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SEARCHING FOR answers

A new diagnosis gives local potter Phil Chapman hope

Date published: 6/11/2006

Story by EDIE GROSS Photos by SUZANNE CARR ROSSI

THE SETTING was a familiar one for Phil Chapman--another doctor's office, another round of test results.

After listening to a barrage of information on his latest blood work, Chapman asked his physician to break it down for him.

"So when I talk to my mom tonight, what do I tell her?" asked Chapman, a Fredericksburg potter for 30 years.

"You tell her you've got Lyme," his doctor answered.

For many, the diagnosis would be discouraging. Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks, can cause a range of problems, from fatigue to crippling joint pain.

But for Chapman, the news was a second chance.

Only seven months earlier, he'd been told he had ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The pace of ALS varies as it robs its victims of their ability to move, speak and even breathe on their own. But the end result is always the same: death.

The Free Lance-Star chronicled Chapman's condition in a story in December, just before the community gathered for a fundraiser and retrospective of his work.

Now, in February, he was looking at a different, more hopeful diagnosis.

The news didn't mean he didn't have ALS. Some patients, as unfair as it may seem, can suffer from both ALS and Lyme.

But maybe, just maybe, Chapman hoped, the muscle weakness and fatigue he'd been feeling for more than a year were from Lyme, a condition far more treatable than ALS.

On top of that, his doctor informed him that he had high levels of lead in his body, which also could be contributing to his illness. That, too, could be treated.

That evening, he and wife, Trista, toasted the news with champagne.

"We learned all about ALS. Now we have to learn all about Lyme," Chapman said at the time. "Back to the Internet."

Since then, the overnight recovery he had hoped for hasn't materialized.

He's still tired. His right side has weakened, and he loses his balance more easily. His speech has slowed.

The frustration he and Trista feel has been compounded by the amount of conflicting information available on Lyme disease and its relationship--or lack thereof--to ALS.

Chapman's read a stack of books on the subject and pursued a host of traditional, alternative and homeopathic remedies over the last four months.

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Date published: 6/11/2006