I was feeling well enough but the interviews were each over an hour long and that seemed like a lot to ask of someone who couldn’t even lift a water glass. Your email address will not be published. That’s why, perhaps out of sheer instinct, I worked extremely hard to make sure my story was told in the best possible light. In the spring of 2017 I was contacted by a casting producer for DocShop Productions, the production company working on Afflicted. Your email address will not be published. Hill recently featured on the Netflix documentary “Afflicted” to shine a light on his experience of living with Lyme Disease. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bite of a black-legged tick, also known as a deer tick. Lyme Disease • Natural Wellness. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migrans, that appears at the site of the tick bite about a week after it occurred. But the worst part was the producers said they’d pay for the procedure and didn’t. It’s a struggle. LetsGetChecked is joined by Jamison Hill, who suffers from Lyme Disease. • You live in a place that is rich in vegetation or woodland Why is Lyme disease known to be seasonal? Nonetheless here we are, once again fighting to legitimize our illnesses, this time after participating in a film that many of us assumed would help accomplish that very thing. The life-cycle of ticks begins when they are known as larvae during the first phase of their life. Nonetheless, through a combination of deceptive questioning and clever editing techniques, the producers created a false reality for her and me in that scene. The slew of tests that Dr. Eric Gordon did — blood, hair, saliva, urine, etc. But I’ve tried colloidal silver and natural treatments like that. I can’t imagine the producers wanted to see me suffer through surgery for nothing, but maybe they did so in order to make me believe they were focusing more on the science and medical aspects of my illness when really they cared more about psychobabble. If you watch the entire series you’ll notice several people, mostly doctors and the subjects’ family members, also use “hypochondria” in their interviews. So not only did I do the psych evaluation, but after that ordeal was over I had to have my online presence analyzed by a private investigation firm. Perceiving one’s own attractiveness is a complicated thing. • You are experiencing flu-like symptoms that include a headache, fever, chills, and fatigue. Once I was accepted by the casting department I was given the task of getting a professional psychiatric evaluation, which was tricky considering I was too physically debilitated to travel to a psychologist’s office. Jamison Hill tells the true story behind "Afflicted". I don’t think they’re bad people, or even necessarily had cruel intentions, but I hope that this is a learning experience for them — you can’t play both sides. His disease progressed to its most severe form, leaving him unable to speak, eat solid food, or leave his bed. I’m not victimizing myself, or anyone else, but I am incredibly disappointed with the scope and slant of the overall series. The ticks that transit Lyme disease are found mainly in 3 areas of the United States: in the New England and eastern mid-Atlantic regions, in the upper Midwest, and on the West Coast. More alarming however, was how the editors of the film cut the audio and video to make comments from “experts” pertain to the illnesses on the show, which they may not have even been referring to. However, in the past decade lyme disease, also known as lyme borreliosis, have drastically increased at an alarming rate. On August 10th Netflix released Afflicted, a seven-episode series in which I appear with six other chronically ill patients. The rash is typically neither itchy nor painful. Leading misconceptions about Lyme—and the facts… MYTH #1: Lyme always causes a bull’s-eye rash. One such episode was devoted to “Identity,” suggesting that those of us with chronic illnesses spend so much time in poor health we become consumed by the lifestyle and don’t know how to live any other way, which is a completely asinine point to make. Please enter your email address. Easy Returns Lyme disease is a bacterial infection you get from the bite of an infected tick.At first, Lyme disease usually causes symptoms such as a rash, fever, headache, and fatigue.But if it is not treated early, the infection can spread to your joints, heart, and nervous system. After the show first aired I talked to the executive producers of Afflicted and they said it was important for them to show both sides of the argument about whether some chronic illnesses are created in the mind. Required fields are marked *. But above all else I feel like this is an unjust outcome that needs to be brought to the public’s attention. Some people need to start with a smaller dose. There is one scene in the first episode of the series where my mom says: “At first you’d always be questioning … the whole hypochondria … is there some psychological reason?” In that part of the film her voice is dubbed over shots of me bathing, and it appears as though she’s saying there was a time when my loved ones thought I was a hypochondriac, but I know for a fact that’s not what she meant. Past storylines of that show have often focused on how trauma and mental health relate to addiction. An open letter to Eli Lilly and all patients affected by Cymbalta’s withdrawal symptoms, PICC IV insertion procedure which I redid for the cameras, My low NK cell function, low cortisol, MTHFR gene mutation, active cytomegalovirus and EBV tests. Lyme disease is not contagious and is not viewed as a life-threatening condition, however, if lit is left untreated, it may affect the nervous system, the skin, the heart and joints. Written by Hannah Kingston | Approved by Medical Director Dominic Rowley. It’s a medical mystery show and a medical procedure isn’t important enough to make the final cut? Lots of medications and supplements and IVs and trying to rest but failing. You should take a Lyme disease test if you suspect you have been bitten by a black-legged tick between 3-30 days after the suspected tick bite. Jamison Hill. When were you diagnosed with Lyme disease? And then of course there’s the physical injuries, which may have damaged my nervous system. Subscribe to the world’s most popular newsletters for Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Lyme Disease. Now that Afflicted has come out, it’s apparent that he wasn’t entirely joking. Get the world’s largest Natural Wellness newsletter FREE! Certified daily by Trustwave, your shopping experience is 100% safe and secure. By some accounts there were no screen tests done prior to the series’ release and it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I even learned of the date it was coming out. Lyme disease affects dogs and people across the world. I think stress and trauma and other mental health factors can contribute to physical illnesses, but they cannot cause them. What is Lyme disease? In my opinion these interviews, and the strategically chosen words used in the questioning, were carefully orchestrated by the producers so they could later mold them to fit the narrative of skepticism. In the case of the early stage Erythema Migrans rash, antibiotics such as doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime will be administered. First, in order to even get in the documentary, I had to do two rounds of interviews via Skype. Making sick people look bad? I’m still confused about but the test that came back positive and was used to diagnose it was definitive as far as Lyme tests go. The first red flag, which I should have seen but didn’t, was when one of the producers had me remove my midline IV — a foot long vein-dwelling catheter in my arm. Could you pinpoint the moment you were infected? But here’s the thing, nobody who has watched Afflicted knows any of this because the producers left it all out. LD surveillance data from the integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) from 2005–2014 were mapped to symptoms according to … When filming commenced I had been bedridden for two years and was mostly unable to speak but for a few short, whispered words each day. Secure Shopping I’m sad and angry because I’m proud of my part in the series, but I can’t, or rather won’t, recommend it to anyone because I’m afraid people will doubt the legitimacy of my illness, or any other that deserves to be taken seriously. The pathology is not at all related. And I’ll be the first to admit that I have serious memory/cognitive issues, depression, and anxiety, but these are not causes of my illness. But with help of my mom and a local doctor, we figured it out. There were some truly memorable moments to my story, glimpses into my life that I’m so grateful to have documented and to be able to revisit in the future. glimpses into my life that I’m so grateful to have documented, Dan Partland, executive producer, Afflicted and Intervention, The car accident I was in didn’t cause ME/CFS or Lyme, other sick people suffering at the hands of a film, Slash Costs of ME/CFS Treatment with These 4 Hacks, Families Living with Illness – the Hidden World, A Message for Chronic Illness Superheroes, Noted Activist Tom Hennessy Passes Away After 25-Year Battle with ME. Jamison is fundraising to pay his medical bills so please help out by buying a shirt or hoodie. Suggested Recommendation - Life Long Vitality (LLV) Pack Safe to use LLV daily. Early symptoms of Lyme Disease occur at the point of the bite in the form a bulls-eye pattern rash that is typical of Lyme Disease. If Borelia antibodies are found in the blood, the most common treatment for Lyme disease is a course of antibiotics that will last from 14-28 days. For starters, later in the episode she says: “Jamison’s a fighter. Anyone who wants the true story about Afflicted should read the cast’s blog posts and read the many articles written about the open letter we wrote to Netflix asking for the series to be taken down. Not when I see other sick people suffering at the hands of a film that was supposed to do right by us. I take antiviral meds and do saline infusions but that’s to treat other illnesses I have. If he can’t do something it’s because he can’t do it.” Now, does that sound like a quote from someone who has ever thought her son was a hypochondriac? But generally, I think Lyme contributed to me becoming bedridden and unable to speak or eat solid food for 18 months. On August 10th Netflix released Afflicted, a seven-episode series in which I appear with six other chronically ill patients. When I was approached about being in Afflicted, I had already written several essays about my fight for survival, but having it told visually was appealing to me. They are, however, definitely byproducts of being sick. This is a very … The rash associated with Lyme Disease is known as Erythema migrans. Are you in pain?” to which I nodded my head, and then unsympathetically, he continued asking me questions. They would insert words into their questions that none of us would normally use and force us to incorporate them in our answers. Symptoms of Lyme disease. It was something that I was interested in doing, but I’m relatively new to the Lyme community so I was looking to do so and that’s what I hoped Afflicted would do but it didn’t. “It’s definitely a messy existence but I’m lucky to have a supportive family who doesn’t question the validity of what I'm going through and in many ways, they put my needs above their own, which just puts me in awe of them.”. They didn’t interview my nurse who did the procedure, I never even saw the producers have him sign a release to appear on camera. These researchers probably mentioned how it’s a metabolic and inflammatory disease, how it often creates low natural killer cell function and other biological deficiencies. His “joke” immediately popped back into my mind as I watched the so-called “experts” he interviewed on the show and how they rattled off nonsensical psychobabble about physical illnesses — essentially denying that some of the illnesses portrayed on the show are physical, instead insisting they originate in the mind. The difference, however, lies in the type of care and treatment. I periodically asked a few of the producers about it and they could never tell me anything useful. In late autumn and winter, the adult ticks feed on their third host (most commonly humans) and reproduce. When I asked one of them about this, he sent me this note: What exactly is going to be effective? There is a broad range of symptoms, in my case I have severe neurological symptoms including sensitivity to light and sound and touch. I would say most of my cognitive and neurological symptoms are related to Lyme. 555 Maple St, Carpinteria, CA 93013 He also discovered that somewhere along the way Hill contracted Lyme disease, which also had gone untreated. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on a patient’s physical symptoms and the detection of Borrelia bacteria in the blood. Even still, most of the other participants were not so lucky and the producers capitalized on their vulnerabilities. It was around this time that I learned that I would not be paid for my time and effort on Afflicted. In 2019, Yolanda Hadid announced that her Lyme disease was in … Now, after watching the finished product, I feel it very easily could have gone the other way. Eventually I got through the casting interviews and the producer, tantalized by the thought of me potentially being well enough to go outside for the first time in years, liked my story enough to interview my family. It’s walking a line between narcissism and self-deprecation. This rash develops and expands in a circular pattern with the point of contact being a circular red mark, surrounded by clear and paler red rings. I’d get destroyed by the literary world, I’d probably never again be taken seriously in my writing. Our knowledgeable and helpful team is ready to assist you with all your questions. I also had to confirm every address at which I’ve ever lived. My m I’ve done both of those things, many times, and yet I’m still as sick as I am. The reason for this lies in the life cycle of the tick. Get the world’s largest ME/CFS newsletter FREE! • You are experiencing neurological numbing:   Bell's palsy, meningitis, and impaired muscle movement may occur due to the swelling of brain tissue in the later stages of Lyme disease. Lyme disease sufferers in Australia are struggling to convince medical experts the disease exists in this country. Reprinted with the kind permission of Jamison Hill. It could also have been because, while on camera, I was fully aware that although the filmmakers said they had good intentions, people with ulterior motives can seem altruistic if they say the right thing in the right situation. Luckily for me my mental stability was reinforced when Dr. Eric Gordon came to evaluate and treat my condition, a segment that appears in episode two. Individual results may vary. Today, he shares his story with LetsGetChecked to raise more awareness around his condition. Edited by internationally acclaimed patient expert Karen Lee Richards. I was officially diagnosed in 2016, but I could have had it well before that. LetsGetChecked is joined by Jamison Hill, who suffers from Lyme Disease. You can’t correlate the same issues that people face with addiction to illnesses like Lyme disease and ME/CFS. This week, LetsGetChecked bring you from the definition of the disease up to the treatment you should consider, answering the ultimate question of: “Is Lyme Disease Curable?”. Happiness guaranteed - return within 30 days for a full refund of the product cost. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Edited by internationally acclaimed wellness expert Karen Lee Richards. Please check out the group post where you can find links to each person’s individual post. I passed with flying colors. Black-legged ticks are most commonly found in the stomachs of white-tailed deer. Today, he shares his story with LetsGetChecked to raise more awareness around his condition. Before I convinced Dr. Gordon to come see me, that same producer got frustrated and wanted me to travel four hours to the Bay Area to see an ME specialist even though I was physically unable. What was the first thing that ran through your head when you found out you had Lyme disease? “Listen, any time you’re bringing cameras in the real world and aiming at disempowered people, exploitation is gonna come up.”, – Dan Partland, executive producer, Afflicted and Intervention. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lyme-disease “Afflicted” features ME patient Jamison Hill, a former bodybuilder and personal trainer, who became sick at the age of 22. In the days following the show’s release I’ve wondered why my story turned out relatively well when others did not. I want to specifically mention the lack of ME/CFS researchers featured in the series, as well as limited references to my medical records. This is not an emotional problem.”. Fibromyalgia • ME & C.F.S. But in hindsight I should have seen the focus on mental health coming. But none of that was mentioned, nor was my diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and the MTHFR gene mutation. Post-production took almost exactly a year, during which time I heard nothing about the progress of the series. I was looking forward to being on camera again and having a stark comparison to my much healthier depiction in Forgotten Plague, an excellent documentary about ME/CFS. Menu. We exchanged the following text messages: I thought she was joking, and she probably was at the time, but shortly thereafter that same producer contacted my mom and actually suggested that she give me a tranquilizer and transport me to a doctor. Lyme disease (borreliosis) is transmitted by the bite of a tick infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. The former model and "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star opened up to Vogue about her life with Lyme disease. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. The epidemic continues to explode not only in the Northeast, but also in north central states. I soon learned that this producer had been on a popular reality TV show at one point, but I didn’t think much of that — he said I would be in a documentary, not a reality TV show. What is the recommended treatment for Lyme disease? They emerge from eggs that are laid by adult ticks in the spring-time, and attach to small animals like mice and birds. After nearly two years of being bedridden, Jamison found a doctor that cracked his case and is treating him successfully- which is still ongoing. Physical illnesses should be treated as physical illnesses and mental illnesses should be treated as mental illnesses. My mom can’t remember the question the producers asked in order to create that sound bite, but she probably wasn’t even talking about me, she was using the second-person, likely to describe a general scenario that other, less supported ME/CFS patients in similar situations endure. Jamison is a writer who has been published by the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Men’s Journal, and Vox, among others. The LetsGetChecked Lyme Disease Test examines the blood for Borrelia (BORR), the presence of which would indicate whether you have contracted Lyme disease. In humans, the signs and symptoms of Lyme Disease are most likely to become apparent in spring, summer and early autumn. Hill recently featured on the Netflix documentary “Afflicted” to shine a light on his experience of living with Lyme Disease. All of this information was provided to DocShop Productions and here are the most noticeable parts left out of my story: If you’ve watched Afflicted then you know that several of the episodes focus predominantly on psychological issues, often implying that the illnesses seen in the series are created or contributed to by the mind. It’s unfair to categorize people like this because they “become” their illness. The only other rationale I can think of is that during post-production the editors felt the surgery wasn’t important enough to fit into my story, but that seems absurd. No way! I had to accept a friend request from some random account on Facebook so private investigators could look through all my photos and posts. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks. Trust me, there is nothing I won’t try if there’s even a remote chance that it could make me better. People who live in areas where Lyme disease is common are taught to look for a red, expanding rash called erythema migrans. But this is the type of focus that is employed on Intervention, the reality show in which people are confronted about their addictions on camera, which at one time was made by the same producers who made Afflicted. Donate. Lyme disease is often said to be a seasonal condition; however, symptoms may remain dormant during winter months during the reproductive cycle of the infection-causing ticks associated with the disease. Known by many in the medical community as Borreliosis, Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Though I had high hopes for the series, and some parts were accurate, it has ultimately caused damage to the chronic illness community, portraying many of the participants as hypochondriacs and the illnesses they face as psychosomatic rather than their true physical nature. People on reality TV shows usually get paid for the entertainment they provide, but none of us did. Larvae develop to nymphs following their first feed from their first host during the Spring/Summer time. But he had to leave after a few days and another cinematographer replaced him. Either way, they asked me to do a completely unnecessary medical procedure for the cameras and it never made it into the film. As Dave Martz lay dying, an idea serpentined around his mind and would not loosen its grip: Despite the absolute diagnosis and the insistence of the doctors, including a world expert, that he was dying of ALS, despite his own vow to face things head-on and reject the lure of denial, Martz couldn’t shake the notion that possibly, just maybe, he actually had Lyme disease. However, not all of the film crew was this bad — I liked the first cinematographer, he was very respectful and seemed to genuinely care about my comfort level. The second red flag came when the film crew was filming my mom at a local restaurant and a stranger asked a producer what the series was about. I also didn’t want to diminish the work of some truly talented and genuine people who worked on the series and just happened to land a bad gig. He blogs at JamisonWrites.com. Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector-borne disease in Ontario, Canada. Stars Who’ve Battled Lyme Disease: Justin Bieber, Bella Hadid, More Read article “My decade-long journey was an absolute nightmare, but my diagnosis taught me a … I’ve tried a lot of the things people have recommended — everything from drinking celery juice while sitting in a salt bath to going to weekly therapy sessions and taking anti-anxiety medications. This chronicles his search for a diagnosis, the doctors he encounters and his relationships. Generally, I think antibiotics are the mainstream approach, either through an IV or orally. Commerce with compassion. Apparently, more than a week after it came out, some of them still haven’t seen the series. After all, the casting producer knew how sick I was, he knew it was painful for me to talk and to look at a screen, but he seemed to have no problem putting me through the physical torture. I asked one of the producers about this and her response: “Oh, I forgot.” So she was either incredibly incompetent, or there was something she wasn’t telling me. The truth is the film crew spent an entire day at the 2017 Community Symposium on the Molecular Basis of ME/CFS, which was held at Stanford University, where the crew interviewed numerous ME/CFS researchers who I know had a better explanation of the disease than: “We don’t know what it is,” which is a sound bite featured frequently throughout the series. … You will receive mail with link to set new password. Don’t make that mistake.Here’s why… Today, Lyme-infected deer ticks are found in most states—covering nearly half of all US counties. Yet, there seems to be little widespread panic. Many people with early symptoms of Lyme disease develop a circular red skin rash around a tick bite. There was blood and gauze, the whole deal, but none of the footage ever made it in the finished film. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. There’s one sound bite from a doctor who says that studies have shown that trauma can damage the immune system, that’s absolutely true. • You are presenting with symptoms of Lyme disease in the days following being bitten or having the tick removed