Sorry to say I don't have personal experience with the specifics of your dad's treatment, but I have heard about it, and will tell you what I know, for what that is worth.

First, it is very encouraging that your father has had such a good response in what, for Lyme, is a very short period of treatment.

Three months of treatment is just a drop in the bucket for chronic Lyme, and to have such good improvement in that time is very promising. It is reasonable to expect that with continued treatment, there will be continued improvement.

It sounds like you are describing the Kane protocol for IV lipid exchange. I have no experience with it myself, but it has been expereimented with quite a bit in the CFIDS community, the ALS groups, and the autism community.

There are very mixed reviews on it's success. Without controlled studies, it is very difficult to know why some do well, and some fail.

Some blame failure on lack of experience or completeness of following the protocol in the practitioner. On that issue, going to one of the trained centers would be an advantage. From what I understand, the protocol is quite complex, and requires more than the IVs.

The patient's nutritional status is very thoroughly evaluated, and specific supplements and dietary regimens are recommended. I do know that many who tried the IVs never did the supportive therapies, which makes it hard to evaluate it's effectiveness as an entire protocol.

Also, as with most protocols for treating Lyme and coinfections, it is very dependent on the particular mix of infections a patient has, their genetic heritage, and other factors, just how anyone will respond.

ALL Lyme treatment protocols have treament failures, some more than others. This makes it more confusing to make treatment decisions.

To a certain extent, all of us Lyme patients are lab rats for our doctors experiments. There just is not enough solid knowledge about Lyme to say one way or another, what is alwasy good, and what is always bad.

If you trust your current doctor, and can afford the recommended treatment, it may be worth a trial. Certainly people are getting well without it, and your father's progress so far may indicate a good future for him.

But if you can afford the program, it may be worth a trial. I don't think, from what you are describing, that I would go banrupt in order to do it.

On the issue of your father's recovery of muscle wasting, it will be very dependant on the functional cause, how likely he is to recover lost muscle, and how long that will take. People have certainly made those kinds of recoverys.

It seems it will be critical to have a good physical therapist work with him, to help recover flexibilty and strength. Hopefully your current doctor has good resources in that area.

Keep asking questions. i don't think many on this board have done the full Kane protocol, so I don't know how many actual experineces you will get. But they have certainly gone through some of what your father has.

It is wonderful you are supporting him. It makes a HUGE difference to have support from the ones you love. Blessings on you for doing so.