New book by mom of child with neuropsych Lyme. With treatment, "he went from throwing
desks across the room in kindergarten to scoring all A’s in the sixth grade."
'Under the Rainbow Moon'
Plymouth author chronicles her family’s nine-year struggle for diagnosis
Read more: 'Under the Rainbow Moon' - Plymouth, MA - Wicked Local Plymouth http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/news/x1037503809/Under-the-Rainbow-Moon#ixzz2JvDlgL00
PLYMOUTH —
Joshua Bierut was a happy, healthy boy for the first year of his life.
After that, everything changed.
He became temperamental, irritable, cried nonstop and started having medical problems, even paralysis. For the next nine years, he and his family embarked on a heart-breaking journey of medical tests that turned up nothing, repeated hospital stays, misdiagnoses, psychiatric evaluations, medication disasters and pain – a lot of pain for this little guy.
His parents were heartsick as they sought any means to find out what was wrong and how to fix it.
Meanwhile, Joshua’s condition worsened as he developed social delays and turned inward. Doctors claimed he was autistic and put him on medication that caused his limbs to spasm and nearly killed him.
The family moved to Plymouth in 2006.
It seemed like a miracle when a physician at a psychiatric hospital where Joshua was being evaluated for the umpteenth time ordered a Lyme disease test.
“He ran the test and it wound up positive,” Jamie said. “I didn’t know much about it. The doctors in Boston followed up with bone marrow, spinal tests and MRIs. They said he’s had it in his system for such a long time and there was nothing they could do.”
Joshua was given a three-week supply of antibiotics and his parents were told it probably wouldn’t work. Jamie wasn’t buying that, and hunted down the top pediatric Lyme disease specialist, Dr. Charles Ray Jones, who saved the day.
“He said, ‘I’m going to unlock the key to his brain,’ ” Jamie added. “He traced it to Indiana when Joshua was 12 months old. He was crawling and walking in the woods. That’s where he caught it.”
The doctor also prescribed antibiotics for three years.
“It’s given him his life back,” Jamie said. “He went from throwing desks across the room in kindergarten to scoring all A’s in the sixth grade. He is student of the month.”
They’ve tried to take Joshua off the antibiotics for his required surgeries, but he immediately loses his reading fluency and his speech becomes slurred, Jamie said. For him, Lyme disease created neuropsychiatric symptoms. His antibiotics have to be changed routinely because the disease continues to fight them. In addition, since the Lyme disease, when left untreated, will amplify predisposed conditions, Joshua suffers from foot problems and neuropathy in his hands. Lyme has also attacked his immune system, prompting the need for him to have routine injections of Bcells.
Jamie Bierut's son, Joshua, is the subject of her book "Under the Rainbow Moon," which chronicles the families' 10-year struggle obtaining a diagnosis for his disease.
Read more: 'Under the Rainbow Moon' - Plymouth, MA - Wicked Local Plymouth http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/news/x1037503809/Under-the-Rainbow-Moon#ixzz2JvDzgDUr
Jamie has written a book about Joshua’s extraordinary story, titled Under the Rainbow Moon – Hope and Healing for Lyme, to help parents struggling through the pain of having a sick child. The book is a testament to this family’s determination never to give up, and the joy that can result.
“He’s a miracle for everything he’s gone through,” Jamie said. “It’s a Christian book. He’s such a gentle, affectionate, loving, sweet and helpful soul.”
Jamie is also a recording artist who has released a CD about Joshua’s story called My Son.
Under the Rainbow Moon – Hope and Healing for Lyme is available for $20.99 at Amazon.com and also at Bierut’s website jamiebierut.com, where her CD is also available for $13.99.
