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Katina Makris, author of the award-winning Out of the Woods, spoke at the Dover Town Library
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By Courtney Frazee
Hometown Weekly Staff
Survivor, healer, advocate, author: roles Katrina Makris, a special guest to the Dover Town Library last week, has performed in her battle against chronic Lyme disease. Yet, as a healthy, robust, and self-proclaimed outdoors fiend, Makris would never have expected to be afflicted with the debilitating chronic condition before contracting the bacteria through a tick bite in the summer of 2000.
In the midst of operating a successful private homeopathy business and an active country life in New Hampshire, Makris suddenly became gravely ill over the course of a few short weeks. With an onslaught of violent flu-like symptoms – none the tell-tale rash commonly associated with Lyme disease – a correct diagnosis eluded Makris and her doctors.
Instead, she was subject to a series of misdiagnoses that stalled the aggressive antibiotic treatments that would have, in hindsight, reversed the course of the disease before significant damage to her connective and nervous systems. “I was told I had vertigo, chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein Barr syndrome,” lists Makris. “I even had three Lyme tests – they came back negative three times.”
Makris’ personal experience speaks to the diagnostic frustration that many have encountered. Currently, there exist multiple versions of a Lyme disease test, with varying degrees of reliability. One frequently-used test has a reported 70% error rate. And while several recently-established labs have improved on the current field, the more accurate tests have yet to enter common medical practice. “Demand these tests,” Makris urged, noting that their steep prices that many are forced to pay out of pocket is worth avoiding the long-term risks.
The author describes her journey in harrowing terms, remembering feeling as though “[she] was in captive restraint.” Her book, Out of the Woods: Healing Lyme Disease Mind Body and Spirit, chronicles her fight with the disease on multiple registers, with different strategies ranging from the traditional medical establishment to holistic approaches stemming from her background in homeopathic medicine. “Lyme requires a rescuer…Anyone who’s been in the trenches with a chronic illness like that can relate.”
Throughout Makris’ talk, at times prompted by an audience familiar with the risks, she made concrete suggestions for navigating a health system ill-prepared to stave off what Markis describes as the next “big disease” for humanity to fight. “It’s the contemporary version of TB – the epidemic of our times,” she warned and suggested taking stringent precautions when outside in the increasingly warm summers.
Due to the mild winter this year, the amount of ticks congregating in rural areas is booming, covering new territories unusual in the past. “Be wary of medium-growth vegetation and damp, dark areas. Keep lawns mowed and manicured and log piles far from houses,” Makris recommended. A more detailed counsel accounts for a large portion of her book, as one of her primary motives from writing comes from the desire to help others avoid the struggle that interrupted her life for over ten years.
Makris, who went on to obtain an Intuitive Healing license, devotes many of her words, both in speaking and writing, to helping sufferers in ways outside of the medical establishment, in part because of the desolate state of affairs in the medical community to treat the disease.
“There has been a chronic mishandling of Lyme,” she commented to a nodding audience. As some audience members offered various reasons for what to many seems like a deliberate denial of the gravity of the disease, hinting at onerous costs on insurance agencies and the resulting pushback of treatment, Makris offered solace to those searching for answers to a seemingly insurmountable problem. “Why does the medical world just treat the body?” She described her regaining courage and mending her spirit through holistic methods – measures that allowed her to regain strength and recommit to fighting a long, exhausting disease with a mix of medical and homeopathic tactics.
Following her talk was an invigorated question and answer session dominated by those with personal connections to the disease. The author explained following the talk, “It has all been quite an eye-opening experience for me, as initially I started out just speaking to introduce people to my book as an author. After the second or third book event however, the majority of the time became consumed with people having questions about Lyme disease…illustrating to me how concerned everyone is about the Lyme disease epidemic and the nature of what has been going on with the medical community.”
Makris urged her concerned audience to use each other for help, especially in support groups. “It seems that Massachusetts is in a very, very difficult situation. My heart goes out to everyone and all the victims suffering.”
