Confronting the Lyme light

Saturday, October 11, 2008

By Robyn Vincent

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Like many valley residents, Scotty Button was “living the dream” when he moved to Driggs in 1995. Immersed in the organic food movement and an avid skier, Button was a proponent of healthy living, cultivating organic crops and digging trenches in the Tetons. With his buddy Tye Talt, he formed Mountain Valley Mushrooms and the company’s formula yielded product to a gamut of Teton County restaurants and markets. Business was flourishing and life was good.  But five years ago, during which time Tilt described Button as “healthy as a horse,” he met a little bug that shifted everything. While on a mushroom expedition in California, Button encountered a Lyme tick.

Overcome with fatigue and constant flu-like symptoms, Button performed extensive research on Lyme disease, convinced he was suffering from the infection. But correct diagnosis is difficult; symptoms often mimic other conditions and since tests for the disease measure the immune system’s response to infection, not its components, false negatives are a common occurrence.

With a slew of misdiagnoses – including Multiple Sclerosis – offered by M.D.s practicing everywhere from the valley to Vermont, Button’s symptoms worsened.
“Doctors performed countless MRIs on me, totally dismissing that the tick was the cause,” recalled Button, whose active lifestyle had morphed into a sedentary reality. Growing highly sensitive to lights and sounds - what Button described as an excruciating “sensory overload” - his body ached incessantly while his mind flooded with confusion. The once energetic farmer and outdoorsmen became “crippled in bed, unable to even walk.”

Button and others feel his misdiagnosis was in part due to hushed contention on the clipboards of infectious disease doctors and Lyme disease specialists. “There is a controversy between these doctors. It really boils down to insurance companies not wanting to pay,” Button explained, adding that his treatment has no end in sight, which makes insurance providers nervous.

After seeking treatment from a Lyme disease specialist in California, Button finally received a proper diagnosis. But the damage was already done; the condition had digressed to the last stage of Lyme disease, the point at which a definitive and finite treatment is unlikely. Button also tested positive for a disease similar to Malaria – Babesia and Bartonella – both easy to contract from a Lyme tick and both possessing bolstering power over the detriment of the disease.

After his long-awaited diagnosis, Button began an intense regimen of oral and intravenous antibiotics. At one point in the course of treatment, he injected medicine into his chest through a special catheter three times a day. Finally, Button was beginning to notice improvements in his health, although success wasn’t permanent. “It’s been a roller coaster ride,” Button said in a shaky voice. “I’ll start on a combination of antibiotics then I’ll start feeling better and think this is it – I’m finally going to be better. But then I get knocked back down a few months later.” Although Button said his mind is still “foggy,” he made plenty of sense, particularly regarding one of America’s most contentious issues that has now placed him in a dangerous predicament - Button has no health insurance.

Today, he has accrued more than $200,000 in medical debt and Teton County Hospital has halted further treatments, treatments that if Button doesn’t receive, will plunge him into the same debilitating state prior to his diagnosis. Displaying no ill-will, Button said the hospital is also in its own set of financial adversities and have always been kind during his treatments.

But the fact remains – Button is running out of time. Exposing some light at the end of this murky tunnel, Talt and friends have decided to throw ‘LymeAid’ on Friday – a benefit party to help pay the bills and educate the community on this debilitating and misunderstood disease. 

Beginning at 6 p.m. at the Teton TeePee Lodge, Chanman Roots Band, and other local favorites take the stage. Organic fixings, a silent auction and face painting for kids will be offered. Cover is $12, $10 for students and seniors; children under 12 get in free. Teton TeePee is located at 470 W. Alta. Call 353-8176.

Courtesy photo
Despite severe illness, Scotty Button remains positive.

PERMALINK:
Confronting the Lyme light | Planet JH News Article: General News

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