Former Patient and Current Patient Care Educator at Envita Discusses Lyme Disease on AZ Central
Not being in the Lyme hotbed of the North-East United States does not necessarily mean that people in Arizona are safe from this vector-borne disease. “There's certain areas that are more endemic, but the reality is it's everywhere,” said Sarah Schlichte, Patient Care Educator at Envita Medical Centers, a Center of Excellence in Lyme disease treatment, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She speaks from experience as she has been a Lyme disease patient herself, who was treated at Envita Medical Centers after facing numerous hurdles in her journey to recovery.
“I had a very aggressive fast-growing cancer that the tumor was doubling in size every 24 to 48 hours, so time was of the essence,” said Sandy, who was a young mother when the cancer was diagnosed. The cancer was so aggressive that Sandy had to be taken into emergency surgery on September 11, 2001, a day when most surgeries were cancelled at the hospital. Despite the surgery, she had a high chance of experiencing a cancer recurrence. “I was given a 99% chance that it would be back within the first year,” added Sandy.
“They call Lyme the great mimicker. It mimics over 300 different diseases. So it does truly present differently in patients at different times,” said Schlichte, highlighting the need for seeking care from Lyme-literate doctors who have experience and the clinical eye to accurately diagnose and treat this infection. Speaking to AZCentral for an article on Lyme disease, she explained that Lyme bacteria can hide within the body, allowing the disease to remain dormant and then resurface during times of immune stress, such as illness or major life changes.
Due to this complicated nature of disease manifestation, Lyme disease often gets misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or a plethora of other diseases. The lack of timely medical intervention aggravates the disease leading to neurological symptoms, like brain fog and migraines, which may be difficult to treat with standard protocols of Lyme disease treatment. However, the expert team of physicians at Envita Medical Centers have been treating Lyme disease patients of various stages for over two decades. Their clinical experience in precisely targeting Lyme disease and its associated co infections have helped many patients who were helplessly waiting for the right treatment, despite seeking care from multiple specialists.
To know more about Lyme disease, read this article here.
