Real Miracles, Healing Stories
Shawn Lloyd—Back from the Brink
Imagine being a healthy man in your 30s who regularly works out in a
gym, mountain bikes, fishes and hunts. Next picture, over a period of six months,
regressing to barely walking the 12 feet to the bathroom, using a wheelchair,
then only being able sit up in bed for an hour each day.
That is how Shawn Lloyd of Boise descended from an active lifestyle to the brink of disaster and back to recovery as a fully employed, physically active father of two daughters, ages four and six.
At the start of his decline, in 2001, Shawn experienced severe muscle cramping when he physically exerted himself, such as during a racquetball game. He immediately went on a search for the cause, going through a series of doctors visits and tests, including a visit to an Emergency Room and further testing during a family vacation in Utah in 2001. Again, no definitive answer or treatments.
His wife, Lynette, witnessed the decline and recovery of her husband's healing process. "He is an awesome dad and it was hard to see him go through what he went through. It was very scary, trust me. I thought I was going to lose him."
Thanks to the recommendation of a friend, late in 2001, the Lloyds found their way to a Treasure Valley physician, Snehlata P. Mehta, M.D., at Saint Alphonsus Medical Group in Boise. Dr. Mehta solved the frightening puzzle of what was rapidly happening to Shawn.
At the time of their first meeting, Dr. Mehta was deeply touched by the young family in earnest need of an answer to the husband's mysterious illness. Lynette was understandably in tears and concerned about Shawn's condition and questionable future.
Dr. Mehta described Shawn as "A young man in a wheelchair who required immediate attention and care. I was going to look into anything and everything to get back to where he could walk and go to work," she said.
Her approach to healing is to listen to the information the patients provide, guide them properly and treat the disease. She immediately started ruling out various disorders and diseases.
The discovery of the root cause was a powerful reason to celebrate the turning point of Shawn's steep and rapid decline. A basic but important ingredient was missing in Shawn's body—vitamin B-12. Shawn had a vitamin deficiency caused by his body's inability to absorb B-12 which resulted in the degeneration of his nerves and muscles.
Equally exciting to the Lloyd family was the solution. Frequent doses of B-12 delivered by shots every day for five weeks, followed by a tapering of the shots over a year until the point where he is now on oral doses of vitamin B-12 for maintenance.
His wife, Lynette, was with him every step of the way, even learning how to give shots and administering his vitamin B-12 shots for months on end. Shawn also engaged in intense physical therapy to regain muscular strength and tone lost during the months of desperate searching for solutions.
Now at 36 years of age, Shawn is fully functioning. He had not seen Dr. Mehta in three years until he and his wife gathered for an interview regarding Shawn's healing journey back to his active life. In that period of time, he has returned to his job as a process engineer at Micron and is an involved father who is able to play with and care for his children. Shawn continues to enjoy hiking, fishing and camping in their new trailer. Though he is physically able to return to all his prior hobbies, his desire for quality family time keeps him happily engaged with his children and wife.
"It was definitely a life changing experience. I cherish the opportunity to experience my kids growing, even when they are crying," Shawn said. His youngest daughter was an infant at the height of his struggles, before he found Dr. Mehta, and he was not sure he would live to see his kids mature.
Reflecting on the experience with Shawn, Dr. Mehta was pleased that the family sought a solution as quickly as they could. "There are a lot of medical issues that are simple and treatable if you go to the clinician," she said. Unfortunately, people sometimes get too busy and irreversible damage is caused.
Lynette readily acknowledges the importance of their physician in the healing process. "Dr. Mehta was great. To this day Shawn and I say she saved his life. I honestly believed he was not far from death," she said.