I attended a Lyme Disease conference yesterday and have been feeling emotional ever since. I woke up from a dream this morning filled with a feeling of humiliation and horror. You see Lyme is in my brain and though it is greatly improved I do still struggle a bit with written language. In my dream I had written a press release for work and submitted it to the newspaper and they printed it “as is” full of garbled typos. My Lyme brain in black and white on display to the world. Uggh!
The rest of this post is about the deep sadness I am feeling about the degree of suffering I saw yesterday mixed with gratitude about being in a room full of people who really understand. I am okay if you want to jump off this post here since I am writing it more for me than for you but before you do so, please know this. Everyone who goes outside is at risk for this disease. The only way to protect yourself is to know MORE than your average doctor about what to do if you get bit by an infected tick. If you haven’t read my prevention post, please check it out here or I highly recommend this one from my doctor.
I have been in tears off and on since last night thinking about all the suffering, determination and hope that I experienced yesterday jammed into one room. It breaks my heart to see the people walking with canes, or struggling slowly in obvious pain, the tired faces, the lovely young woman with her hands curled into claws and the stories of children who’s childhood has been disrupted. I connected with acquaintances I have met in other contexts who it turns out have Lyme too. We shared hugs with the words “I’m sorry you have Lyme, too.” It was good to connect with others like me who are mostly functioning well and trying to make it through days of crazy medication regimens, spending hours preparing healthy food and trying to find the balance between work and rest, family obligations and activities that support healing.
I am grateful for a new framework of hope, working toward recovery rather than the elusive cure which basically means living in peace with the Borrelia bugs in my system.
As far as my treatment goes, I am not done. I started a two week “medication holiday”/detox on Friday. It appears that my gut has been revolting against the antibiotics and my liver is ready for a break. I am really tired today and along with the ever-present tinnitus, my knees are aching and the nerves in my toes/feet are burning, but – my gut is way happier than it has been in a couple weeks. I thought I was past this level of symptoms but apparently am not. I am hoping to bounce back some as I get further into the detox. In the meantime, nap time is calling my name!
composting words 
I always spent my half an hour to read this web site’s articles daily along with a cup of coffee.
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{{{hugs}}} to you. I appreciate you & your writings (and you beautiful photography).
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Thank you. 🙂
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I taught with two teachers who both had Lyme Disease. One suffered with it for years before it was diagnosed, and the other still hasn’t learned for sure where she caught it or exactly how. She began her teaching career in the Cape Cod area many years earlier and had multiple transfusions after a car accident. It was over a decade later that a local doctor suspected she could have caught it via a transfusion, but they still aren’t certain. I’ve passed the link to your site on to her; you have excellent information.
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My sympathy to your friends. The Cape is pretty much ground zero for Lyme. She definitely could have gotten it from a transfusion (they have no tests to keep it out of the blood supply) or she could have been bit and not noticed it (very common). They closed a campground there this summer because so many people were getting bit. I hope there is so info that she finds helpful on the site. 🙂
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Thinking of you in this difficult time. The impact of Lyme is so devastating, I know. I hope you have a better day tomorrow!
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Thank you Tricia. 🙂
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I don’t have Lyme Disease so I haven’t been forced to become intimately familiar with all the various treatment modalities. However, I’ve heard that there are some successful alternative practitioners who have helped people a great deal. Also, I think Stephen Buehner (sp?) has written a book on treating Lyme. Are you familiar with it and if so, what do you think about it?
I am sorry you and so many other people are suffering from this serious infection. We haven’t had Lyme Disease in the area where I am living now but are surrounded by Lyme disease in the lower elevations in Virginia. And gradually, I start hearing about people with Lyme Disease even up here in the mountains.
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It is definitely more prevalent in some places but is spreading everywhere due to the movement of animals & birds. I heard yesterday they don’t do blood drives in Cape Cod, MA anymore because the rates of infection are so high. I have a copy of Stephen’s book but don’t follow his protocol (I am doing a mix of antibiotics, herbs, acupuncture, nutrition, exercise, etc.). He does a great job explaining the biology of ticks & lyme and I highly recommend his book.
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