The breed has a reputation for being a fiercely loyal dog to its owner and family.  Many are trained to be guard dogs and can be very aggressive.  There has been some controversy around the breeds being used in dog fighting and being dangerous.  Some Cane Corso’s were found in the kennels of Michael Vick.

The Cane Corso does have fans among the hollwoody gliterati – including Tracy Morgan (see the training details here) and his two dogs Max and Sugar, Patty Labelle, Lebron James and many others.  The Cane Corso’s elegant and great looks are sure to be catch the eye of the celebs who love to own and train dogs.

Check out the following great video to see some historical photos and several of the dogs in action:

The history of the breed is interesting.  The breed can be seen extensively in the historical iconography of italy and in several regions were very popular and common.  Originally bred for military, protection (including from bears!) hunting and cattle herding, their usefulness began to wane with the modernization of Italy’s economy.  The breed nearly died out in the 70s but a group of hard core Cane Corso frans were able to keep the breed alive through careful breeding.  The breed has continued to evolve over the years and today’s Cane Corso looks somewhat different than its ancestors.   Into 2008 the Cane Corso was recognized by the United Kennel Club and then in 2010 by the American Kennel Club.

You may have heard the buzz bout Fiverr and its marketplace for services for $5.  You sign up, find a fiverr “gig” you like, pay your $5 via paypal and the fiverr provides you with the service requested.

Fiverr has gained a lot of national and media attention for some of the more “silly” offerings such as having a short video promotion done by a Fiverr speaking like an old time preacher or this guy will write your message on a slice of bread and then eat it as a promotion.  Fun but silly stuff.  Fiverr though is serious business as their recent round of $16 million in funding proves.

In reality Fiverr fills a services niche that has long been void – getting help with simple tasks that small businesses need help with.  For example, do you have a new product or web site you would like to promote?  Twitter has fast become one of the more powerful social networking services – if you can get your promotion sent out to 10s of thousands of Twitter followers you can immediately increase your visibility and drive traffic.  For $5 for example with TwitterKings on Fiverr you can get your message posted out to 50,000 of their followers.

Many of the fiverr’s provide service such as blog writing, article writing video editing, quick graphics editing, virtual assistant services and much more.  If your a small business owner, these services can be quick, easy, inexpensive and importantly low risk.  If you try a few fiverrs to get the services you need, you may find some good and some bad ones but once you find a few good ones they can be come regulars and part of your vendor network for small tasks.

What is amazing about fiverr is the nearly endless variety of gigs being offered.  You can also get some creative ideas for ways to market or supplement your business that you may never have considered in the past.  If you need to start a Youtube channel and need a few scripted testimonials for your product or services, there are some great fiverr gigs to consider.  Or, you can’t quite keep up with your blog and/or need to seed it with some solid listings, consider some of the writing related fiverr gigs.

A few tips to consider when using fiverr:

• Carefully look at the ratings of each fiverr – this will be an indication to their past success
• The country location of the fiverr is displayed, depending on the service you may want to take this into consideration
• Look at the feedback by other buyers of the fiverr’s gigs – for the solid fiverrs out there you will see lots of positive responses and maybe a few negatives.  But be sure to read down a few of them – sometimes there are gems in the data about how the fiverr really performs their service.
• After you purchase – most gigs require you to provide input such as instructions, links, etc.  Don’t forget that step.
• Fiverrs must indicate a time of delivery – be sure and be aware of that and you do have rights to cancel if they aren’t delivering on time.
• There are fiverr levels that can be met – you might consider looking for those fiverrs who have reached a certain level – but there can be gems found as well for new or maybe not as popular trending fiverr

If you haven’t tried fiverr, do some searching find some interesting gigs and give it a whirl.  Its low cost and low risk and you might just find a resources that can have a positive impact on your business.

Introduction

Netflix decided to wade into traditional “network” territory and produce their own “TV” series called Lilyhammer.  The first season has 8 episodes total.  According to Netflix they are planning to produced season 2.

Stevie (Little Steve of Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band fame) Van Zandt stars in the series as a classic mobster guy who… goes to Lilyhammer, Norway via the Witness protection program.  What follows is “fish out of water” story line that is amusing and engaging if not almost believable.

Episode 1:  Reality Check

The episode is appropriately named “Reality Check” because Giovanni has to adjust to a complete change of life – presumptively more so than the typical mobster who goes into the witnes protection program.  He decides to go to Northern Europe to Lilyhammer Norway – site of the 1994 winter Olympics.  Our first thought was – can you really relocate outside of the U.S. in the witness protection program?

A few key facts about the episode:

• Johnny was formerly Frankie the fixer Tagliano a mobster from New York City
• Johnny (Frankie) doesn’t like his new bean counter boss and knows he has to get out soon so testifies against Aldo Delucci
• His new name is Giovanni Henriksen
• He definitely isn’t going to abandon the “mob” way of life

• Johnny is wearing a “I Heart NY norsk” snow hat
• He quickly learns the Norwegians eat Sheep’s Head when he finds one in the road
• He is given a Small electric car do drive – in the icy snow
• Johnny rescues a sheep in his electric car
• Is the hero for killing the big bad wolf
• Johnny has on a nice winter jacket replete with pink “splotches” very becoming a former mobster

This episode is all about setting the stage for the show.  We find out quickly that Giovani was actually “Frank the Fixer” – a classic enforcer mob guy who looks, talks and walks the part.  Note that Van Zandt was also in The Sopranos and plays mob guys real well.  Johnny stand out like a big sore thumb.

One thing you have to get used to in this series is the constant switching between Swedish and English.  According to Wikipedia most of the population is fluent in English.  Reading subtitles is important and you will miss many of the more funny moments and nuances if you don’t watch closely.  Also you get to enjoy a few conversations where you would swear the Muppets swedish chef was one of the characters…

The fish out of water had to deal with the snow, local officials, down scaled living and much more in his quest to setup the lifestyle he is used to living as a New York mobster – the master of his domain.  He has to deal with also moving to a rural setting replete with wolves.

Fridtjov Såheim who plays the local “welfare” official Jan Johansen is hilarious and provides a fun balance to Johnny’s heavy demeanor.  Johnny has to interact with with him as a new immigrant and if he wants to get his bar license.  He soon learns there is even more “government” and rules in Norway than back home. He also uses his mobster ways on Jan to ultimately get his way…

Reality Check nicely sets up who all the players are and what the settings is and leaves you some solid anticipation of how this New York mob guy will navigate his way through the Norwegian culture and establish himself in Lilyhammer.  Lets hope the rest of the series is engaging as the first episode.

Episode 2:  The Flamingo

The way the episodes are introduced is a nice reminder of the change for Johnny.  Its starts with New York, mob type music then to Lilyhammer and Norwegian type music.

If you like the band BTW its one Little Stevie founded – The Cocktail Slippers.

Episode 3:  Guantanamo Blues

The episode opens with a classic mob “enforcer” type scene.  A client of the club hasn’t paid – that ain’t good… thus ensues another “how you can have fun as mobster with snow and ice scene”.  Meanwhile back at the police ranch the suspicions grow that Johnny is indeed an escaped Guantanamo terrorist.

We are now introduced in more depth to one of the key characters, Julius Backe who manages a new luxry moutain condo build out which Johnny clearly has set his sights on as the right kind of living for for him.  But an environmental “tree hugger” type stands in the way of getting the necessary property.  Somehow we think his mind will be changed….

Julius immediately stands out as cultured, well groomed, art lover, listener to classical music.  He will prove to be a fun and comic relief character to the rough and gruff mobster Johnny.

THe fun doesn’t stop with Johnny not being allowed to drive because he only has a class “M” license for motorcycles, Jan is doing another fun cross-cultural experience and the Tree Hugger is put on notice.

The really big surprise happens with Johnny’s new girl and honestly was quite unexpected this quickly into the series.  The implications are interesting for the rest of the show…

Johnny now has to get a Norwegian driving license and soon has to deal with the “big government” bureaucracy of Norway – he ain’t happy.  We are pretty sure Johnny will find his way out of doing 6 months of driving tests…

Meanwhile Johnnys #2 throws a dead chicken into the tree huggers bed while Johnny continues to study for his driving exam.  Truly hilarious.

Johnny begins to capture the heart of Sigrid’s son as being the cool guy, giving great gifts, etc.  The scene with Johnny at the table for the boys birthday party is pretty much a classic.  The juxtaposition of the old mob guy and the young boys is classic.

The episode wraps up with a toy gun causing havoc at a public event and a baby magazine – all pretty engaging and hilarious.  Van Zandt is clearly is in his element as an actor.

Some great quotes from this episode “that half a Michael Moore” – referring to the skinny tree hugger who is 1/2 the size of Michael Moore.  Remember what Confucius said “Man with generous offer often end up with umbrella up his a**” to the Tree Hugger after an “offer” has been made to buy his property.

Episode 3 brings us fully into the new world of the mob in Lilyhammer.  The mob way of doing things is starting to have its impact on the locals including the police, the women, the enemies and the the business men the mob want to be involved with – game on.

Episode 4:  The Midwife

As the title insinuates, this one is about Johnny’s new reality that Sigrid is going to have a baby.  It opens with Johnny and Sigrid at the Doctors office for her baby check up.  A ponytailed guy comes in who Johnny thinks is the Doctor but turns out to be the mid-wife – Johnny ain’t happy…  Johnny wants a “regular” mid-wife – a woman of course.

Johnny then wants to go to the Doctor in charge – who is a woman of course – he explains the problem is the mid-wife is a man.  The head Doctor isn’t amused.  We knew there was going to be some tough mob guy and doing baby type stuff hilarity – but the whole mid-wife thing was unexpected.

We next see the police board grilling the the two police offers who thought Johnny was Al Qaida and disrupted the big race.  Hovland has been suspended for six months.  The “arab” issue seems to be a recurring them as we will see later in the episode.

Johnny next finds out he has been reassigned to another city for their babies birth because of his unhappiness with a male mid-wife  - he isn’t happy because his girl will not be happy.  Johnny then enlists his new real estate development partner, Julius, to help fix things at the hospital.

While that is happening Julius finds out his son has converted to Islam… he ain’t happy.  We then see him cutting off his son’s beard – an insult to a muslim.

We then see Johnny, Sigrid and her son over at a another families having dinner.  The man is the “mom” while the wife is the manager of the local mall.  The role reversal is funny.  The scene of Johnny talking to the stay at home husband is a classic one – the mobster as the psychologist is classic.

Johnny’s riff on woman being food – e.g. “sugar, honey, cup cake” gets pretty vulgar – a bit shocking.  Lets hope the kid wasn’t actually there or saw it.  Its funny but really seems fairly out of place for the series.  It could have been done just as funny but in a less crass way.

We next see Geir Laila with Geir in some very skimpy underwear looking very white and very depressed for his suspension.  Laila is sending him to Graceland to because of his love for Elvis.

We next see a poker game and the stay at home Dad shows up ready to play some poker with the guys.  Meanwhile Geir is in the airport and continue his suspicion of anything that looks “muslim”.  He is suspicious of an Indian Sikh.  He turns out to be friendly and Geir and him hang together.

The rest of the episode carries out the story line with Johnny of course resolving his hospital issue and mid-”wife”.  Geir does begin to get a lead on Johnny not being who he is.

This episode gets us fully engaged into the the local culture – the baby turns out to be an excellent medium to progress Johnny’s fish out of water story line and have some fun with how things are done in Norway versus in the US.  Very funny and enjoyable.

The problem with the series is its plodding, depressing, complex and at time just monotonous.  One fatal flaw is there is no really uplifting aspect to the series.  Eli provides a little comic relief but thats about it.  Rush is just beyond a jerk and pathological and doesn’t really seem like a real character.  All the characters seem to be too one dimensional – the writers try to develop them but it just never works and its hard to really fall in love with any of the characters.

The other major issue with Stargate Universe is the characters go through a series of ongoing challenges that just seem impossible.  Ok yes we fully admit the original Stargate series had characters going through all kinds of crazy things.  But in this one it just seems to drag them down and down and down – its too real, too human and in short NO FUN. It seems a lot like a soap opera in space heading towards the ultimate answer of life, the universe and everything.

If you compare Stargate Universe to other series such as Start Trek, Battle Star Galactica (the new series) it lacks the balance, continuity, “realism” and deep and broad character development.  Universe could have done so much more with the stones and jumping back and forth and great ideas of exploration, etc.  But instead the battle between Earth leadership and Universe leadership and the Alliance and on and on and on and on.

Which leads to the additional flaw of the series – its just way too complex.  There is no way this group of people can handle all the issues thrown at them.  There is no team – the on going battle among the factions on the Destiny gets to be ridiculous and completely unrealistic.  There is just no way a team of people can keep guessing at some ship they never used, etc.  It just seems way too far fetched, even for Sci Fi.  Eli apparently a super math genius can somehow now “run the numbers” on everything and be accurate?  Its all just too much and makes the shows laborious to watch.  Its like work and not a diversion from the day to day.

Given all that – it would be nice to get the whole story completed and find out the big picture.  Does Eli make it (of course he does now that he is the smartest man in the Universe).  So is it God that Destiny is looking for?  A huge computer?  Just randomness?  A cruel joke by the auto-robot alien things?  Some closure would be nice to see what they were thinking and how they would pull it off (think Lost in the end or Battlestar Galatica) and if it would have worked.

Bottom-line – great concept – poor execution.  If the writers and producers could have just dialed it back a bit, made it more fun, developed a lovable character or two (think Hurley on Lost, Data on StarTrek, the Dr on Battlestar Galactica, Walter on Fringe, etc.) and had some more happy endings this series might have stuck.

Season 1:  Pilot: Part 1

The plane has crashed, Jack dashes into action amid the chaos.  We begin to see that something is not right about the crash and the island.

• Its a good thing Jack has alcohol from the plane for his wounds…
• The Black Smoke chose to not hurt any of the initially when it could have… except the pilot interesting…  must have already been sizing them up – did the black smoke know about the “event”?
• Walt can spell (bodies) and Hurley can’t – hilarious
• Jack thinks Kate will not runaway – thats how he judges her character – its clear that means something to her… no one probably ever thought that
• The rain suddenly starts and stops – is that the Black Smoke causing it?
• Charlie survives multiple close calls to being killed foreshadowing the future… when he is constantly saved?

Season 1:  Pilot:  Part 2

The Lost group is still in shock.  They are hoping for rescue, trying to sort out their situation and looking for hope in a radio signal.  We again start to get more glimpses of the fact that things aren’t right – Charlie wonders where they are…

• Kate judges Charlie to not be a coward up front – boy was she wrong based on his past but prescient based on his future
• Hmmm Shannon has a birthmark on her left leg – nice bikini
• The one thing that always seemed odd you would think they would all sit around and discuss the “creature” in great and fear – of course Kate and Jack do discuss it
• Sun shows defiance and un-buttons the top button… foreshadowing…
• The first picture in Walt’s comic book is a polar bear… foreshadowing…
• “I am a complex guy sweet heart” – great quote by Sawyer to Kate
• The slash on John’s right eye is so classic for the setting when he is playing backgammon – looking like the warrior already
• John tells Walt – “Two players – two sides.  One is light and one is dark.” – the ultimate foreshadowing of the whole series
• Jin’s sushi saves the baby?  it kicked after eating.
• Ah one of the greatest scenes of Lost the running polar bear – on an tropical island
• Jack is trying to save the marshal’s life with Hurley’s assistance – Hurley says – “Yah but I am not so good around blood…”  while blood is gushing Hurley says … “Dude…  Dude…”  Jack  ”Don’t even think about it Hurley… Dammit!” – Hurley tanks – Classic!
• After they shoot the polar bear… Kate asks “Where did that come from?”  Sawyer replies  ”Probably bear village how do I know?” – Another Classic!
• “Don’t forget to carry the 1 chief” – Sawyer says while Sayid is trying to do the math on how long the French’ woman’s distress call has been playing…

• The show opens with Jack getting beat up by a bully
• Charlie can’t swim and calls Jack to help – the hero goes back into action
• Jack saves Boone but they can clearly see a girl calling for help back out further in the sea – he can’t save her – we begin to see Jack’s sense of his need to save everyone
• Jack again sees the man in the suit
• Michael continues to struggle with being a father to Walt
• Next we see a conversation between
• Jack reminds Hurley and Charlie there are now 46 survivors not 47 since the girl drowned – clearly it hit him very hard – he must save them all – a recurring theme to the end
• Ah a reference to Carol Burnett by Jack’s father  - a truly hilarious show
• We see a brutal scene where Jack’s father tells Jack that he doesn’t have what it takes to make the hard decisions – to a very young Jack – wow – that will do some damage
• Jack dashes off after the man in the suit – at this point you wonder what the heck is going on!  We soon see its his father – who then disappears into the jungle – whoaaaa dude
• We then flash back to Jacks mom asking Jack to go after his father who has apparently left – basically we figure out that Jack’s family life is meeeesssseeeed up…  Jack apparently did something to is father  - something bad
• John Lock offers to be the hero again and find water since the camp is out and Claire needs water
• We then have a classic scene of Jack right on the brink of dying and John Lock shows up and saves him.  Was the man in the suit trying to kill Jack by leading him over the cliff?  Hmm….
• We begin to see the blossoming of the relationship between Charlie and Claire as he shows genuine care for her
• Jack comments that if he isn’t hallucinating about the man he sees then “They are all in a lot of trouble.” – boy how true it is…
• Lock alludes to his encounter with the monster as the “eye of the island” and its “beautiful” – hmm so is the moster luring Lock to his side?
• Now the man suit leads Jack to a cave with water and a bunch of dolls… and plane wreckage and ….. an empty coffin is father should be in – whoooaaa – where are they?
• Jack returns to the beach and asserts his authority… saving Boone who was protecting the water – a strong soliloquy

Great quotes from this episode:

• “Your in my light sticks” – Sawyer to Shannon about her legs – gotta love it (the quote not her legs)
• “Uhhhh the Chinese people have water”? – Hurley speaking about the Sun and Jin the Korean couple who have water when know one else does…
• “I traded Mr Miyagi my last bottle of water for a fish I caught” – Sawyer on how Sun and Jin got water when the rest has been stolen – Jin’s last name isn’t Miyagi…
• “If we can’t live together, we are going to die alone” – Jack urging the survivors to band together

Season 1:  Episode 6:  House of the Rising Sun

Great Quotes:

• ‘If you guys have finished verbally copulating…” – Charlie to Kate and Jack after they have been flirting
• “Oh you guys have an inside joke how absolutely wonderful for you both.” – Charlie to Kate and Jack while they have been flirting
• “Little louder Omar and maybe he will understand you” Sawyer to Sayid as he tries to sort out whats happening between Michael and Jin and Sayid tried to talk to Jin

Season 1:  Episode 7:  Confidence Man

• The Right Plants
• Water
• Appropriate Growing Environment

Here are a list of plants you should consider having in your garden to help attract butterfly’s: Lantanas, Asters, Joe-Pye Weed, Black-Eyed Susans, Butterfly Bush, Butterfly Weed, Liatris, Pentas, Coreopsis and/or Purple Coneflowers. These plants are all very attractive to butterflies and will be immediately attracted to their bright colors.

The second ingredient – water – is an easy one to provide. Make sure the are around these plant is well soaked. You can also have small fountains, bird baths and other containers to hold water. By providing water, you’ll attract butterflies to the water. Try and make the water easily accessible and as natural looking as possible to help attract butterflies.

The gardener has to provide an environment for the caterpillars to grow and feed before they turn into butterflies. You can plant the following in your garden in hidden areas to that as the caterpillars feed on them your garden will not become unsightly: Asters, Clover, Hollyhocks, Mallows, Marigolds, Milkweed, Thistles, Nettles, Parsley, Passion Flower,Violets, Sorrel, Snaptragons, and Plantain.These will be attractive feeding grounds to attract and allow the caterpillars to thrive and grow.

A garden full of butterflies can be a really wonderful thing.There is nothing like seeing your child or grand child see a garden full of butterflies. If you don’t have the time to prepare your garden – watch for butterfly gardens being promoted at your local zoo or arboretum.

A key to Facebook success are the games and apps available on the site. They provide an interactive and realistic environment for the gamer. They create the ambience that you the player are earning coins, making food, farming, vanquishing foes or whatever.

There are many different games available with some extremely popular games such as Farmville, Castleville, Gardens of Time, Backyard Monsters, Slingo, Words with Friends, and Hidden Chronicles. You name it they have a game for it and a player can easily spend a few hours playing it.

The game creators who make these are geniuses in leveraging the social platform of Facebook. The games will ask you to invite your friends, spend money for additional features, and asking you to sign up for different subscriptions and do different surveys.

Be careful though, the games are very fun but very addictive. You have no doubt seen invites to participate in FarmVille, CityVille, or The Sims Social.  Up and coming games such as World of Miscrits and Gardens of Time will continue to grow the popularity of Facebook as a gaming platform.

With the success that Facebook is having with timeline and the various other features, like the investment in Instagram, it’s only a matter of time before they dominate the small download computer game industry. Facebook will buy up game sites to create games for them.

Facebook is known for its games and apps and probably got the idea from the successes of Myspace and Yahoo. Many other different social networking and communication sites have seen much success in the games they were offering and it was a serious cash cow. Why not invest in something that is already successful? Why not let other people develop it and buy it off of them? For every game and app creator there’s 10 more like him waiting in line.

If you haven’t started trying out Facebook gaming, we would suggest accepting an invite from a friend who would like you to participate.  It can be a fun way to get started, they can give you some guidance and more than likely with you accepting their invite you are helping a friend further along in their gaming adventure.  Facebook gaming can be fun!

The diet is simple in that you can easily choose what to eat that is readily available and most importantly what NOT to eat.  The diet seeks to be similar to be similar to what someone living in the Paleolithic era would have eaten including vegetables, fresh fruits, lean meats and seafood.  These foods are high in soluable fiber, vitamis, omega-3s and lots of other great stuff.

Dinner Setting

What these foods do NOT have is refined sugars, the bad fats, salt, high-glycemic carbs, and lots of processing.  In short cut the dairy and grain products and focus on fruits, veggies and proteins.  Some call the diet the “hunter-gatherer” diet as its what foods were readily available to the hunter gatherer life style.

There are a large number of books available and different approaches to the paleo diet.  Some focus on different ratio of plants (carbs) to animal (proteins).  Others mix optimal exercise lengths and types that would have been similar to the paleo time period.

Some tips for eating paleo:

1.  Really take your time to figure out what you enjoy eating with in the spectrum of the paleo diet

2.  Plan your meals as your cooking style will have to change from less baking to more grilling and other methods

3.  Allows a “paleo break” when needed and have a small snack or meal that includes a few non-paleo items

4.  Plans your snacks carefully – this will be important to ensuring you don’t fall off the wagon – having the right snacks around will help

5.  Try a wide variety of vegetables and consider different cooking methods including grilling which can be delicious

6.  Spices can liven up different means and provide more variety

Eating paleo can be a big change in life style that not only impacts what you eat but also how you shop, how you cook, how you snack and how you eat out.  The good news is that eating paleo can be fairly easy as the right foods are widely available.  The bad news is you have to really plan and be ready for a major adjustment in diet.  The benefits for weight loss, energy level, and overall health can be extremely positive and is something to consider.

Antibiotic Treatments for Infections

I am a student of many doctors who came before me treating Lyme. I’m trying to stand on the shoulders of giants, but I sometimes think that those giants are standing so high up and doing such amazing work, that it’s hard for me to top that.

I don’t have a standard protocol that I use for all of my patients. My treatments for Lyme infections generally involve homeopathic, herbal, naturopathic, and sometimes even energy medicine methods, along with a strong pharmaceutical approach. I find that most of my patients need to take some pharmaceutical antibiotics to really knock out the infections. Using alternative methodologies alone makes it much less likely, statistically, that they will get over the disease.

My antibiotic approach is similar to that of Dr. Horowitz’s, and includes the use of double intracellular antibiotics, along with cell-wall and cyst-busting drugs such as metronidazole and tinidazole (5-nitroimidazoles) or nitazoxanide. I might also use macrolide and tetracycline drugs, as well as third generation cephalosporins. I don’t necessarily administer these all at the same time and some I will rotate.

I also aggressively treat co-infections, and while I don’t believe that it is mandatory to treat co-infections first, if I have to give my patients IV antibiotics for Borrelia, then I will treat their co-infections before I treat their Borrelia. With the exception of Babesia, antibiotic regimens for co-infections must also be rotated and switched on a regular basis. For Babesia, treatments are most effective when patients start with one type of medication and stay on it for a long period of time, and then over time, “stack” other medications on top of that one. Medications for Babesia include intracellular and anti-parasitic drugs such as atovaquone (Mepron or Malarone), mefloquin (Lariam), or clindamycin, quinine, nitazoxanide (Alinia), and possibly metronidazole. Using an extracellular phase drug such as primaquin can be useful, too. The most effective way to treat the Babesia species, however, is still somewhat up in the air in the medical community.

When patients first come into my office, if I know that they have Borrelia but I’m not sure whether they have co-infections, then I will order co-infection tests. In the meantime, I will either wait to treat them or start them on a medication such as Zithromax (azithromycin). Zithromax is a good drug to start with, because if it turns out that patients have Bartonella, then Zithromax combines well with rifampin (which is used for treating Bartonella). Or if patients have Babesia, then Zithromax combines well with Mepron (which is used for treating Babesia). Or if their test results show Ehrlichia, then doxycycline, minocycline, tetracycline or rifampin can all be added to the Zithromax. If patients end up having only Borrelia, then I can combine Zithromax with a cephalosporin or tetracycline drug, or even a cyst buster if it seems that their bodies are hardy and can handle aggressive treatment right away.

I often prescribe parenteral (IV or IM) therapy to patients that have strong neurological symptoms, to those who have been very sick for more than a year, who have gastrointestinal problems, or who can’t tolerate oral medications. I tend to try oral antibiotics for at least three months, before going the intravenous route. This is because if I hit patients with IV medications too fast, then they may get worse as a result of a severe Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction. This occurs when too much of a toxic load is created in the body and the organs become stressed as a result. IV medications may also perpetuate too much yeast overgrowth. For these reasons, I feel that I might be playing with fire if I start some of my patients off with IV antibiotics.

It can also be difficult to treat patients if they have a lot of co-infections, such as Bartonella, Mycoplasma, Babesia and Ehrlichia, or if they are quite ill with predominant symptoms of one or two of these co-infections. Such patients tend to get very strong reactions to treatments, which means that I can’t hit their infections as directly as I would like, because they will get too sick. Doxycycline, in particular, creates this type of scenario, especially in women. So while it may be an effective medication, I don’t like to use it in patients that have multiple, or severe, co-infections. Many practitioners like to start with doxycycline because it’s cheap and is mostly metabolized in the colon (instead of the liver and kidneys), which means that it’s fairly easy on the organs. It also has great activity against Borrelia, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia, and is somewhat effective for treating Babesia, Bartonella and Mycoplasma, but I find that people just “tank” if they take doxycycline when they have a lot of co-infections.

Doing oxidative stress, organic acid, plasma amino acids, RBC elements, mold antibody and stool tests, as well as tests for heavy metals, yeast and other environmental pollutants can help me to get an idea of what problems my patients have besides Lyme infections. Such information also helps me to determine whether they will “crash” on a particular antibiotic regimen.

Blood tests such as the C3A, C4A, CD-57, C3D, C1-Q Immune Complex and even ANA, rheumatoid factor and other immune tests of the like, tell me the amount of inflammation that patients have, which also helps me to determine the likelihood of them getting worse on a regimen. Doing a methylation panel and genetic profile can also be useful for this purpose.

A promising new test from Genelix assesses what drugs patients can tolerate, based on their genotype. As well, it measures other functions, such as how well they metabolize, assimilate and methylate. Such information enables me to determine whether my patients have liver detoxification or other problems. If test results demonstrate that they don’t tolerate antibiotics very well, for example, then I might refrain from prescribing drugs and instead put them on a detoxification protocol until their ability to tolerate medications increases.

If I suspect that my patients are sensitive to medications, I will start by prescribing them a gentle medication for Borrelia, or treat them instead for co-infections, as I watch for signs of “crashing.” In the past, I used to hit my patients hard with antibiotics, and they would eventually get better, but they would also have a flare-up or Herxheimer reaction for up to twelve or fifteen months following treatment, and that isn’t acceptable to me. When patients already feel bad, they can’t feel “more bad” for a year and a half before starting to feel good, especially if there is no promise that they are ever going to feel good in the first place! If patients do poorly on antibiotic regimens, then it means that I need to deal with other problems that they have and which are blocking the antibiotics from being fully effective. Or I might send them to a naturopathic doctor who knows a lot about detoxification, such as Drs. Claire Riendeau, Nicola McFadzean (see Dr. McFadzean’s chapter later in this book for more information on her protocol), Susan Marra and Amy Derksen, where they can receive detoxification treatments before I start them again on antibiotics.

Our Adoption Stories

We have a strong belief that it was God’s plan for our family to come together the way it did. We started out wanting to get pregnant and have biological children. But as we had infertility issues we decided that extensive fertility treatments was not something we wanted to do.

So we started the adoption process with lots of questions and very excited. We new immediately that being a bi-racial couple we were open to any race. And we also knew the very real reality that more than likely we would adopt an African American child since we were doing a domestic adoption. Black children are generally more available for adoption than any other race.

This was something as a future father I had to think hard about. Would I be ready to be a father a black child? Was my family ready for it? What would it mean? That was in the 90s when we didn’t yet have a black president and race was still a very taboo subject, especially among white people.

Ultimately of course we decided to adopt and after about 6 months of paperwork and we were approved…. 5 days later we had a 2 month old little girl as our new daughter. She hadn’t yet been adopted and was with a foster family. Its like she had just been waiting for her. 12 years later we are still blessed.

A few months after adopting our daughter my wife walked into the bathroom and said “I am pregnant.” I think I mumbled something like “thats nice” and kept on shaving. My wife said it again with a big smile on her face. Then it sunk in – YOUR PREGNANT? 9 months later we had our surprise son.

At that stage we weren’t sure if we were done or not and we made a big move to another state. At that stage we felt the call to adopt again. We had found an agency that had birth mothers wanting to put their babies up for adoption immediately. We ended up going through the process with two birth mothers who before the 48 hour time was up for them to change their mind – they had decided to keep their babies. That was tough. But in the end we know it was all part of God’s plan. We decided to stop the process as we were pretty wiped out from the process. A couple months later the adoption agency called us and said – how would you like to bring home a new daughter in the next couple days? The 48 hours has passed and we don’t have a waiting family to adopt the baby girl. We prayed about it, said yes and 3 days later our second daughter and third child home with us. We have been greatly blessed.

Our fourth child Gage literally came of of “hell on earth” from Haiti. We felt the call to adopt one more time and this time we had a heart for Haiti. When we started the process there was a stable government in Haiti. Then a coup happened, then things slowed way down. Thank the Lord our son came home before the big earth quake. It took 18 months and a LOT of work to get him home. When he came home he had multiple parasites in him, TB and more. Several years later now he is strong, healthy and blossoming.

Considering Adoption?

• Gladney Center for Adoption

For more than 100 years, Gladney has been a pioneer and a leading voice for improving the lives of children, adoptive families and women planning adoption. We recognize that adoption is a lifelong journey. Our customized programs and services…

• Bethany Christian Services: Adoption, Pregnancy Counseling & Orphan Care Agency

As the largest adoption agency in the U.S., Bethany provides domestic and intercountry adoption services, unplanned pregnancy counseling, and more. Visit Bethany.org to learn more.

• Adoption, International, Domestic, Waiting Child, Baby, Infant, Open, Adoption, Adopt, Adopting, Ado

Adoption.com is the authority for all things adoption. Check out our resources about pregnancy, domestic & international adoption, parenting, adoptees, foster parenting and more.