Number 10 With Lyme,

With Lyme, I have shared my story with others and met strangers friends living a similar journey. Without Lyme, I never would have met two of my dearest internet/phone friends. I'm not sure when in the journey I met my two Lyme friends Sarah & Melisa, but somewhere along the way the have become a huge support system in my Lyme life.

When I first started chatting with Sarah online I was concerned that her mother might be a tad worried since our ages are vastly different. We typically just talked about food and health and I would give her ideas for nutrition which apparently her mother just loved! Now, I talk to Sarah generally once a week on the phone about Lyme and Life. I was even invited and attended Sarah's high school graduation. My husband and I spent an entire day with her family.

I became close friends with Melisa online too and we have hung out several times including at Under Our Skin showing in North Carolina. We've eaten lunch together, met up at my our LLMD's office and even gone window shopping at Christmas time together a couple of years ago. We have each had a PICC and/or Port and just completely understand each other.

There are others too. I have a whole group of Lyme friends online that have gone through my same fight and we support each other in ways that no one else can. There is an old saying in the Lyme community, "You don't get Lyme until you GET Lyme." Your family & friends can be kind, compassionate, caring and do everything under the sun, but the only ones that truly understand are those that have been there.

So Lyme gave me people that understood my mystery invisble illness. People that understood that I was telling the truth and when I made statements such as, "It feels like I'm eating lightbulbs sometimes" .. they didn't look at me like I was crazy. In return, I understood what they meant when they said left their phone in the freezer and couldn't find it for days. We also worried about one another if we didn't hear from each other after a few days.

One Lyme friend sent me a small tree for Christmas a few years ago when I was at my worst and couldn't decorate myself. "Zee" knew how important it was to me and sent me such a kind gift. My Lyme friends understand the "spoon theory" and understand if I've run out of energy. They don't get frustrated if I'm too tired to talk, IM, email, call, hang out or if I have to change plans at the last minute. They just understand.