The Mirror Does Lie

"The Lord is Kind for ever and ever; the nations will perish from His land.  You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more." Psalm 10:16-18 NIV

I've decided to start my entries with a Bible verse, song, or some encouraging word. That way there is always something positive that you can take away. I have a lot of supporters who read this just to keep up with my journey but I also have a lot of Lymies that read this too. No matter who you are or what your circumstances are I hope you can find some comfort in the words I choose to share.

Moving on, things have been really rough lately. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally too. This disease lets nothing rest. I had the chance to see some friends I don't get to see but maybe once a year this past weekend. It was nice to have a chance to see them even if only for a little bit. They were eager to see me as they have been following along this journey. As seems to be the norm lately, I was told how great I look. I hear that a lot. I have even noticed myself, that I do "cleanup" pretty well. I'm sure people are just being nice but if there is  any truth to what they say then I can't imagine how amazing I might look if I was well. The truth that has just been in my face this past week is that the mirror lies. My doctor says I look good and I must admit sometimes I agree. It just makes it difficult to even look at yourself and think I don't look sick. And if I don't look sick how on earth can I feel so bad.

Again I have faced some really tough days. Yesterday I actually had to call in sick to work. I woke up in pain but had every intention of pushing through like I have so many other days. Then out of the blue, I got dizzy and nauseous and my heart was not happy. I had a bad headache and backache and didn't get off the couch until dinner time. There were moments yesterday where I thought I could be dying. Everything in my body seemed to dysfunctioning (if that's even a word). It gets downright scary. I find myself either praying to God to get me through this with out panicking and to just let me fall asleep. Then there are very brief moments when I think God if this is what the rest of my life is going to be like take me please. Of course I don't want to die right now. I want to be here with my kids and husband. I know I have something else to accomplish. There are just times when you physically feel like you body is going to just start shutting down and your not sure what to do. I got up off the couch to go to bed and ended up in the kitchen with tears streaming down my face from the pain. God, it is not okay to be in this much pain. It's not. I can't handle anymore pain. I woke up this morning so obviously I handled it or God handled it for me I guess.

All of this once again raises concerns about the future. Will I ever be able to work again full time? Right now I don't see that in the near future. I don't know that I see that happening this year. That really leaves a lot to be discussed.  Once again the financial strain that this has caused my family just adds to the stress. This stress is felt by my parents as they have taken us in and on multiple occasions had to come up with hundreds of dollars for treatment and doctors. I find myself maybe hiding the truth. I don't want to run to them every time I run out of a supplement or medication and don't have the money to pay for it. In a perfect world my supplements would be a standing order shipped every month with no questions asked. The money would always be there. As I have said before this scenario is true for almost every person with Lyme out there. Although there are some rich and famous people that have been afflicted with Lyme there stories just don't seem to be as bad. I have to believe that is largely in part due to the fact that can seek the meds and the treatments that the rest of us can only wish for. Maybe I am totally wrong but I am not the only that feels this a disease for the "rich". The insurance companies are not on your side. As a wife and a mother I struggle with putting myself first. So when I have to look at what the cost of treating my disease maybe taking away from children it is hard to put it first. My kids deserve so much more than they have gotten that it is hard to know that I have taken something away from them to try and fight this. It wears on your mind. I mean if there isn't a cure then am I just wasting time and money? I know that is not the case. I believe I may be able to get back to fairly normal life. I am not ready to give up but this just shows you the kind of head games you can get sucked into with this.

My one doc is out of town until the middle of July so I set up a regular appointment with him for when he returns. Although he usually pops his head in during my IV it is not a true appointment to reevaluate where we are going. I also need  to schedule an appointment with my LLND. I guess I need to have the discussion of if I can't take or do everything what are the most important or beneficial things I can take or do? I have also scheduled an important with a cardiologist who is supposed to by Lyme knowledgeable or friendly. I just can't shake the concern that Lyme is damaging my heart in some way that we just haven't seen yet. What test have we not done? I mean all of the other cardiologist said my electrical issues were not life threatening and I didn't need to be concerned that my heart can go over 200. Although the cardiac specialist had never seen a heart rate as high as mine had gotten, 272 bpm, I should not worry. The only issue with a high rate like mine is that the heart muscle may wear out quicker than normal but again I don't have anything to worry about. Does that make sense to anybody? Plus the leading cause of Lyme related deaths, besides suicide, are cardiac issues. The few I have heard about don't seem to be people that got deathly ill and died without having a chance to undergo treatment. These are people, that had lyme for a long time, like me, and were in ongoing, long term treatment. Maybe even a few years into treatment they lost the fight. I just want to cover my bases.

I'm still working through this all as you can tell. This has certainly been the longest roller coaster ride I have ever been on. I question too how soon I can afford and should I get my kids tested. I don't want them to go through what I have been through. Part of my wants to stop my treatment and focus on them for a while. It's like the scenario on the plane of putting your oxygen mask on first. I can see it both ways. If I'm not better how can I support my children should they be diagnosed. Then again, if my treatment drags on for years, which it certainly looks like it is going too, how much damage could I be doing to them by not getting them treated right now. Lots to pray about and figure out.

Well I think I have thoroughly exhausted my brain for now. There is rest that is needed, plus errands to run and even a quick trip into work today and tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great fathers day weekend. Please let you dads and husbands (if they are fathers) know just how much they mean to you. To all of you, whose dad has passed, my heart goes out to you as this can always be a tough day. Thanks for all of the support.

Status Quo

Well another week of work has come to an end. I have once again survived. This week was a little tougher than the last. I did manage to have two days or so last week where my biggest issue was being tired. That was improvement from the previous few weeks. Unfortunately it didn't last long. Symptoms have ramped back up this week. The tiredness and fatigue never goes away. Some pain has come back. In fact today I have had a lot of the burning nerve pain migrating around. Yesterday I had a little tremor and twitching episode at work along with some weakness. I also had one little spot on the tip of my nose that was going numb on and off through out the day. This disease is so weird. I have had a lot of muscle aching back in my arms and the shortness of breath is back. I had to walk up a hill at a job site and got my butt kicked. So frustrating. I can't keep up on my supplements due to the money issue. I am hoping that once we get into me having a paycheck again we can get into a routine of being able to by supplements before they run out. I haven't had a chance to talk to the doctor about my labs with the heavy metal. Hopefully I can do that soon. Really, I just realized I have a lab slip for blood work that i have had for at least a month. I keep forgetting to go. Hate Lyme brain. Well anyways, I picked up something new today to try for detox. I also have inquired about the cost of HBOT but the place in San Diego I e-mailed hasn't gotten back to me. I hear it's really pricey but it is worth looking into. I just don't know if I can do it while I have my port in. I'm looking into it. I went and saw the eye doctor yesterday and my prescription has changed a little bit but the good news is there seems to be no damage from the Plaquenil I was taking. Not much else has changed. The symptoms just keep hanging in there and I'm not feeling much better. Some days has just knocked me out and put into bed as soon as I get home. The money and cost of my treatments is still a mess. There just isn't enough to cover it all but God has continued to provide and I am better off than a lot of other Lyme patients. We could still use your help though so if you are so inclined please check out the links to my photo site and purchase some of my work or go to my donation site and make a secure donation to help me cover my medical costs. I am hanging in there but could certainly still use your prayers. We have recently gained some ground in the Lyme community but we still have a long way to go in the political battle. Don't forget to watch the award winning documentary "Under Our Skin" as it is now available on demand for a lot of cable companies and also available for instant viewing on Netflix. I'll continue to keep you posted. I think there is a few other things that I wanted to say but at this point my brain just isn't cooperating.