1st Treatment at the West Clinic!

My first day of treatment at the West Clinic in Pocatello, Idaho began early. We live a little less than two hours away, so my husband and I got up early (and he took the day off from his Veterinary Medicine studies) so that we could make our 8:30am appointment on time. I was nervous, excited and a little apprehensive all rolled into one as we drove the 90 some miles to the clinic. During the drive, we talked about our five year trek since discovering I have Lyme Disease, how it has affected us, how we have learned and grown from the experience, and how we continue to be frustrated with the ignorance (and on the part of some medical professionals, arrogance,) that still surrounds this difficult illness. It has been quite the journey. We were both very hopeful at the prospect of trying a new approach to healing.

We arrived at the West Clinic just before 8:30am, along with 8 or 10 other patients, and walked into the busy waiting area by the front desk. It felt clean and professional, with friendly staff. The girl at the front desk asked for my name and told us it would be just a few moments while having me sign in. I had already filled out my new patient paperwork the week before when I received a packet in the mail outlining many of the various treatments offered and other helpful information, along with all my new patient forms. We also thought it was a nice touch that the packet included a map to the clinic and driving directions from Salt Lake City (the general route we would be driving.) It also included a brochure from a local hotel that has special rates for patients of the clinic.

This begun a busy day of meeting staff, including Alicia, the clinic's Lyme coordinator, (that's right. They have a Lyme coordinator,) whose daughter suffered with Lyme disease from age 3 until she was finally diagnosed and treated at the clinic at the age of 15. I could be wrong, but as I understand it, Alicia's daughter Sarah was the first patient treated for Lyme at the West Clinic. We had heard her story and were anxious for an update. According to her mom, Sarah has been symptom free for the last 3 and a half years and comes to the clinic once or twice a year for maintenance treatments. She now swims, bikes, hikes and enjoys a wonderful and normal life. You can learn more about Sarah's story by watching her testimonial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIkbzHMRN1s. Also, this news Story on West Clinic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTa_9SW3Nvk

After meeting with Alicia and discussing my case, including all the ups and downs of dealing with Lyme, she prepared a slide with a few drops of my blood to be reviewed under the clinic's dark field microscope. This was by far one of the coolest parts of the day. We were able to see everything she could see on the large monitor mounted on the wall. At the West Clinic they don't use the Western Blot, PCR or ELISA to determine Lyme. They can perform their treatment based on clinical diagnosis with your history, and they use the dark field microscope to evaluate what is actually going on - in real time - in your blood. It was really amazing.

 

Right off the bat, she said she could see that there was lots of "stacking" going on -- where the red blood cells were sticking to each other, clumped together. She explained that this kept them from getting the oxygen they are supposed to deliver around the body where it's supposed to go, which will cause extreme fatigue, and shortness of breath.

In the slide she showed us of healthy blood cells, they are supposed to be all "floating free" and mine obviously aren't. We were also able to see little parasites actually wiggling around in my blood cells, most likely the babesia strains that I tested positive for back in 2009. Babesia is an infection of the red blood cells and can cause lots of problems. You can read more about the two strains of Babesia I have, Babesia Microti and Babesia Duncani, in these previous posts.

 

After several more tests, we met with "Dr. J" as everyone calls him - Dr. Jason West, the doctor that heads up the West Clinic. He was very sincere and took time to explain his philosophy and approach to healing. He explained that this was a totally different approach than the one we had previously tried, but that in his experience, it's extremely effective. Half of the clinic's patient base are Lyme patients from all over the US and the world, including places as far away as Australia. Dr. J explained that while he could identify spirochete cysts in my blood, as well as parasites in my blood cells, he didn't differentiate or distinguish between the bugs. This treatment was effective for all of them, unlike anti-biotics, so he wasn't really concerned with the specific types of bugs, just that they were there.

This is a good time for me to mention that, if you suffer from Lyme Disease, you probably know how expensive and difficult, (not to mention INACCURATE) the testing process is. This particular philosophy opens the door to so many very ill patients who have been denied care because they can't PASS the test to prove they've got Lyme. A test that the CDC admits is inaccurate up to 60% of the time! I have all my paperwork and test results from four years ago, actual documentation of my CDC positive Western Blot. I was one of the lucky ones that got a positive result. But those old test results didn't matter here: it's a shift in focus away from the specific bugs. The focus of this treatment is to change the environment, (your body) so that it's less favorable to the bugs, and strong enough to fight them off on it's own. I know...if you've got Lyme and you're reading this, your probably very skeptical. I promise you that we were, too.  But after talking to so many people that have had success with this treatment, we felt like there's got to be something to it. The doctor talked to us for quite awhile, explaining everything, and took time to find out if we had any further questions when he was done.

Once we had met with Dr. J and gone over my tests and symptoms, they took me into a quiet room and got me set up for my treatment. Today's treatment would be IV Vitamin C, (to boost immune function, among other things,) Hydrogen Peroxide (to oxygenate the blood, among other things) and Hydrachloric Acid (to clean out the lymph system and kill the bacteria, among other things,) in addition to a session with the Rife Machine, which uses electrical pulses to kill bacteria. Dr. J said they were giving me a quarter of the dose we would work up to, but that it was better to ease in slowly. Got it. Once I was hooked up to everything, it was time to just sit back and relax.

When the treatment was over we headed home. About an hour into our drive, we stopped to get gas, and I got out to use the restroom. After a few steps, I realized that I felt very woozy, and had the familiar "floating" feeling that I had previously experienced with a herxheimer or herx reaction when I started treatment back in 2009. This reaction is literally caused by the "die-off" of the bacteria, because spirochetes release neuro-toxins when they die. When a bunch of them die all at the same time, the body becomes flooded with these toxins, and they can make you very sick. Symptoms of a herx can include sleepiness, nausea, headache, muscle aches and generally feeling terrible. They can also happen in the form of a worsening of all the Lyme symptoms you've already been experiencing. Many people describe it as the worst hangover you've ever had. I don't drink, so I wouldn't really know what a hangover is like, but they don't sound fun. :)

When I got back into the car, I told my husband how I was feeling. We were both actually happy, since this reaction meant that the treatment had been effective in killing bacteria. Once we got home, I crawled into my bed and tried to sleep it off. I was pretty uncomfortable that night, but woke up the next morning feeling a little bit better - still nauseated, sleepy, etc., but less miserable than the night before. My sweet husband had stocked our bedroom with soda crackers, my favorite Vernor's ginger ale, ginger candies and lemon water, all of which have helped in the past with my herx reactions. Whenever I'm experiencing a herx, I try to lay in my bed as still as possible, and let my body heal, reminding myself of everything that is going on inside me. During a herx, lying as still as possible is about all you want to do, since moving causes the nausea, dizziness and everything else to be worse.

Friday (the second day post-treatment) I woke up feeling about the same, but after a morning nap, I got up with energy, strength and feeling better than I have in months. I could do laundry, dishes, make my bed and clean my house for the first time in months! I got to play with my kids, change their diapers and carry them up our stairs without being totally out of breath. We were so happy! I almost expected that on Saturday I would be back in bed, just because I had done so much on Friday. The last time I was on treatment, I would have a good day and totally over-do it...causing me to spend the next several days out of commission. But Saturday I woke up feeling great, and after a full day of cleaning, organizing and playing with my kids, we all went out to dinner AND shopping, (something I haven't been up to doing in several months.) This morning, (Sunday) I attended all three hours of our church services, another thing I haven't been able to do in several months. By this afternoon, however, I started to feel like I was dragging again, and could feel myself getting out of breath on exertion. I'm really happy that I will be going back for my second treatment tomorrow. Obviously, it's too soon to really know how it will all work out, but I sure do feel a lot more excited about my future!

I will continue to document our journey through this treatment, since it's alternative and totally different than anything I've heard or read about Lyme over the last five years. Still, it makes sense to me, and my husband, who is a bit of a brainiac and skeptical of most things. Five years ago I wouldn't have been open to alternative therapy, but after everything that we've been through, I'm ready to try something different. Antibiotic therapy was difficult and extremely expensive, not to mention being hard on my body...only to end up back at square one two years after wrapping it up. If you or a loved one is struggling with chronic lyme disease, I would strongly encourage you to do your own research on this treatment. Be open-minded enough to look into it. I have provided a few of the links that we found as we researched it. For more information on Dr. Jason West, The West Clinic, and this alternative therapy, visit:

The West Clinic, Pocatello, Idaho: http://www.westcliniconline.com/
About Dr. Jason West/West Clinic: http://www.idchiro.org/dr-jason-west
Interview with Dr. Jason West: http://www.seasonsonthefly.com/blog/?page_id=89
Intravenous Hydrochloric Acid Therapy: http://www.tldp.com/issue/11_00/martin.htm