Suzanna takes you down to her place near …

Suzanna was assessed by both David Healy (DH) and Josef Witt-Doerring (JWD) in October and November 2021.  She had previously filled an intake form with the details of her history and clinical course following the vaccine. She had provided us separately with Primary Care Physician (PCP) records covering the last 10 years and over time with an increasing number of records from some of the specialists she has attended in search of an answer to her problems, along with test results as they came on stream.

Past Medical History

Suzanna had tuberculosis as a child, malaria in early adult life and from birth has had a translocated chromosome found by accident that may have made it hard to conceive but otherwise appears to have had no health effects.

None of the above appears relevant to the events that have happened post vaccination.

Pre-vaccination she was a triathlete and enjoyed endurance bike rides.

Vaccination

Suzanna had all childhood vaccines and gets the flu vaccine most years.  Her two children have also had all vaccines per schedule.

She had the Pfizer vaccine in March with the second dose in April.  Her husband had the Moderna vaccine at the same time and had no ill-effects. She was vaccinated because she believed it to be her civic duty to get protected.

Despite running into difficulties soon after her second dose, her two children were given the first shot of vaccines but not the second when it became clear how significant her difficulties had become and the problems in establishing what was happening.

Suzanna’s initial sign was a painful left sided lymph node in her neck that appeared the day after the vaccine.  This was extensively investigated without anyone committing to a diagnosis other than this can be linked to infection, inflammation, or other problems.

She quickly became extremely fatigued, and this fatigue has persisted.  Getting up off a couch became a challenge, leaving her certain there was something wrong with her.

Current Problems 

The fatigue developed to the point where it was difficult to walk.  She took to a wheelchair for hospital or other visits. Her right leg appeared particularly weak, and she had a burning pain in her right inner thigh that felt like razorblades in her veins. This is still present and can be very bad at times.

She developed tingling in her legs and other odd sensations like feeling water was running over her legs. Initially the sensations were not too bad, but they have gotten worse and become painful.

She became dizzy or disco-ordinated – bumping into doorframes. Her dizziness made riding a bike close to impossible, even on tandem.

She developed a right eye problem.  Her eye would close both of its own accord and as part of an effort to reduce what felt like excess stimulation.  If she wanted to concentrate, she had to close her eyes.  Her eyesight deteriorated.

Her right pupil began to fluctuate in diameter so obviously that even family members could spot it. This has been diagnosed as Horner’s syndrome, but Horner’s syndrome is usually invariant rather than variable and involves eyelids in addition to pupils.

She had a long period of not sweating but she now perspires again.

Any exertion even an extended interview can knock her back badly.

She developed brain fog – troubles with concentration and memory and a general sense of not functioning as well cognitively as would be normal for her.

She developed a rash on her right forehead that has remained, and she bruises easily.

Medical Responses

The responses from her physicians from the start have surprised her.  Faced with something obviously wrong which they don’t understand, they seem to prefer to close their eyes to it rather than relish the challenge.

She had several ER visits in May where CT and MRI scans were done with and without contrast, after which she was told there was nothing obviously wrong on the tests and she could go home – despite having something very obviously wrong.

She went to the nearby Mayo Clinic on May 26-28 where among others she saw the head of neurology who commented on her brisk reflexes, but who, despite obvious pupil abnormalities, had little to suggest other than she might have had a stroke.  Brain scans did not confirm this.

There was something of a hint that she had a pre-existing nervous condition, something like functional neurological disorder but this was not spelt out.

A rheumatologist checked her for auto-immune dysfunction, initially suggested Sjogren’s Syndrome but the blood work did not confirm this. When this didn’t work out, his response was I have no Plan B so I guess this is arrivederci.

A later rheumatologist at the University of Minnesota was also convinced she had Sjogren’s. Four salivary glands were removed; these contained “chronic inflammation” but, did not confirm Sjogren’s. Additionally, they did a test for dry eyes to confirm Sjogren’s but, again, along with additional blood tests for Sjogren’s, that was negative.

Neurologists have generally responded that there is nothing here even when faced with obvious abnormalities and have wanted to go down a repeat brain or spine scan route followed by an EMG and only then a possible biopsy for Small Fibre Neuropathy (SFN) even after she produced evidence of SFN from an eye examination.

The only doctor who did not respond in this way was a neuro-ophthalmologist who tested the cornea of her eyes and using Corneal Confocal Microscopy found evidence of SFN in both eyes.

Her neurologist finally did a biopsy for SFN in December 2021 and the results a month later confirmed that she does have SFN. On this basis she has been handed over to another neurologist who specializes in SFN.

Aside from the above, she has been offered a range of treatments for migraine or nervous problems and these seem to have been quite misguided and potentially lethal.

Test Results

She now has clear evidence on Corneal Confocal Microscopy testing as well as an SFN biopsy of small fibre neuropathy. Her right eye appears to have other abnormalities also.

An initial Tilt Table Test did not confirm POTs but a subsequent one along with QSART test has pointed to some adrenergic and cardiovagal dysfunction.

Diagnosis

Reviewing Suzanna’s case history and listening to the interactions between her and the medical system suggests a system facing something new for which it does not have good tests, good procedures, good answers or even decent medical awareness about how to go about making a diagnosis in a case like this.

Both JWD and DH independently diagnosed Suzanna with a sensory neuropathy before the results of the SFN biopsy confirmed this. An SFN diagnosis fits the bill in terms of the problems Suzanna complains of but also in terms of the lack of easily available medical tests to help make a diagnosis.

There is a great deal of overlap between Suzanna’s case and many other post-vaccination cases but in addition both hers and many of the other cases while sharing things in common also have distinctive features as for example her right eye problem, the rash on her forehead and other features.  This variation along with the phasic nature of the problem, with one set of features slowly changing into others, makes it difficult for the medical system to get to grips with what is going on.

Variations like this are typical of toxic effects and can confuse doctors who are used to the classic picture of clinical conditions.

Prognosis

Suzanna does not see any improvement over time.  If anything, she may be getting slightly worse.

Her new neurologist made an application for IVIg but this was turned down possibly on the basis of simple coding error.  A further application has been sent in.

Suzanna continues to meet snide hostility.  She testified at the November 2 Capitol Hill meeting – see Suzanna’s Testimony  This link with her testimony also shows a snide comment, which is completely incompatible with the evidence from the tests that have been done and come back positive.

It shouldn’t be necessary to wait for positive tests.  Part of making an assessment is deciding if this person is genuine.  Of course it is still possible for a doctor to be fooled but Suzanna was completely believable and her strange clinical picture is completely consistent with toxicity.  This was not just a general feeling bad picture – there were too many specific things like her eye problem which didn’t fit a diagnosis of someone having a psychological problem.

The real diagnostic difficulty here is not what’s wrong with Suzanna – she’s been poisoned. The question is why do so many decent people in healthcare not seem to be able to or want to see this.

Two Years Later

The title of this post was deliberate.  While the system refused to believe her, I found Suzanna immediately believable. After a lot of medical disbelief, she was surprised.

See The Invisible Doctor

White Coat Syndrome © Nina Otulakowski April 2022