Jemsek Specialty Clinic

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December 01, 2009
Jemsek Specialty Clinic Newsletter - December 1st, 2009

Susan Carol Bick is aiming to enroll this March in Forsyth Technical Community College's Allied Health Program, where she'll be studying to become a licensed MRI technician. That's a lofty achievement for anybody, but all the more remarkable when you consider the obstacles Carol will have overcome to reach her goal.

Never mind that Carol will be 67 years old when she graduates and has spent more than a decade battling Lyme disease. She's not letting anything get in the way of fulfilling her dream.

"Some people tell me I'm crazy for doing any of this, going back to college at my age," Carol, 64, concedes with a laugh. "But that just keeps me motivated. I wasted more than 10 years of my life suffering from a disease that doctors couldn't figure out. I feel I need to fight back to regain those years that were stolen from me."

Carol's journey began back in 1987 when, ironically, she was fulfilling another life-long dream. Carol and her husband, Arthur, had just bought a horse farm in Bear Creek, North Carolina. Their new home and adventure was everything that the Bicks had hoped it would be but came with an unexpected drawback. The farmland in the small town of Chatham County was crawling with ticks and it wasn't long before some of them hit home.

Susan Carol Bick
Before Treatment

The conventional wisdom of the day was that it was no big deal to get bit by a tick; you just pull it off and go on your way. "It was out first introduction to ticks," Carol says. "Neighbors told us to just get a flock of chickens or guineas, and they'll eat 'em. I eventually ended up with one of them stuck in my ear and couldn't get it all the way out."

She visited a doctor, who said it wasn't anything to be overly alarmed about and could be easily and effectively treated. Carol didn't give it much thought at the time, but remembered it vividly a few years later when she began experiencing a troubling progression of health problems. In the early '90s, she had to have a complete hysterectomy, followed by a succession of ailments that included memory loss, severe joint pain, sleeplessness, chronic fatigue and recurring migraine headaches. She also had contracted lichen sclerosis, a form of autoimmune skin disease that produces painful rashes and constant itching.

"Every time I went to the doctor, it was something new!" Carol recalls. After weeks of searching the Internet she found research that suggested a link between LS and the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Given her history with ticks, she thought that might be the culprit that was stealing her health.

Meanwhile, her other symptoms were wreaking havoc with her life: crippling joint pain, excessive and unexplained weight gain, blinding headaches and acute loss of balance. At one point, she was reduced to spending entire days in bed without even getting dressed. There didn't seem to be a cure for what she had, or any end in sight.

"You just kind of learn to suffer through it and live with it," Carol says.

A glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon when a doctor, acknowledging her exposure to ticks and that she had previously developed the bulls-eye rash associated with Lyme disease, administered a three-month course of antibiotics. If it proved helpful, the doctor had said she would refer Carol to Dr. Joseph Jemsek, an infectious disease specialist and one of the country's leading authorities on Lyme disease.

The antibiotics produced positive results and her health began to steadily improve. But it was to be a short-lived recovery. At the end of the three-month cycle, her symptoms returned with a vengeance. It was time, she decided, to pay a visit to Dr. Jemsek.

"My first appointment was an eye-opener," Carol says. "He spent more than an hour listening to me, evaluating my symptoms and history, explaining things to me. That's almost unheard of these days, for a doctor to spend that kind of quality time with a patient."

Dr. Jemsek subsequently made a clinical evaluation of Lyme disease, based on Carol's symptoms, history of exposure to ticks and previous documentation of the telltale rash, and in 2007 recommended a treatment cycle of IV antibiotics.

"The results," Carol says, "were incredible."

"I kept getting better and better and better. It was miraculous. I was like a fanatic," she recalls with a laugh, "going around and telling everybody about this miracle."

That was nearly three years ago and Carol hasn't looked backed since. Her health continues to improve; her energy level and weight have returned to normal; the agonizing joint pain and headaches are gone. The "incurable" lichen sclerosis has disappeared as well.

Susan Carol Bick
After Treatment

With her renewed health, Carol set her eyes on achieving another life-long goal of a career in medicine. She wanted to become a licensed MRI technician, but quickly learned the college credits she had earned in 1978 while obtaining a biology degree were no longer valid. So Susan Carol Bick, 64 years young, decided to head back to school.

"Once she puts her mind to something, that's it," Dr. Jemsek says. "It's going to get done. She's an amazing person with tremendous courage and determination."

After taking two classes at Forsyth Technical Community College, and getting A's in both, Carol signed up for the CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) class at Wake Technical College. She did her clinicals at Wake Medical Center and in October passed the State CNA exam to become certified. While taking the CNA, Bick enrolled for both Anatomy and Physiology I and Anatomy and Physiology II, as well as Oral Communication, at Central Carolina Community College. The semester ends in December and so far she's on track with all A's.

Carol will learn in March if she's earned enough A's to be accepted into the MRI Technician program, which accepts only five students a year.

"I took my courses wherever I could find them, at three different colleges, because I felt I didn't have time to waste," Carol says. "It's been a lot of work, but a great experience. I'm making up for lost time and enjoying every minute of it."

A CAPITAL MOVE FOR THE JSC

The Jemsek Specialty Clinic's transition to its new location in Washington, D.C., is making steady progress, while ensuring that quality patient care always remains the top priority.

The clinic is currently in the process of making state-of-the-art renovations and upfits to a 5,200-square-foot office space it has secured near the heart of the nation's capital. The renovations are expected to be complete for the start of the New Year. In the meantime, the clinic is subleasing shared space in the same medical building, where Dr. Jemsek has already started seeing patients on a limited basis.

Until the renovations are complete in late December, Dr. Jemsek will balance his time with a work cycle that calls for him to be in Washington for ten days at a stretch, then returning to Charlotte for four days to be with his family. Dr. Jemsek's five-year-old daughter, Jordan, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive Leukemia (AML), and his wife, Kay, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"My schedule is, of necessity, a function of what is best for Jordan and Kay," Dr. Jemsek said. "We continue to be grateful for the support and understanding that patients have shown for our family during these difficult times."

During the clinic's transition to Washington, its office in Fort Mill, S.C., will remain open until late December. Patients are encouraged to continue using the Fort Mill office as a primary contact for scheduling and coordinating appointments, which can be made at (803) 396-5885.

The clinic's new location in Washington, D.C., at 2440 M Street N.W., is located less than two miles from the White House and about a mile from the Georgetown neighborhood. The new facility is easily accessible from the Foggy Bottom Washington Metro station, and is less than a six-mile taxi drive from Reagan National Airport. For patients driving into the city, the clinic building at 2440 M Street has ample underground parking available.

The Jemsek Specialty Clinic looks forward to providing the best possible patient care in our new facility, and will continue work to minimize any inconvenience the transition has caused. We extend our sincere thanks for your cooperation and patience.

PROCLAMATIONS MAKE STRONG CASE FOR LYME AWARENESS

As a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and high-flying pilot for Delta Airlines, Dave Tierney is used to getting missions accomplished. He had his sights set on a big one earlier this year. Tierney was determined to rectify an oversight of the North Carolina Department of Public Health, which had failed last year to officially recognize Lyme Disease Awareness Month within the state.

The issue struck a personal chord with Tierney, who is on the road to renewed health subsequent to being diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease after a previous misdiagnosis for MS nearly cost him his job as a pilot.

"North Carolina would only do tick and mosquito awareness month and didn't focus on Lyme disease, as several other state proclamations did," says Tierney, who lives in Cary, North Carolina. "They finally ending up issuing a proclamation by our governor, but it was pretty weak and didn't mention Lyme disease at all."

So Tierney decided to get the ball rolling when it came to having proclamations issued that specifically emphasized the need for and importance of Lyme disease awareness. Donna Dean joined in the effort, which also hit close to home for her. Dean, along with four members of her family, has Lyme disease.

"A huge amount of credit goes to Donna," Tierney says. "She did a lot of the ground work to get town officials to recognize the importance of increasing awareness of Lyme."

Tierney, Dean and a grassroots movement of Lyme advocates lobbied officials and politicians from towns and cities across the state, with requests to approve proclamations that officially designated a particular week, or in some cases a whole month, for Lyme Disease Awareness.

"One of our main goals was that by getting towns involved with increasing awareness," Tierney explains, "we'd be in a position of being able to leverage the proclamations later in dealings with the state when it comes to recognizing Lyme disease and increasing awareness throughout North Carolina."

Over the course of several months earlier this year, through phone calls, e-mails, follow-up phone calls and follow-up e-mails, the lobbying efforts began to bear fruit.

Tierney, Dean, and their troop of Lyme advocates were able to get Lyme Disease Awareness proclamations approved for nearly a dozen municipalities across the state, from Cary, High Point, Holly Springs and Winston-Salem to Locust, New London, Albemarle, Burlington and Elon.

The impact of securing the proclamations was twofold, Tierney says. In addition to providing a tool that will provide Lyme advocates leverage in convincing state officials to acknowledge the high risk and existence of Lyme disease in North Carolina, the proclamations, in many cases, were also used by local news outlet for stories that focused on the issue of Lyme disease.

The push to increase awareness of Lyme disease in North Carolina seems to be gaining a foothold and paying dividends. After years of refusing to even concede that Lyme existed, state officials in October took the unprecedented step of issuing a statement that the tick-borne illness can, in fact, be acquired in North Carolina.

In at least four cases this year, Lyme was confirmed among patients who never left their home counties, according to an October article in the Raleigh News & Observer, ruling out the prospect that they contracted the disease while traveling.

"What we're trying to communicate to physicians is that it's possible to acquire Lyme in North Carolina, so don't hold to an old belief," said Dr. Megan Davies, state epidemiologist.

Tierney says that's a good start, but he and other Lyme advocates are pushing for more.

"My plan is to use the state's recent announcement that Lyme disease is in North Carolina," he says, "to get more cities and town next year to also recognize Lyme disease here, with the goal of having over 30 towns approving proclamations for Lyme Disease Awareness."

The plan also includes more lobbying of political leaders to encourage the state's health department to intensify Lyme research and awareness efforts.

"Having all these towns recognize the risk of Lyme disease really helps politicians and community leaders to focus attention in their districts," Tierney says. "Our state Department of Public Health's previous denial of Lyme disease and statements that there have been no proven cases of Lyme in North Carolina, have now changed the playing field forever.

"We will now do whatever it takes to have them recognize that residents continue to suffer from the state's slow acceptance of Lyme here," Tierney says, "and how residents continue to struggle to regain their health from tick-borne diseases acquired in our state."

JEMSEK FAMILY GRATEFUL FOR PRAYERS OF SUPPORT

As fall leaves splash the landscape with vibrant colors, and sights and sounds of the Holiday Season begin to fill the air, we are reminded once again of the importance that friends and family play in our lives.

The Jemsek Specialty Clinic would like to extend its sincere thanks for all of your prayers and support for Dr. Jemsek and his family, as they deal with medical problems faced by Dr. Jemsek's wife, Kay, and his five-year-old daughter, Jordan.

Kay was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and last month underwent lumpectomy surgery. She is currently being treated with radiation therapy, and her strength of character and positive attitude has been remained steadfast. While battling cancer, Kay has simultaneously managed to keep the Jemsek household running smoothly - and even kept Dr. Jemsek in line. A truly amazing feat by any standard.

Jordan, who has been diagnosed with an aggressive Leukemia (AML), continues to be an inspiration to us all. She recently finished a second round of chemotherapy and is recovering for a few weeks until she begins another round of treatment. Her journey is being chronicled at www.caringbridge.org/visit/jordanjemsek. It's said that lessons in life can be found everywhere, and Jordan's strength and courage throughout the last few months have offered a tremendous one.

"We have been eternally grateful for everyone's kind thoughts and prayers for our family during these difficult times," Dr. Jemsek said. "I've always thought of the clinic's staff and our patients as being part of a giant extended family, and the last few months have reaffirmed that belief."