In Memory of Dr. A. Martin Lerner

beaker

beaker

ME/cfs 1986
Messages
773
Location
USA
Peace Dr. Lerner. Thank you for all the help you gave to your patients and to the entire #MEcfs community.
Your kindness, caring, and insight into this plague will be missed by all. May you now be free of pain and receive back exponentially of what you gave on this earth. God Bless.
 
anciendaze

anciendaze

Senior Member
Messages
1,841
It was not until 2010 that I read about the "Punta Gorda Flu" in Florida. It seemed hard to believe this had been overlooked since 1956. I went to the trouble of getting the NEJM paper on this investigation, by Henderson and Poskanzer. Henderson was a known quantity with an excellent reputation in epidemiology, but the CDC seemed to have lost any recollection of him. Poskanzer was a respected neurologist who went on to investigate clusters of MS in places like the Orkney Islands. Poskanzer et al. also proposed a "two-hit" model of a number of neurological diseases.

Who did the extensive library research to connect present illness with past reports -- at a time when you couldn't just search the Internet? Dr. Lerner.

Who made serious attempts to treat the illness with antivirals at a time when this was professionally dangerous? Dr. Lerner.

He was the one who insisted treatment had to last longer than a few weeks. He also emphasized there was frequently onset of chronic illness following an acute viral illness. This model is now being used in a number of research studies. He was decades ahead of the official medical establishment.

Personal confession: I just happened to pass through Punta Gorda in 1956, and stayed in a tourist destination nearby where people from Punta Gorda held service jobs. I wasn't too sick at the time, but when the Asian Flu hit in 1957 I was so sick I was afraid I was going to live. This is my basis for believing in a "two-hit" model.

You can find psychiatric research by Karl Menninger on the increase in psychiatric illnesses after the "Spanish Flu" epidemic of 1918, and on the surprising recovery some individuals made years later without any currently accepted treatments. I haven't seen corresponding research on the consequences of the Asian Flu epidemic of 1957. It seems most doctors of that time "knew" psychiatric diseases were not caused by viruses, and that psychiatric diagnoses were infallible.

Dr. Lerner was an important exception. We will all miss him.
 
heapsreal

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,223
Location
australia (brisbane)
anciendaze said:
It was not until 2010 that I read about the "Punta Gorda Flu" in Florida. It seemed hard to believe this had been overlooked since 1956. I went to the trouble of getting the NEJM paper on this investigation, by Henderson and Poskanzer. Henderson was a known quantity with an excellent reputation in epidemiology, but the CDC seemed to have lost any recollection of him. Poskanzer was a respected neurologist who went on to investigate clusters of MS in places like the Orkney Islands. Poskanzer et al. also proposed a "two-hit" model of a number of neurological diseases.

Who did the extensive library research to connect present illness with past reports -- at a time when you couldn't just search the Internet? Dr. Lerner.

Who made serious attempts to treat the illness with antivirals at a time when this was professionally dangerous? Dr. Lerner.

He was the one who insisted treatment had to last longer than a few weeks. He also emphasized there was frequently onset of chronic illness following an acute viral illness. This model is now being used in a number of research studies. He was decades ahead of the official medical establishment.

Personal confession: I just happened to pass through Punta Gorda in 1956, and stayed in a tourist destination nearby where people from Punta Gorda held service jobs. I wasn't too sick at the time, but when the Asian Flu hit in 1957 I was so sick I was afraid I was going to live. This is my basis for believing in a "two-hit" model.

You can find psychiatric research by Karl Menninger on the increase in psychiatric illnesses after the "Spanish Flu" epidemic of 1918, and on the surprising recovery some individuals made years later without any currently accepted treatments. I haven't seen corresponding research on the consequences of the Asian Flu epidemic of 1957. It seems most doctors of that time "knew" psychiatric diseases were not caused by viruses, and that psychiatric diagnoses were infallible.

Dr. Lerner was an important exception. We will all miss him.
Click to expand...


Interesting you mention the two hit theory. My dr said it was common in cfs afteri told him I had cmv mono followedby chickenpox a month or 2 later followed by ebv mono. So a triple hit all within 6 months.

Be interesting to research this more.
 
A

amoebatt

Messages
2
To those of you who were patients of Dr. Lerner...

I was in search of a place where I could go for help once Dr. Lerner passed away. There were long waits at multiple places. I initially tried to get an appointment at Dr. Montoya's clinic with no luck (6 month to 1 year wait).

I recently came across a post on Dr. Montoya's Stanford Infectious Disease Clinic site specifically addressing Dr. Lerner's patients. I called the number immediately and was able to get scheduled right away without requiring a referral. I did state that I was a longstanding patient of Dr. Lerner and that was all that was required. I was seen in the clinic 4 days later by one of Dr. Montoya's PAs. She was wonderful and quite well-versed in ME/CFS. She took her time and addressed each question thoroughly. Any questions she was unsure of answering, she immediately went outside and asked Dr. Montoya. I felt more than comfortable with her management. I am a physician and I had no concerns whatsoever with her care. My experience at Stanford was phenomenal. I have no regrets about going. The entire staff was very professional and compassionate.

My follow-up visit was scheduled 6 months later. Although seemingly expensive (and it is), my insurance did cover the majority of the visit cost (excluding lab tests and travel expenses of course). If I was to calculate out-of-pocket expenses for visits every 6 months to visit Stanford vs. every 6 weeks with Dr. Lerner, I think it comes out to be equivalent. I understand that travel costs and energy requirements to do so may be prohibitive for many of you, but I wanted to provide my feedback so those of you considering it, could perhaps make a better informed decision.

Finally, if you do decide to call, you may be told that the wait is 6 months to 1 year, but this is an error. The scheduling department is still working on updating all of their schedulers regarding the additional clinic hours (as there are new PAs that have been hired on). Ask for Rachel. She is aware of this and will be able to help get you in.

Be sure to write out a detailed description of your entire course, bring your labwork (especially those drawn by Dr. Lerner) and have the name of a primary care doctor available. I organized all of my LabCorp results into an Excel Spreadsheet so that they could more quickly analyze the results. They did redraw many of their own labs and I did find that I had elevated titers for 2 additional viruses and many more problems with my immune system than I had previously known. I am happy I went as I was getting ill rather quickly. Now I have some answers.

I am forever grateful for the years of care that Dr. Lerner provided me. I wish he were still here, but I know he is guiding me from above. I am happy to provide assistance to anyone here to the best of my ability. I hope that someone finds this helpful.
 
S

sosumi

Messages
33
amoebatt said:
To those of you who were patients of Dr. Lerner...
I am happy to provide assistance to anyone here to the best of my ability. I hope that someone finds this helpful.
Click to expand...

How do I contact you for assistance? I tried to message you back in November. Thank you!
 
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