How am I doing?

I hate to ever say how well I am doing. It always seems that as soon as I say something about how well things are going that they begin to spiral down a huge hill into a valley of sickness.

I have been thinking about the comparison of last year and this year. Last November, I went to Western for Alumni Band. It hurt to walk, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to sit, and I was pretty miserable. I had 15 baggies of medications that I had to take with me. Five baggies for each day for the 3 days I was there. Each baggie contained no less than 5 things in it. It was the easiest way to keep control of what I had to take for my short trip.

This November, I went to Western. I took a container of alcohol, two heparin shots for my PICC line and a bottle of Dioxychlor. I had to take nothing with me to the game. I only had to do the heparin shots at night in the comfort of my hotel room instead of in the bathrooms at the WCU football stadiums.

Last year I went to Late Night with Roy & a basketball game. I hurt .... every bone in my body ached. It hurt to walk the short distance from the parking deck to the Dean Dome. It was hard to enjoy the most exciting time on UNC campus because my head hurt so badly.

This year I went to UNC basketball game and toured the campus. I sat down rarely and was able to keep up with my fast walking husband. My lungs gave out faster than my legs did. My bones never hurt even once and the only sign that I even had a problem was shortly after I ate. I had a severe case of heartburn ... or maybe it was just gas. :) In either case, it didn't last too awful long.

I was able to HUG ... It has been so long since someone has HUGGED me without fear of hurting me. I don't even think my friend realized that he should even be careful. I haven't even tried to REALLY hug anyone in so long that I just had to keep hugging over and over again because it felt so darn good. It most definately did not hurt. Well ... until he squeezed me so hard that I about lost my breath .. but I weigh 95 pounds and he weighs .. more than that. :)

The different between this year and last year is drastic. I can walk, breathe (sans huge massive constrictor type hug), hear the roars of the Dean Dome without headaches, and have a wonderful time without worry about medications.

The last few months I have had very few worries. I've had a cold. Big whoopty do. :) It has lasted over 3 weeks, BUT .... I don't have a headache, my joints don't hurt, i'm not dizzy, I can stand up right, I don't get lost going home or to work, and the list could go on and on.

I believe I still have a long road to recovery, but I am on my way. My goal earlier this year was to be well at Thanksgiving. Do I think that Lyme & Yeast won't be an issue then? No, but the symptoms have been drastically reduced that I think I'll actually get to ENJOY Thanksgiving this year.

Now with any luck at all ... by the time I'm 33 ... I'll have more time to be with my friends and less time to take medications. The tide is turning folks. I am getting well. :)

Look forward to a post on Sunday about what all I found out on my Saturday morning LLMD appointment.