I really don't know where to post this since I seem to have posts all over the boards, so I'll just stick it here in "General". I know there are a few of you wonderful folks that are very interested in how things are going with my daughter (thank you so much for your concern and compassion. It is soooo appreciated!).Background: our daughter was clinically diagnosed w/ Lyme by HMO pediatrician in August, one month after tick bite. Rx'd w/ 21 day amoxicillin resulting in treatment failure. 18 *unmedicated* days(!) later, ped then rx'd her 21 day Ceftin. While on Ceftin treatment, we brought her to a LLMD who extended her Ceftin Rx to equal 6 weeks. Coinfection testing showed IgG+ for Bartonella. HMO ped then refused to treat any further. Exasperated for many reasons, we turned to Dr. J in CT for help.
Current - We had a phone consultation with Dr. J last Tuesday evening after sending him our daughter's 40 pages of gathered medical data since this all started. Dr. J was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!
Yes, our daughter definitely has Lyme Disease. He's not certain whether the Bartonella is active or not, but suggested treating her for it regardless. He rx'd her with two different meds - Zithromax and Bactrim - to fight both the Lyme and the Bartonella simultaneously. So far, she's doing well on the new meds, but I know it's only been a couple of days, so I'm still holding my breath waiting for any signs of herxing and/or allergic reactions.
Dr. J said that he's more than willing to see this whole thing through with our family. He and his staff are incredible - they're smart as whips, well educated, and fast as lightening! They remember your name, who your child is, your child's unique situation, and on and on. Words can't describe how refreshing it is to be connected up with such an efficient team which Dr. J has put together.
Dr. J seemed to be optimistic about our daughter's outcome. Of course, he couldn't say for sure which way the disease will turn, but the overall feeling I got from him was that she's doing pretty good so far and if she continues doing well on the new meds then perhaps in approx. 2 months (symptom free, that is), she'll be able to discontinue abx. If she has a turn for the worse, we do have an appt scheduled with him first week in March.
Next time we'll be speaking to him over the phone will be when our daughter's Western Blot (serum from 10/19/04) results have been faxed to him from IGeneX.
I mentioned to him about my tick bite and the few wierd things that have been happening with me and he didn't seem to think I had much to be concerned about re: Lyme, but he ordered a Western Blot for me just in case. I went down to IGeneX yesterday and had them do the blood draw, so the test is pending right now. The way I described my own situation, he thought it sounded a bit like sciatica(sp?), and suggested that I go see a doc to get it checked out.
We weren't able to get ahold of Dr. J's office yesterday about our daughter's Fifth Disease, but she seems to be doing really well. I mean, here's this little tiny girl who's body is fighting Lyme, Bartonella, and Fifth's Disease, and last night she was goofily dancing around the living room with me to a CD. I cannot believe what an amazing human being she is ... staying positive and happy and all the while I'm shoving meds down her throat and acidopholus and vitamins and green vegetables (yuck! 
), etc..
The power of the human will - her will - astounds me. I am in awe of this beautiful child. So sick, so pale, so weak looking, but so happy regardless!
She's definitely teaching ME lessons about how to make the best out of a really bad situation. I'm totally in awe of her.
Anyway, so that's where we're at right now. Still in the middle of it all, but working our way through one step at a time with the help of the best LLMD we could possibly hope to have. We have a LOT to be grateful for. 
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