The Impact of a Letter
by Jennifer Allton
http://jmgarnet76.blogspot.com
Take a moment to think about the last time you sat down to write a letter. Now think about the last time you received a personal message in your mailbox. I'm not talking email though it can be helpful too. It seems to me that the impact of words on a computer screen isn't as grand as the words on a piece of paper.
I remember one of the last letters that I wrote (actually I typed it). I spent three months carefully wording this letter so that the recipient would understand my every word. The reasoning for such careful wording was that I had not seen the intended addressee or even spoken to the person in over a decade. I did not want the former friend of mine to make assumptions by the letter. I needed this letter to be clear, concise and coherent. I have no idea how the person received it because I have yet to hear from him, but what I do know is that I feel so much better from sending it.
Every day I take the walk down the driveway. I open the mailbox only to see a few bills and junk, but I remember the last personal letter I received. These were simple words of encouragement from a friend. It wasn't just any friend, but a friend that also has Lyme Disease. This friend is much sicker than I have ever been and she took the time to hand write a note in a card. This single card made me think of the impact a letter can have.
In this day and time, it is easy to send an email, but few take the time to write a personal letter. If every single reader of the Public Health Alert would take the time to send one letter, can you imagine the impact it would have on the world? I urge you all to take the time to write out your Lyme story and send it to a physician. This may seem like a daunting task to those with Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease, but can you imagine how many physicians we could impact with our stories of Lyme? This single letter could significantly change the way our physicians treat patients that come to them with symptoms of Lyme.
Imagine you are at the lake and you pick up a tiny pebble. You toss this pebble into the water and see the ripple it creates. If one pebble activates that ripple effect, visualize how many ripples it would produce if there were two pebbles thrown. Take that same initiative to throw a few stones by sending your single letter to several doctor's offices. Doctors are not the only ones that matter in this letter impact initiative. It is also important to contact your congressmen and state medical board.
In February of 2009, I began a mission. I spent several days typing up a letter for the 50 Senators of North Carolina. What started off as a five-page letter was finally whittled down to a succinct one-page letter which included my name, my home address, my phone number, my email address and the address to my blog. I wanted the Senators to know that they could contact me at any time regarding Integrative Medicine and Lyme Disease. I sent this letter in a lime-green colored envelope.
I also spent a day in March of 2009 speaking with whomever I could find about the same issues in the Congress building. I spoke mainly with the secretaries, but I knew that if my story touched them deeply enough that they would share my story with their boss. I saw my letters on several of their desks as they had just begun reading it themselves. I've since received one email and one hand-written letter. It may have only been two that contacted me back from that day, but I do know that I had an impact on at least two. The other 48 were impacted enough that they eventually signed onto a bill that I was there promoting in North Carolina. I have just recently discovered that two Integrative Physicians that would have been unjustly disciplined will receive reasonable treatment by the North Carolina Medical Board.
I plan to write another letter to physicians in May, but I wanted to share a snippet of my letter sent to the Senators. While originally intended to help Integrative Medical Physicians, I can easily rework this letter for other purposes which include educating doctors on Lyme Disease. I hope that my letter will inspire you to tell your story to your Primary Care Physicians and to your congressmen. Throw that pebble and make an impact for future Lyme patients. Their journey depends on us. We have a responsibility to help those that are just beginning their story. One person makes a difference. One letter makes an impact. Without further ado, here is my letter:
Dear Senators,
I wanted to bring to your attention a matter that is near and dear to my family's heart. There are many Integrative Medical Physicians that are licensed by the state of North Carolina. All of these Physicians attended and graduated from medical school. Integrative Medical Physicians combine modalities of traditional and alternative medicine in order to achieve healing in their patients. Prior to 2007, I had never heard of Integrative Medicine so the chances are great that you have never heard of these doctors or the controversy that surrounds their practices.
I would like to give a little background on how I came to find out about Integrative Medicine. I discovered a tick behind my ear a few months prior to starting college in 1995. Shortly after starting the semester, I began having some strange symptoms. I began having seizures and strange flu-like symptoms. I began seeing a neurologist about the seizures and eventually medically withdrew from the university. After a week long stay at UNC Hospitals, I was diagnosed with psychosomatic seizures. They suggested that the seizures were caused by the stress of going to college. I initiated therapy to ease my transition to college, but the health issues never did cease.
Fast forward to graduation in 1999, I was still having seizures. It was also increasingly common to have nights of nausea, sweats and flu-like spells. The seizures gradually slowed down and ceased, but the flu symptoms came on with a vengeance. By this time, I was married. My husband convinced me to see his physician. I was tested for a number of things, but in the end all my tests were normal. I was sent home with antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills. In hindsight, I never needed either of those medications. My flu-like symptoms increased daily. I also had dizziness and vertigo. One morning I wound up at the hospital having emergency gallbladder surgery. I thought my troubles were over. Unfortunately, I had some complications from the surgery and was bitten by another tick. I was treated briefly for Lyme Disease by an Urgent Care Physician.
I will spare you the intricate details of my health, but I saw a neurologist and rheumatologist to rule out brain cancer, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and many debilitating illnesses. I was given medicine to treat the symptoms, but they made me feel even worse. All tests were normal leaving the doctors to say the same thing: they couldn't find one thing wrong. It wasn't until I was advised to seek help from an Integrative Medical Physician that I began to feel hope. He listened to me for over an hour. He performed tests and treated based on the clinical symptoms of Lyme Disease. In the past two years, he has brought me further using a combination of traditional and alternative medicine than any physician combined brought me in twelve years.
I am telling you all of this because I am asking for your help. I want others to have access to these physicians without them fearing for their medical license every day. I want to have a choice when it comes to my own medical treatment. Please consider helping Integrative Medical Physicians to have a voice in North Carolina without retribution.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Allton
