missed a lot.  Didn't realize how isolated I felt without the group until
I couldn't reach it. Two things I hope people did while I was gone: (you
know me enough to know that I believe in the power of writing letters to
help keep us feeling like victims):

1) Read the Woman's Day article:"Health Scares: Real or Not?" (April 23
issue) where Lyme Disease was addressed. They described what they call
the "scare" and did a very poor job of it. Then they went on to  describe
the "reality". While bringing attention to Lyme in the media is a good
thing, they seem to need an education about why people are "scared" and
that this is a serious problem. They also use the CDC's incomplete 1995
stats to point out that the incidence of Lyme has fallen.  They need to
be educated; nicely, calmly, politely. It's worth the $1.29 to read the
article.

2) I saw NBC's "Real Life" show - NBC took a risk in showing the darker
side of Lyme and they did it carefully and incompletely but well - they
deserve a pat on the back and encouragement to show more on the subject.
They allowed a member of a family with Lyme featured in the program to
say that the doctors were a big part of the problem, and they pointed out
that the CDC stats only represented 1/10th of actual cases. You can send

and request more be done.