Under Our Skin 2: Emergence Page #6

The idsa, there's like five people.

They sit on most of the editorial boards,

and they are involved in most

of the Grant-making decisions.

Open science only exists

when you have competing viewpoints

being in the same arena.

It doesn't work when

you exclude other people

who think differently from you.

The story of lyme disease

has been that the public health response

has blown in the direction

of the big money.

Healthcare is seen as an industry,

not as a compassionate

response for ill people.

We believe ourselves to

be a Democratic society,

but the facts are, we're getting less

and less Democratic all the time,

and the wind is blowing more and more

in the direction of the big money.

It's become apparent to me

that the lie is too big to confess.

This is an insidious, progressive,

highly debilitating illness

which robs people of their lives,

their souls, their ability to function.

These sins committed

are so grave and so ugly

and so large

that it can't be negotiated out.

So the lie's too big

to confess at this point.

The world is changing,

and a smart country will do

what the United States did not do.

28 countries right now,

people are doing this

about tick-born disease.

It's our world stage.

We're here to fight lyme disease.

It's said many times

that we have a high standard of care.

What we actually have

is a standard of neglect.

But firstly, I'd like to thank

everybody for coming today.

I know a lot of you are very, very sick.

We need to be counted,

our lives matter,

and I'm asking you not to give up.

I'm asking you to keep going.

I never dreamed that following your heart

and your instincts in medicine

and working very hard

would be met by such

resistance by those in power,

and I've learned.

I used to be a very naive,

hardworking doctor.

Now I'm a very cynical

hardworking doctor.

Knowing everything

that I've been through,

I still wouldn't change it because

of how much I've learned,

all the people I've met.

I know I wouldn't want to go

into a medical field

if this had never happened.

Try not to get discouraged.

If you feel that something

is wrong with your body,

you know your body better than anyone.

You're the only one that lives in it,

so don't let someone

tell you that you're wrong.

You can get better,

and you will get better.

I think with self-care and diligence,

slow and steady, you'll get well.

I believe that each of us

is here for a purpose,

and I believe that if

we have the good fortune

to recover from a health problem...

It may be a very serious problem...

There's a reason for us

to continue to be here

and to do what we're doing.

I can't think of anything more important

to do with your life's work

than to say, all right,

we have 150 million people

with chronic illness in our country,

and we probably got a lot it wrong.

So I feel like I have

to continue the fight.

I think we're going to win the fight.

I think Robert frost had a poem.

"Two paths diverge

in the middle of a wood,"

and I took the one less traveled by,

"and that has made

all the difference."

And that's it.

Dear Jared, it is 5 A.M.,

and I'm sitting on our front porch.

Hopefully today will be

a day of celebration,

as we prepare to go to

the hospital this morning

to bring you into this world.

Your birth is a victory

for many women and families

in this world.

It is the last chapter

in our struggle with this disease.

It is a testament to the hope

that many families with

lyme disease depend upon.

Hope is what created you.

Love, mommy.

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