Lyme Disease-- An Uphill Battle

I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2013. My husband, son, and I had recently moved to Wisconsin from Nevada (where ticks are of no huge concern unless you are hiking in the mountains) and had only been here for a few short months when I started experiencing flu-like symptoms that wouldn't go away. By the second week, I was basically bed-ridden and in such agonizing pain that I finally forced myself to set an appointment to go to my healthcare provider. It was another week of pain before they could actually see me and by then I had lost feeling in the lower left side of my face. 

The first question the doctor asked was if I had been bitten by a tick. My answer was a quick no, I hadn't found one on me, didn't have the "bullseye" rash, etc. I was convinced it had to have been the flu. She took my labs and ran them for Lyme "just to be sure," and I left with unanswered questions and still in an incredible amount of pain. On the way home (about an hour and a half drive), she called me and said my lab work came back "sky high" for Lyme Disease and I needed to get back to the clinic immediately for antibiotics. I wasn't able to make it back to the clinic before they closed, so I had to wait through the weekend and pick up my prescription on Monday morning. Another weekend of pain. 

Little did I know that that one little tick, that I never even saw would turn my world completely upside down. I thought Lyme was something that could be cured. Take those antibiotics and I'd be good to go. I couldn't have been more wrong. Eight years later the pain is still agonizing, though some days are most certainly better than others. I have brain fog that severely limits my ability to have a proper conversation. My joint pain limits my physical ability to do certain things with my hands (I'm a drummer in a band and also a professional archaeologist, so my hands are crucial). My vision is starting to go. The list goes on and on, and every day brings something new and increasingly more challenging. 

Chronic Lyme Disease is real. Regardless of what your doctor says. Lyme can hide, it can change, but it doesn't go away. Here, I want to share my story, my struggles, my reality, and the things that I am doing to simply just keep going. I hope that this blog helps some of you as well. 


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