One Physician Who Cared

In July of ’98 a storm blew through Brazoria and I spent most of a Saturday picking up tree limbs and debris. Early the next morning while getting dressed I noticed a red raised circle on my stomach. I didn’t give it much thought and went on about my day.

Approximately a month later, we were out-of-town and after dinner we decided to go back to our hotel room and take a short nap before going to a movie. My short nap lasted for over 12 hours. The next morning when I woke, I had to sit down and rest after getting dressed. We walked over to a little diner for breakfast and I could hardly hold my head up because I was so exhausted.

I went to a couple of Doctors and both told me “Oh, you are just depressed”. Depressed??? I was not depressed! I was sick and something was wrong!!!

The exhaustion continued and got to the point I was confined to bed every minute I was not at work. As for work, it took every ounce of energy I had to make it through my shift. In fact, there were days my co-workers carried me. I had memory lapses, chills, and severe muscle aches. I even thought at times, “I am going to die”. I can not remember a time when I was soooo sick and for soooo long.

Then one day a physician walked through the ICU unit where I worked and caught me with a thermometer in my mouth. He asked me if I was sick. I told him I was and that I had been running a 98.9 temp which was high for me (my normal was 97). He asked me if I had been to a Dr. I told him I had but they just told me I was depressed. The doctor looked me in the eye and said, “Depressed people don’t run a fever. Call my office and set up an appointment.”

I called his office and set up the appointment. After a 30 minute visit, I was about to leave when he said, “Just for grins let’s run this test too”.

BINGO…He found it!!! I am alive today because a physician by the name of Dr. Dalal heard me and cared to look beyond the obvious to find the source of my illness!

The whelp on my abdomen was from a tick bite. I had Lyme Disease.

After 6 weeks of IV antibiotics the Lyme Disease was resolved. To this day I still have challenges with of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia but I am ALIVE!!!

I thank God for Dr. Dalal and physicians like him who care enough to keep digging for the answers.

Why did I share my story? Because, there is someone out there that is struggling with an illness and I want you to know sometimes God provides the healing and sometimes He provides a healer!

If you are out there experiencing pain, fatigue, or other symptoms, I want to remind you…