A Call For HelpsteemCreated with Sketch.

in #medical5 years ago

Look, she didn’t want me to do this but I’m starting to trip out—I can’t imagine what’s going through her mind. My wife, @puravidaville, the most beautiful woman in my life and one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met is experiencing some medical complications that we can’t get diagnosed for the life of us.

About a year prior to us leaving the United States, we began spending time in multiple doctors offices between Los Angeles and San Francisco, trying to figure out the drastic increases and decreases in her blood sugar levels. They’ve ran so many blood tests on her, extracting vial after vial of blood, and ran her through enough extensive machinery, one would think the answer would be in black and white by now—it’s not. A doctor in Los Angeles attributed her symptoms to leaky gut syndrome, prescribed some antibiotics, and sent us on our way. That seemed to work for a few months.

When we arrived in Central America, her symptoms returned. Upon visiting a doctor in Costa Rica without any luck, we were referred to a doctor in Panama who we were told could help—we went to Panama. Her thyroid came back normal, “leaky gut” wasn’t mentioned, however, for the first time in over a year of medical testing, she was diagnosed pre-diabetic—whatever the F that means?!

Around the same time, prior to leaving the states, she learned she can’t consume gluten without her chin and neck area breaking out into a sort of reddish colored rash. For those of you who have been following us, you’re already aware that she and I are about as healthy as we can possibly be with our eating habits. Neither of us eat meat other than fish, we don’t consume any dairy, there’s actually a wOrd that defines our eating practices—pescatarian. On top of that, Pura doesn’t consume any table sugar, she doesn’t cook with it, purchase it, nothing. The only sweetener she’ll use, even when cooking is, Agave, xylitol on occasion, but primarily fructose from apples—that’s it!

Pura doesn’t smoke. She partakes in zero street drugs. She doesn’t drink alcohol, ever. She consumes at least 1,000 calories a day in fruits and vegetables and she’s a runner—she runs, on average, 3 miles per day. She doesn’t drink any types of sodas, in fact, she won’t even drink coffee in the morning until she’s had 1 liter of water. We’re the couple at the restaurant who only orders water. Her energy levels aren’t an issue, she never feels sick or anything like that until recently when she consumes gluten—it upsets her stomach for about an hour, along with the irritated skin. They both seem to subside around the same time.

She’s active, she’s aware of her symptoms and doesn’t tread lightly. She has no problems sleeping, her appetite isn’t affected, and her state of mind is never in question. She was diagnosed with a rare pancreatic disorder at a really young age, in her teens and, just recently, her blood pressure now consistently runs low between 58 and 65. I can’t think of any other descriptions to tell you right now although I’m sure I’m missing one or two. Can someone, anyone, please explain this:

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These hives just began appearing the week we left Greece (two weeks ago) and now they seem to be reappearing about every other day. She called me when I was at the gym in a panic talking about “we have to go see a doctor, I have hives all over my legs!” I mistakenly assumed she was overreacting but, nonetheless, I rushed back to the apartment to see what she was panicking about. Between the gym and the apartment was a pharmacy. I stopped by and explained to the pharmacist “my wife is having an allergic reaction to something, probably a bug bite, can I get some allergy medicine?” The pharmacist gave me a tube of topical ointment and a 24-pack of pills similar to benedryl.

I walked in the door and saw her legs like “oh my God!” She wasn’t overreacting at all and, for the first time in a long time, I was pretty alarmed. We immediately applied the topical ointment, I think I fed her about a half dozen of the allergy pills and, within an hour, the hives went away.

Before we left Greece, she experienced the hives one more time, took an allergy pill, they went away. But now it’s happening every other day.

Our plan is to go back to the UK, most likely sooner now than later, where she can receive medical attention and hopefully be diagnosed properly. The problem with that is, we’ve visited multiple doctors in multiple countries now, seeking assistance over the same issues and have yet to receive a proper diagnosis. Can you help? Do you know someone who can help? Have you ever heard of or seen anything like this? Don’t be shy. I’m asking you to utilize your resources and help us figure this out.

With everything I just described, as plainly as I can describe it, we’ve taken the same description to various medical facilities and, here I am, reaching out to a bunch of virtual strangers because we need some help.

The cover image is a photo I just snapped 30 minutes ago from a seated position—this is while standing:

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Since #writing this article, it’s been about an hour now, the hives have all but subsided thanks to the allergy pill we received in Greece. We really don’t know what to do anymore and I’m hoping someone reading this can pin-point exactly what’s happening—God willing. The hives primarily only occur on her upper thigh area, both legs, with occasional red bumps on her calves and feet. She feels it in her feet first—they begin itching around her ankles. They don’t spread above her waist line.

If you think you know what is going on with her, after this extensive description that she’s going to want to choke me out for revealing, or you’ve seen similar symptoms and know what’s behind it—we’re all eyes. Ask around, please, post around, whatever you have time to do, we both would really appreciate it, we’re open to just about any suggestions at this point. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Puradays

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List of clear symptoms: hair shedding, nausea 1.5 hrs after eating (doesn’t seem to matter what it is i.e. carbs vs just veggies), chest angina, frequent urination, low blood sugar, high blood sugar, pancreatitis (onset 13 yrs old and now appears at first sign of yeast infection), eyes sensitive to sunlight, excessive gas after eating anything with sugar or gluten, diarrhea/constipation (mostly the first one though), water retention, slight weight gain with no change in diet or exercise, difficulty losing the weight even with fasting, brain fog, hypoglycemic, missed periods when others every regular, general fatigue but I muscle through, low blood pressure (between 49-60, I take it twice a day, everyday), when it’s cold my toes and fingers go numb… I’m sure I’m forgetting some…

I’m 36, 138 pounds, 5’4, jog regularly, walk 10,000 steps a day at least, eat a pescatarian diet with very low sugar content, tried a Candida diet for 6 months, tried a fish keto diet for 2 (lost too much weight and found it difficult to eat enough daily calories plus I still had many of the symptoms, am currently eating a diabetic friendly diet, only take 1 vegan digestive enzyme a day with dinner and 1 travel probiotic in the morning, no birth control, no other medications, no gluten, no sucrose, light carbs, lots of water, light caffeine (only in morning w 1 cup coffee black)… ask me anything and I’ll tell you.

Not sure if anyone can help or has an idea but we are open to theories. Attn: doctors or health/holistic healers and students. Maybe this is the riddle you’ve been looking for.

Thank you all for your support.

P.s. @dandays, I’m not upset. Thank you for loving me 😘

I guess I left a lot out. Like, a lot-lot, not counting the things I intentionally left out—big huge ones you got there. I hope someone reading this makes it simple like “yeah! Same thing happened to me when I ate... sweet potatoes!” Fingers crossed—that would be convenient.

Go figure. 🤔 Release one of the most sincere pieces I’ve ever released on a platform built around #community, in search of much needed help after exhausting nearly every option possible, and I still manage to collect an overwhelming response of downvotes. What a'fa king joke!

You are just set on auto DV thanks to the Steem Dufus League. Just like auto upvoting, there is auto downvoting, gnats, just gnats don't let them bother you.

Can't help with the health issue, but with the DV's...Just ignore it. Best that way. Do what you do and simply ignore it. We all get them. I know, it sucks. Hope you get to the bottom of that health thing.

You’re the best @galenkp—I appreciate your support, thank you! Enjoy your week and don’t be a stranger. The medical issues are real, the downvotes irritate the ish outta me like what’s the point?!

You’re the best

Can I bring you to my next negotiation with my boss? It might help with my salary package negotiations to have you there reminding my boss that I am, indeed, the best as I have been explaining to him for years!

The DV's are annoying to all who get them, me included, but I ignore them and just move on. This place changed for me when decided to change my idea of reward from financial to a more important thing...Enjoyment. I just write now, and engage with the other flawed, broken, imperfect nutbags just like me...Humans I mean. A few downvotes could never come close to harming me with that attitude, and I find way more reward through doing so.

I really hope you find some sort of solution for your wife's issues and in the mean time just push on here, and enjoy.

Thanks for responding...I'll give you a buzz when my next review is so you can talk to my boss. 😂

Personal question, do you have any implants. Whether breast, butt, IUD, Birthcontrol implant, pace maker anything like that?

Its parasites. The medical community wont tell you. They had me taking medication for all kinds of shit after I did a very hard routine, i fixed my stomach issues. Bathroom issues etc.. I had breast implants that completely almost killed me. And there's at least a 150000 women right now going through it but it just doesn't stop at breast implants it could be any implant you see the coding on a lot of these things are silicone. After I did a mixture of diamtomaceous Earth and bentonite clay, And took the implants out. The symptoms started disappearing. However lately I've been experiencing health issues again not stomach but endocrine

I don’t have any implants of any kind. I’ve thought about parasites but I’m not so sure… I’ve done extensive diets for decent amounts of time and saw not much improvement.

If you have not had your B-12 levels checked, that is one thing I would get checked when you return home. Being pre-diabetic, a diet rich in fruits may need to be changed somewhat. I was pre-diabetic before being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and just prior to that diagnosis I was doing a lot of semi fresh fruits, and vegetables. When you talk about your blood pressure, I am not sure what your numbers mean, In America my blood pressure while not real low is below that of normal at about 100/60 we have two numbers for blood pressure over here.

The hive issues I experienced also, and the B12 shots seemed to help at the time for me. It sucked having to give myself shots everyday in the stomach, but it beat the hell out of the itch.

At the time I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, I was also diagnosed with thyroid disease. I was also diagnosed with IBS about five years prior to the Diabetes, and thyroid issue. IBS was the reason I was on the fruit and vegetable diet, I simply could not eat any animal product for several years. I am now able to eat meat and use animal products in my diet again. My doctor thought the lack of B12 in my system was due to the lack of animal protein, I don't know if that was true or not, just what they told me.

Check with a dietitian, a real one, and get help with a real diet plan to help your body, not a diet plan from a magazine or book. And check that B12 level. I have to go for now. It sucks when multiple issues arise, that I know for a fact.

A lot of the issues began before we went plant based and have just got progressively worse as time goes by. I’ve thought about my b12 before but suppose I thought I have way too many symptoms for it to be such an easy fix. I’ll look into it!

For the most part we eat very healthy, mostly Whole Foods, some times a little fish, only about 5-10% processed anything. The only processed would be gluten free rice cakes, or maybe some store bought hummus but that’s really it. I eat way more veggies than I do fruits and when I do eat fruits I eat them with protein or fat to slow digestion down.

It does really suck at this point. We’ve literally been going around like this for a few years. Sometimes I think I’ve stumbled on the answer and then another symptom manifests. It’s crazy! Western doctors have told me they can’t help me, that they don’t know, that although my levels are high or low (blood work) they can’t see anything. All are surprised by my blood work when I share my diet, exercise, and daily regimen with them. I just don’t know anymore. Thank you for responding @bashadow!

You are welcome, I have had a lot of issues, and most of them when I examine them, run back to a bad case of giardia that got mis-diagnosed or ignored. Looking for or at parasites by western medical seems to be a hit and miss proposition. I wish you luck on finding the cause and getting help.

We need all of the luck we can get! Western health care seems to not be concerned nor even think most of my symptoms are related. Thanks again for your two cents (or is it two sense?).

I had my Dr. Lineman Diagnosis hand written note here somewhere but lost them due to the fact that they might seem a little insensitive rather than funny.

The Splatts Family is sending prayers you way. I have a naturopathic Dr. that has done wonders for my Mom. She is off of all Pharmaceuticals and no more migraine headaches. She would get them 4-5 times a week and she couldn't do a thing. She works at the office and I will do what I can to share the info with Dr. Kris Peterson. It's tough being that he can't see you in person but maybe he has some sort of idea that could lead in the right direction.
God Bless!!

Man, you are such Gem!!! Thank you for your concern, blessings and input. It’s great to hear your Mom has found relief. Health is such a crucial part of a good life. God bless you and your family Dr. Splatts!

Dang you guys. Super bummed to hear Pura is having such a rough go of things. I've had my fair share of fights with hives, but mine are always triggered from external allergens. #snowflakeskin

I'm out of my scope of expertise, so all I can add is my support and good energy. Though I will call @riverflows over to see if she knows if any of the @naturalmedicine folks might have any ideas on other avenues to research? You could also try hopping in their discord to chat, as well. Some really knowledgeable peeps in there, so couldn't hurt to check. 💚💚💚

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Hey plants, any little bit helps. Thanks for taking the time my friend! After a good nights rest maybe I’ll check out the discord channel. It’s always so strange describing our health issues/battles with a new person. Haha we appreciate your support 💪

Totally get the frustration and hesitancy to continually bare all, if you will. It's a good group of folks in there, but no pressure to jump on in. @riverflows shared the link to this post to see if anyone who had thoughts could drop by.

If nothing else I can offer laughter. Went to the mall with my mom and my niece today so she could pick out a few little presents for mommy and daddy. We were smelling lotions and I asked her what a particular one smelled like to her (I think it was coconut). "Smells like unicorns" was her response. 🦄 🤷

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Oh my God, I love that unicorns smell like coconuts. What a beautiful untainted soul. So many smiles happening right now 🥰

Oohh poor @puravidaville.. I have no idea what happened to you, but you really need to see doctors.. I was guessing it's urtikaria, but with the symptoms you mentioned above, my mind lead me to a silly thought about leukeumia and eritema multiformis.

My sister in law once experienced the same hive after being 12 hours sitting on the train from her home to ours. I gave her anti-alergic pills because I thought it was caused by something she ates before, but then we went to see doctor and found out that it's caused by exhausting.

If it never happened to you while you're still in USA, particular tropical paracites could be the cause of it too. Dermatitis atopi something.

Thanks @cicisaja! I will look into parasites when we get back to the UK. Fingers crossed it’s something that easy. I appreciate you dropping a line our sweet friend!

I hope it's nothing serious but.. take care about your blood pressure and sugar

Thanks Cici! 🥰

I get hives sometimes on my toes and skin after I injest oranges or juice. Could be an allergy. I think the penicillin creates a reactive mold in my body, and the feet are a breeding ground for traces of fungus, causing an internal biological battle.

Do you ever try a detox or fasting?

Have you tested water for contamination and heavy metals?

I get dry skin from our hard water. Many of my skin problems are alleviated by rubbing castor oil into the pores. It seals in moisture and draws out toxins.

Sorry I cannot tell you what is causing your health problem. Hope you discover a good solution.

The fact that you’re even willing to voice your concerns, as did the rest of the platform, is humbling. We’ve been so appreciative by everyone. Thank you!

We actually considered the water to be a source, the hives only began in Greece. By the information we’ve received from all of you, the water could totally be a culprit considering we now believe her gut biomes need adjusted. I think we got it narrowed down to her gut needing some adjustments.

Thank you for your insight, @creativetruth, I just prayed for your health to give you no troubles as well. Have a great week and thank you for dropping a line.

I’ve done both, detoxes and fasting. The strange thing about fasting now is that I won’t lose any weight while doing so. I’ve been 126 pounds for a lot of my adult life, no dieting just eating what I eat and now I’m 138. That’s not big by any stretch but it’s sure been difficult to lose. It came on within a couple months too. I’m not sure if I have insulin resistance or what? Such a funny thing when our bodies just decide to freak out on us. Thank you for taking the time to drop a line @creativetruth!

A good old friend of mine is osteopath and he says 90% of our civilizational sicknesses all derive from the soul or psyche...Is there any life topic pressing down on her?

You know what, @networkallstar? It wasn’t until I released this article our awareness was broadened beyond medicine as far as the psyche and mind over matter practices. Fascinating—I only wish I released this article two years ago.

Actually, yes, my response two weeks ago would’ve been “what can you be stressed about? You have ME.” But the fact is, we’ve been traveliving abroad since January this year in 30 day intervals. Although it’s exciting and adventurous, spontaneous, etc. Someone like me reacts differently and it can very well be causing unknown stresses to her—something the hives made visible.

We’ve received so much help and attention from all of you virtual strangers, we now believe we’re making progress. One is the natural gut flora we’re replacing in her while countering the bad flora with natural enzymes in heavy doses rather than antibiotics. Another is we’re going to take a break for a minute—we’re going to book our next stay at the start of the year for 90 days so she can just rest for a minute.

I really appreciate you responding to this, can you tell? 😉 The reaction and response we received from this article has been humbling—thank you!

Taking a break sounds good to me👍😉👌I wish you a happy and merry Xmas! 🎄🎅🙏

A couple of years ago ... when I traveled to Europe ... I had something similar ... not sure if hers itch ... but I got these itchy hives everywhere ... the dr said it was a reaction to something I ate ( even tho I didn’t eat anything different than what I ate at home) he had given me a shot of something similar to aBenadryl shot and some pills for allergic reactions ... it cleared it up surprisingly .... he said it was an allergy to something I was having that I must have developed more recently .

Not sure that’s what it is obviously .... but try allergy medicine it might just take care of the symptoms at least for now until you figure it out.

The response we received from this article makes me wish i would’ve written it a year and a half ago. Yeah, I thought it was a food allergy or a big bite, especially since an allergy pill helps. But they’re only temporary help.

But all of the help we received from this, I actually think we have a good defense plan. We’ll be going back to the UK at the beginning of the year with new knowledge we’ve received in our pocket and see if we can’t get her properly diagnosed. Being a professional surgery patient in my younger years, I’m very well aware it’s up to us to help assist trained medical professionals, we just couldn’t get this one figured out. I think we got it now, amazingly, from an article I wrote in a 2 day span where trained professional have been stumped for two years.

Thank you for caring @anonymity5. You know.. I really need to learn how to spell “anonymity” i guess because each time I respond to you I get mixed up with my i’s and y’s. 😉

Apologies if this has already been mentioned - no time to read all the comments! But do you suffer from a lot of stress? Even if you think you don't, you may. It's called hidden stress. My partner is a counseller / psychotherapist and spends a lot of time reading research done by Gabor Mate, a very well respected psychologist who has done some ground breaking research on stress. He has a book called "When the Body says No, the cost of hidden stress", among many others. The book is essentially about the mind-body connection exploring the connection in conditions and diseases such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, IBS, and multiple sclerosis. I have watched a lot of interviews / lectures by him and he is truly an inspiration. Check him out on Youtube to get an idea of what I'm talking about. Your condition may be related so it could be worth exploring.

@nutman. Sir, no need to apologize, we’re pleasantly surprised with the overwhelming response we’ve received from this article as well. As I’ve mentioned to many people, I only wish I would’ve reached out sooner—thank you for sharing your knowledge. Funny you mention stress.

Actually, prior to writing this article, I never would’ve suggested stress to her. However, since writing this article, stress was brought to our attention and I believe that’s a part of it. My initial reaction would’ve been “what do you have to be stressed about?? You have ME.” That’s when it was pointed out to me that simply knowing you’re not healthy and waking up with that daily thought is more than enough reason to experience stress.

This is the first time either of us have heard of Garbor Mate and will look in to his YouTube channel. Thank you for stopping by, it really means a lot.

I don't think he has a channel himself, but there's a lot of different videos of him on Youtube. His recent work is more on trauma and addiction. I would suggest this:

He can speak quite slowly so I watch at 1.5x speed hehe

@dandays, I asked a good family friend of mine in the medical field, here is what she said...”Good morning! Unfortunately it’s hard to pinpoint the reason for hives and rashes but it’s usually due to something new on or in the body. Being that they are traveling will make it even harder. Because it comes and goes I would think something like a new lotion, laundry or bath soap, perfume. Or something new she is taking like a vitamin, supplement, medication? Benadryl helps Hannah when she gets them but if they get bad she usually ends up having to get an oral steroid, topical things don’t seem to help her much.” Hannah is her daughter FYI. I’m sure you’ve deduced new items like lotions or pills, but maybe not. And an add on from her...”🤗😘 I hope they figure it out. Tell them it’s usually nothing to get too alarmed about. More uncomfortable than anything. Actually nerves and stress can cause them too but being on the lower body I’m thinking something new. Even new clothing if it hasn’t been washed before wearing.”

I’ll keep asking around, hopefully it goes away and never comes back. I’ll be thinking of you guys and praying it goes away.

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Thank you for your input @intothewild. We’ve literally gone over every single little thing that it could be in my immediate external environment and have come up empty handed. We even thought maybe a random onset of a food allergy but a short elimination proved to not be the answer either. I’m wondering if it’s undiagnosed autoimmune something and now it’s manifesting in daily hives…? Obviously, we aren’t sure about anything anymore.

We appreciate the prayers friend. 🙏

I sure do appreciate you taking the time to do that for us @intothewild. The response I’ve received from this article is quite humbling actually. Thank you!

Oh my gosh! My sweet @puravidaville , I had no idea, last time we spook she was getting better. I am definitively no expert, but I would say, that only systematic allergy testing could possible tell. It could be anything, from food, detergent, dust, soup or even fabric. I really hope you guys will figure out soon. Sending lots of hugs 💖

Thank you for keeping an eye on us @lenasveganliving. The response from this article has been incredible. If only health professionals cared a fraction as much as a bunch of people we’ve never met.

Hello Dan, you know we care about each other here on Steemit. Maybe someday the community will have even more power and ability to reach out to medical professionals. In the mean time all we can do is give love. I really hope our Sweet Pura gets better soon. Keep us posted 💖

Deal, Lena—my pleasure. ❤️

Thank you @lenasveganliving! I thought it was a one shot deal too but they continue to come back now 🤦🏼‍♀️ Hopefully it’ll all get sorted soon. I appreciate your hugs 🥰

I am so sorry Sweetie! I wish I could tell what is it and how to treat it. Keep me posted 😘😘😘

I will use my jaguar research skills to try to help you out, give me a few hours.

We don’t know how you do what you do but our faith is with you @jaguar.force 🤞. Thank you for taking the time and the interest!

I did my research regarding your skin condition in your legs, my best guess is that it is guttate psoriasis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttate_psoriasis
As per your other symptoms that western traditional developed countries doctors cant seem to explain, what I would do if I were you is take a trip to, of all places, Cuba. They have the best holistically trained doctors in the world, and they are not interested in selling you anything, my guess is that if you go there for a while and have the best doctors there take a look at you you will go out with the answer.

Guttate psoriasis
Guttate psoriasis (also known as eruptive psoriasis) is a type of psoriasis that presents as small (0.5–1.5 cm in diameter) lesions over the upper trunk and proximal extremities; it is found frequently in young adults. Generally obtain places such as arms, legs, troso, breast. Guttate psoriasis dose not occur tiny skin areas such as ear, eye, face, around lips .
The term "guttate" is used to describe the drop-like appearance of skin lesions.

@jaguar.force. I know how busy you are on this platform. The fact you’re even concerned about this is humbling—thank you! And thank you for using your resources to help us figure this out. I’m not opposed to Cuba AT ALL! Is it true public internet isn’t available in Cuba or is that a viscous rumor? We were told earlier this year by a couple we met in South America we can’t have internet access there and the internet provided is highly limited and only viewed from specific, public dwellings, such as a library or other government regulated building. Any truth to that?

Thanks again man, you’re a good dude to have on the team.

It used to be very limited but it has gotten way better in the last years, especially last year. In other words, you will have no problem accessing the internet.
https://www.drinkteatravel.com/wifi-internet-in-cuba/

It’s such an abrupt and random symptom that I’m at a loss. I’ve never had hives in my life and the kicker is that they appear within 30-60 minutes after I wake up. I put off having a cup of coffee until the hives appear to eliminate the possibility of late onset allergies to coffee. The only thing I have is water and now symptoms have erupted like this in three very separate locations so I’m convinced it has nothing to do with soap, detergent, etc. The Cuba remark is interesting. I saw a holistic doctor before we left the states which helped symptoms (due to all of the herbal supplements I can’t get here) but in no way cured anything or gave any meaningful explanation. I don’t know what our travel itinerary looks like in the near future but Cuba might be worth a try. Thanks @jaguar.force. Your contribution is much appreciated !

One thing I would like to clarify is that when I said holistically trained doctors i did not mean alternative medicine or doctors that flat out reject alopathic knowledge(traditional medicine). The doctors in Cuba are are educated in a traditional medicine university and actually considered to be excellent by those standards, additionally they are trained to approach diagnosis in a holistic way, because they want to cure you, they are in the "business" of curing people, not in the business of selling tests and drugs.