An unknown disease known

You hear stories about people who go through years of rounds with the doctors before finally getting the correct diagnosis. I respect most of the doctors I've known, but one cannot deny that most cases they face are treated the same ways. When you're in America and you hear hooves, you think horses, not zebras. And doctors don't hear zebras.

It took my husband 2 years to be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Most doctors didn't even consider it because he was "too old" to have it (he was 46). As it turned out, he had a less severe form of the illness -- CF has thousands of mutations.

I'm writing this to share a bit about my cousin. When she was in her 20s she was suddenly stricken with severe pain. She lost the use of her limbs. Her mind didn't work right -- she says she couldn't spell correctly anymore. In the hospital the doctors told her that her organs were shutting down and it was likely she would die in a short time. They had no idea why this was happening.

She went to some Chinese acupunturists, got poked with needles and given a course of those awful-tasting Chinese medicines. Slowly but surprisingly, she recovered.

Last year she was talking to her children's pediatrician and learned he had been through identical symptoms. He'd determined that it was due to a vitamin B deficiency. Apparently their bodies do not manufacture B vitamins in sufficient quantity. It's a fairly rare problem. After regularly injecting himself with B vitamins he had his own recovery. It was faster than hers since Chinese medicine is slow medicine. My cousin is taking B supplements now and doing well now.

I'm putting this out here because it might save someone's life.