FFC -Kathleen

[Guest guest]

{Moderator: Accidentally hit delete instead of approve on the original post.

Here it is on behalf of Kathleen.}

Just to let you know, I have been diagnosed with two things.. Mold/biotoxin

illness and CFS/ME. Both diagnoses were by top doctors in the field... Dr.

Shoemaker and Dr. Cheney. The Fibro and Fatigue Center diagosed me as a hormone

patient..not having CFS/ ME and also wanted me to go back to work because they

felt I WAS NOT SICK. But I didn't know that at the time that this was their

medical assessment. Everything that happened to me happened in three visits (

two months time) I am now in heart failure.. both diastolic and systolic. with

severe heart damage..

I had been in contact with Dr. Teitelbaumn for over a year prior to going to

the Pittsburgh Center, because he was the only one I knew ,at the time , and had

been using many of his, as well as others', alternative treatments. He had all

the search engines flooded... so his name is the one that always came up. I was

on a half year sabbatical that was due to end in January of 08. I left work 8

days early because I was so sick in May of 07. . ( couldn't even make it to the

end of the school year) I had been sick seriously since 2005. But I kept trying

to find answers... researching and researching on the internet and trying to

find treaments that would at least keep me going. I pushed myself to work each

day. The summer of 06 I was completely bedbound until I started three B-12

shots a day ,several weeks before the school year. I also would break out into

hives anytime I ate anything the start of the summer. I had been doing

colonics, which seemed to help me. . I had been ill in early 80's with candiasis

from a sick building. I got well with the help of an alternative doctor. In

1991 when I was diagnosed with a twin twin transfusion pregnancy , while in the

sick building, I also learned so much from other alternative doctors, the

National Health Federation and Maureen Kennedy Salaman.. So I was not new to

regular medical care , nor alternative care.

As I was getting a bit better from high doses of Vitamin C to bowel tolerance

levels..in October of 2007, I realized that this was something that was helping

me. So I continued on. When I saw that I was not going to be better by the end

of my sabbatical, I realized in November that I needed to do something even more

aggressive, so I would be ready for work in January. Now mind you, I had never

heard of this illness.. nor had I ever heard of anyone else being sick like

myself. I had no clue that there were others out there sick for 20 plus years...

I think that was a good thing, in hindsight..

Anyways, I went to the clinic at Dr. Teitelbaum's suggeston and Dr. Aldino

Pierotti was staffing the center. This doctor was on probation from the state of

PA for falsifying credentials. He had received a full year's suspension, but

because he pled guilty it was reduced to a $10.000.00 fine, two and a half

weeks suspension and course work. He was not able to get a license in Ohio

because he lied on that application about his difficulties in two residencies..

one he was fired from. He has also lost his license in Washington DC for lying

about his credentials, saying he was board certified when he was not. To make a

long story short... the Fibro and Fatigue Centers will take any doctor...

whether qualified or not and give them a crash course.. They don't understand

what they are doing.. nor the idiosyncracies of the illness. This is what

happened in my case. Dr. Pierotto did not have any understanding of what he was

doing ... nor any understanding about what the side effects of the medications

he was giving. When I told him the hydrocortisone was making me extremely ill,

he said I was detoxing. When he gave me the T3 when my free T3 and free T4

levels were at the high end of normal, he did not slowly ramp up the dosage.

This is crucial to determining what the body can handle. No he slapped me with

hydrocortisone that was making me bedbound with high temps and sore throats and

had no idea I was having a reaction.. My last ounce of immune resistance was

being compromised and he didn't even know that. Even the social security doctors

knew that. And he was supposed to be an expert????Dr. Teitelbaum said he would

see to it that he NEVER admininstered medication in that manner again. Dr.

Teitelbaum knew what he had done and wouldn't admit it. Dr. Teitelbaum had been

warned about using T3 medication by every other CFS/ME doctor that is out there.

Dr. Teitelbaum knew this and wouldn't say a word .All they did was give me back

my $600.00 for heart failure. When Dr. Teitelbaum asked me to go to another

center , I refused. Dr Teitelbaum worked with my me, and my MD brother

afterwards. Dr. Teitelbaum had me doing things that were making me much more

sick after the heart attack. He would do stupid things like tell me to

exercise.. Dr. Teitelbaum didn't have a clue. When I met him he was telling me

that I would get better. After I saw Dr. PIerotti and worked with Dr. Teitelbaum

after the heart attack , he told me to file for social security. I won it on the

first try without the aid of an attorney. Dr. Teitelbaum knew full well that the

T3 caused the heart attack and when I asked him afterwards, he didn't say a

word. Fortunately for me Dr. Cheney verified what they did as blatant

medical malpractice.

The only good thing that the F & F Center did for me.. assured I would be

permanently disabled and get social security on the first try without the aid of

an attorney.. So you always have to look at the silver lining in the cloud..

I know of other F & F Centers that have taken loads of money and bankrupted

people. They lost their homes trying to get well. And not one did get well. One

family member in Atlanta had their mother in detox because they gave her too

many medications.. when they warned them upfront that the woman had addiction

issues. There are several centers that have had state licensing board sanctions

on their doctors from the Fibro and Fatigue Centers. My suggestion.. read and

research and get a good doctor that will work with you... And when you start

something.. do not start many things at once. Start things one at a time.. see

how you react.. The Fibro and Fatigue Centers are business based and push

everything and anything. How do you know how you will react to something if you

are doing many things at once.

It's unfortunate that these Centers are so money centered and require that you

pay upfront for many sessions. Are they serious about getting you well or is

there a corporate mandate that requires the doctors to push too much on the

patient at one time. I don't care what kind of program they have..... I just

feel that unless you trust the doctor from the get go, you are making a big

mistake. I knew just as much , if not more than the one I saw. I have worked at

this for years and years. I was not a newcomer to alternative medicine. I paid

my dues with many illness. I recovered each time. But this time.. I cannot get

over the hump.. I have been done in this time..

So that is my story short and sweet.. Read books and have your doctor read them

too..

Kathleen