May 2, 2016
Friend! It is Lyme Disease Awareness Month!
If you didn't know -
It's kind of a bummer. It can lead to a slow, systematic death explained only in the medical community as "in your head." If you didn't know anything about how medicine, doctors and pharmaceutical patents work and then you got Lyme or any number of tick-born illnesses - before you completely lost your mind and ability to move, you'd probably learn a little something about how f**ked up all this junk is.
Top Prevention Tips (Are Bogus)
The prevailing top prevention tip for avoiding Lyme and other devastating tick-borne illnesses is - don't get them. That's right, these life-destroying diseases and illness which you can get all year round, are sexually transmitted and have no reliable testing or treatment are best summed up as "just don't get them."
We got no clue how to actually protect ourselves, our families or our pets from them.
There's really no true prevention. Here are some of the classic tips, though:
Wear bug spray: Tick spray is classified as a "repellent." It makes you seem less delicious to all type of bugs, including mosquito who can carry West Nile which is apparently more known and terrifying then the disease cesspool out there. However, it doesn't really do anything to completely stop bugs from biting. Check out this article on You’re Putting On Your Bug Spray All Wrong
Wear light colored clothes: Why, you probably never asked.
Tuck you clothes into your clothes: The old goodie. First, no one does this. Second, as long as you have any exposed skin anywhere on your body, you are a target. Ticks can climb, nest, fall. . .sometimes they might hold on to your sock and get you when you are asleep in your bed. If you touch nature, you can pick them up. Also, if you pet runs around and then you hang out with your pet boom!
Do a tick check: Sure, good idea. But, unless you are willing to check your entire head for a bug the size of a period on a sentence and in your nether regions, underarms and all that - you might miss ;em. Keep in mind, ticks can bite you, infect you and drop off without you even knowing.
Top Stuff That Gets You In Trouble
One of the top issues with any tick transmissible illness is that medical professional only believe ONE type of tick can transmit any disease. That means, you might get bit, save the tick, run to the doctor only to be told you can't possibly get sick. Then if you do, well. . .you're in trouble.
Additionally, common medical wisdom does not believe you can not pick up illnesses from blood transfusions because we stop people with tattoos from giving blood, gay people (not anymore, I don't think/hope) and screen for HIV/AIDS. That means the three active infections I had would have been transmitted to someone needing blood, giving them all three without an indication
And if you do get a tick-borne illness you will have challenges to overcome in getting treatment and you will hear these two statements from your doctor:
Fear, Hope, Trust, Truth and Lies
Trust me - there is a danger out there that you can't even imagine. It has probably infected someone you know and you might not even know it. I was infected. Most of my story is just inside me - the truth, the real truth, has been met with disbelief, claims of my over exaggeration and. . .well. . .it's just unbelievable the way getting Lyme touches everything you do and everything you ever believed.
So, this month, I will be doing my best to show you what people live with everyday and what will ultimately kill them. It's called chronic Lyme or even Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or even Fibromyalgia - these diagnoses are made up and a way to tell patients to go away and just deal with symptoms rather than get to the bottom of the situation.
We are hidden, denied treatment, research and testing and then blamed for our condition.
I am a survivor by chance, luck and the grace of God. What good is this life is if I don't do something to help those who have not been as lucky as me?
Lyme Support Events
If you would like to invest some time in a (hopefully) fun event to connect with suffers and survivors and raise funds AND awareness toward research, programs and treatments, check out the Lyme Disease Association's Event Page for events happening all over the US.
If you didn't know -
Lyme disease is a multisystem disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi-
Announcements: Lyme Disease Awareness Month — May 2015
It's kind of a bummer. It can lead to a slow, systematic death explained only in the medical community as "in your head." If you didn't know anything about how medicine, doctors and pharmaceutical patents work and then you got Lyme or any number of tick-born illnesses - before you completely lost your mind and ability to move, you'd probably learn a little something about how f**ked up all this junk is.
Top Prevention Tips (Are Bogus)
The prevailing top prevention tip for avoiding Lyme and other devastating tick-borne illnesses is - don't get them. That's right, these life-destroying diseases and illness which you can get all year round, are sexually transmitted and have no reliable testing or treatment are best summed up as "just don't get them."
We got no clue how to actually protect ourselves, our families or our pets from them.
There's really no true prevention. Here are some of the classic tips, though:
Wear bug spray: Tick spray is classified as a "repellent." It makes you seem less delicious to all type of bugs, including mosquito who can carry West Nile which is apparently more known and terrifying then the disease cesspool out there. However, it doesn't really do anything to completely stop bugs from biting. Check out this article on You’re Putting On Your Bug Spray All Wrong
Wear light colored clothes: Why, you probably never asked.
“They’re attracted to the light color. That’s why, typically, we tell people to wear darker colors and long-sleeve pants and shirts,” Dr. Zivin-Tutela said.I have no idea why we believe color somehow is a care to bugs. This really is a case of misinformation being spread. Wear whatever colors you want, it won't save you from a bite.
Tuck you clothes into your clothes: The old goodie. First, no one does this. Second, as long as you have any exposed skin anywhere on your body, you are a target. Ticks can climb, nest, fall. . .sometimes they might hold on to your sock and get you when you are asleep in your bed. If you touch nature, you can pick them up. Also, if you pet runs around and then you hang out with your pet boom!
Do a tick check: Sure, good idea. But, unless you are willing to check your entire head for a bug the size of a period on a sentence and in your nether regions, underarms and all that - you might miss ;em. Keep in mind, ticks can bite you, infect you and drop off without you even knowing.
Top Stuff That Gets You In Trouble
One of the top issues with any tick transmissible illness is that medical professional only believe ONE type of tick can transmit any disease. That means, you might get bit, save the tick, run to the doctor only to be told you can't possibly get sick. Then if you do, well. . .you're in trouble.
Additionally, common medical wisdom does not believe you can not pick up illnesses from blood transfusions because we stop people with tattoos from giving blood, gay people (not anymore, I don't think/hope) and screen for HIV/AIDS. That means the three active infections I had would have been transmitted to someone needing blood, giving them all three without an indication
And if you do get a tick-borne illness you will have challenges to overcome in getting treatment and you will hear these two statements from your doctor:
- The illness you have is rare and impossible to get in the area where you live.
- The illness you have is not life-threatening - it will go away on it's own.
Fear, Hope, Trust, Truth and Lies
Trust me - there is a danger out there that you can't even imagine. It has probably infected someone you know and you might not even know it. I was infected. Most of my story is just inside me - the truth, the real truth, has been met with disbelief, claims of my over exaggeration and. . .well. . .it's just unbelievable the way getting Lyme touches everything you do and everything you ever believed.
So, this month, I will be doing my best to show you what people live with everyday and what will ultimately kill them. It's called chronic Lyme or even Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or even Fibromyalgia - these diagnoses are made up and a way to tell patients to go away and just deal with symptoms rather than get to the bottom of the situation.
We are hidden, denied treatment, research and testing and then blamed for our condition.
I am a survivor by chance, luck and the grace of God. What good is this life is if I don't do something to help those who have not been as lucky as me?
Lyme Support Events
If you would like to invest some time in a (hopefully) fun event to connect with suffers and survivors and raise funds AND awareness toward research, programs and treatments, check out the Lyme Disease Association's Event Page for events happening all over the US.
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