If you have suffered from a severe form of Lyme Disease or know someone who has gone through the ordeal associated from suffering from this condition, you know how hard it is to obtain adequate medical treatment. Last week, Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne described on television her struggle with Lyme Disease, particularly how difficult it is to get a doctor to even acknowledge that a patient is suffering from this disease.
When I first heard her interview, her ordeal seemed incredibly similar to the experience of many of my disability clients.
Here is a video of her interview:
I hope that her account of her fight with Lyme Disease helps raise awareness regarding the difficulties faced by Lymes patients. In addition to suffering from lack of adequate treatment, these patients are often taken advantage by disability insurance companies and by the Social Security Administration because their doctors are not willing to make an adequate diagnosis, If someone like Avril was labeled "crazy" due to her unusual symptoms, imagine what an average disability claimant goes through. Hopefully her appearance on ABC helps educate disability claims adjudicators that this disease is real and that, at times, it can be extremely disabling.
