Well, my late-stage or chronic Lyme is back. Two weeks ago I had another chest port placed. I am again on IV antibiotics and expect to be for the next six months to a year. Because Lyme is now at epidemic proportions here in the South (it was first only in the northeast) I’ve decided to blog about my journey this time. It’s called Lyme-the Second Time-One Woman’s Journey.
Lyme is spread by infected ticks. If you don’t know someone with Lyme now, you will within the next 5-10 years. I first got sick in 2000 when we lived on acreage. We had a dog that romped in the woods during the day and came inside at night. Every now and then, he shared a tick with us. :(
Lyme is very easy to treat when first diagnosed, a simple round of oral antibiotics and you’re good to go. The problem is when it is not treated early enough, it moves into the chronic or late-stage. Because it was not endemic to the South, doctors didn’t (and some still don’t) check for it. By 2004, I went from an active interior designer to all but bed-bound when one doctor decided, as a final resort, to check for it.
Besides feeling awful and enduring severe pain, Lyme can make people lose hope. At one point in the first round with Lyme I was at that stage. My husband Mical and daughter Amy held my rope and wouldn’t let me go even when I wanted to.
Doctor after doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. When months turned into years, and the pain became increasingly unbearable, I asked Mical to pray I would die. Thankfully, he wouldn’t. I pray my blog will help someone else who quite literally may be despairing of life. The more we know, the less fearful this severe and traumatic disease can be.
Lyme would really be a fascinating study, if it weren’t so tragic. It would make a great science fiction movie. If only it were fiction. Lyme was created in a laboratory as an agent of bioterrorism and continues to be studied today by our government for that use.
I’ll be talking about this and other Lyme related topics along with ones like ‘What to expect at the various stages of treatment’ and ‘What to say and not say to a chronically ill person.’ If you’d like to follow it, click above on the right to join. I love to cook, so there’s also some great recipes there!
Please feel free to comment or ask any questions. I'd love to hear from you.
