I re wrote my email to the editorial bitch. I figured, I might as well do some research and get more information. Plus I forgot to put in the part where Sexton's from here. His parents live here, this is home town and he's been here in the hospital here.
This is the new version:
Dear Ms. Hill,
I'm very confused by your recently editorial regarding Wyatt Sexton because the editorial was poorly written and researched I would like some clarification.
First -- in your editorial you said "A few weeks ago, I wrote that it would be better if Sexton had a drug problem rather than an incurable, but treatable mental condition, such as bipolar disorder."
I was floored to read this. Completely struck dumb and then irate.
Exactly how would it be better? Are you saying that an incurable drug addiction (because there is no cure for drug addiction) is better than an illness that is treatable? I have bipolar disorder, I'm on medication and I know that as long as I take my medication I will be stable. If, on the off chance, my medication doesn't work correctly I can go to the doctor and adjust my medication. There is no temptation to face daily, no desire to get high, no craving, no addiction. If this is your position -- that addiction is preferable to a treatable condition -- do you feel that way about all treatable but incurable conditions? If Wyatt Sexton were diagnosis with Lupus or MS or diabetes would you say, also, that he would be better off a drug addict?
Or did you mean that there is less of a stigma attached to drug addiction? That the general public is more likely to understand and react sympathetically to addiction than it is towards mental illness? Because if that is the case then you are perpetuating the stigma.
I also take offense at your implication that maybe there is something more than Lyme Disease going on with Sexton, that maybe his family is using the excuse to hide something like drug addiction.
You aren’t a doctor and neither am I but using www.google. It only took me a few minutes to find The American Lyme Disease Foundation’s website at: [link] They have an informative and easy to read website that provides the following information about Lyme Disease.
Regarding the late stages of the disease:
Arthritis (pain/swelling) of one or two large joints Disabling neurological disorders (disorientation; confusion; dizziness; short-term memory loss; inability to concentrate, finish sentences or follow conversations; mental "fog") Numbness in arms/hands or legs/feet
The website also says: If early symptoms are undetected or ignored, you may develop more severe symptoms weeks, months or perhaps years after you were infected. “
Regarding treatment and a cure (bold face mine)
Early treatment of LD (within the first few weeks after initial infection) is straightforward and almost always results in a full cure. Treatment begun after the first three weeks will also likely provide a cure, but the cure rate decreases the longer treatment is delayed.
According to this website there is a chance that Wyatt Sexton’s Lyme Disease can be treated but not cured. If this is the case do you still think he would be better off addicted to drugs?
Your closing paragraphs again highlight your lack of research for this editorial.
You said “The smartest thing might be for Sexton to never come back to Tallahassee. It’s not like he built some great legacy at FSU.”
Tallahassee is Wyatt Sexton’s home and he’s been here in the hospital. Wyatt graduated from high school here, his father is an assistant football coach at FSU. He won’t be kicked to the curb.
Even if he wasn’t a home town boy and had an incurable, yet treatable mental illness he'd be treated with compassion and understanding. Something you seem to know little about.