**Update 4/16/2015** It was recently brought to my attention that my blog may not have been clear with regard to who was in charge of my care while at Infusio.

Michael Wittstadt is a Naturopathic doctor and has worked for more than 10 years in the field of integrative medicine. In Germany, Naturopathic doctors receive five years of schooling. The director of the stem cell clinic, Katrin Pesic, is a MD and spent time working in the U.S. at John’s Hopkins.

For me, this was a not an issue since I purposely chose to work with a Naturopathic Doctor for my Lyme treatments. While in school I recently learned this interesting fact:

Naturopathic Medicine flourished from ancient times until the 1930’s, when the American Medical Association successfully suppressed it, both legally & economically. Medical science then predominated, backed financially by the large medical, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies.

So technically, Naturopathic Medicine is the “original” way medicine was practiced!

Okay back to the original post 🙂

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Why am I going to Infusio? Because ever since I found out I had Lyme disease I’ve wanted to kick this little, spiral shaped bacteria’s, “boo-tay” and I think Infusio can help accomplish that goal!

This was one of the quickest “big” decisions my husband, and I have ever made. Everything easily fell into place, which is awesome considering we are traveling overseas, at the last-minute. A similar thing happened a couple of years ago when we bought our house, it was unexpected, happened fast, but was a smooth, easy transition, and it’s been a blessing! It’s amazing how quickly God opens doors sometimes!

I still can’t believe we decided so quickly!

After my appointment, my husband was ready to pack our bags. I’m a major planner, and last-minute decisions can be stressful for me. I’ve been trying to remind myself that I don’t need to plan everything! I recently saw this Mandy Hale quote and it spoke to me.

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.”

That’s what I’m attempting to do! I did need few days to ponder this big decision, especially since we’d have to cancel our 15th wedding anniversary trip to Maui. I wanted to talk to my Lyme doctor, and others who’d been to Infuiso.

My doctor was supportive and said the treatments didn’t seem like a high risk undertaking. In his opinion, the type of stem cell treatment done at Infusio is much different from embryonic or skin stem cells. He said because stem cell treatment is relatively new, they don’t know if multiplying cells could cause future issues. He reminded me that because I’m “able-bodied” I should consider the risk to benefit ratio. I really appreciated he was straightforward with me.

I talked with three people who’d been treated at Infusio for Lyme disease, and they had nothing but great things to say. They all made their decisions quickly as well, so that made me feel a bit less “crazy!”

I thought a lot about quality of life, and how I’d like to spend the rest of my life. I don’t want to continue this back, and forth anymore, and keep my body in a constant state of stress.

A big reason for choosing Infusio is that we want kids! I know being a parent is a demanding job, and I would prefer not to be a sick parent. I would like my husband to not have to deal with the Lyme roller coaster anymore. I’d like to ride bikes, and hike without struggling. As much as I try to not let Lyme limit some activities, it does, and I’m over it!

I’m tired of visiting the doctor every 6-8 weeks. I have a great doctor, but honestly I’d rather do something else! Taking tons of supplements and immune support to feel good only half the time, or wondering if something like a teeth cleaning might trigger a relapse, is annoying.

I would like my brain to work correctly EVERY day. Forgetfulness, word finding issues, brain fog, speech issues, etc. are very annoying. Someone in their 30’s shouldn’t feel like their brain function is waning.

I don’t believe long-term antibiotics are the right answer for how I overcome this. The potential for candida overgrowth, and how they weaken your immune system is just not cool with me. The past several months of antibiotics didn’t improve my symptoms.

And finally, I don’t want to get worse! Staying stagnant after almost a year of treatment is concerning.

Out of all the clinics I researched, Infusio felt like the best fit for me. One thing I’ve learned along the way is to trust my gut instinct, and what works for one person trying to overcome Lyme, may not work for another. Something all the clinics I researched have in common is that they are pricey. I guess all of us overcoming Lyme have that in common, it’s an expensive journey, lucky us 🙂

Those are some of the many, many reasons I’m getting on that plane to Germany this Thursday.

My husband said, “If something’s not working, you need to change what you’re doing.”  So Infusio here I come!

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If you’d like to know more about my Infusio experience, please contact me. I’m happy to speak with you via phone, or connect via email. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how stem cell work, I highly recommend listening to this 38 minute podcast, How Stem Cells Work.