Showing posts with label Lyme Disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lyme Disease. Show all posts

Monday, May 19, 2014

It's May again! {+a day in the life.}

Life has been crazy between school, appointments, hosting a huge rummage sale, and so much other stuff. There are some major changes happening soon in my life, trips to look forward too, classes to get done, etc. It seems non-stop.

But the thing is, there is something that is not changing no matter what is going on. Something that doesn't give me a break or wait until I have extra time. It doesn't care what I have going on, and is always reminding me that it's always there.

My health. Or lack there of. The nasty little buggers that I have living inside me. The Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, aka Lyme disease. And many nasty co-infections that can be just as brutal as the Lyme itself.


May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. I blogged about the basics of Lyme disease last year, you can find those posts here. This year, I want to focus on prevention, diagnosis, and awareness.

Prevention, so you don't get bitten in the first place. Diagnosis, so you know how to recognize the early signs and so you know what you have if you are already sick. And awareness, so you know how serious of an epidemic this is, and how much people with Lyme truly suffer from one tiny tick bite.

First, awareness, so you can understand why prevention and diagnosing are importing.


*Please understand that when I tell you about my illness, I am not looking for sympathy. I'm not asking you to send cards or feel bad for me. I'm not complaining or ranting. I simply want to you understand. And you probably will never be able to fully, unless you've lived it, so I will be honest and want to try and give you an idea of what it's really like.

Being chronically ill is TOUGH. Plain and simple. The exhaustion, the struggle to live your live, the pain, never ending pain... it's not fun. It's not a walk in the park. It's not take a certain medication and be better in a few weeks.


Here's a day in the life through my eyes. Right now, I am "herxing". The herxheimer reaction is a healing reaction that patients with Lyme experience. It is basically your body reacting to the toxins released by the dead bugs that are being killed during treatment. It's good in the long run, but it's brutal to go through, and it usually lasts from 2 days up to a week. Detoxing and cleansing your body is very important during herxing as your body needs help to get all the toxins out.

Anyways, all my symptoms have flared big time, and I am in a lot more pain than normal. Saturday morning as I started to wake up, I could literally feel the pain level go up the more I woke up. (Mom, this would be part of the reason why I don't like to wake up and always try to go back to sleep!)

My knees hurt so bad I could barely walk down the stairs, so I popped some ibuprofen to take the edge off before my friend Rachel and I took my siblings the park. (Trip planned around other things, wasn't an option to cancel.) I was grateful that there was a place I could sit as I was playing with the kids. And yes, some of us wore winter coats... that's Wisconsin for you!




Saturday afternoon, I tried to do school, but my brain fog was too bad and I couldn't remember anything I had just read, or concentrate enough to read it. So I gave up and read Facebook and crocheted instead. Except my wrists hurt enough that I had to keep taking breaks.

Saturday for dinner, we had take out pizza as a treat. As I'm on a STRICT diet, I didn't have any, and heated up some frozen Paleo crockpot veggie chicken instead. I took my handful of supper meds with it. But just the smell from the pizza made me sick to my stomach and gave me a awful headache.

Saturday night, I got a little bit of school done, and then decided it was late, I should take a bath, and then shower for church.

The water was way too hot as I got in due to my temperature sensitives. After I adjusted to it, I laid there for about 20 min and then I started overheating and sweating really bad (which is a miracle in itself as I NEVER used to sweat and it is important for detox). My head started throbbing, my heart started racing, and I got super dizzy. It's happened before but not until I've stood up after a bath. I let the water drain and just laid there, knowing I would pass out if I tried to get up.


Ten minutes later, I got out of the tub, but had to sit back down right outside the tub as it got really bad again. I took my pulse... it was 120-130, and normal resting for me is 85. So not good. I sat there for a half hour before I finally was able to stand up for 2 minutes to rinse off. Then I clutched the wall for the ten feet back to my room. I turned the fan on high, and grabbed some calming essential oils that I have by my bed for my heart. An hour later I finally fell asleep.

Sunday morning, I was weak, and still in pain, and almost didn't go to church. But I did, because that's what we do when we have a chronic illness. We press on, even when our bodies want to stop. We can fake a smile so well that no one has any clue about the pain that lies beneath. We choose to carry on with a pretty normal life, because the alternative is to be bedridden. We hide the pain because we have learned to be strong.

This Saturday was one of my bad days, but I usually have all the same symptoms I mentioned on a "good day", plus more, just not as severe. And with the exception of sitting on the bathroom floor, I'm used to it. I except them for what they are and usually don't think a lot of it. Because, right now, they are part of me, part of who I am. Lyme disease doesn't define me, but that doesn't change the fact it's in me and controls my life sometimes. I have to deal with that because I don't have a choice. I have to be strong, so I'm not crying and complaining all day. Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?


Our lives STINK. Being in pain all the time is HARD. It's no fun, and often there's not even an end in sight, no matter how many years away.

THIS is why awareness is important. Not only do we need to prevent other people from having to go through this, but we need cures. Because this is existing, not living.

My body is broken. I don't want to live like this. I don't wan't others to have to live like this. And I don't want anyone who doesn't already live to this to have to experience it.

Awareness is important.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

That thing called Lyme.. and this trip.

So the number one thing people said to me before I left, after everyone found out I was coming, was: "So you're feeling better?"

And my answer was a resound YES, but I want to expand more on that.

So very sick:
The last time I really did a big update on how I was doing with my chronic Lyme disease was months ago on this blog when I first shared my Lyme story. Since then, it's just been a few random facebook updates and when people reached out to ask me.

I have gotten very sick, and have had several really good weeks. Like a roller coaster, always up and down. I have been through many natural treatments, have had MANY chiropractic appts,many other appts, and have completely changed my diet.

I dealt with symptoms ranging from brain fog, tics, twitching, dizziness, vision problems, never ending headaches, to extreme joint pain, extreme fatigue, chest pain, heart palpitations, nauseousness, abdominal pain, and a slew of other stuff.

I ended up with a bad UTI, several colds, and some other things that made me go down hill fast. My immune system is already shot, so I usually catch everything anyone else has which makes the symptoms I already have flare. And full moons are very bad too.


Starting to feel better: 
During this entire adoption process, we had talked about me going with mom for the second trip if my health improved. But as the time came closer and closer to traveling, I wasn't getting better. We got our travel date and mom said I wasn't going to come with for the second trip unless there was a miracle with my heath. And I fully agreed with her. I knew I wasn't doing well.

A week or so before they left I started a new treatment at a new doctor. And a day or two before they left I started to feel better. I had several very good days in a row which I was super happy about, but the good days didn't stop. I had a couple set backs, like a panic attack the night they left, which was likely from the stress, but otherwise was doing good.

The difference was night and day. Previously I would have been able to be on my feet and up and about for a couple hours on a good day. And then I would be exhausted for several days trying to recoup. In the days before my parents left and even after I had like 4 days in a row I was on my feet doing stuff all day long. Lots of time in the kitchen, lots of helping to get things ready for them to leave, etc. It was amazing.

I continued to do good with my energy levels. And other things improved, like neurological symptoms and nauseousness.

We decided I was well enough to go.

I am still praising God for starting to heal me, and continuing to do so! Yes, I think part of it was the new treatment, but most of it can be attributed to God and the prayers of His people on my behalf. I am so thankful!!!

Dealing with it here:
Despite being awake 52+ hours with 4 hours of plane "sleep" before I feel asleep my first night here, I didn't get sick, and just bounced back. Amazing. All the walking hasn't bothered me at all, nor have I gotten sick from the full moon.

About the food. When I mentioned above that I changed my diet, that means I went off all grains, all processed sugar, most processed foods, and a lot of dairy. I also have food sensitivities to a lot of foods including tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, peanuts, most other nuts except almond flour, oranges, celery, apples, and carrots. (I'm only allergic per the allergist to ragweed and grass, but I still have sensitivities.)

So that takes out a lot of what there is to eat! I have been eating near Paleo diet, but with more eliminated. It's hard, but worth it for the difference it makes in how I feel. I've been trying to eat the same here, but have cheated a few times. It's easier when there is nothing in the apartment that I can't have (except Milka!), as mom is eating the same way with me. At Celentanos I always get Borsch and a chicken cheese veggie thing. lol

The other big thing that was a huge factor in if I was well enough to go was my sensitivity to smells, particularity cigarette smoke. A couple months ago I walked into the gas station, and there was someone standing outside the door smoking. I started coughing and gagging, which ended in respiratory problems, and took several minutes to recover from. And in Ukraine, everyone smokes everywhere. But like with everything else, that has gotten better too. I am still super sensitive to it, and the first to smell any trace of it, but it doesn't bother me or make me cough unless it's right in my face.

So I'm doing really well health wise! :) Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me!!!

Our MAF (most awesome facilitator) says that I got these nasty bugs in Ukraine last time, so I need to leave them here when I go home. I'm all for that! :)

Saturday, June 1, 2013

What is Lyme: The Controversy

There is much, much controversy in the medical community regarding Lyme disease. I'm going to to my best to explain it you briefly.

**Please know this is just my understanding, which mainly comes from the Lyme documentary, Under Our Skin (info at end of post). I may have mistaken details as I am writing from memory (I did just rewatch it yesterday to write this post).

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Many Lyme patients are misdiagnosed many times. Many have seen doctor after doctor after doctor trying to get a diagnosis.

Many doctors are not aware (or choose not to be) of Lyme symptoms, treatment, etc. You would think since it's so widespread it should be a requirement for every doctor to be. So why isn't it?
Shortly after Lyme was discovered, it became legal to patent and profit from living organisms. So the focus of most of the main researchers of Lyme changed, from gaining knowledge for public health and scientific reasons to profit. They stopped sharing the results of their research so treatment and better tests stopped being approved.

I mentioned in my last Lyme post that the current test for Lyme is only 50% accurate. That test it the original test for testing for Lyme. It has not been improved or changed at all. Everyone agrees it's bad, but no new tests are being approved. Another reason people are misdiagnosed.

Chronic Lyme disease. That's really the main argument of this mess. Does it exist or doesn't it? Any person with late stage Lyme, including me, will tell you that YES, it does exist. According to the IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) guidelines, it doesn't.

Basically, according to anyone anti-chronic Lyme, Lyme is cured with a single round of antibiotics. That's possible, if the antibiotics are started right after the bite. Most times they aren't. After you have had that round, you are cured and no longer have Lyme. Apparently any symptoms after that are post-Lyme syndrome, and are either your body still recovering, are symptoms you will have forever from damage done, or are pains from everyday living.

Insurance companies are a big part of why the IDSA guidelines are this way. Antibiotics are expensive, esp when they are long term for Lyme treatment. In order to cut down the money, they got the Lyme research board, or whatever it's called to rewrite the IDSA guidelines in a way to state chronic Lyme disease doesn't exist so that they can deny coverage for treatment.

Back to the doctors. Most follow the IDSA guidelines, which also doesn't provide info on how recognize symptoms of Lyme. Those who do are called LLMD or Lyme Literate Medical Doctor in the Lyme community. If you suspect you have Lyme, you need to see LLMD. Please do not decide not get treatment or find out if you have Lyme just because of the controversy.

Doctors who treat Lyme are under attack, some have even had their license suspended or taken away. This of course sends the message to other doctors that Lyme is not safe to treat. So many avoid the subject or possibility all together. I've heard of people who know they have Lyme and end up in the hospital for it, doctors will tell them it's not Lyme and Lyme doesn't do that.
It's so sad. They fight over it, and those with Lyme suffer because they can't get the right treatment and get better. Can't we just focus on making people better?


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Finally, I highly recommend watching Under Our Skin. It's documentary about Lyme disease and can explain everything so much better than I can in a blog post. Yes, it's a little bit long, but so worth it.

You can watch it:
Free with Amazon Prime Instant Video
Free on Hulu
Free on Netflix
More on Demand Options
Rent or Buy on Amazon Instant Video

If you're gonna be stubborn, and not watch it, at least please watch the trailer. Even just the trailer explains a LOT, including some of what I tried to above.


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This is the final What is Lyme post. Thank you for reading and I hope you learned a lot!

Friday, May 31, 2013

What is Lyme: Later Stage & Treatment

This is part 2. If you haven't already, please go read part 1 - What is Lyme: Basics and the Bite.

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So I left off in my last post at the point where you have Lyme disease, you don't know that, it goes diagnosed, and the symptoms start getting worse.

Lyme can affect about every system in the body, and cases can look very different because of that.

Some people will have many physical symptoms, and start losing control of their body. It can be certain joints or arms or legs that stop works, seizures, or twitches and tics and look like Tourette syndrome or Bell's Palsy. Or you can become paralyzed and/or bedridden.

For others it can be an invisible illness. Headaches, muscle/joint pain, achy all over, and neurological issues such as memory loss.
Or it can be a mix of the two. Either way there will be many more symptoms than the ones I've mentioned here. (I have mostly invisible, but I do have twitches and involuntary movements sometimes.)

There is a pretty good (but medical sounding) list here - Lyme Symptoms List

If left untreated, you can eventually become bedridden and die. You wouldn't think that something the size of poppy seed would cause so much pain and havoc, but it does.

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The everyday life of Lymie (nickname for those with Lyme! :)) isn't easy. Sure, the symptoms may not sound bad, but trust me, they are bad. I can't speak for others, but a case pretty similar to mine would be something like this.

Imagine you've been hit by a truck. You ache all over, and the pain doesn't go away. You have join pain, and hearing things pop or having to pop things back into place is a regular occurrence. Headache is pretty familiar. You can't be on your feet, walk, exercise for long periods or time because of fatigue and it hurts to much. You're always tired, and the fact you have insomnia and have to drug yourself to sleep doesn't help. Sometime you can have fun days or do stuff running on adrenaline when you don't have a choice, but you pay for it x10 later.

I made this awhile back... except the teacher thing kinda fits into the family thing for me since I'm homeschooled. ;)







You don't remember a day you weren't in pain. You often want to die. You take an absurd amount of medication a day. Your sense of smell, and appetite is messed up (some days I feel hungry all day long, and others I will realize at supper time I haven't eaten all day even though I don't feel hungry). You have sensitivity to light and sound. You judge how good a day was by how much ibuprofen you had to take. And then you force a smile and tell people you're doing ok or better than you were.

Yes, it's awful, but it is what it is, and there's nothing you can do about it besides keep pushing through and seeking treatment.

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There is no cure for Lyme disease. There are many different treatments, but none that are guaranteed to work every time on everyone. The reason for that is because Lyme can take so many different forms and hide in so many areas of the body. It can even hide from the immune system and antibiotics. The Lyme bacteria, borrelia burgdorferi, is spiral shaped, so it can "drill" through tissue and into about every area in the body.
The traditional treatment that the top Lyme doctor use is long term antibiotics. Another treatment is homeopathic. There are also some other natural ones I've heard of. I believe there's one similar to chemo, and hyberbaric oxygen therapy apparently treats it too, though I've not done any research on it.

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Thank you for reading! This is the second of my What it Lyme posts. I have more posts about this, and other Lyme stuff coming soon. I meant to get them all done in May (Lyme Awareness Month), but that didn't happen. So we'll make June Lyme awareness month on this blog too. :)

Monday, May 27, 2013

What is Lyme Disease: Basics & the Bite

Most people know about or have heard of Lyme disease. Few know more than it's caused by the bite of a tick.

I've mentioned Lyme before. I have it. Maybe someone you know has it. You've most likely heard of it.

But what is it???

Lyme is a bacterial borne infection, caused by the bite of a deer tick.

It's not contagious, but anyone can get it.

It's a very real epidemic, with the numbers climbing yearly.

More people are diagnosed with Lyme every year than HIV/AIDS, and West Nile Virus combined. And that is just the diagnosed. Many, many people have it, and don't know they do. I had it for 2+ years without knowing I did.

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Lyme was first discovered in Lyme, Connecticut, from where it gets it's name. The whole neighborhood was getting the same symptoms and becoming very sick, even dying. They called for more research to find out what was making them sick, and it was discovered it was deer ticks.

Since, then there has been much more research done, many more things discovered about it, and along with that came much controversy, which I'll explain in a later post.

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I said before it's caused by the bite of a tick. But, not every tick you see is carrying the Lyme bacteria.

There are two main types of ticks (at least around here - Wisconsin). The wood tick, and the deer tick. Wood ticks are bigger, and usually harmless. Deer ticks are smaller, and the ones that can give you Lyme.
Wood/Deer Tick comparison
We live out in the country, and finding wood ticks here is a daily occurrence. We've easily found 25 this year alone, with a little less than half of them attached to someones head/skin. The last time we found a deer tick (they are harder to find because they are smaller) was once last summer. Tick checks in us girl's hair is also a daily occurrence. The boy's hair is purposely shaved short enough to see them without having to check.

I'm not sure about wood ticks, but deer ticks can be found all over the US, even though they are more prevalent in some areas.

I had to add one of the rest of the world too, since I probably didn't get it in the US!
Please also keep in mind these are cases, reported, and the bite could have happened elsewhere. Nevertheless, no matter where you live, you are not exempt from the possibility of Lyme!

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So, let's pretend for a minute you have a deer tick on you. You don't know it and it bites you.

A characteristic of a deer tick bite is a bulls-eye rash around the bite area. You may or may not have this, only 50% of people who have Lyme report having a rash they saw. (I vaguely remember having some kind of rash on my leg, but it went away, and wasn't visibly infected, so we dismissed it. Mind you I was in Ukraine at a mental institution, a rash could mean anything!)

Another early sign is flu like symptoms. Fever, chills, nauseousness, etc. You will most likely have something like this, even if it's just for a day or two and not very bad. (I had this, but we blamed it on the greasy food, the temperature, and the smells at the institution.)

So, scenario #1 - You suspect you have it. You tell your doctor. You get tested for it. The test is correct only 50% of the time, so it may not come back positive, but just to be safe your doctors starts you on a round of antibiotics. This may or may not take care of it, but you will probably be told it did. (More on this in the controversy post.) If you still do have it, it will overlap in scenario #2.

Scenario #2 - You are ignorant, like I was, of that fact you have it. You have the flu like symptoms, if you're like me, you felt achy for a couple months. Then (how soon depending on several factors, for me, it was 2 yrs), the symptoms intensify and you start getting new ones.

More about this coming in part 2 of What is Lyme Disease. Stay tuned!

Thank you for reading. By simply doing that you are helping to raise awareness. My hope is that these post will help others understand this awful disease, and possibly help someone diagnose their Lyme and get proper treatment to help. 

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Home!

I know I disappeared, but yes I am home if you care. ;) I've been sleeping and trying to cope with a bad flare up of my Lyme disease... speaking of that, I know I said May was Lyme Awareness Month, and I would post about it, and I didn't. So I plan on hitting that hard the rest of May! :)

Our trip home was slightly eventful. After we didn't wake up on time, we made it to the airport with minutes to spare. Going through security, the same alarm clock that didn't wake us up looked funky in the machine thing, so had to be run through again costing us time we didn't have to lose. After it got cleared we high-tailed it to our gate at the end of the terminal, and made it, as people we starting to board! Needless to say, I was very happy to see my parents (having no idea that all happened) surprised me with a new alarm clock when I got home! LOL

And then, our second flight turned around half way though and came back. Because the de-ice-er thing on the plane wasn't working, and because of the weather conditions where we were landing, it was unsafe to land. 45 min later, they had it fixed. :P

Anywho, just though you wanted a laugh. :)

We enjoyed our time at Spitz's soo very much, and we miss them something AWFUL!!! Love those Fab Five!! ♥♥♥


Monday, May 13, 2013

We're Here!!

We're in NY!! We left early this morning (like 7am... uggg), and after 5 hours in the car, and sitting several more hours on the plane and waiting for it to take off, we arrived at the Spitz residence. :)
Acting like first time flyers taking pictures on the place. :)
An arm in the sky! lol Love it!
Hugs with Lyla and Belle!!

Ball time!
Attempted picture with Miss Lyla Bean! Ah well, we'll try again tomorrow.
SaraGrace using her brain to help hang up Lyla's new swing. She's pushing her frog in it as I type, and it actually kinda works! :) Better than anything anyone else came up with (don't worry, proper hardware to hang it up will be used soon!).
After hanging out and playing with the kids for awhile, and having dinner, we went for a walk. It was HARD, as it's been a tough day fighting Lyme, and the streets around here aren't as flat as Kansas. :) I feel so good now after, though sore! I'm gonna beat this Lyme one day at a time!

Can't wait for another fun day hanging out with these kids tomorrow! Lyla's surgery is on Friday, so they are leaving Thursday morning. It was originally on Weds (so they would've left tomorrow morning), but was moved back two days. We weren't upset though, we just get to spend another few days with Miss Lyla! :)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

My Lyme Story

I shared last week that I have Lyme disease. So I wanted to share my Lyme story with you. And there's more about my Lyme regarding my upcoming trip.

Please know I'm not asking for sympathy. At all. I just wanted to share as many have asked, and in hopes that it can encourage others battling Lyme as well. To my fellow Lymies stuck in the trenches, there will be better days, I promise. Stay strong! ♥

Oh, and I scattered random pics from Instagram of my siblings through out the post because it needed some pictures, and I don't have any that went with the post. ;) Follow us @mygodislord!!


For those who don't know, you get Lyme from getting bitten by a deer tick (also called black-legged tick).

We believe I got bitten Ukraine 2.5+ years ago, as I had flu like symptoms while there, which I now know to be early signs of Lyme. I might of also had a bulls eye looking rash, it's hard to remember, but since it disappeared, we dismissed it, and I forgot to tell my mom.


After I got home, my mom said I complained of feeling achy and tired all the time. Then fast forward to this last Dec and Jan/Feb when I got really sick in Kansas. We think the stress of my trip triggered it.

After getting home, being on another round of antibiotics, using an inhaler, and living off of ibuprofen for my near constant headache, the doctor has no idea why I'm still sick and getting headaches. They wanted me to get a CT scan and see a neurologist next. Mom didn't want to go that route yet, so she got me tested by a homeopathic doctor who diagnosed at the beginning of March with Lyme, and a host of other things including hormonal imbalance.



So right now, we are doing natural/homeopathic treatment. I was told I would get worse before getting better as my body was detoxing and working it's way out of the disease, and get worse I did. So bad that I thought at one point if I got any worse I would be bedridden.


I'm now on week 10 of 11 weeks of treatment, and last week, I was doing really good. Only occasional headaches, some joint pain, not taking ibuprofen more than 2x a week, and nearly no fatigue (but still lots of insomnia).


That was until I found out I was going to Spitz's and started two weeks of very intensive school work. Since then I've been regressing and getting worse. Getting symptoms again that I thought I had long seen the end of. I believe part of it is spiritual attack because I know the evil one doesn't like me doing these trips, but also mostly due to the fact my stress level shot up. Which would further confirm why I got sick in KS.


Most of the stress was from studying for a big test I took yesterday, not so much from the trip itself. After you make a certain number of these trips, trip preparation isn't stressful anymore! Like having kids, after the 3rd one, it's easy (or so I've heard). LOL

Now, I'm hoping that since I'm done with the test, I'll be on the upswing again!
(Test: See here, I now have 6 more credits from American Literture! Yay!)


During the trip itself, I don't feel like I'll be too stressed, and am going to do everything possible to not be so I can stay healthy and be helpful! There are many things I feel will make this trip less stressful than past trips, the big one being Rachel will be there. She's very good at keeping me laughing, happy, and non-stressed, I know from experience. :) Plus having another pair of hands just as willing as I am to help will be huge.

So that's where I'm at with my Lyme, and where I hope to be at in the coming weeks.


There is no official cure for Lyme, and things that work for some may not work for others. I think the homeopathic treatment is helping a LOT, even if it's not getting rid of it completely.

While I am (was?) doing so much better, I honestly don't know if I'll ever be able to get rid of it completely, no matter what treatment option we take. I pray I will, but it's a very real possibility I'll live with it, or at least some minor symptoms of it, the rest of my life. As long as I'm not really sick the rest of my life, and it just remains like it was the 2 yrs between when I got it and when I got really sick, I think I could deal with it.


However, I could give any future biological children congenital Lyme. That is not something I want, and is the big thing that scares me about not being able to get rid of it. Good thing I'm already so open to adoption!!! lol I guess it'll be quite awhile before I have to worry about it though. ;)

Thursday, May 2, 2013

A new special need.

My mom has said that if we adopt again, it will be a child with Down syndrome, because she doesn't have time to learn a new special need/diagnosis. (She was right about the adopting part, Grace has Down syndrome!)

God apparently heard her, laughed, and said "So you think you're in control?"

Yup, new special need coming right up. Not with a new adopted child, but with one of the children she already has.


Remember when in Kansas, I got really sick? And how I came home and I couldn't get rid of it? And other things not blogged - almost constant headache, inability to concentrate, fatigue and exhaustion, joint pain, muscle tightness and cramps, trouble breathing, an immune system that is nearly non-existent, disturbed sleeping patterns, etc etc.

It's all related. It's the new "special need". I have Lyme disease.

And that, last time I checked, was a new special need in mom's book! At least there aren't weekly therapies for this one!

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month... so you'll probably see quite a few posts from me this month about it... raising awareness, in hopes others don't have to go though what I have.