June Update

I'm finally getting around to posting an update. I apologize for the lapse in posting; I've been a really bad blogger lately! I will make up for it with lots of pictures. My health has been extremely up and down, but thankfully I haven't had any more seizures since my last post. I am, however, sporting a lovely 30 day heart monitor in case I have any more of the heart episodes I've had recently. I'm on day 20 with no events yet.

A few weeks ago, I went on an overnight hiking trip. This was my very first backpacking trip since becoming debilitated from Lyme disease in 2009. After being bedridden for months on end and enduring nearly two years of agonizing treatments--including seven months of painful injections--I'm over the moon that I finally accomplished my goal of going on a hiking trip!

This trip was very difficult for me and it really did a number on my body, but I was (and am) enormously proud of my accomplishment and it was worth every bit of the pain that it caused my body. Though I really haven't been feeling very well the past few weeks, I somehow managed the two mile hike in (luckily we found a service road and were able to drive our Subaru in, so I didn't have to hike out very far), and this trip felt like my triumph over Lyme disease. That is, until I noticed something in my hair on the car ride home...

I was the only one who hiked in wearing long sleeves, jeans and tall hiking boots; the other three people had on shorts, short sleeves and sneakers. I was the one warning my friends, "Don't lean against that tree--that's one of the easiest ways to pick up a tick!" I was careful, and out of four people on this trip, I was the only one who came home with a tick bite. To say I was heartbroken would be an understatement.

Please be very careful, friends! Check yourself for ticks thoroughly and often. Even being very careful, I still ended up with a tick bite. This is supposed to be the worst year ever for Lyme disease. I was lucky; because I am currently on multiple antibiotics, my doctor feels I am protected against any tick borne diseases that my little hitchhiker may have been carrying. So if anyone had to come home with a tick bite, I guess it was good that it was me! (As a side note, my tick was donated to science; she was sent off to an entomologist in my state.)

Lyme disease has taken such a huge part of my life away from me. I will NOT let Lyme disease steal my love for the outdoors away from me, too. I know too many people with Lyme who will not go in the woods any more.

I can never be one of those people, because nature is my biggest inspiration for getting better!

As I said, my health has been very up and down; my body is still adjusting to a different treatment protocol (I'm done with the painful Bicillin injections!). I have had many huge Lyme crashes where I can't do anything until it passes. I had one day where I couldn't move for three hours; a few hours later I felt great and went off riding my horse!

It's really hard for people to understand the up and down nature of this disease. There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes I'm up; sometimes I'm down. Sometimes I'm in a lot of pain; sometimes I feel great. I wish I could explain it, but I can't.

I have really learned to cherish the good moments and play with my children, dash to the barn to see my horse, play my drums, go in the woods, etc. And I have learned to pamper myself in my bad moments--I get weekly massages, indulge in my favorite comfort foods, take epsom salt and aromatherapy baths, etc.

Sometimes, you just have to make the best of a bad situation...

PS, I meant humor, not alcohol! But, hey, this puppy looks pretty content...