The Lyme Files

Out of all the things my battle with Lyme and tick-borne illnesses has cost me and stolen from me - the worst was my voice. 

Here is my story, my advocacy.

• Lyme Disease Awareness Month!: Lyme disease is a multisystem disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.
• Why Is This So Hard?: Lymies have been told and conditioned by the medical community and those around us NOT to talk about it.
• The Paper: I brought a print out of this running tab of things to every doctor I saw starting in 1998.
• I Never Knew Anyone With Lyme: As a coworker pointed out: "Listen, if it was such a big issue, everyone would have it."
• The First Doctors: When you have Lyme or any of those "invisible" illness which a doctor cannot figure out - it is most common for the doctor to give up or blame the patient.
• My Diagnosis: When you have these illnesses, there is a lot of seething you do.
• One Deep Breath: Ben Ahrens' story of Lyme. "Never look at what you want to avoid." (Unless it is right in front of you).
• The Others: Watching others going through their treatments and the watching my labs for other illnesses. 
• Emotional Disconnect: Beyond apathy, beyond depression - the way I coped left me unable to reconcile my sickness and reality.
• The PICC: What it was like getting my PICC line installed.
• Lyme Disease Challenge: I took a bite out of Lyme - will you?
• Pain: Discomfort is part of Lyme - this is not discomfort, this is torture and there is no escape or relief. 
• Herx: It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
• Co-Infections: Lyme brings a buddy - or two. Knocks out your immune system and wrecks havoc.
• The Blackouts: And. . .we're here now. Ok.
• Lyme Law: We have laws no one knows about that don't trump the CDC>
• Tinnitus & Hyperacusis: Sound hurts
• Vision: Losing my sight.
• Loneliest: Invisible. . .
• Suicide: Chronic is a weight most don't get.
• Lyme Lit: I got this book. . .
• Lyme and Where You Are: Gaming with Lyme?
• Hallucinations: Inside the damaged brain.
• Fatigue vs Tired: It's a real, painful difference.
• Burke: The day Dr. Burke died.
• First Year Out: After five relapses. . .learning to live.
• The Cost of Lyme: There is nothing it doesn't touch.
• One Person Has Power: You can do something. All of you.
• Diagnosis of Lies: Don't be fooled by syndromes and important sounding medical terms - they are lies.
• My Relationship: Letting go of a life of sickness.
• Aftermath 1: Things I have been left with.
• Aftermath 2: You see, the one thing Lyme teaches you very, very well is to hide everything. Your pain, your struggles, your thoughts, your emotions.

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