the most frightening of all.
The leader(s) of our country can't do the research to find the doctors who have studied this for years, the (ILADS, LLMDs) doctors who have treated thousands of patients ,
the doctors who know how to address various forms and stages of lyme bacteria,
and to test (and treat if necessary) for common co-infections ?
This is the scary part. If our country's leaders can't do this right we don't have much of a chance of doing anything else right, either.
Anyone with simple research skills should know there are better experts than the simpletons the White House has consulted.
The Surgeon General, for crying out loud, where is he in this?
Bush's personal physician can't do a little research?
With Wormser saying there is no lyme in Texas (WRONG) and (another doctor?) said that STARI has no known microbial connection (it, too, is a spirochete bad-guy)
and now to say that since his rash has not returned it can't be lyme? That is so WRONG.
Where are their fact-checkers??? - and why aren't the journalists checking facts, watching the DVD of the ILADS seminars ? Okay. . . vented.
What LOU says four or five post up. DITTO. If only the press would quit reporting wrong stuff, it would help.
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nan