You never get warned about how boring being sick is.
And when I was on treatment for chronic Lyme last year, that’s exactly what is was. And also excruciating, pathetic, painful, depressing, etc….
Netflix was one of the many TV providers that helped to get me through it. Specifically the show scrubs.
Not only is the show hilarious, it’s surprisingly profound and at times uplifting. But also, it brings to light diseases that people don’t often hear about. Specifically episode 1 of season 7: My Own Worst Enemy.
Dr. Cox has a patient that he really likes, which is a problem for him because he doesn’t like having positive feelings toward people. Anyway, Dr. Cox thinks the patient has Lyme disease based on his swollen lymph nodes, abdominal pain and heart palpitations.
I’ve been admitted to the hospital for those exact symptoms but I didn’t have a Dr. Cox to call the diagnosis.
But they can’t find a tick bite on the guy anywhere, which means they can’t treat him because insurance won’t cover it.
WHAT?! Insurance won’t always cover the treatment of Lyme?! No surprise there.
Eventually through Occam’s razor problem-solving, they figure out the tick bite is under the patient’s hair and are able to treat him with “100 milligrams of Ceftin”.
Obviously the world of Lyme isn’t nearly as simple as a TV show. But at least they demonstrate that Lyme can be puzzling to diagnose, insurance won’t always help, and symptoms can mimic other conditions.
