For this month’s featured ministry DCL Ministries is proud to highlight The Lymenade Stand, a couple out of Pennsylvania who is very passionate about spiritual health and wellness.  Sometimes life will take us on a journey ,unexpectedly, but the beauty of our pain is when we make it through God will always lead us to help others in the same circumstance. The Lymenade Stand is all about  educating and empowering all who might suffer from this disease. DCL Ministries wants to welcome for the month of April The Lymenade Stand. Enjoy.

Spiritual Fulfillment Within Wellness: By Ronald & Sherry Lassiter

Quote:  When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘We’, even Illness becomes Wellness’ (Unknown)

How much of a role does spiritual fulfillment play in the well being of your daily life?  How is your spiritual well being fulfilled?

Our story surrounding spiritual fulfillment within wellness and how God redirected our steps began about 14 years ago.  At the time, Sherry was suffering from various misdiagnosed symptoms and illnesses which had lasted through 8 years and 5 doctor visits.  Severe headaches were diagnosed as migraines by a family physician, which led to medication.  A short time later, throat issues were diagnosed as acid re-flux by an ear, nose & throat specialist, which led to medication.  Fatigue was due to thyroid issues, again – medication.  And digestive issues were diagnosed as either IBS, celiac or Chron’s by a gastroenterologist, which led to….you guessed it, medication.  One glaring question came to her mind – rather than simply treating symptoms with medication, why aren’t these doctors looking for the root cause of these symptoms, especially considering the fact she never felt these things before?

Shortly afterwards, a family friend mentioned a naturopathic doctor who had an office just nearby who could determine the root cause of symptoms using iridology (looking into the eyes).  Sherry thought, what the heck, it won’t hurt anything, and made an appointment.  This naturopathic doctor seemed to be so familiar with the symptoms and after a few tests came back to say ‘You have Lyme Disease’ – from a tick bite.  Wwwwwhhhhaaattt!!!  If her jaw could’ve reached the floor, it would have.  This never crossed Sherry’s mind, the family physician’s mind, nor any of the specialists.  Why was it so easy for this naturopathic doctor to come to a conclusion in a matter of 30 min where others didn’t even look in that direction?  The naturopathic doctor then asked Sherry if her husband also had any symptoms.

Ronn’s symptoms were different – they were not so much ‘physical’ in nature, but were more ‘cognitive’.  He had blacked out in the bathroom a few times, hitting his head on the wall.  He had visited the Emergency Room with elevated heart rate, pulse & temperature.  They claimed this was PTSD which a lot of people were experiencing after 9/11.  Then began the panic and anxiety attacks.  Car trips took twice as long since we’d have to pull over, get out, breathe, and walk around until he calmed down.  Nighttime sweats and panic issues ensued which surrounded him questioning whether he could stop breathing.  The occasional plane trips were a nightmare, ending with him saying ‘If I wig out on the plane, just have the Marshal shoot me’.  His appointment with the naturopathic doctor ended the same way – ‘You have Lyme Disease’.

This is some of the mystery surrounding Lyme Disease.  Symptoms can vary from person to person and mimic so many other illnesses.  Both of our symptoms were completely different, just like everyone’s bodies are different, but ended with the same diagnosis.  We’ve since found that many times people can be diagnosed with ailments such as Fibromyalgia, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, even Alzheimer’s and years later will find out their symptoms were actually caused by Lyme Disease.

We relate our experience with this naturopathic doctor as being God-centered in that she was looking ‘at the heart of the problem’ and not just treating the surface symptoms just as God looks at the ‘heart’ of a person and not simply the surface attributes.  God directed us to her for a reason – #1 of course to get diagnosed and treated, but also to put us on a different path.

Months after our treatment when our heads were clearing, we were still reeling from everything that transpired.  More and more people started talking to us about their experiences with Lyme Disease and we started reading more about how often Lyme goes misdiagnosed and undiagnosed, how doctors don’t even think to look in that direction, or how insurance companies are reluctant to pay for treatment.  Many people do seek out alternative doctors, but at great expense.  Most do not accept insurance, so all treatment is out of pocket which can be a double-edged sword….sure, you get a diagnosis, but can lose everything you have paying for treatment to recover from the Lyme Disease.

It was during this time that we realized our mission – or as one lady from the church booth across the aisle from us at a fair so aptly called it – our ‘ministry’.  We used our experience in drug testing to launch a new tick test called Lymenator  – test attached ticks after removal directly for infection — then decided to take the issue of Lyme directly to the people.  So, over the past 4-5 years, we’ve been attending various outdoor expos and fairs preparing people for the threat of Lyme, promoting Lyme literacy and Lyme literate practitioners, and providing information and products to help protect against Lyme.  We find many times people will ask us – ‘So, what organization are you with?’  or ‘Who sponsors you?’  It seems so odd to them that we have taken it upon ourselves, without any backing or support, to not only book a booth, but travel sometimes multi-state to their location to spend time talking about Lyme.  It’s certainly a very important topic and we’ve gathered many, many stories about people’s struggles with Lyme.  Unfortunately, there are some that have succumbed to the disease, but even so, if we can help even one person along the way, then we’ve completed our mission .

Website:  www.thelymenadestand.com (full site launching soon)

Email:  info@thelymenadestand.com (active for any comments or questions)

Toll Free:  800.374.6097