Jim Berger: Illinois Lyme Disease Activist

Whatislyme.com would like to recognize people in the Lyme community that have done something to try to help the Lyme community. There are several “unsung heroes” in our community and we would like to just offer them a little recognition and make sure that their achievements and efforts don’t go unnoticed.

Today we would like to recognize Jim Berger.

From Lisa Hilton: “I met Jim at a Lyme support meeting in Ingleside, Illinois. He was attending the meeting to talk about a rife machine he was developing. He was there to help Lyme patients with a machine he had made to help his sister who had cancer. He had met someone with Lyme disease and he thought he could help our community through the use of rife.

While Jim was at these meetings, he was slowly figuring out that the symptoms he was having over the years, was possible Lyme too. After a positive test, he was not just helping the Lyme community, he was part of it now.

Since then Jim has been a big part of Lyme Support Network, an Illinois Non Profit that runs support groups and helps to educate doctors about Lyme Disease. He has helped with the meetings, the Lyme walks they do annually and he has put together two Worldwide Lyme Protests in Chicago and is currently working on the third one.”

See the bottom of this article to see the events Jim is planning now.

Here are some of Jim’s pictures from the events he has been a part of.

The First Mayday Protest 2011

tutu — Jim at the first Mayday in Washington DC, in front of the White House.

Jim Marching in front of the White House at the first Mayday Protest

The Boston IDSA Lyme Guidelines Protest 2011

475 — Jim leading the chants at the IDSA Lyme Guideline Protest in 2011. “IDSA we will not go away!”

00009488 — Jim on top left, one of the team members that put together the Lyme Support Network Annual Walk.

krithy — Jim holding the “Traveling Lyme Flags” that represent those who have passed from Lyme disease at the LSN walk in 2011.

Jim holding the Traveling Lyme Flags. The ones with black ribbons represent those we lost to Lyme disease.

166972_10150835205370096_584415095_21418767_1966254643_n — Jim, (second over from top row on the right) standing with the Lyme Support Network team that puts together annual Lyme walks in Illinois.

Jim Berger and Dave Marsh at the Illinois, Lyme Support Network walk in 2012.

Here is Jim’s Bio in his own Words…

Hello, my name is Jim Berger. I have been employed as a Medical Device Engineer at major healthcare companies since 1979, first in Orange County, California and then in Lake County, Illinois. In my professional career I have worked on the following products: Cardiac Output Computers, Holter EKG Monitoring Recorders and Playback Equipment, Ophthalmic Laser Systems, Plasmapheresis and Plateletpheresis equipment, Medication Delivery Infusion Pump Automated Test systems, and Renal Peritoneal Dialysis equipment. I have held positions in Engineering Design, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality & Reliability Engineering, Field Service support, and Systems Engineering. Since 1985 in my spare time, I have also studied different modalities of energy medicine such as Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, Eden Energy Medicine, Intuitive Shiatsu, Native American shamanism and Hawaiian shamanism.

I had been an amateur runner, cycler and triathlete in Southern California; however, after moving to Antioch, IL, on the Illinois/Wisconsin border in the early 1990s, I started having severe pain and cramps in my joints and temporary partial paralysis of my legs, feet and arms, hands, cramps in the abdomen and chest, temporary blindness, as well as, numerous mental issues. In late summer 2007, I had an insect bite that looked like a brown recluse spider bite that resulted in necrosis of the skin and a hospital stay of almost a week. Over the next few years I ended up having a couple heart attacks, severe breathing issues, pancreatitis and then gall bladder (overfilled with stones) removal. Doctors put off my severe breathing issues as chronic bronchitis and told me to get rid of my cats. Finally after hearing about lyme disease, I ended up going to a chiropractor and naturopath, who ran the Igenix tests for Lyme disease which came back positive, as well as, further tests that came back with high levels of mycoplasma pneumonia and chlamydia pneumonia.

Everything began to make sense, I had indoor outdoor cats, one who lived 23 and ½ years with me. She was a great huntress, bringing mice, moles, and birds she killed up to my bedroom at night. It is now obvious that the red blood spots I would occasionally see on my sheets were from engorged ticks that were crushed by my body while sleeping. If If had ended up with a bull’s-eye rash where I could have seen it, I would have probably ignored it not knowing it would indicate Lyme disease. I did not even know what Lyme disease was at that time. Then, after learning about it, I found out that tick bites could present a wound, looking similar to a brown recluse spider bite. Finally, about six months ago, I had a stroke, resulting in partial blindness and memory loss. I am 64 years old now and was to be laid off from my engineering job at the end of last year, but was put onto full disability last October due to the stroke. Since the stroke, it takes me about four times as long to accomplish any type of mental task.

To digress a bit, over ten years ago I started researching Rife technology, when my sister-in-law, Kathy, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That story can be found on my website at www.bestsolu.com. After finding out about lyme disease, I read Brian Rosner’s book on Lyme Disease and Rife Machines. I purchased one and built two Doug Coil Machines and read what I could about other experimental Rife and Lakhovsky type machines being used for treatment of different types of pathogen based disease. Over a three month period of time over two years ago, I used my 1958 vacuum tube replica Rife Machine and pathogen frequencies from the cpsBioResearch website at www.dnafrequencies.com, treating myself for Borellia, Babesia, Bartonella, Mycoplasma and Chlamydia. After so many years of sickness, I started feeling normal again and decided to stop experimenting on myself until I could find a way to verify and validate the results. I stopped treating myself and over the past two years began my studies in biology, microbiology, anatomy & physiology, darkfield & phase contrast microscopy. However, along with my normal engineering job, and the return of my lyme and co-infection symptoms my body and mind broke down resulting in partial blindness and memory loss.

I have joined the Worldwide Lyme Awareness Rally to stand up to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), against their campaign of misinformation about Lyme disease, and against their position that after a couple weeks of antibiotics Lyme disease is cured. In Chicago during the Worldwide Lyme Awareness Rally, May 10 and 11, I would like to raise awareness of our Lyme community’s plight to get proper treatment by targeting primarily the Chicago Tribune for supporting the IDSA view and completely ignoring the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS) view that Chronic Lyme Disease does exist, and that it has reached epidemic levels around the world. We will not be ignored any longer. Chicago Tribune, at least fairly present both views.

Your friend, Jim

Here are Jim’s pictures from the Worldwide Lyme Rally in Chicago.

2013

106 — Jim planned and attended the Chicago Worldwide Lyme Rally.

Greenmen at the Worldwide Lyme Disease Rally in Chicago Photo Credit: Jacqi Euler

See More Pictures from the Worldwide Lyme Rally 2013 in Chicago Here.

2014

See more pictures of the 2014 Worldwide Chicago Lyme Rally Here.

Demonstration Jim is planning now

2015 Pediatric Infectious Diseases Conference

2015 PREP®:ID – A Comprehensive Review and Update of Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Activity Format: Live Event Starts: 8/17/2015Expires: 8/22/2015 http://pedialink.aap.org/visitor/cme/cme-detail?guid=ef867963-605c-4e42-9f61-61edad98f40f&pageId=a6c320a4-8fa9-4fe0-985e-9f5b6c58e267,a6c320a4-8fa9-4fe0-985e-9f5b6c58e267

Most Important Protest (?) or Support (?) Demonstration times:

Outline of event

Pediatric Infectious Disease Conference – Aug 17 – 22, 2015

June 3, 2015 LSN Meeting – share this outline – 15 minutes

* Start list of people with email addresses interested in taking part in the Chicago Demonstration, and I can send periodic updates before Public Assembly days

* Are enough and right type of handouts available for Demonstration?

* Registered Mail in Applications for Street Assembly – No fee for Public Assembly

Week of June 12 – 19

* Dave and Jim recon of the Public Assembly Site :

Chicago Swissotel

323 E Upper Wacker Dr

Chicago, IL 60601

* Pictures of the public assembly site

* Location of Restrooms

* Identify other fun things going on in Chicago the days of demonstration

July 1, 2015 LSN Meeting – Dave & Jim share what found on recon trip, more detailed information of the speakers at Pediatric Infectious Disease Conference – 15 to 30 minutes

July 18, 2015 – Jim start contacting Chicago Department of Transportation on weekly basis until we get confirmation whether public assembly has been approved.

August 5, 2015 LSN Meeting – Dave, Jim and Demonstration Team at a minimum do last detailed planning for the Demonstration

Demonstration Days

* Tues, Aug 18, 2015 4:00PM – 7:30PM

Zoonoses & Vectobourne Infections

Steven C. Buckingham, MD MA

* Fri, Aug 21, 2015 6:30AM – 1:30PM

Joint & Bone Infections

Angela L. Meyers, MD, MPH, FAAP

Tues, Aug 18, 2015 4:00PM – 7:30PM

4:30-4:50PM Break/Visit the Exhibits

4:50-5:20PM Zoonoses Steven C. Buckingham, MD, MA

5:20–5:50PM Vectorborne Infections Steven C. Buckingham, MD, MA