Out of the Lyme Light and into the Sunlight: An Introduction to Birding as Therapy for the Chronically Ill" describes the journey the author took after developing a bizarre set of seemingly unrelated symptoms, which became increasingly debilitating, and were eventually diagnosed as Lyme disease. He describes the frustration of dealing with a highly skeptical Canadian medical system that simply did not believe Lyme exists, at least not in Canada, resulting in him seeking out-of-country medical treatment in the United States. Even with that treatment, the damage done by the Lyme disease led to his premature retirement, whereupon he quickly discovered the therapeutic benefits of birding to his health. The author then provides numerous tips on how to get into birding and reflects on how the joy of birding has been his ideal therapy for dealing with a chronic disease and chronic pain.
UPSTREAM is a powerful portrait of life in Britain and Ireland during the last quarter of the 20th century, acutely observed by aspiring author Jim Mitchell as he and wife Bridget settle into a new life in the West Country. The story centres on the married life of Jim and Bridget, the births of their children and the flow of people and events around them as they make the spiritual journey "upstream" to the source of life and meaning, against an increasingly unfeeling, commercialised world where the individual has come to count less and less.
"When Dr. Richard Horowitz moved to the Hudson Valley over a decade ago to start his own medical practice, he didn't know that he would be jumping into the center of one of the fiercest, most heated medical disputes being waged today. The ongoing debate over Lyme disease as a chronic illness has made it difficult for sufferers to find care, as doctors are in many cases unable or unwilling to diagnose it. This is how once-treatable infections can become chronic, causing disabling conditions that may never be cured. In a field where the number of cases is growing each year and answers remain elusive, Horowitz has made extraordinary progress. His plan represents a paradigm shift, without which, he argues, the suffering will continue. In this book, Horowitz breaks new ground with a 16 Point Differential Diagnostic Map, the basis for his Lyme treatment plan, and an overarching approach to treating all chronic illness. He introduces MSIDS, or Multi-Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome, a new lens on chronic illness that may prove to be an important missing link. And he covers in detail Lyme's leading symptoms and co-infections, including immune dysfunction, sleep disorders, chronic pain and neurodegenerative disorders. This book is an all-in-one source for patients of Lyme and other chronic illnesses to identify their own symptoms and work with their doctors for the best possible treatment outcome"--
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • In this vulnerable, insightful memoir, the New York Times columnist tells the story of his five-year struggle with a disease that officially doesn’t exist, exploring the limits of modern medicine, the stories that we unexpectedly fall into, and the secrets that only suffering reveals. “A powerful memoir about our fragile hopes in the face of chronic illness.”—Kate Bowler, bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason In the summer of 2015, Ross Douthat was moving his family, with two young daughters and a pregnant wife, from Washington, D.C., to a sprawling farmhouse in a picturesque Connecticut town when he acquired a mysterious and devastating sickness. It left him sleepless, crippled, wracked with pain--a shell of himself. After months of seeing doctors and descending deeper into a physical inferno, he discovered that he had a disease which according to CDC definitions does not actually exist: the chronic form of Lyme disease, a hotly contested condition that devastates the lives of tens of thousands of people but has no official recognition--and no medically approved cure. From a rural dream house that now felt like a prison, Douthat's search for help takes him off the map of official medicine, into territory where cranks and conspiracies abound and patients are forced to take control of their own treatment and experiment on themselves. Slowly, against his instincts and assumptions, he realizes that many of the cranks and weirdos are right, that many supposed "hypochondriacs" are victims of an indifferent medical establishment, and that all kinds of unexpected experiences and revelations lurk beneath the surface of normal existence, in the places underneath. The Deep Places is a story about what happens when you are terribly sick and realize that even the doctors who are willing to treat you can only do so much. Along the way, Douthat describes his struggle back toward health with wit and candor, portraying sickness as the most terrible of gifts. It teaches you to appreciate the grace of ordinary life by taking that life away from you. It reveals the deep strangeness of the world, the possibility that the reasonable people might be wrong, and the necessity of figuring out things for yourself. And it proves, day by dreadful day, that you are stronger than you ever imagined, and that even in the depths there is always hope.
Drawing on healing systems from around the world, a medical anthropologist and herbalist offers natural and holistic remedies for treating Lyme disease When Dr. Wolfe Storl was diagnosed with lyme disease, he refused standard treatments because of antibiotic intolerance. Instead, he researched healing systems of various cultures—including Traditional Chinese Medicine, American Indian healing practices, homeopathy, and traditional Western herbal lore—and discovered the teasel root. Teasel, a flowering plant that grows throughout Europe and Asia, tonifies the liver and kidneys, promotes blood circulation, and strengthens the bones and tendons. The plant has been documented to help cure chronic conditions marked by arthritis, sore, stiff muscles, and eventual incapacitation—all symptoms associated with Lyme disease. Dr. Storl’s approach consists of flushing out toxins and inhibiting bacteria by using teasel root as tincture, powder, or tea (available for purchase online and in natural foods stores); stimulating the immune system and detoxifying the body by exposing it to extreme heat (sweat lodges and Japanese baths); and dietary and naturopathic measures, including fresh natural food, exercise, and sufficient sleep. Written in an encouraging, personal tone but based in science and clinical studies, Healing Lyme Disease Naturally offers hope in combating a condition that has stubbornly resisted conventional medical treatment.
Now a Netflix film starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans and Kevin Bacon. Written for the Screen and Directed by Sam Esmail. Executive Producers Barack and Michelle Obama, Tonia Davis, Daniel M. Stillman, Nick Krishnamurthy, Rumaan Alam A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award in Fiction One of Barack Obama's Summer Reads A Best Book of the Year From: The Washington Post * Time * NPR * Elle * Esquire * Kirkus * Library Journal * The Chicago Public Library * The New York Public Library * BookPage * The Globe and Mail * EW.com * The LA Times * USA Today * InStyle * The New Yorker * AARP * Publisher's Lunch * LitHub * Book Marks * Electric Literature * Brooklyn Based * The Boston Globe A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong. From the bestselling author of Rich and Pretty comes a suspenseful and provocative novel keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis. Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one other?
