Welcome to the Lyme Life

My name is Jennifer and this is my blog. I have been actively fighting this world of Lyme Disease and co-infections since March of 2007. I've also dabbled in mineral deficiency, Progesterone Deficiencies, Heavy Metal Toxicity and other health issues. I had a PICC inserted into my right arm July of 2008 and I battled with it every day to keep it in for almost 7 months. There were several moments where it probably should have been pulled, but between my wonderful nurses, doctor, picc line insertion team and husband ... we managed to keep it in as long as I needed it. We used it up to the night before it was finally pulled.

I've used regular antibiotics, supplemental therapies, IV vitamin & minerals, yeast battling medications and chelation treatment. I know there is more that I have used, but the most important part of my protocol was keeping the Candida (yeast) at bay. I feel as if the IV vitamin & minerals did the best at keeping my energy levels up. I had an extremely experimental IV which I used for well over 7 months (probably more like 9 months) which isn't available any more. I feel like that IV did more for more than anything else I have tried.

Now while that stuff pretty much rules my life, I am a person. I live my life the best I can with the skills that I have and the love I receive. My husband and I have been coupled together now for 12 years. This coming April, we will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. He has been with me on almost every single doctor visit I have endured. He's only missed ONE hospital visit and that one was just a quick check on my picc line when I was having an allergic reaction to the cleaning solution. I wasn't even there that long. He's supported me with his quirky sense of humor and determination to get to the root of my health issues. Google was his best friend when I spiralled out of control in 2006/2007. He is the one that found my Lyme Doctor, he is the one that diagnosed me, and he is the one that ensured that I filled out the paperwork to get to see the Great Oz of Lyme.

We have two delightful and mischievous dogs. We rescued both. One is a lab mix that we rescued from the SPCA. He is about 8 to 9 years old. We rescued him when he was about 8 months old. We also rescued a Dachshund from a house. I went over to this house with a friend of mine to donate clothes for the mother. When we arrived, there was a terrible stench that greeted us. The house was full of children and pets. I mentioned how many pets they had and the lady said they were trying to get rid of one of them. I found this lovely scared overweight Dachshund under the couch. I told the lady I would take her to the SPCA and find her a home. I fell in love and she's been under our loving care ever since. I speculate she's around 10 to 11 years old now. She's definately no longer shy, but does get scared at new people. She's no longer overweight either!

I work in a child care facility. Originally, I worked full time in a preschool classroom. However as time went on, I became in charge of my center's reading program. I did both teach in the classroom and run the private reading program. Then it became crystal clear that I was struggling doing both well. I would spend 2 or 3 hours outside of my classroom and only have my class 3 to 4 hours (and two of those hours would be at nap time). So I had a choice to make. Do one or the other or feel like a failure at both. Even though I was still doing both quite well, my health was starting to fail and I needed to focus on as few things as possible. I could have done either, but my passion was the reading program.

So now, I teach 3 & 4 year olds how to read. I also dabble in the Math program as well. It's quite a rewarding job to know that the children I send to Kindergarten already know how to read before getting there. A lot of the children I have taught in the past are now in Academically Gifted programs. It makes me so proud to know that they took the basics I taught them and expanded into very gifted students. I just recently saw one of my students that I taught at 3 and 4 and she's now in 3rd or 4th grade.

There are several things that I love. I love taking photographs (especially of flowers, trees and clock towers), watching Carolina play basketball, collecting angels & snowmen, reconnecting with old friends and watching TV (especially So You Think You Can Dance). I used to be in the marching band and winterguard. I love to go to competitions to see my alma mater perform. Speaking of Alma Maters, I went to Western Carolina University and performed in the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band for one semester. So any chance I get to see WCU perform, I grab it. That band is one awesome band. Youtube does not do it justice. If you ever get the chance to see WCU perform live ... take it! You will not be disappointed.