Unstoppable: How Michelle Slater of Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities Has Redefined Success While Navigating Society With Late-stage Neurological Lyme Disease
I would hear a lot: “But you look good, Michelle, so you can’t be feeling that badly!” One’s outward appearance doesn’t always reflect the inner pain reverberating through the joints, and chronic fatigue is not always apparent. Please listen to the patient’s synopsis of their condition!
As a part of our “Unstoppable” series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Slater.
Michelle Slater is a scholar of comparative literature and president of the educational nonprofit Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities in Connecticut. She holds a Ph.D. in French literature from Johns Hopkins University.
Her long battle with and recovery from late-stage neurological Lyme disease served as the genesis for her upcoming book: Starving to Heal in Siberia: My Radical Recovery From Late-Stage Lyme Disease and How it Could Help Others.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is really an honor. Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I was a tenure-track professor who ran marathons and played in faculty music ensembles when I began experiencing alarming symptoms that interfered with my ability to function at the high-level required by my profession. I became so debilitated that I was no longer able to teach at the university or even perform simple tasks like driving and ready. Eventually, I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease with co-infections and an auto-immune disorder.
I spent several years pursuing every known treatment, from aggressive allopathic methods to holistic treatments and remedies. When all failed to deliver recovery, doctors gave me the same advice hundreds of thousands of others receive every year: get used to a “new normal.” A life of extreme chronic fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, and other symptoms that mysteriously appeared and disappeared at will made my life a living hell. In one last-ditch attempt to save my life, I found a radical treatment that Dr. Sergei Filonov had been practicing for decades in Russia to cure patients of multiple diseases. It involved an extreme fasting technique that involved abstaining from all food and water — even bodily contact with water — for periods of up to eleven days. I traveled to Russia and spent two months under Dr. Filonov’s care, which completely cured me of all my diseases. Since the late fall of 2017, I have made a full recovery and I have been able to write and run again.
Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you became disabled or became ill? What mental shift did you make to not let that “stop you”?
Apparently, I became ill through a tick bite that didn’t manifest the classic Lyme rash and went undiagnosed until it had become chronic in my system. Even though my situation was dire and no treatment seemed to eradicate the debilitating symptoms I experienced, I refused to give up. I kept seeking new treatments until I ultimately found the one that worked. I refused to accept that I was this sick person who had to adapt to life in a body that was unacceptable to me.
Can you tell our readers about the accomplishments you have been able to make despite your disability or illness ?
Although I wasn’t able to accomplish much while I was severely ill (for six years) with Lyme disease, after my full — and very unexpected — recovery, I was able to resume my former activities at full force. Since my recovery in 2017, I have written four books and climbed many mountains. Starving to Heal will be released September 13th, and the others have yet to be published. It is possible to return to a rich and productive life post-recovery!
What advice would you give to other people who have disabilities or limitations?
Never give up! Become your own head doctor if your treatment plan is not serving you. Do you become resigned to a “new normal” that feels abnormal to you. Keep seeking the ultimate treatment that will cure you.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
My father, Michael Slater, has supported me in every possible way throughout my life. He has helped me reach every goal I’ve ever had. Along the way, he celebrated me like no other could. I’ll be grateful to him for the rest of my life for making me believe anything is possible.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
As soon as I recovered from Lyme disease, I felt a pressing moral obligation to write Starving to Heal because I knew the methodology of radical autophagy could help so many patients who suffered as I had. As I write in my book, this is my way of paying it forward.
Can you share “5 things I wish people understood or knew about people with physical limitations” and why.
Regarding Lyme disease specifically:
- I would hear a lot: “But you look good, Michelle, so you can’t be feeling that badly!” One’s outward appearance doesn’t always reflect the inner pain reverberating through the joints, and chronic fatigue is not always apparent. Please listen to the patient’s synopsis of their condition!
- Chronic fatigue doesn’t clear up with one good night’s sleep, or even one month of good sleep; please don’t have unreasonable expectations of a patient who is struggling to survive each day.
- Lyme disease has mysterious ups and downs, so there were periods when I suddenly felt better and thought I could conquer the world again. Then I would fall flat again into bed. Please don’t be alarmed if you see a patient undergo these vicissitudes.
- Although antibiotics are the gold standard treatment for Lyme disease, they don’t always work (especially if the disease has gone undiagnosed for a period of time). If a patient is still struggling with symptoms and they have already taken antibiotics, please don’t assume that they should be feeling better at that point.
- The Lyme patient is struggling to survive every day: please be patient and supportive for as long as it takes.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?
Lyme disease humbled me for it flattened me for long periods at a time; it taught me to love myself as is, with all my faults and flaws. It gave me the slogan for myself: “One Michelle, loveable as is.” Insert your own first name there!
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂
Yoshinori Ohsumi, 2016 Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine
I would like to discuss his fascinating research on how cells recycle and renew, and share how this radical autophagy in the form of dry fasting saved my life. I would like him to know about Dr. Filonov’s clinical practice.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Unstoppable: How Michelle Slater of Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities Has Redefined… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.