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Hey - I'll throw this out there too - one email does count.

There are rules of thumbs that congressman and senators use that tie one letter, email, phone call etc... to between 1,000 and 35,000 constituents opinions - depending on issue and state size.  Least these are the numbers my company has show us in the past when asking us to write letters on issues.

So while you may or may not wonder if your vote in US elections really counts, in terms of sending contact to your congressman and senators - it absolute counts - alot!

Daisy, I sent one out tonight!!

Raven

Daisy,

I did  this yesterday, in Minnesota.  Thanks for the heads-up!

Yes ma'am. Here's my Texas-fied long version of your letter:

Dear Senator Hutchison,

On September 24th in the Senate Russell Office building, Senator's Dodd and Lieberman are hosting a luncheon briefing on S. 1708, the lyme bill. Lyme Disease IS in Texas...just ask the professors educating future vets at Texas A & M. They and practicing Texas veterinarians seem to be far "ahead of the curve" compared to the medical crowd treating humans. That's a huge problem for Texas human beings who have Lyme Disease.

Texas is practically empty of Lyme-Literate-Medical-Doctors (LLMD's). And sadly, of those who are knowledgeable about Lyme, most are afraid to treat the disease in a truly effective way, because of political controversy and contradictions between two major medical associations. An important result of the Lyme "mess" is that one group's published guidelines are being used by insurance companies to deny coverage for treatment that is desperately needed for those who have chronic Lyme infections.

This mess will continue until more research is performed by unbiased parties and better, more affordable tests are invented. This will only happen if the needed research is funded by government, not by the large pharmaceutical companies, not by the large private laboratories.

You will learn more about the controversy as the vote on the Lyme bill approaches, but I'll tell you now from experience, the IDSA is wrong, and ILADS is right. How do I know? I have a husband who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but it turns out he has chronic Lyme Disease, chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae, chronic Mycoplasma pneumonia, and various chronic viral infections. Once someone is beset by a chronic infection, he/she is more vulnerable to become chronically infected with other pathogens. Multiple chronic infections appears to be the rule instead of the exception with Lyme patients.

If my husband had been tested with an accurate test at the time just preceding his MS diagnosis, he could have been saved from a year of injecting an MS interferon medication that only made his condition worse. If the immune system is suppressed by interferons, chronic infections have "free rein" to grow and spread.

Now that we have learned my husband has Lyme Disease, we are compelled to travel to a northeastern state for him to receive serious, meaningful treatment. Doctors in Texas are fearful of treating with long term antibiotics due to the threat of being disciplined by the medical board.

This is a horrendous state of affairs. If the disease were TB or Syphilis, there would be no controversy or threat. The danger of Lyme Disease is not widely known and under-appreciated. Lyme disables, Lyme causes dementia, Lyme causes pain, Lyme kills.

The course of the disease and the symptoms are very much like Syphilis. Both Syphilis and Lyme are caused by spirochetes, and the development of the one is very similar to the other. Incidentally, most LLMD's believe that Lyme Disease crosses the placenta, causing fetal death in some cases or major illnesses in children (including Autism).

The CDC says cases are dramatically underdiagnosed and undertreated leading to untold suffering for many Americans (Texans included). I encourage you or a member of your senior staff to attend this briefing to learn more about the issues surrounding this complex and emerging health issue.

Regards,

Joyce _________

Done Daisy, Logging in for the Great State of Maine!  My District U.S. Congressman and our States two current U.S. Sentors have been duly advised.  I embelished the form you provided ever so slightly, short is good.  Locally here folks are being denied abx coverage for certain abxs (azithro limited to 6 doses per month) by Anthem the largest provider in this state.   Roxi self pay covers more doses (almost 7 weeks) than self pay for 6 tablets. 

Claritho is a bit better and I will go to it sometime soon (it is waiting in my cupboard).

Please keep us posted here on future new that we might like to be aware of please.

Done here, also - both Senators and our representative, and I learned that he lives only 35 miles away. This may well increase the number of attendees on 9/24. I hope so.

Well, somehow I doubt Senator Obama will have time to attend , but I will ship a message out to him and to Dick Durbin and make the valiant attempt. Thanks for ferreting this out, Daisy.

Hey - I got a call from one of my Senator's aides, he and the senator are planning to attend the luncheon.  If only the aide goes I'll consider that a good start.