Jemsek Specialty Clinic J-Letter April 2008

The Spring is nature's time for renewal and rebirth. Here at the Jemsek Specialty Clinic of SC, we are also experiencing growth and renewal. Goals set for JSC of SC include organizational upgrades, improved response to patient needs, and reaffirming our commitment to bringing state of the art health care to those who trust us with their medical needs.

In order to bring our valued patients and other valued colleagues into this process, we wish to introduce our monthly newsletter, the J-Letter, with a format that we hope will bring timely news and clinical insights into the world of Lyme Borreliosis Complex (LBC). Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged. You are invited to share opinions at info@jemsekspecialty.com.

Our website, www.jemsekspecialty.com, is filling out nicely and contains several useful links, including the trailer for the upcoming premiere of Under Our Skin in NYC on May 12, 2008 (See below in "Lyme Nation News"). The website also has links to a condensed PowerPoint presentation on the clinic philosophy towards LBC, and a penetrating Op Ed written by Dr. Jemsek, which is highly critical of the Fedor NEJM 'Current Concepts' article, published as a 'review' article in October 2007.

Our quest in clinical medicine has always been to have the best personnel in place at our clinic facility, in step with our challenge to treat some of the most complex medical issues in current times. When you visit the Jemsek Specialty Clinic in Fort Mill, SC, you will see several new faces among the old friends already there. Our most recent staff additions are Brooke Cerwonka, Administrator, Kristin Davis, Administrative Assistant; Lyn Haussling, RN, Infusion Nursing; Alexa Steverson, Appointment Manager/Marketing Consultant/Newsletter Editor; and Lisa Cote, CNA, Nursing. We are very proud to have these individuals at JSC of SC. Many of our former patients will remember Nurse Practitioner, Susan Bentley. Susan, who earned an MBA while working with our patients at the former Rosedale Medical Center location, recently visited us and has graciously consented to consult on business matters at JSC of SC. She will be a welcome addition for sure. The Jemsek Specialty Clinic welcomes individuals from all locations, and is especially pleased to interact with experts from abroad. We were recently honored to host Dr. Alexander Klusman, of the Netherlands.

Dr. Alexander Klusman from the Netherlands visited Dr. Jemsek in February to discuss Lyme-related problems in the Netherlands and the possibility of Dutch patients obtaining a consultation with Dr. Jemsek.

Frequently our patients describe sore throats as part of their recurring symptom complex. Often, when specifically asked, the patients note that ear pain accompanies the throat pain, but the patients often state that their primary physician can find no reason for their discomfort. In fact, on examination, there is no sign of inflammation of the throat or ear.

The condition 'carotidynia' is little known but is, in fact, common. On careful examination, one can easily detect swelling and pain at the carotid bulb, which is located just lateral to the top of the thyroid cartilage (Adam's Apple) and is the location at which the internal and external carotid arteries separate, or bifurcate.

Our theory is that this is yet another sign of inflammatory neurological disease associated with LBC, since the carotid bulb is known to be a baroreceptor, which means it plays a prominent role in monitoring blood pressure. As such, it is loaded with nerve fibers, some of which mediate pain. Since the fibers at the bulb lie in proximity to the throat and may radiate to the ear area, our patients complain of 'sore throat and earache', when in fact the throat and ear pain arise from an inflamed carotid bulb. The mediation of this pain is most likely from the Nerve of Hering, a branch of the 9th cranial nerve (glossopharyngeal nerve), and/or a branch of the superior cervical sympathetic chain.

The groundbreaking Lyme documentary Under Our Skin premiers at a major film festival on May 12, 2008 in New York City. Turn the Corner foundation, a major charitable organization which supports Lyme related issues, will host a media-invited event in honor of this production. Dr. and Mrs. (Kay) Jemsek will be there and they look forward to seeing many familiar faces on their visit. Please go to www.turnthecorner.org for more information.

A section on a JSC patient profile will be coming in our next J-letter edition in May 2008.

'If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.'

- Gelett Burgess, U.S. writer, poet, humorist, and illustrator

We all want the same things in life ... and we all need others to make these things possible. In our lifetimes, when we have achieved, no matter how grand it may be, we must realize it is a fleeting and delicate achievement. But if your dream or achievement has truth and merit, you must freely and unconditionally 'pass it on' ... and when you 'pass it on', you will receive all you need.