94 days left!

I currently have 6 stories including my own. Keep them coming! I really want this book to be a success! Thank you to everyone who has sent your story in!

Please Read!

Please Read All Postings Before Emailing Questions. I have included a lot of information in the posts and am receiving many questions that I have answered in this blog!

Thank you so much everyone, and please help me make this book a success!

Ok here we go...

I originally wanted to split the stories up by categories such as Diagnosis, Treatment, Misdiagnosis, Living with Lyme, and Healing. But the stories I had recieved so far have been general all encompassing stories. So what I have decided to do is...Have one section that is just General Lyme, and then still have the other chapters with other situations!

So please send me your story to fit in a category, or the General Lyme chapter.

I really want this to be a book where someone who doesn't know about Lyme can learn. Maybe they are sick and are stuggling with their diagnosis and the fit into the symptoms of Lyme. Maybe someone still has no diagnosis and reads the summary of the book will pick it up and find their diagnosis.

220 stories is only a goal! Some stories have been 1 page, some have been 5. I don't know that I will need 220 at the end but I wanted a goal. And if you want to know how I picked that number, it was because when I picked it there was 110 days left until the time I want this book to be done, so I just thought 2 stories a day!

Everyone's story is going to be different from symptoms to diagnosis to treatment.

Also in the first few chapters I will breifly touch on the controversy, symptoms of lyme and co-infections, and treatment guidelines. I want the book to be mainly based on stories and I want people to be learn the information in a more fun way than just reading it from my point of view.

Goal in Mind

Today is April 12, 2010. I really want to have all submissions in by July 31, 2010. That is 110 days from today and I want to get 2 stories per day. So my goal is 220 stories by July 31, 2010!

So the countdown begins...Day 1----220 Stories!

Please help me reach this goal!

Added information

I was thinking it may be easier for some of you to focus more on one point of your story then the whole thing at once, especially for ones that have been sick for years and years on end.

So some ideas would be Diagnosis, Treatment (epescially if you have done something out of the ordinary), Getting better, Finding a Doc, stuff like that.

If you would prefer to answer a questionaire and have me write your story for you in third person I can do that as well.

Thanks again everyone, I hope to make this book a great success.

I need your Lyme Disease story!

The book will feature stories from real patients about Lyme disease. I would appreciate if the stories are no longer that 3000 words each but I do understand that may not be possible with people who have been sick for many many years. I will collect all stories I receive until July 31, 2010. If I only receive a small number of stories by that time I will extend the period. If I receive an overwhelming amount of stories I will include as many as I can fit in the book. I want this book to be for people to learn about Lyme disease and what Lyme patients go through. Some proceeds of this book will go directly to helping people get treatment who can't afford it. Since Lyme disease is very expensive I think this is a great way for at least 50% of the proceeds to be spent.

Please make sure you keep a copy of your story because I will not be returning any stories because I am hoping there will be a large number. And because I do understand the sensitivity of Lyme disease and insurance companies and doctors you can remain anonymous or you can shout to the world who you are! Please make sure your stories are truthful and real. Also, please include an email address with your submission so that I can contact you, and if you don’t mind a phone number. But there again, I understand the need to remain anonymous in some cases so a phone number is not required.

I will also be collecting quotes from patients. Is there a statement that you have said in this past that just makes someone say “WOW”? Have you made a statement that could sum up your suffering? Anything that you think could be powerful to someone reading this book, anything that would make a non-patient reassess what they know about Lyme disease?

I would also love to interview some Lyme Literate Doctors. This book is not about the controversy over Lyme (although I will include the main points to be remembered by people reading it) so I do not want to interview mainstream doctors. I want to get LLMDs opinions on treatment and the disease itself. If you have a doctor who would be willing to be interviewed please email me their information as well.

And lastly I will be collecting photos. If you would like a photo of yourself included in the book please submit it along with your story. Please only send personal photos that you have taken, please do not send copyrighted photos from a photographer. If you are in the Maryland or Georgia area and would like your photo taken for this book please contact me via email as I have a photographer available in both areas (both Lyme patients).

This book is only going to be as good as the stories I receive and my story is only 1 of thousands.

Important points to remember;

Please do not include Dr.’s names. Please just use my LLMD or my mainstream Dr. This is of course to protect our treating doctors.

If you want to remain anonymous that is fine, but with your submission please include name and email and phone number if you’re ok with that. Also, if you don’t mind please include your state. Please express with your submission if you would like to remain anonymous or which information to include. If you do remain anonymous I would like to put your state after your submission. I want people to know it can happen ANYWHERE!!

Please include in your submission written consent to have your story published in this book and also written understanding that as of right now you will not receive anything in exchange for your story. If we get lucky and this book flies off the shelves I will provide each submitter with a monetary gift and a free copy of the book as well. I just do not want to promise this now as I could not afford to do that without proceeds from book sales. But also remember that at least 50% of the proceeds of this book will be set up in a fund to be donated to patients who need treatment but can’t afford it, we all know how expensive the first appointment can be, let alone treatment itself.

Please keep in mind I would like to have submissions to me by July 31, 2010. The sooner I have a finished product to present to a publisher, the sooner this book can help people receive treatment.

Please only send your personal original story, please do not send someone else’s unless they ask you to write it for them because of their physical limitations. And then please include your information and the story tellers information and again whether you and them want to remain anonymous.

Please do not send a story that has previously been published.

I will also accept poems or short sayings, quotes, stories, but again only your own personal original story. I need written permission from the person who the story belongs to in order to publish it in the book.

Please help me make this book a success so we can help Lyme Patients afford the treatment they so desperately need, the sooner the better!

I know other books have been done to include patient’s stories but we could always use another one, and the other books do not use some of the proceeds to directly help Lyme patients.

Email stories to lymebook@yahoo.com