07-12-2010, 11:18 PM
My husband and son both had Lyme's disease although neither had the characteristic 'bull's eye' rash (is that what you have?) that's associated with Lyme's disease. In both my husband's and son's cases, medication cleared it up quickly, and I hope that's true in your case, too. However, this isn't always the case. Some people don't recover well from it.
My advice to you:
Do as much as you can before your insurance expires and be sure to tell your doctor about your insurance dilemma--he might be able to rush your lab tests through or something. Chances are he'll start you on medication right away, rather than wait until test results come back--they did this with both my son and husband because it simply isn't wise to postpone treatment just because you're waiting for a lab report to come back. It's wiser to start the meds right away.
Perhaps they won't run a lab test at all. That happened in my husband's case; they didn't even bother to do the lab test because they didn't feel it would serve any purpose--after all, they were still going to put him on meds right away no matter what--the lab test results wouldn't alter the treatment any. Thus testing my husband for Lyme's disease would just be a waste of money. But this was 15 years ago--perhaps they handle things differently now.
...but I read in Time magazine about 3 months ago that those insurances that last 6 months between jobs are virtually worthless. The problem is with what they call "pre-existing conditions." Your new insurer won't pay for bills for a condition that existed before you signed on with them. I'm not sure if Time Magazine was referring to COBRA or not (although I fear it was) but read your COBRA contract carefully to find out if they will continue treating you as if you'd never left your former insurance company.
At any rate, ask your doctor his opinion--but I think the odds are on your side that you'll come out of this possible case of Lyme's disease just fine, just like my husband and son did with no ongoing problems.
Here's another thought: If you're fine for a long time after treatment and THEN come down with fibromyalgia-like problems or whatever years later--I don't see how the new insurance company could link your new symptoms with your former Lyme's disease.
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