Living the Lyme Life

Since my last post --- birthday

2012-01-29T19:52:00.002-05:00

I celebrated my 12th birthday - - - - for the 3rd time on Friday. I spent the day with my best friend and then went out to dinner with my husband. It really doesn't get better than that. I had over 100 birthday wishes on my fb wall and several phone calls too.

They love me; they really love me. :-)

Anyways, that's what I did. I've been celebrating all weekend long too. Well sort of. I haven't really done anything special, but be thankful that I'm still alive!

Score 2 for the Overachiever

2012-01-25T13:06:00.002-05:00

My second perfect score came in from the well known difficult grader. All these students in my Admin class were telling me that this professor was tough. That this professor didn't give good grades. I just sat there knowing that I've turned in two assignments and both of them scored perfectly. I do know she's tough though. She put an announcement in our group that more than 1/2 of the class scored a ZERO! Eeks.

I'm sure that I won't keep up with these perfect scores, but what a relief it is to know that so far I'm batting 100.

You might be a Lymie if ....

2012-01-21T21:59:00.002-05:00

So this was inspired by my friend Candice who was inspired by a youtube video.

Things Lyme patients say.

Anyway Candice posted something that reminded me about something that happened a couple of weeks ago. I was talking to my friend on the phone. As you read the conversation, you'll realize that it was another Lyme friend. It's happened on a number of occasions, but typically I never say what's on my mind when it happens.

So I was on the phone with her when I realized I hadn't seen my cell in a while. I needed it to put some information on the computer that I had logged into my phone. SOooo here is how the conversation went:

I said to another Lymie on the phone, "I just can not find my cell, I have no clue where I put it."

She was like "aren't you talking on it?"

I said, "No, not that I know of."

She was like, "Are you sure?"

I said, "Nope, haven't used it all day."

Then I realized I was using it.

Oops.

Oh the joys of having Lyme Brain. It makes me laugh even more when I think about the voice she used when she said "Are you sure?" Haa! Bless our hearts.

ahhh a blessing

2012-01-19T07:45:00.002-05:00

So I reread my homework assignment. Get this: God IS good.

I have to read the same thing in both classes. Just one is on a website and one is located in my other class book. Ahhhh what a blessing.

Because I'm having a Hyperbaric treatment today, I decided to print off the PDF and put in a notebook. I'll be able to read it out loud with little disturbances (except for the loud noise in the machine, but I think I'll be able to zone out past that) and highlight the parts that I want to write about.

I *want* to try to get all my homework done by tomorrow even though some of them aren't due by Sunday. I *am* an overachiever after all. I've been called this in the last week by not one, not two, not even three, but seven people. I probably won't get them all done, but I can try. Last week I got most of the assignments finished well before they were due. It meant I wasn't stressing all weekend regarding my stuff and if I wanted to go somewhere instead of staying home working on assignments I could without feeling a dilemma.

My 2nd class & some

2012-01-18T20:30:00.002-05:00

I had a great second class and when I got home I got online to find my first grade for the other class. I got 10 points out of 10 points! This Lymie got a perfect score on her first college assignment! Yeah! Go me!

Now I have a huge undertaking. I have to read a bunch and then write a paper based on what I've read. Now normally this isn't a problem, but since Lyme I've had trouble processing what I've read so it takes multiple reads. Reading 80 plus pages multiple times for a paper that's due less than 5 days later is not going to happen. I'm sure I'll do fine since I essentially know the content (since it's Education), but it's still a little frustrating.

I have to turn in the one paper on Sunday and this one involves reading a bunch of websites. That's even more frustrating because I can't go between 20 different links to formulate my thoughts.

So just prayers please that I can figure out what I need to do for this lady that apparently is a tough grader. I apparently was fortunate to get the 10 out of 10 on my first assignment. Most people were saying that I'd be lucky to get 8 out of 10.

My First Class

2012-01-10T22:33:00.003-05:00

When I took Credentials many moons ago to work in the Early Childhood Education field, I had no idea that it would lead me to a career that I've been doing for the last 10 years. At the time, I had been out of college for only a few years. I was still in the "groove" so to speak. I knew the lingo. Computers weren't *real* big yet. I mean they were, but not really.

Fast Forward to November when I decided I wanted to take some Administrative courses in Education. These two classes are commonly called Admin 1 & 2. First thing I thought was that they would be in two different semesters. I really didn't want to spend more than one semester in school, but it was the way it was. Well imagine my surprise (delightful yet terrifying) when I discovered that this semester they've decided to fast track the program. So now instead of having it in two different semesters, they are in one semester. So what would normally take 16 weeks to learn, will be fast tracked into 8 weeks. What a scary thought for a normal student, much less for me. Who let's face it: I graduated with my bachelors degree in 1999. That's a long time ago folks.

I had a little bit of trouble getting the class scheduled, but things were going smoothly. Fastforward to 3:30 today. 2 and 1/2 hours before my class. The phone rings. It's a lady with the department saying that I can't take tonight's class because I haven't had this other class. So I'm fairly calm and ask what can I do in order to be able to take tonight's class. She tells me and within 20 minutes I'm in her office with an add form in hand and hoofing it over to the registrar's office.

Now this part truly terrifies me because at Western, I once waited at the add/drop line for a whopping 7 hours. Well the luck was with me my friends because there was not a single person in line! The man added my class and I headed off to pay for it. Can you believe it? There wasn't a single person in that line either! I was beginning to feel a little lucky. Then I turned the corner and saw the line to the bookstore.

I decided to be positive and get in line and not complain. Wouldn't you believe it I got between two negative nelly's and I thought, "I'm so glad that's not me anymore." I tried to uplift them and remind them that there were worse things than waiting in line and at least we had a wall to lean on. I bet I annoyed the mess out of them. We finally made it in the store and got our books and left. I had about 40 minutes to spare for my class so I sat down and started chatting it up with a couple of people sitting in the lobby.

Cause apparently that's what Lyme has done for me - given me a confidence just to talk to strangers and be myself no matter what.

Class went well. However, all this technology has me screaming. Hopefully, I'll do just fine.

Let's just hope the Lyme brain can stay away during this crazy time of my life.

Also say a little prayer for a college student I saw today. She must have been 18 years old and taking her very first college class because she walked into the building I was in (this was the very first time I had even walked in there). She was shaking like a leaf and asked very timidly if we knew where a class was. We directed her to where we thought it might be and as soon as she left, we all three said --- that poor thing looked nervous. So either it was her first class or ... she was overwhelmed by all of her other classes. So lift up this unknown college student.

2011 in review

2011-12-31T19:56:00.007-05:00

January, February and March 2011

The first three months of 2011 whizzed by. In January we spent the time organizing our bedroom and closet. It made me happy. They stayed fairly clean until the last 3 months of the year when Lyme sent me spiraling back into the depth of despair. I do have a plan though. Get it back to where it was. It will take some time, but I will get it there. I also celebrated my 35th birthday. It was hard to believe that it had been 5 years since my 30th birthday.

In February, I went through a whirlwind of grief. I discovered that a friend of mine had died of lung cancer. I retreated into a world of my own and did not post much on the blog.

In March, I discovered that one of my closest Lyme friends was a musical genius. I knew it, but didn't know it. I discovered Alisa's music. It helped me through some tough days. I took antibiotics for an infection for the first time in a while.

The second three months of 2011: April, May and June

In April, so much happened. It was a whirlwind of grief really. I'm the kind of person that when someone else loses someone they love that I hurt. I really empathize. Whether I knew the person or I didn't. Whether I loved the person for a lot a long time ago or whether I never even met the person, I hurt almost the same. So in April, we celebrated anniversaries and births and deaths of friends and family of friends. I had a lot of migraines. I attributed it to stress.

In May, I had the first UTI in ages. That sucked, but it opened my eyes to what was going on with my body. I restarted LDN to help increase my immune function so that I could help prevent anything that might be going on with my body. Unfortunately later in the year we decided it wasn't helping me much so I went off it. At home, we had lightning hit several things which meant we were left replacing a lot of things. On the health front, my picc line bumps returned with a vengeance. Yet another sign that something was up.

In June, I began swimming. I swam a lot. Also made a follow up with my LLMD. I found out my Dad was heart healthy.

The next three months: July, August and September

In July, I had blood work done. I also went to a Lyme Walk which was nice. I met some really awesome people there. I hit a high when I was told I was definitely in remission. I began a cream of LDN.

In August, it was weird. I spent a lot of time with friends, but I had started to take a Lymie Slide.

In September, I spent a lot of time buying new clothes. It was fun, but not. If that makes sense. AND I hosted a Lyme Lunch with all my Lyme friends. Oh it was very fun! However my health was taking a nose dive.

The last three months:

In October I began to have some serious symptoms which included terrible migraines almost every day. I went to UNC and to the fair. I got my first IV in a year and realized that I had indeed relapsed. I began to use the HBOT. I started some vials and began to herx. I was sad.

In November, I had my ear mole removed. It wasn't cancer praise God. I had another IV and we went to the beach on "Black Friday." I had many many HBOT treatments. They began to work miracles on my headaches.

In December, I quit my full time job and went on substitute status. My last full time day was the 16th. I spent time with my family and my husband. We went to Greensboro. We had fun with a college friend and his new bride. I had my 3rd IV.

2011 was filled with ups and downs. My health took a nose dive, but I was on it. Hopefully 2012 will be filled with increasing my health back to where it was earlier in 2011.

2012 Wish List

2011-12-27T08:51:00.002-05:00

Every year I sort of make a wish list of sorts in my head of what I would really like to happen in the next year. This year I thought I'd put it out there to see if I stayed on track. I rarely ever do what I intended, but thought that by putting it down on "paper" I actually may do better.

Health: I wish for my health to be better in 2012. For most of 2011, it was pretty good. However things happened to cause a relapse. So for 2012, I plan to utilize a reduce, reuse, recycle health plan. Reduce Stress, Reuse and recycle alternative treatments that worked in the past.

Home: My family has several wishes in regards to this wish. We will see if it can come true in 2012. While we love our home, there are several things that we would love to have and honestly those things wouldn't be easily obtained if we are where we are. So we would love to be able to either purchase some land and build our dream home upon it, or find a new home that we would easily make into our dream home. Either way, a lot of prayers would have to be fulfilled in order for either to happen.

Family: I would love to spend more time with my family. Fortunately I'm in the position where I can do that in 2012. I am on sabbatical from work.

Then there are some too personal to list here wishes. It's perhaps those wishes that I wish for 2012 most of all.

2011 Christmas

2011-12-25T07:32:00.002-05:00

Usually I post a whole bunch of silly photos of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day on the blog, but this year there will be none of that!

Since I had the relapse, I decided I would be happy if we had a small tree up (though that did include the ornaments from the big tree that never made it down oh well), the nativity scene and moravian star.

No presents were purchased, no stockings hung with care. The last time this happened was 2007 though that year we had plenty of presents. It is kind of sad, but there is something special about this simplistic Christmas. We are giving what we have - our time. Time with each other, time with our families.

Because of my career, I sometimes get small gifts from children. This year I got a gift card from target and my husband and I chose movies for us to watch together to use the gift card on. We could have used it for something practical, but this year we decided to use it for something we could do together. Yes, I wrapped them all up. We began on Christmas Eve and unwrapped 3 of the movies (the gift cards actually purchased 5 movies and we splurged on 3 more). We watched 3 last night to watch.

Togetherness. That is what 2011 has been about and what I'd like 2012 to have more of.

well that didn't last long

2011-12-22T18:56:00.003-05:00

So after the party on Friday, my boss casually mentioned something to me. I told her I'd think about it. So less than 6 days after my last day, I got my key back.

She pretty much made me an offer I couldn't refuse. She asked if I would be interested in being a substitute on the management team. So if there was a day she or the other managers couldn't be there, I could open the building so that the other person wouldn't have to work a 12 hour day. I'd get plenty of notice and if I couldn't work it, that was fine. I would just have to say that I couldn't.

So today I got my key back. It's back on my chain where it belongs. Guess they really do love me.

The Adventures of the non-working Lymie

2011-12-20T07:13:00.003-05:00

Oh my word. The past few days have seriously been filled to the brim. Kind of sad the only way I'll get to sit is by getting an IV and HBOT!

So a couple of months ago I told my husband, "I smell something funny in the car." It would come & go in waves. Sometimes it smelled terrible and sometimes it smelled kind of sweet. We were sure it was anti-freeze. Then the last time he changed my oil, he heard my car making this knocking sound. Sign number 2 something is wrong. He finally put all the puzzle pieces together and inspected my car and decided the water pump is ready to blow. So yesterday, I spent it calling Toyota - making appointment and driving it up there to be worked on today.

Also yesterday I spent the morning on the phone trying to fix another problem. They called to say my husband had an appointment today, well first it was ME that had the appointment today and secondly he doesn't have an appointment until the 27th. I explain this. They say, "no, it's him that has the appointment." Uh no, it's me. Then they say that he doesn't have an appt at all on the 27th. Good thing I have the paperwork shows that he does have an appt on the 27th. ;)

So today my appt is at 10:30. Well because my car is in the shop, Rob gets to drive me there at 8:30. So I get to mosey around the doc's office for 2 hours. good thing they love me! I brought DVD's out the wazoo and food too. Even a game of Uno if there's anyone that feels up to a game. Then afterwards, another Lymie will drive me to my car. Yeah I'll be at my LLMD's today forever. 8 to 4. IV & HBOT.

Maybe I'll get to rest tomorrow. My great friend and former boss from college is retiring tomorrow. I would love to go see her retire, but because of the 10 hour drive both ways I sent a letter instead. They will read it at her party. She will cry I'm sure of it.

Signing out cause I got to get dressed and head out for my really long day!

Memories to last a lifetime

2011-12-17T06:51:00.003-05:00

Last night was work's annual Christmas party. We typically either go to someone's home (my former boss's house usually) or a restaurant every few years. It coincided with my last day so while I typically don't like going out to restaurants in a big group or staying out way past my bedtime or driving home in the rainy dark skies or parking in Crossroads mall the weekend before Christmas, I decided it may be the last time I see some of these wonderful friends so I went. This decision was cemented when almost every single teacher asked during the week, "You're going Friday right?"

I'll be honest, I'm the expect nothing be surprised at everything kind of person. We passed out the numbers for the dirty santa game. You know that one right? The game where everyone brings a gift (our $ amount was between 15 and 20) and puts it on a table. Those that participate get a number. Then 1 at a time we either pick a gift from the table or steal a gift that has already been chosen. So the numbers were being written and passed out. My friend and now former school Administrator tapped on her glass to get everyone's attention much to the surprise of my now former boss. K stood up and said, "As you guys know, this is Jennifer's last day ...." I must have turned 3 shades of red.

Then she proceeded to tell one of her favorite things about me. Her story included my kindness and compassion in picking up one of our staff members who couldn't drive. I did this drive almost daily (which added a good 15 minutes to my already long commute and times that by 2). I got up early, drove to her house and waited for her to come out. Sometimes it would take longer than I would like. I would get anxious about getting to work late (because I was a key holder and opened the building). Finally she would arrive with her boisterous personality and we'd be on our way. Then at the end of our shifts, I would take her home. Near the end, there were about 3 of us that did this so that I wasn't the only one picking her up and taking her home. This is the lady that passed away suddenly a few years ago. I loved Pam. She was the true definition of the spirit of love.

My boss asked that everyone share their favorite "Jennifer story." Some were thank yous for being me. Some people told stories that made me laugh so hard that I snorted. I almost knew each story before they were told. I'd see the person and go, "Oh I know what you're going to say." We'd laugh and then the story would be shared. Some were things that only the two of us knew and others were things that almost everyone at the table knew.

One such story that only about 1/2 of the table knew (and I to be frank had completely forgotten about) was the time we had an after school event. We invited the parents to come and join us for some festivities. Well I was in charge of teaching and marketing our tutorial programs so during these festivities, I tried to make myself seen as much as possible. Well on this particular event I decided (and don't ask what gets into me -- I really don't know) to wear this vest. Well this wasn't just any vest, it was a vest with organs on the outside of it. You know where the kids can pull off the organs and then put them back on? So I walked around (with one of those slide whistles) walking up to almost every parent asking if they'd like to donate money for a raffle to have a free week of lessons and every time someone donated I'd say phrases that included the body parts on the vest like 000 I'm so glad your hearts in the right place and blow the slide whistle. One time I even said, "This vest doesn't have a gallbladder, but that's okay I don't either." Haa!

Then there was the story about one of my favorite collegues. A while back, she was in the kitchen cooking when the stove started a fire. She was a little spooked and I was too, but I was laughing and calling for help. We got the fire stopped and then every day for a week I put youtube videos on her FB wall that had something to do with a fire (We didn't start the fire, Great Balls of Fire, Hey baby light my fire, etc.). That was one that few people knew about.

My friend A said it best, "You're the kind of person that you want to kill one minute and hug the next." I've got a very unique personality (especially at work) that leaves people shaking their heads and saying, "Only Jennifer." This friend actually picked the gift that I brought so she asked if I would write in it something nice. So I took it and wrote, "You wanted me to write something nice. 'something nice' " and then I wrote a little more (but can't remember what that was).

I was given a dozen red roses (insert tears) and a card that everyone signed. Now if this doesn't tell you about me, my first reaction was, "I can't believe no one signed the crack" which elicited the response, "Only Jennifer." A coworker gave me a beautiful snowman ornament. She asked my boss what I really loved. My boss told her snowmen. They know me so well. Everyone wrote such nice things. It's so nice to hear how much you're loved and appreciated. I may have been embarrassed, but it's a night I won't forget for a long time. I have never felt more loved from a group of people than I did last night.

And the dirty santa gift I stole -- cause i'm an instigator like that -- a pair of socks, a candle and a target gift card! What's funny is that when the person chose it originally I said, "Might as well hand it over Tennessee cause I'm taking that home tonight." But then I had to wait for my number to be called and it happened while Tennessee was in the bathroom! I stole it anyways! I knew she wouldn't *really* be mad since it was me ;)

Tough Day

2011-12-16T16:50:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty much known as the silly one at work. I goof off with faces and voices all the time. Even walking out I muttered "That's All Folks" ala Porky the Pig. But then I sat in my car and cried. I know in my head that this isn't me giving up. I know this is me giving my all to get back my health, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

I managed not to really cry in front of anybody, but lemme tell ya. It was a little difficult not to cry when a little boy handed me a bouquet of flowers and said he would miss me very much. Every hug hurt both physically and emotionally. I didn't want to let go, but let go I did. I stuck around almost 3 hours after I clocked out for the last time. I watched my children perform and we had a holiday party with the children and all the parents. I got hugs, gifts and lots of well wishes.

Someone once said, "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for a while." My prayer is that I left an impact upon many people and that every day someone would say, "Oh remember when Jennifer would ...."

It was a tough day indeed.

Comedy of Errors at the Grandover Resort

2011-12-14T13:58:00.000-05:00

My husband and I have really terrible luck at hotels. We typically get placed next to the noisy room. So when we planned a little trip to Greensboro, we decided to stay at a resort & spa. We have found that these type of places tend to be a little quieter and nicer than regular hotels. We even sprung for the King Suite with Whirlpool Tub because we like jacuzzi tubs.

We got there four hours early and the staff let us check in. The lobby was amazing. It was almost as good as the Grove Park Inn in Asheville - I just love that place, but this place was closer and my heart fell in love with the Christmas trees and decor of the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.

This was one of the trees found in the resort.

We got up to the room and found it to be in nice condition, but it was no Grove Park Inn. However, we weren't planning on spending a whole lot of time there on Saturday so as long as the bed didn't have bugs and the whirlpool worked, we were happy. Whirlpool worked and the bed was comfortable.

We met my college friend and his new wife at the Natural Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit. That was pretty cool. I was a woman on the Titanic in the first class and I was one of the saved passengers. My husband was a man in the 2nd class and unfortunately he perished.

We ate dinner and headed back to the hotel. The four of us spent time out in the hot tub, but the two men braved the cool waters of the pool while the ladies soaked our leg muscles in the hot tub.

The Hot Tub:

The Pool:

After we were done soaking, we decided to go our separate ways to our rooms. We made our way to our 4th floor room and got ready for bed. Then, it happened.

We heard slamming doors, loud talking and laughing in the room next door. I fell asleep and then one of the three things would wake me up. Finally around one am, my husband made the call to the front desk letting them know of the extra loud things going on next door. A few minutes later we heard security knock on their door and things calmed down, but every time I fell asleep someone next door would laugh so loud it would wake me up.

My husband decided he would get up and call again when something caught his attention. I heard it too, but honestly I thought it was the toilet. He went to the bathroom and his shock was apparent. I can't remember his exact phrase, but the bottom line was that there was water pouring from the speakers in the ceiling.

This isn't the ceiling that was leaking, but water was pouring from the circular thing in our FIRST room.

He put a trashcan under it and made a second call to the front desk. Very shortly after, security came to check it out. Then maintenance came and finally a bell hop showed up with new keys to escort us to a new room at a mere 2am.

At this point, we were laughing. All I could think of was the comedy of errors of the night and how somewhat grateful I was of all the noise next door because if we hadn't been disturbed, we would have had a major floor in the bathroom.

We did have a good time though in Greensboro and after we left Greensboro Sunday morning, we headed to Old Salem to check out the colonial village.

Choosing to Change and my announcement

2011-12-13T09:12:00.000-05:00

Once you finish reading this, you will see why I had to wait to make the announcement. My heart is still heavy over this. If you know me at all, you know how much I hate change -- but today I choose to change. I will do the same thing over and over again because of comfort. But today, in order to preserve my own sanity and my own health, I need to choose to change my own path.

One thing I have learned over the last four and 1/2 years with my Lyme diagnosis is that periods of stress can cause serious relapses. There are many things that are causing me undue stress. I need to choose to change those things for my own preservation, but the change itself causes stress. It really is a vicious cycle. However, there comes a point where you have to choose a path. Which path is less stressful?

Edgar A. Guest said it best, "You are the person who has to decide. Whether you'll do it or toss it aside; You are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you'll lead or will linger behind. Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are."

So I am deciding, I am choosing ... choosing to change. I am choosing to not linger behind because moving forward is the option I must choose. I choose to change. The other aspect of change is this: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Since I got sick, I have put other people's needs ahead of my own. I have done a lot of things to improve the quality of my health, but when push came to shove -- I always gave more to others than I gave to myself. I gave others advice that I wouldn't take myself. Finally, I chose to change that.

What's all of this got to do with Lyme? Well I have pushed and pushed myself daily to make it appear that I am better than I am. When I was in Lyme remission, it was wonderful. I didn't really have to think twice about going out, staying up late or hanging out with friends. I just did things. Well now that I'm out of remission, it's more difficult to push through to appear normal. So I decided something has to give. What needed to give were my own expectations. I needed to change my own expectations. Therefore, I choose to change.

Bottom Line is that I need to make my health my number one priority. I need to make more time for God, my health and my husband. Therefore with heavy heart, I resigned from work on December 5th. My last day of work will be Friday the 16th of December. While I will meet those who disagree with my decision, it was my decision to make. And to those that think why now, why not before --- it was something that had to be done in my own time. If someone two years ago had said to me that I should stop working, I would have said absolutely not. I was stubborn. I am stubborn. That's why I have worked the duration of my illness. Stubborn as a mule. However, I am choosing to change. I still plan on being stubborn, but stubborn to get well.

Lyme Haiku

2011-12-13T08:12:00.000-05:00

I wrote this Haiku in July 2011.

I have Lyme Disease
though it is in remission
I jump up and down.

I wrote this Haiku today.

I have Lyme Disease
my symptoms do come and go
my eyes burn from tears.

The big announcement

2011-12-12T05:28:00.003-05:00

The big announcement is coming tomorrow. Also stay tuned for the story of our night away from home. It was a comedy of errors; that is for sure! However, we had a great time even with all the errors.

My Ear Cyst

2011-12-06T17:25:00.003-05:00

I received the results of my ear mole yesterday. They called and said the cyst was benign. I asked for them to send me the pathology report. So I received a "final diagnosis," "gross description," and a "microscopic description." I do what all doctors say not to do, but I'm an excellent googler. :)

I googled the final diagnosis: Seborrheic Keratosis. I'm satisified in their "benign" report based on things I saw on google. It is a benign form of a skin tumor and the cause is unknown. However it's most common after the age of 40 (I'm not there yet for Pete's sake!) and tends to run in families.

I then googled each of the words in the microscopic description. Of course I really didn't understand anything I read. So then I googled, "Seborrheic Keratosis on the ear" and found this article located at this web address: I'll bold the parts that I found interesting.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/845901-overview#a30

"Seborrheic keratosis (SK) is common in the head and neck region, but ear involvement is rare. SK results from intracellular changes that create intraepidermal basal cell proliferation. It presents as an oval verrucous plaque. Early, the lesion appears light yellow, and it becomes more brown as its size increases. Histologically, thickened epidermis secondary to accumulation of immature keratinocytes between the basal layer and the surface as well as invaginations of the thickened epithelium that create keratin tunnels are seen. The tumor protrudes above the horizontal plane of the skin. Complete surgical excision is recommended for SK, and a good prognosis is expected. Malignant transformation has been reported. "

I will say that it's odd that I got the "rare" location of the ear. However the rest of the thing proved true. It was kind of oval in shape, it was lighter in the beginning (but not light yellow) and grew brown. It did protrude above the skin. I'm glad it was removed considering the last sentence.

Then I googled for the image. Yep. Mine looked very much like some of the ones pictured. I won't be kind enough to let you see, but if you're interested --- google image seborrheic keratosis on the ear.

Yes Virginia, there is Lyme Disease

2011-12-03T16:43:00.005-05:00

I saw my Lyme Doctor today. Have I said lately how much I love him? In a few months, we'll have been seeing each other for FIVE years. In that time, he's been to FIVE ILADS conferences. He told me at this recent conference he learned about the study that was done regarding a mouse and the Lyme bacteria. I'm not sure that I understood entirely correctly, but I do know that the time part is accurate. Something was put into the borrelia bacteria to make it glow so they could see it in the mouse. And that they could see the glowing bacteria go into the mouse and that within 30 minutes the bacteria was in the blood and that within 6 hours it was out of the blood and into the tissues of the body.

I said to him, "That's COOL and TERRIFYING at the same time." It's cool that they were able to show that, but terrifying because within SIX hours of attachment it can already be out of the blood stream and into the tissues! No wonder it's difficult to diagnose with blood tests! He studies with other Lyme doctors and between the two of us we always come up with treatment plans that can work for me. He listens. He understands. He asks questions. He's awesome. I refer as many people as I can to him I believe he's that good. Lyme is not a simple race. It's a marathon. More appropriately, it should be dubbed a triathlon with the emphasis on "tri."

Yes, my relapse is in full effect. What's next for me? Antibiotics? IV's? IM shots? More HBOT? Well I'm not exactly sure that antibiotics aren't in my future. In fact, if I had to take a stab at it ... I'm almost positive that unless something changes between now & February, I will probably be in the very least pulsing antibiotics.

IV's ~ not talking about Antibiotic IV's here though I suppose it's not out of the question. However I prefer a more natural route. IV High Doses of Vitamin C. If I could afford it and my veins were better, I would get a couple a week for a couple of months. However, I can't really afford it and I would rather not get another PICC unless absolutely necessary. Though, it it becomes necessary ~ it is an option.

IM shots? Well looks like to assist my fatigue problem, b12 shots are going to be my friend. I've done many things ... given myself a shot hasn't been one of them. Let's just add it to the list of things Dr. P has convinced me to do in order to improve my quality of health. So as soon as they come in, I'll be giving myself (or convince Rob to do it) a shot.

HBOT? It has seriously improved things already. So I will continue them with the frequency of one per week. I've already spent a grand total of 23 hours in the machine. It has made me feel less anxious, angry, and overall emotional. It has improved my headaches significantly. It has made my breathing less labored and less painful.

I also have an announcement to make in the next couple of weeks. And before anyone thinks it, no I'm not pregnant. It's an announcement that very few people know and I don't want it out in "public" until I have told the people it's going to impact in person first. I would rather them hear it from me than read it on my blog first or have someone else read it and call them. So once the people that absolutely must know know, I will share with everyone here.

** just so I don't forget, I wanted to add in that during my appointment yesterday I almost fell asleep. If I hadn't been fighting it so hard, I would have fallen asleep. I'm surprised I even remember anything from the appointment. Partially through my husband's appointment (his was right after mine), I had to get up to go to the IV room just to lie down. I couldn't sit up any more. **

Rest In Peace Ear Mole

2011-11-28T20:16:00.002-05:00

June 11, 2009 - November 28, 2011, Rest in Peace Ear Mole.

Remember when a Curious Lymie went to the regular doctor because a mole popped up on my ear?

Well, it began itching and burning this week. I had just looked at it a few weeks ago, but because it was itching so much I decided to take a peek at it yesterday. It didn't take long to realize it had doubled in size and there appeared to be some dark spots too. So this morning I called for an appointment to have it checked out again.

My favorite nurse practitioner checked it out, sliced it off and sent me on my way. It's being sent for pathology. Probably nothing, but a just in case thing

Love-A-Fair Flowers

2011-11-26T05:57:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is so delayed. I forgot they were in que to be posted:

I love taking photos. I love flowers and plants. I love photographing flowers and plants. So my first stop at the Fair was to the flower/plant section. :) Here are a few that made me smile. All of my photographs are Straight Out of Camera. I don't edit them with any programs. So when I get home and see pictures like these, I smile. I love my camera. Though we do have a love hate relationship when the battery is getting low and it doesn't want to actually take a photograph. But without further ado,

Bonsai!

I love flowers in color, but there is something special about a black & white photograph.

Orchids - Colors!

And my favorite of the day: (I may just have to print it off and put it in the my kitchen!)

HBOT Update

2011-11-23T09:06:00.002-05:00

My Hyperbaric treatments are going really well. The number one symptom that made us believe that the Lyme had returned was headaches. They were terrible. I had migraines that lasted for days, ease off just a little bit and then come back with a vengeance. In total, I've had about 17 hours of treatment in the HBOT. It's been 3 weeks since I've had a headache, even a mild one.

If the rest of the symptoms would go away, I'd be one happy lady. It's already much easier to live without the headaches.

Given Hope

2011-11-16T20:28:00.002-05:00

I was reminded today how much hope our Lyme doctor's give us and then shortly thereafter I was reminded how much they put on the line every day to give us that hope.

I'll never forget the emotions I felt during my very first visit to my Lyme doctor's office. I felt justified. I felt like someone cared. I felt like someone listened. I felt hope.

Today as I was walking out of the Lyme office, I overheard someone thanking the patient coordinator for giving their family hope for the first time in years. I remember being that person.

Then I got home. Found out that another Lyme doctor is having his license suspended. It's so frustrating. All those patients of his that he has given hope ...

Here is an article written by PJ Lanston in the Public Health Alert regarding Dr. Hoffman. It's so upsetting.

It's NOT me

2011-11-15T19:00:00.002-05:00

There is someone on Facebook who has the name "Livingthe Lymelife." That is person is not me. Just wanted a little FYI on my blog.

Lyme Kills II

2011-11-10T06:08:00.000-05:00

I wrote yesterday that I would share what I wrote in the chamber. Here it is.

Lyme Disease Kills. It dashes hopes and dreams of the innocent. When I graduated from High School, I had great expectations that college would open up an entire new world for me to be someone different. Then, it happened. A few weeks prior to commencing college a radioactive tick bit me. Okay Okay, there was no radioactivity, but soon my body and mind came to a crashing halt. Lyme killed my ambition, my love for a phenomenal novel and my quiet nature. Lyme Disease kills.

Ironically, I was someone different in college. I was hurt and angry and sick. And no one would listen. Okay Okay, some listened, but they weren't the ones that could do anything about it. In fact, they could do nothing except for clean the blood from my head when I ran into something yet again, remind me to breathe after a seizure, hold my hair back while I vomited or hold my soda for me while I tried to sip. Sometimes, they held a straw in my mouth and dropped bits of soda into my mouth. I felt, at times, a bit like a bird -- helpless and wounded. There were times when I was so weak, I couldn't eat. Not being able to eat made me weaker. It was a vicious cycle. Lyme Disease kills.

In the end, I had to fight for myself. I had to fight for what was rightfully mine - the right to an education - Advisers were against me. Professors were against me. Doctors were against me. People I didn't even know well were against me. Here I am again. Fighting for myself. Fighting for an education. If I didn't fight for myself, who would? There are a whole slew of folks that would fight for me, but no one fights better for me than me.

I will admit that I am in a whole lot better place now than I was so many years ago. I have several people at the school that are working for me and I haven't met the professor yet, but if she's anything like the EDU adviser -- she'll be in my corner too. They know nothing about Lyme. They don't know I have health problems. I debate whether to mention it. I also have a phenomenal doctor on my side, a husband on my side, my family on my side and friends. Fantastic friends. Friends that know when I need a hug or a simple I love you.

Lyme may kill. Lyme may have killed my ambition, my hopes and my dreams before, but it will not kill me now. I will push through this. I will get through this again.

------
As a post note: I got registered today for the classes I want to take in the spring. I'm so excited and can't wait to see how my brain holds up during the spring semester. My biggest concern is the timing. It's from 6pm to 8:50pm. I typically can't stay awake after 8pm. Even if my eyes are open, my brain is generally down. So pray that my brain and body will stay awake at one night a week from January until May. When I was taking classes in 2002, I got a 4.0. This was 5 years before my diagnosis. Here I am 4 1/2 years after diagnosis and we'll see if I can continue this 4.0 trend.

Lyme kills ...

2011-11-09T06:41:00.002-05:00

So I rarely put pencil to paper anymore. Well yesterday while I was in the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber, I took my notebook and pencil in with me. It's loud in there, but I took it in there to make a phone call. Silly I know, but I knew that I needed to make this phone call. I am taking the brave step in the Lyme world to take a couple of classes at our local community college. I applied in October and on Friday I got my acceptance letter (as I spoke of in my last post about Acceptance). Well, I decided since this week was going to be insanely busy that I would go to the college on Monday to find out what I could do about registration and paying.

Well, I went to Admissions to clarify that my name was in the system correctly as the name on my letter was spelled incorrectly. So the lady at the front office clarified that not only was I in the system, but it was spelled correctly. She told me I needed to go to the CAP (don't' ask what it stands for, I can't remember) office and explained where it was. So I huff it down the hall and am exhausted by the time I get there (and it's really not that far away). She says, "Name? Appointment time?" uh HUH? I need an appointment? Seriously should have known that, but I didn't. Stupid me. Stupid LYME.

She tells me to go over to the computer and log in to see when my classes are offered. Me being a stupid Lyme, I got as far as to the "Web Advisor" screen before my dumb brain locked up on me. She came over and began to multitask beautifully. I even commented on it. She helped the guy next to me, the girl on the phone and me all at the same time! So she tells me exactly what to do and we get the, "NOT IN SYSTEM, SEE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR." She says, "Go back to the admission office and have them straighten this out. we can't do anything until that's fixed." So I huff it back down and explain the problem. The nice CAP lady even printed off the error so they could see it.

So, I get down there and they say that I'd have to come back later because the lady that would be able to help me wouldn't be there until the next day. I almost broke down at this point because I was exhausted, fatigued (and yes those are two different things!) and drained. My legs felt like the flesh was being ripped right off, but I kept my cool. I explained that I was an Early Childhood Educator and that I worked in another county and my hours were insane this week. Coming to campus on another day this week really wasn't an option and because I'm a special student only taking two classes for work that I really needed it figured out asap.

She disappeared into the back and came back about 10 minutes later explaining there was some kind of glitch in my file and she would try her best to figure it out. She went from office to office (taking a good 5 to 10 minutes in each one) with my file. Finally she emerged with a lady who said that it must have been user error. And although I wouldn't put it past me, I was with the CAP lady and she does this on a daily basis. So I did the exact procedure that I did with the CAP lady. Sure enough, same error.

She left again and then came back and said it was something they couldn't' figure out, but I couldn't register until the 9th anyways so as long as they had it figured out by then I would be good. So I left feeling utterly dejected. I couldn't even do something simple like that then how would I be able to take these classes next semester. What did this story have to do with the HBOT and the phone call?

Well, I needed to make the call to the office to see if they had figured it out. However the chamber seemed louder than normal so I decided to wait. After I was in there about 30 minutes, the phone rang. It was a lady named Christy. Now I don't know if this was any of the ladies I worked with on Monday, but she was very kind. Explaining that my student ID should now work and if I could just try with her on the phone. As I'm talking to her explaining that I'm in an Oxygen Chamber and couldn't just get online at that very moment, I realized how odd my life sounded to those not in the know. Who else would she call that in that very moment would be in an Oxygen Chamber? Seriously.

She wasn't even sure how to respond. I told her that I had tried before getting into the chamber to log in and was able to see my "user name," but that when I tried to set my password it said that "No person ID was found in directory." She said she would continue to work on it. I continued to pray about it. Then, I put pen to paper. I wrote and I wrote.

I'll share what I wrote with you tomorrow, but for now let me tell you that Christy worked and worked on my case and by the time I got out of the HBOT ... I was in the system. If it works, I'll be able to register in about an hour. Honestly, it probably won't work, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if it does.

Acceptance

2011-11-05T07:43:00.003-04:00

I have often struggled with acceptance over my 35 years of life.

How do I accept things that I do not want (or think I need) in my life? A prime example of this was between 6th and 7th grade, my family moved a couple of counties away. I struggled with acceptance. For the first three years I was there, whenever anyone asked what time I was going home that day, I would say, "I don't know. This is not home for me." I couldn't wait to go back to my old home town. I hated where I lived. It was a difficult thing to swallow that I would not be going back to live there. I struggled with acceptance. Finally, I accepted that it was my home. I began to make friends, best friends.

Then there was the acceptance of Lyme Disease. There were many doctors that just wanted me to accept the multitude of symptoms that I had. They also wanted me to accept the fact that it was all psychological and not a sign of any disease. I wouldn't accept it. I couldn't accept it. Then I sought the help of a phenomenal doctor. He gave me a diagnosis and I accepted it. Lyme Disease. I try not to make it my life, but it is. I live and breath Lyme Disease. If I could, I would open up a "business" that would teach people about Lyme Disease that would help others with Lyme Disease. Though I wouldn't make money doing that, I have to accept that too.

The other part of acceptance is having people accept me for who I am. Most people either like me or they don't. There is no in between. I have a unique personality that annoys some people. In fact, most people don't get me unless they get me. I'm kind of like Lyme Disease in that way. You don't get Lyme unless you get Lyme. And paraphrasing a friend of mine, if they would just get to know you, they'd love you like I do. My friends have accepted me. Acceptance is nice. I like the world accepting me for who I am. And for those that don't, I really shouldn't care. But I do.

December of 1994, I got a letter in the mail. I had always been told that a "huge" package would mean acceptance and a small one would mean rejection. I got the small one. I was crushed. It was the only university I wanted to attend. Then I opened the letter and saw that I was accepted. Myth debunked. Acceptance doesn't just come in big packages. Acceptance sometimes comes in small packages too. I was reminded of this just yesterday when I received another small package. You see, I applied to the local community college to take a couple of courses in the spring. I got a small letter. I was accepted. It's always nice to be accepted.

Love-A-Fair Patrons

2011-10-31T16:13:00.000-04:00

So a few weeks ago, we went to the North Carolina State Fair. I so enjoy going to the fair to eat food and to take photos. I hate the crowds, I hate the far away parking, the crowds and all the walking and did I mention the crowds.

Now this may sound horrible, but one thing I love to do at the fair is watch people. This is North Carolina folks. We are some funny creatures. I got to the fair and there was something right away that I went, "If I see that again, I will have to take a photograph." My camera was in the backpack and not ready for picture taking. I thanked my lucky stars when walking, I saw the family again. Even more so when I realized the person was posing for me. I laughed a thousand laughs at this: Look a Squirrel.

Get this kid a contract. Quick!

Dude with a brush in his back pocket. Seriously?

And last, but not least: Leopard Love ...

And that my fair weathered friends is what we see at the NC State Fair.

Busy Busy Busy

2011-10-26T20:43:00.004-04:00

I've been really busy lately. I've had several HBOTS, gone to the fair, worked hard and gone to a college friend's wedding. He eloped. Sort of. He & his now wife were going to get married on Saturday. Then, they had to postpone it for some legal and medical reasons. Then those things fixed themselves so they decided on a Thursday to go ahead and get married on the Saturday. I was called and I drove there after my HBOT treatment. It was fun . I got to meet his newly loved lady (it was love at first sight for them), her child and his children. I got to hang out with them all over the ceremony. See his folks for the first time since college graduation in 99. So that was fun.

The Fair. Well I have pictures to post, but haven't gotten around to all of them yet. They'll show up eventually.

HBOTs are going well. I actually really enjoy getting in there. It's odd. I thought I'd hate it. I thought I'd dread it. BUT, I actually like getting in there now. It's 60 to 90 minutes where I have some peace and quiet. I get to listen to my favorite music and just be alone and breathe well. It's nice.

I thought about going to the UNC exhibition game this Friday, but I think I've decided against it seeing as how badly I felt after the Late Night with Roy practice.

Anyways, just thought you needed an update since it's been a while.

Adventures at UNC!

2011-10-15T16:30:00.006-04:00

Love me some UNC Basketball. Ya'll know that. It was that time of year again and I haven't been feeling well. However, last week when I found out that my best friend would be off on Friday I informed him that he was taking me to the Late Night with Roy. Sometimes I go with my husband and sometimes I go with my best friend. ~Fun all around with both~

Bottom Line: We get to see the first practice with the boys. It's fun. See? Tip off is about to happen here. BUT, wait, what is that?

You remember when I told you my camera has a special setting? Look closely. Can you see it? You need help? Okay. Here's a closer view.

Wait, you still can't see?

*sigh* The Eric Montross Setting.

Back to the basketball.

The team looks good. really good. I can't wait for the season to really begin!

The fun detour. So on the way back to the car, we took a detour. We thought it would be faster. Uh, no it wasn't, but it was fun. We climbed up this huge hill. It winded me. I couldn't do it on my own. My best friend pretty much pulled me up the hill by my hand. We laughed. A lot. We rolled our eyes. A lot. Especially at the people around us. Seriously were we that stupid when we were in college? I like to think we weren't.

Just My Luck

2011-10-13T14:44:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I have the worst luck ... today was a case of "Seriously can't believe that happened to Jennifer." So I got to the LLMD. I got into the chamber. I put on the nasal cannula and settled down. They started the chamber. I hear it and see it rising. I'm getting comfortable when all the sudden I realized that the nasal cannula didn't feel right. So I weigh the pros and cons of pushing the button.

You see that button right there? It's a doorbell. All I have to do is press it and they come running. Literally. Yesterday I accidentally pressed it. I didn't even realize I pressed it, but I saw one of the employees at the window and she was saying, "Are you okay?" because I was in the chamber jamming! She probably saw something like this when she walked in.

So yeah I was debating ... do I press it and have the troupes a running into the room? I debated for a few minutes and then I pulled out the nasal cannula and put my fingers over the holes. Hmmmm absolutely felt nothing. No Air, No Pressure, No Nothing. I contemplate some more and then pull out my handy dandy cell phone. I make a phone call. I press 107 to "schedule an appointment." And the phone call went something like this,

"Hey there. It's Jennifer. You know, in the chamber Jennifer. I'm okay in here, but the nasal cannula isn't given me oxygen." Nothing like that to get them running! She was in there almost faster than I could hang up. She presses whatever she has to press to get the chamber to stop running. The chamber starts decompressing. Then, I felt the Oxygen shooting up my nose. I put to it and tell her it's working.

So, she starts the machine again. No sooner had the machine started and the Oxygen stopped. We decided that she would just stop the machine and get me out of there so I didn't suffocate (her words, not mine!) in the chamber. The words "suffocate" might freak out the standard patient, me I was in there jamming while the chamber decompressed. Of course the whole time it was decompressing the oxygen was working just fine. So no chance of suffocating today. I got out and was home faster than you can say Jiminy Cricket.

Meanwhile, I love you all!

I was just grateful that I had three other normal experiences because I wouldn't have known something was wrong if it had been my first visit.

All these photos were taken on Tuesday.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

2011-10-11T15:53:00.004-04:00

My Head still hurts, like serious pain. The other thing is that my lip has some weird bumps on it. Don't know if it's bacterial, viral, fungal or what .... but it's weird. What else is new? Weird, Rash, Jennifer ...

Shoulders. My left shoulder hurts so badly that it feels like it was pulled out of socket. I'm sure it wasn't, but still .. ouch.

Knees, they are popping - which means they hurt.

Toes: My toes don't hurt! Yeah!

HBOT. I had my 2nd treatment today. Lasted 90 minutes. I rocked out the whole time ... see.

Hello New Friends

2011-10-09T08:38:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure who you all are, but my "stats" usually stay somewhere between 10 and 50 page views a day. On October 6th, I had more than 1300 page views. On October 7th, I had more than 1500 page views. I'm not sure where you are all coming from, but welcome. I thought I'd reintroduce myself.

I started this journal in September of 2008. I began my treatment March 1, 2007. I wish I had begun my blog earlier. The name of my blog would have likely been Living a Symptom filled with no actual diagnosis Life. What a mouth full. In any case, my name is Jennifer and this is my blog. I actively began fighting the world of Lyme & Co-infections March of 2007. Actually my fight began well before then. It honestly began in 1995. You can read more about the background on the post called "Jennifer's Background." I also wrote a little more of my background story on the post called, "Waiting."

Since my Lyme diagnosis in 2007, I've been diagnosed with mineral deficiency, progesterone defiency, heavy metal toxicity, anemia and other health issues. After a little over a full year of IV insertions, I had a PICC line inserted into my right arm in July of 2008. I wrote about the insertion shortly after I began the blog called "PICC part 2." I battled with it every day until February 2009. Of course it led to a very humorous visit at the hospital .... It probably should have been pulled on many occasions though I had wonderful nurses, doctors, insertion team and my husband to help me keep it as long as I needed it. I used it right up until the night before it was finally pulled.

My PICC wasn't used for antibiotic therapies. That is what many people believe, but it simply isn't true in my case. I mainly used it for intravenous vitamins, minerals and other supplemental therapies. We used it for Chelation Challenge and Therapy which is how we diagnosed and treated my heavy metal diagnosis. My PICC was also used with an extremely experimental and controversial IV protocol for about 9 months that is no longer available. I rarely talk about it because it was so controversial. I'm very angry about that because I feel like that IV did more for me in 9 months than anything else I tried. I truly feel that it was one of the things that got me into remission.

For a while, I was in remission. Recently I have found myself having old symptoms pop up so we're back on the treatment train. However I feel that I have one of the best Lyme doctors and we will get me back in remission. I only wish we had that treatment available for me that I used before. I'm currently "treating" with HBOT, Borrelia Series and IV Vitamin C (plus other minerals).

My husband and I got married on Tax Day in 2000. He's my rock. Until recently when my brain actually started working, he went with me to almost every single doctor's appointment.
He supports me with his quirky sense of humor and he had selfless determination to get to the root of my problem. He was the one that found my Lyme doctor and he was the one that helped me fill out all the paper work to get in to see him. He spent countless hours on google researching my different symptoms and putting all the pieces of the puzzle together to get to Lyme.

We have two dogs that we rescued a long time ago. We have an adorable lab mix that is somewhat rambunctious (that's an understatement) that we adopted from the SPCA when he was bout 8 months old. Then we also rescued a Dachshund from a home that didn't want her anymore. 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. 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 school. I consider myself one of the most flexible teachers at the school. I can work in any of the classrooms and excel. My preferences are the preschool rooms. I absolutely love the 3 and 4 year olds. They are just too funny. Also I work a lot up front at the desk. I love to give tours of our school for prospective parents, solve problems that teachers/parents have and answer the phones.

In addition to all of this, I love taking photographs, going to Carolina Basketball games and listening to WCU's Pride of the Mountain Marching Band.

I'm a herxing

2011-10-07T14:48:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a great day. I woke up clear headed and without headache. I was thrilled as you can imagine, but then today happened. Last night I took Borrelia Vial #2.

So, I woke this morning in quite a bit of pain. The problem was that I felt as if I had about 100 pounds of weight on my arms. They were heavy. My back was aching. I took Tylenol and went on to work. As time went on, the pain got worse. By 9am, my pain was at a 7. By 11am, my pain was at a 9.5. My head hurt so bad I was seeing black spots, nauseated and I was close to passing out. Tears were streaming down my face. I was miserable. I came really close to having them call the ambulance for me. I was in pain. I pushed through the pain and kept on working. I worked with some amazing ladies that basically just let me be and they worked their butts off for me. My pain currently is around a 6.

This tells me two things. First, my headaches aren't from the LDN (I've been off them a week ... typically my LDN headaches are gone within two days off stopping. Second, my Lyme is back. I mean this I already knew, but the herx reaction today just proves it without a shadow of a doubt.

I have "nothing" unusual to take tonight. I worked it like this on purpose when I scheduled the first day of the Borrelia Series.

Anyways, there ya go. I'm a herxing.

HBOT

2011-10-06T17:36:00.003-04:00

So yesterday, I had my first HBOT dive. I'm going to try to describe it as best as I can.

So I arrived at the office and was taken back to the HBOT room. Then, I was asked to take off my shoes and my shirt. I had on two shirts and was told that the capsule got kind of hot. So I took off my work shirt and left on my long sleeve shirt. They took my temp, pulse ox, blood pressure and weight. Then, I stepped into this machine. I put my hand on "M's" shoulder and stepped up. This was quite difficult, but I grabbed the bar on the wall and pulled myself in. I stood up and slowly sat down. (kind of like this:)

http://www.rimlandcenter.com/photos/thumbs/k.jpg

Now, I'm not quite sure how I thought that Oxygen would be delivered, but color me surprised when I saw the oxygen nasal cannula, the FLARED nasal cannula.

So, "M" asked me to put the plugs up my nose and the tubing around my ears. So I did it as best as I could seeing as how their was already Oxygen blowing out of the cannula. The only thing that got me through this step was thinking of a few friends that I know deal with these things on a daily basis.

I laid down and positioned my head so I could see out of the clear opening. M handed me a door bell and said that if I needed her that I could press the button and she would be right there, decompress the chamber and let me out.

I put in my ear phones with MP3 player and pressed play. M zipped up the chamber and I was good. I was surprisingly good. I thought, oh this isn't that bad. Then I I started feeling something. My ears. I could feel them and hear the pressure through my music. It was uncomfortable. I started getting nervous. This was the 2nd minute in. I started giving myself a pep talk. It was one of those, "Oh you so got this. Get over the fear woman. You are spider woman. You can do this. You did the needle in your legs test ... this is nothing ... Come on Jennifer, get it together. Don't press that button Jennifer. GET IT TOGETHER." Well it went something like that for about 10 minutes and then I settled down.

I listened to some of my favorite songs and sang ... loudly. Well I guess it was loud, I couldn't hear it through the noise of the machine and my ear phones. I toggled between Kate Voegele's Lift Me Up and Sweet Silver Lining. Also enjoyed listening to a little Marty Casey & Lovehammers. It worked. I managed to stay in for the entire planned 60 minutes and the 10 minute decompression time.

As soon as the 60 minutes were up, M came back and scared the boogers out of me. I had my eyes closed and was singing. I opened my eyes momentarily and saw her standing at the opening. She told me (her words were very muffled) that she was going to start depressurizing the chamber. Then I heard it hissing. After it was finished, she unzipped the chamber and helped me out.

It was by far the weirdest thing I've done. I'm not sure if it was the chamber or the IVs or the Borrelia series or what, but this morning I woke up clear headed and without a headache for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Yah! I go back on Tuesday.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)

2011-10-05T19:31:00.002-04:00

I had my first HBOT treatment today. I really wasn't quite sure what to expect except that I'd be getting into this small space for at least an hour. I want to do the "story" justice so I will wait until tomorrow when I have more time to post about it. However, the tease:

I had my HBOT.
I freaked out.
I fussed at myself for freaking out.
Then, I sang, LOUDLY for about an hour.
Going back next week for a 90 minute "dive."

Tomorrow you'll get more details. I'd post a photo, but I didn't have a camera in there with me!
Maybe on Tuesday I'll take my phone in there and take a photo. I assure you, it's kind of funny.

IV today

2011-10-04T19:23:00.003-04:00

Today was my first IV since October 30, 2010! After my due diligence, my nurse got my IV started on the very first try. She made it look easy. Of course I started prepping at 6:15 this morning. I drank 24 oz in one hour and then slowed down after I started peeing like a Russian Mule.

In any case, I got to the IV room a little after 1:30 and the IV was inserted right about 2pm. That's pretty good timing. The other good timing was the time of the drip. Used to take 3 to 4 hours with an IV (now it would take about 2 hours on the picc line), but today ... it took maybe 2 hours and 5 minutes. I got a little nervous after the first hour and the line of fluids was still near the top. However, it was sped up and I started being saturated with the fluids!

I must say, I felt differently than I did one year ago. It was terrible. I felt like a horse sat on my chest and farted. Wait, did I just say that out loud? I felt like a horse sat on my chest. It was as if something heavy was sitting there and making me warm and heavy. It was almost a good feeling, but not if that makes sense. The only thing I can kind of compare it to is the way I feel after I've taken a dose of NyQuil. Warm and fuzzy - but with the IV, I felt terrible. I had to pee every 15 minutes, but tried not to b.c it is kind of pain to get up and go down the hall to pee. Plus everytime I walk, the drip slows down. Then on top of it, I had a headache (probably from the B Vitamins).

Now the interesting thing. I'm not sure why this is, but before when I'd get the IVs ... I'd have really florescent urine. It was bright yellow. Today, it was clear. Now I know I drank a lot of water and it should be clear normally, but with all the extra B vitamins in that bag ... one would think that my pee would be the bright yellow color. However, it was not. So I like to think I absorbed every gram of fluid and it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do (instead of me just peeing it out).

Well, it's time to get in bed. I'm exhausted. Hardly can keep my eyes open. Tomorrow I hit the Hyperbaric Chamber. That should be interesting. My first time.

Over And Out! (10/4 - or as I say .. what October 4th? - yes it's a small amount of irony that today is October 4th. means nothing ... 10/4 and yes, I'll look at this tomorrow and go ... what in the world happened to my writing? What was wrong with me ... it's the IV talking!

Borrelia Series

2011-10-03T18:57:00.003-04:00

The company that makes Borrelia Series says, "Borrelia Remedy has been formulated to address the symptoms related to infection created by Borrelia Burgdorfi, Babesia Microti and Ehrlichia. The "Series Method" uses nosodes that range from high potency to a low potency. Each potency is administered singly over a period of weeks in a manner that resolves a deep, chronic disease state. This treatment was found to produce results that were extremely gratifying."

This is what it looks like.

Photo is courtesy of: https://www.immunematrix.com/store/images/P/Borellia.jpg

I will start off using Vial 1 tonight. Then every three days take the next number vial. If I have a herx reaction, I will use four boxes of these. After I finish the 10 vials, I will start box number 2. I will start off with vial number 10 and go backwards. Each box will reverse the way I take it until I am done with the four boxes. That is IF I get a herx reaction from the first box.

I start my first vial tonight. Yes I'm worried about how I will respond. It suggests that between vials 2 & 4 I won't feel so well. We'll see how it goes.

BTW: Last night was the 2nd night not on LDN and I still have a headache. LDN might not be causing my headaches, might be the Lyme.

The Lymie Slide

2011-10-02T09:29:00.001-04:00

So in August I started really taking notes on how I was feeling. I had noticed back at the end of July that I really wasn't feeling as well as I had been. So I took somewhat detailed notes. The other day I was putting them all together to bring to my appointment Saturday and realized something terrible. I had done the Lymie Slide.

One day of fatigue during a month is one thing, but during week one of August I had three days of fatigue. In week two, there were no fatigue days. However, I did have two days of headaches. In week three of August, I had two straight days of fatigue and one day of headaches. In the month of August: I had 6 days of headaches and 5 days of fatigue and those two things didn't fall on the same day. So out of 31 days, 11 of them I either had severe fatigue or severe headaches. I also had allergy symptoms including sore throat, sneezing, coughing, stuffy nose, etc. There were four or five other symptoms that I hadn't had in a while either.

Then September hit. I also had 6 headache days and 6 fatigue days. (so in 61 days, I had 12 headache days and 11 fatigue days). Four of those fatigue days were in a row and one of them was so bad that in the middle of the day I fell asleep for 3 straight hours. That hasn't happened in I don't know how long. Then to top it off, this past week I have experienced ankle, hip and hand pain. So I was very happy to be able to talk with my LLMD about them today.

Between my symptoms and blood work, we decided it was most likely that my immune system is depressed again. Therefore, we need to boost it. We've been trying to boost it with LDN, but it obviously either isn't working or I'm not taking enough of it to be beneficial. To top it off, I've been having those headaches. We aren't sure if it is Lyme or if it is LDN so I am to stop it for about two weeks to see if I notice a difference in the frequency of headaches. I'm to restart either Beta Glucan or another supplement that I have that is supposed to boost immune support.

My treatment plan for the next few weeks isn't really all that complicated. I'm to continue everything I've been doing, but increase my oral vitamin C and exchange the LDN for the other stuff. Then I'm too add this stuff called Borrelia Series. I really am not quite sure what it does, but in 2007 I did the one called Bartonella Series. I may Herx on this. I may not. Basically if I herx, it means that my immune system is depressed enough that the borrelia bacteria has come back out to play. If it IS back for fun & games, I have to do a little killing action by continuing the series for 4 boxes.

In addition to these series of vials, I will be doing 2 or 3 IVs. I've done these IVs before and if I herx on them, I will also know if the borrelia is back to play. I had them when the Lyme wasn't in action at all and basically felt no bad effects from the IV. I was supposed to get one today, but wasn't hydrated well enough for them to get an IV stick. So on Tuesday I go to get a treatment.

In addition to these, my doctor wants me to get HBOT. I have heard this term many times and for those of you that don't know what it is, it is the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Chamber. I get into a small thing that gives me lots of Oxygen? Honestly I really don't know what it does, but it's supposed to help. I'm supposed to do 4 days in a row at 90 minutes each "dive." So all in all:

2 to 3 IV's of Vitamin C
4 HBOT treatments
10 vials (up to 40 vials) of Borrelia Series
Mixing it up for two weeks other supplement instead of the LDN Cream.
Increasing Oral Vitamin C.
Keeping on the other supplements I'm already on.

OOOOO and do this saliva test. Yeah I have to spit into four vials. Weird huh? Almost as weird as the time I had pee in my fridge!

And while I know they don't read the blog: I have to give a shout out to a few people that made today go a little smoother.

1. Dr. P. You are my hero. I would not be alive without you.

2. Jennifer (IV lady). Thanks for not sticking me more than once after you realized I wasn't hydrated enough.

3. Rob. to my best husband (and my only husband!), you listen even when I think you're not listening. You know what I need even before I do. You rock!

4.John - to my best friend, you make me snort when I laugh even when I am ready to cry. You give the best hugs especially when I need them.

5. Alisa, Whitney and Melisa, you three girls gave me the Lyme support I needed today. I don't tell you enough how much you three mean to me. I'm blessed to have the best Lyme friends there are.

Feeling Discouraged

2011-10-01T20:50:00.001-04:00

My LLMD appointment was today.

I'm Feeling Discouraged, but Encouraged if that makes sense at all.

I'm too tired to explain right now.

Explain more tomorrow.

Please pray. Thanks.

In my Friend's Memory

2011-09-27T18:51:00.002-04:00

About eleven years ago, I met this woman. Eva Mae. She was a fiesty spitfire. She had more energy than anyone I had ever met. What I didn't know at the time was that she had cancer. I was so focused on her boundless energy that I didn't realize she was dying. She quickly became one of my best friends. Our age difference was a huge one. In fact, her daughter and I were only one year apart in age (exactly).

When I would get to work, her smile was the first one I found. There were no other faces that I wanted to see. I wanted to see my friend. I started to have some health problems, but because I knew she was facing her own struggles I didn't want to tell her about my problems. Then one day, she caught me off guard. She had gone over to Hallmark and picked up some balloons for me. She somehow saw through my spitfire personality and knew I needed some cheering up. Little did she know, her smile was all I ever needed.

We spent our time at work cheering each other up. She would hem up pants for me and surprised me occasionally with new clothes. She would smile at me and it would light up my entire body. Our smiles were contagious. Our laughter was contagious. One time she brought me the most beautiful gift. Actually I have three reminders of Eva in my home. One is a photograph of her and her beloved. It sits next to a picture of my family. The other was a phrase framed that says, "Your friendship is the nicest gift of all." Truer words were never spoken. And then, there is that angel. The angel that started it all. She gave me a gift of Sarah's Angel. It had two angels next to each other. It plays the music, "You Light Up my Life."

It hurt my heart when I decided to quit because I knew I wouldn't get to see her every day. I called her every week to see how she was doing. I would stop by occasionally and bring her little gifts to work. When my health problems became overwhelming I'd call her to get a reality check. She would ask me all about my problems, I'd ask all about hers and her beautiful granddaughter.

You see the most special thing about Eva is that all she asked God for when she found out she had cancer was to be given the chance to see her daughter graduate high school. Well, not only did she witness this, but she witnessed her daughter graduate college, get married and have a daughter. She felt that every day was a gift of God. She taught me that too. God gave me a gift when he gave me Eva because she taught me that every day was a gift from God, no matter how painful they were.

You see, I have been thinking about her all month long. It was six years ago today that she passed away. I got to tell her goodbye the week before. She called to talk. And she said the words that are etched on my heart. "You are a huge blessing. I'm glad God gave me you." She went on to give a pep talk that kept me going from September 2005 to March 2007. We exchanged many I love yous.

I miss you Eva. So much. Every Day.

May 2007

2011-09-26T16:46:00.003-04:00

So I'm going through old emails. Trying to delete things. I have over 3,000 messages in my sent folder. So I am starting simple. I'll take 26 days to work through it. One letter per day. Yesterday I deleted most of the A's. Today I tackled the B's, but I read some of them. My heart pitted into my stomach. I read this that I had sent to a friend in May of 2007. This was a couple of months after I was diagnosed with Lyme.

"Last night was absolutely horrid. I even took pictures of my face. So I got into bed and notice all these little small reddish purple dots all over my skin. I think, "That's odd."In an instant, my elbows start giving me lots of pain. It jumped from one joint to the next. The pain was excruciating and the bumps were getting to become a brighter purple. Within moments, I start feeling nauseated.

I got up. I had explosive diarrhea. Afterwards, I noticed my face in the mirror. Those red/purplish dots are everywhere and I have a huge rash on my face. I get back in the bed. All the sudden I knew if I didn't get up right away I was gonna have a huge mess on my hands. It was horrible and wretched. I have never thrown up that hard or that much. The purple dots on my body slowly go away. My face is slowly returning to normal. This moring the rash on my body is completely gone (except this little pimply dot looking things which are almost always there anyways),but the dots around my eyes are not gone. I thought once I started treatment that I would feel better and that these episodes would stop. When will these things end? How long is enough? I'm so tired."

I don't remember this specific day, but I remember days and months and years like this.

24 minutes of shopping

2011-09-25T13:26:00.005-04:00

So I showed you the one shirt from my 24 minute shopping experience. Here is the 2nd shirt. I got it for the low price of 12 dollars. Yes it came with the belt. Yes the lace paneling is in the shirt and not a separate piece of clothing.

And YES, that's a new "design" on my necklace. ;) I decided to simplify the necklace with the plaid design of the shirt.

P.S. I got the 30% sticker on the Kohl's mailer today! That's like hitting the jack pot since I usually only get the 15% off sticker.

Saturday

2011-09-25T07:41:00.004-04:00

So yesterday was quite entertaining. Okay that's an over exaggeration.

I attempted to sugar my legs (see about two posts back). Epic Fail since they weren't long enough.
I watched some television from the DVR. Then chose my outfit for the day. A pair of new jeans and a new shirt with a re-altered necklace.

You see I purchased a bunch of beads to go on a necklace and also created a Lyme Awareness pendant to go on it. However, the pendant was too large to go with the shirt so I took off all the beads and pendant. I put aside 3 beads and pendant and rearranged the rest of the beads to work with my outfit. It turned out really cute. I got lots of comments on it at the mall and I'm not one to get comments on my clothes or accessories. Kind of made me feel good! You like?

So shortly after I finished getting ready, I left to go see my Lyme friend. I stayed up there for a while. We had fun for a while first and she rested while I looked at Magazines and watched some tv at her house. She's cool like that! You see my friend won a raffle prize at the Lyme Lunch last weekend. So I took her winning bag to her. See won a bracelet I made similar to my necklace.

So I took a drive to South Point Mall in Durham. I'll tell you that I really enjoy looking at that mall. It's really pretty, BUT and this is a big BUT ... I have never ever been able to buy anything there. I was there for 3 hours and left with NOTHING! It was either too expensive or didn't fit right. And if it was too expensive I didn't even try it on because it would have broken my little heart to not take it home! The best part of yesterday at the mall was running into an old high school friend at the mall. What are the odds? Seriously awesome. It was worth the whole dressing room fiasco.

There were a few things that I was sure was going to fit. A pair of grey slacks that were absolutely beautiful. Size 4 too snug, Size 6 fell off. Did I mention yesterday that I hate clothes shopping? Well I must have tried on nearly 75 things yesterday and NOT ONE fit! Seriously. What a terrible feeling and a blow to the self esteem.

Speaking of Self-Esteem, I saw an article somewhere about time savers. Suggested taking photos of the outfits you love with accessories you love so that later you don't have to remember the outfits later. Pretty neat if you ask me. I may have to start doing that. I struggle with what looks good together.

Next Saturday: Will be LLMD day.

Shopping Experiences

2011-09-24T09:28:00.008-04:00

Every season change, I get so frustrated. I'm quite positive that I've griped about this before. I want new clothes, but lack the desire to go shopping or the money for a wardrobe change. However this year was different. I pretty much HAD to go shopping. On our first fall weather day, I reached into the closet to pull out my favorite pair of jeans. I slipped into them. Houston, we had a problem. Unless I was going to lie down with a old metal hanger and squeeze into them circa 1980, these were not going to work at all. The bigger problem was that all of my jeans were this size. This mean that I would have to go shopping.

Shopping in itself isn't a huge problem unless you are short on money and the self esteem to go with it. My problems with shopping to back a few decades. When I was younger, I had trouble finding clothes that fit. I would slip into a pair of jeans and they would slip right off. Now you may think Whoa is me, but these were the smallest pair of adult jeans they made.

As a college student and even as a young adult (let's even say that at 30!) I would try the children's section, but seriously who wants to wear a pair of jeans with a butterfly/glitter on them? Part of my treatment was a serious work on getting my weight to increase. Now let's say I worked on this VERY diligently and finally last year I started to be able to fit into a size 1 or 2. I was truly thrilled. However, my body must be very oddly shaped because I still had trouble finding clothes that fit right.

Anyways, I always dread shopping. Hate it. Still hate it. So after my discovering that my size 2's were no longer than option, I hit Target. I pulled out not one, not two, but 12 pair of jeans. Took them to the dressing room and left 6 sitting on the chair as we can only take in 6 things at a time. Pair after pair, nothing was working. I tried on everything from a Size 2 to a Size 6. Either they were too big or two small. Finally, I found one pair that fit almost everywhere. At this point, I don't care about length ... so what if it's about a foot too long! I'm 5'1, pants are made for those 6 inches taller than me! I looked carefully at them.

For the record, they are Mossimo Fit 4 Size 4. I looked through my stack of 12 pair of pants and found one more that same Fit & Size. I tried them on. Almost perfect, again the length are a little long, but at this point I really don't care! So the next day, we went to pick up a prescription. I discovered that these pants were on sale! So I scrounged around for another Fit 4, Size 4 and found ONE! I didn't even try them on. Went through the line and came home. I was happy!

UNTIL ... this morning. I failed to see one word ... SKINNY! They were Fit 4, Size 4, SKINNY Jeans. I slipped them on and realized right away the error of my way. Now so they fit ... but they were a skinny leg jean. I personally believe that skinny leg jeans only look good if the length of the jean is right. Um, these were about 6 inches too long. They looked TERRIBLE! So now it's back to Target to return these jeans that made me so happy that I didn't have to go into the dressing room. Ugh! Only thing that is worse than going shopping is taking things back. It's like walking into a firing squad, "Why are you returning these cute jeans?" ... because I'm not the right body type for these jeans ... I can't help that I'm 5'1 and am too short to pull off this fashion trend .. now just leave me alone while I slump out of the store!

I must be glutton for punishment because I decided on a whim to go to the Goodwill store. Now, I typically go there for khaki's. I figure if I have to wear Khaki's to work where they are liable to get anything on them from Bleach to paint to kid vomit, I am not going to spend 20 bucks on a pair of pants. 3 to 4 dollars will work just fine and dandy. So, I pulled out 20 pair of khaki's hoping that 1/2 of them would fit and that I could choose 5 out of the 10 pair. Um yeah. 2 out of 20 fit. Seriously. What is the problem with this?

So I hit the racks for shirts. Now this is where I scored! I tried on 5 shirts and a red hoodie. I bought 4 of the 6 things!

Here are 3 of the 4 things I purchased. From Left to right: What I'm assuming is a sweater from JCPenny, A Green Sweater from Cato, and a sleeveless top from Banana Republic!

Want a closer look? Sure you do!

So I loved this sweater from Catos last season. The problem was that it didn't fit quite right for me to spend 30 plus dollars on it. If it had been on clearance at 10 bucks, I would have bought one. However, I'm so glad I didn't because I spent 4.59 on this baby! :)

The part about the magenta sweater that I love is two fold. One is that it's not that thick and the other ... this lacey ruffle on the bottom of the sweater and on the sleeves! It made me smile the moment I put it on because A: It's one of my favorite clothes colors for winter and B: well see the cute ruffle .. enough said!

Banana Republic Bargain at $3.34. Can't beat it! Seriously.

Then last night, Rob & I went out to eat. Problem was that the restaurant we wanted to go was so crowded that there was no parking. So we went to Target first, where I found two pair of shorts on sale for 75 percent off. I bought 2 pairs (yes I tried them on this time - yes I went in with 10 SHORTS and only 2 fit. Crazy women's sizing!). THEN, I was challenged.

We pulled outside of Kohl's at 7:05. I said I'd meet Rob back at the truck at 7:30. He said there was no way. Challenge accepted. The caveat was that if I wasn't out there at 7:30 it meant I was waiting in a long check out line! I practically ran into Kohl's and began digging through their clearance racks quickly. I kept watch checking and ran into the dressing room with about 8 items. Some of the items I had been watching for a while. I may go to a different Kohl's to try on this orange lovey I've been wanting for a while, but couldn't find the right size at my location.

However ... in 24 minutes, I walked in the store, tried on 8 items, discovered that I wanted 3 of the 8, checked out and got back to the truck. I got to the truck at 7:29. That my dear friends is a miracle. That my dear friends is a shopping experience I loved! And for the shirt I've been looking at:

Sugaring my legs!

2011-09-24T08:09:00.000-04:00

First I decided I would sugar wax my legs. Now I first heard about this from an online Lyme friend Heather. I thought she wax crazy. I thought it wouldn't work. I was somewhat right and somewhat wrong. It did work, but because I was impatient it didn't work well. Who can seriously let the hair on their legs grow for two or three weeks during the summer heat that's in Lyme remission? (now those that are still in the heat of a Lyme Battle ... yeah I admit it I once waited a month or more to shave because it zapped all the energy just to bathe my body much less shave my legs!). So I PURCHASED some Moom.

I picked up this from Ulta and came home immediately to try it out. I warmed it up (took about 30 sections plus 15 more after stirring). Took it back to the bathroom and began spreading the mess on one section of leg. After rubbing on the fabric strip, I yanked with all my might and OOOOOOOOOOOWWWWCH!. Heather said it was virtually painless. Um, not as painless as I thought. However which each pull the pain did decrease.

Well my lovely husband decided that HE could make this. And make it he did. I tried it on my own legs, but my hair simply wasn't long enough. I haven't been able to use it properly yet, but I am confidant that it will work just as well as the store bought stuff. :} There is a "caveat" to it working well. I think my hair grows unevenly. So therefore the hair that grows slower isn't grabbed up by the sugar wax. I suspect this is why people think that waxing fails actually. I'm sure that the speed of which hair grows is different for everyone and that some hairs grow particularly speedy while others grow at snails pace.

Until it's cold enough to wear long pants every day, I suspect I'll be shaving the extra hair left over. I'm hoping in October I can give the stuff a good try!

Saturday Events

2011-09-23T21:07:00.002-04:00

For so long, Saturdays were my "rest up" days. I never planned anything on a Saturday because it was simply the day I used to rest up after forcing myself to work all week. So I think that I will start to post the things I do on Saturdays now that I'm in "remission."

Originally I had planned to head about 3 hours out of town to hang out with a college friend and his future wife. They are having a party for the wedding, but I have been having some allergy problems so I thought it might be wiser to stay closer to home just in case I have problems over the weekend. The past week every evening I've either taken Claritin or Zyrtec and every morning I've taken Quercetin (it's a natural antihistimine).

So it calls for a change of plans.

First, I'm going to hang with one of my closest Lyme friends. She won the raffle from the Lyme Lunch and she wasn't able to attend. So I offered to bring her what she won. We'll hang out for a couple of hours and then I'll go to a mall that I rarely go to. I need to look for some fall tops and possibly some pants. Because I've gained weight since last fall/winter, none of my clothes fit. In fact, a lot of my shirts are too small even. So, off to the stores I must go. I don't mind shopping, but it is disheartening to try on 25 pair of pants and only find 1 pair that fit right (yes that happened one day this past week). Then I'll come home.

I hope to finish up that huge laundry pile that has been growing by the day in the morning before I leave for my friend's house. We'll see. I have to go Zyrtec myself up now (I'm trying to NOT get sick in September -- If I manage to keep the allergies away, then I'll manage to keep the Bronchitis/Pneumonia away!!!!). Actually woke up with no sore throat today and very little coughing! This is a sign of good things. My body might be fighting it off without antibiotics! Crossing my fingers on that one. I have my LLMD the following Saturday. The reason we chose 3 months instead of 6 months is because I always get sick in September. Knock on wood. It's day 23 and I've managed to stave off an infection. :}

Post Lyme - Lunch

2011-09-20T17:49:00.002-04:00

For the past few weeks I have been planning a Lyme lunch with some of my closest Lyme friends and Lyme friends that I've not yet to meet. When planning things like this, it's always an unknown as to who can come. I invited 50 people knowing that 25 of them were just too far to come, but I didn't want them to feel left out. On Wednesday night, I knew that 18 people on my list to come. However, Saturday morning I got a call from one of my best Lyme friends saying that she had an accident Friday night and was in a lot of pain. This mean that it was down to 16. Also, two others got really ill during the week, so it was down to 14.

Then I got a phone call from another Lyme friend saying that her brother wanted to come. So we were back up to 15 and then I found out about another girl that could come so we were back to 16. As Lyme goes, that's amazing. Two friends didn't show up. It worried me because for one of them I knew something really bad must have happened for her not to come. She was really looking forward to it.

All in all, we wound up with 14 people ~ 10 Lyme patients and 4 family members. This is outstanding! Out of the 10 Lyme patients: I knew 4 of them in person already and one was me so I met 5 NC Lymies on Saturday! We had such an outstanding time.

A Lyme Lunch

2011-09-04T07:56:00.002-04:00

So the past few weeks, I have been planning a Lyme Lunch. So far there are about 13 of us going and 13 that can't go and about 21 that haven't decided if they can go or not. I am so excited that I can't stand it! Of the 13 that are definitely going, I have most of them at least once. There are several on the "might" list that I have never met.

So excited to get together with all my Lyme friends and talk about the possibility of hosting a screening in each of their counties. I hope the restaurant is ready for a whole slew of us Lymies in about 2 weeks. :}

After effects of Irene

2011-09-01T06:31:00.003-04:00

I'm fine. My home is fine. Everyone that I know is fine (and by fine I mean .. they are ALIVE and that's the most important definition of fine!), BUT there was severe devastation on the beaches of our state. And many people are still without power. One of my closest friends just got power late last night after not having power since Saturday morning (maybe even Friday night!). Many schools don't have power and many schools lost a good majority of their supplies. Please pray for the teachers that are now having to teach from a cart because their rooms were destroyed. Please pray for the students and parents.

Belle Photo!

2011-08-27T19:34:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-27T15:45:00.004-04:00

So the rain and wind are crazy. I mean really here where we live, it's only a little stronger than a terrible thunderstorm (without the thunder). The wind though .. it's ridiculous!! This morning around 6:45, our power went out for a couple of hours. I tried to sleep through the outage and it came back on. Because I was so exhausted, I slept longer. I got up around 10am and as I did, the power went back out. Tried to go back to sleep (I just prefer to sleep through power outages so I don't realize what I'm missing!). Decided at almost noon to leave for lunch and the power came back on. I've read online that my neighbor's power went out again. I'm sure it's not the end of mini power outages.

We went out for pizza and then went shopping. I mean why not? The rain was going sideways because of the wind. Umbrellas & Wind don't mix. Anyways, we saw several garbage cans knocked over. Many branches from trees all over yards and in one case there was one huge branch on someone's front porch. Doesn't appear to be all that bad here, but over at the beach ... I have friends posting pictures from their back porch ... well it appears to be at least knee high water. They ain't leaving unless it's on a boat with their flippie floppies.

anyways, we're safe.

A Hurricane is a coming

2011-08-25T19:29:00.003-04:00

Hurricane Irene is suspected to make landfall sometime over the next couple of days. Friday night/ Saturday morning. Don't know how bad she'll be. I think we'll get rain & wind here. But I'll keep you up to date if I can (IE if we don't lose power and or internet). We are outside the "Hurricane Warning" by a couple of counties. But our county does have a Flash Flood watch for overnight.

Some of my beach friends are leaving and some are staying.

***

Now speaking of unusual weather: As some of you might know, Virginia had a 5.8 Earthquake the other day. yes I felt it at my home in North Carolina! It was a loud enough that I thought it was a garbage truck right up on my home, but I felt my body start to move. I thought how odd and went to see which garbage company was making such a racket only to realize there were no trucks out there. It was then that I realized that more than likely it was an Earthquake. Though I did have brief thoughts that our Shearon Harris plant had an explosion of some kind!

What Lyme gave to me

2011-08-21T09:49:00.005-04:00

So I was telling a good friend this story and she was absolutely blown away. It was after thinking about what she had said that I realized that Lyme Disease gave me a truly wonderful gift.

Prior to my Lyme Diagnosis, I was terribly shy. And when I say shy, I mean sometimes if I had to talk in front of people or to new people ... I would literally get sick afterward. Now one would think that because I was in the band, colorguard, winterguard, and a dancer that there was no way I could feel that way, but truth be told ... when I was participating in those items I was portraying a character. I wasn't me.

As soon as I stepped onto the football field, I was a different person. Ask me about Guard and I could have talked for hours. If you knew me back then, you may not have realized I was shy because well ... you KNEW me. The trouble was getting to know me. My best friend has always said that if people would just get to know me then they'd love me. The trouble was letting them in to get to know me. Some people just had the gift to get right inside my heart and others I put up this wall.

Then I was diagnosed with Lyme. Friends left. I felt an overwhelming sadness. People I knew a lot of my life were disappearing like flies. I figured they just couldn't handle. What's odd is that they handled things just fine when it was undiagnosed and I just had symptoms, but once the doctor put a name on it ... they just vanished.

I started a small group with a few of my Lyme friends that live in North & South Carolina back in the last part of 07. It was my friend Sarah (that I went to the HS graduation a couple of years ago) in South Carolina & I that were discussing the possibility of a small group. We talked back & forth on the computer and created a great name for our group (I don't want to say b.c I don't want it to be inundated with new requests from people). Sarah drew something up and my friend Missy graphically designed it so that we would have a beautiful logo.

A couple of weeks in, we had about 8 friends. Our close online buddies that we talked to daily. I never imagined that it would grow to be more than 15. Soon we got our first request for someone we had never spoken to. We knew that we had to keep our small group safe so I created a small survey to send to the people that asked to join us (especially for those that we did not know or someone in the group could not vouch for!). As I go to different Lyme events, I find out if they are on FB. As I become friends with them, I add them to the group. Now we are almost at 50 members.

You may ask, how does this get back to what Lyme gave to you? Well, I have friends online that understand exactly what I've been through. In reverse, I can understand exactly what they are going through. We are friends. It's simple as that. We are advocates for Lyme Disease. Some of them have transitioned from "My Lyme friend" just to "My friend." You may remember when I went to the NC Lyme Walk and met several Lymies. I'm not very close online friends with several of them. I had no problems talking with them and I didn't even feel a tinge of nausea of meeting them and talking with them. This is just a pure gift of Lyme.

The story that made my friend go "What? seriously? You did that?" Well during the week I had been talking with two online friends. Whitney (my friend that had the benefit raffle and the articles in the paper) & Sarah J. We decided that we would get together at Whitney's house and hang out for the morning. Whitney & I had never met Sarah, but thought it would be safe for us to meet at Whitney's house (we've all been talking for sometime). Well Friday morning Whitney's Mom called and told me that she wasn't feeling well. That we should postpone our fun morning. (and by Fun I mean, sitting there complaining about Lyme Disease and planning our first advocacy event). So I called Sarah J and left a message. I thought we wouldn't meet and started heading home.

She called me back and I mentioned that maybe we could meet anyways. So I plugged in a new address to the GPS and off I went. So yes, I drove to a mall (one that I rarely go to) and met with someone I've never met with before and it was as if we were old friends hanging out. Crazy. It was exactly that way when I met Whitney the first time. Now granted all these people I have been talking to online for sometime so it's not exactly like they are new people, but still.

I just realized the other day that I have now met 15 of the 47 Lyme people in our small community. That's amazing! I'm in the beginning stages of planning an event for all of us (like maybe a Saturday luncheon somewhere to plan for how we can improve the knowledge of Lyme Disease in North Carolina). So excited!

June 10, 2008

2011-08-15T09:42:00.002-04:00

I've recently been thinking about how far I've come. So I went digging for something I wrote before I started this public blog. Look at exactly how far I have come.

June 10, 2008. I had been in Lyme treatment for 1 year and 3 months when I wrote this in a private journal.

He will not give me more than I can handle. I have heard that so many times and yet I grow weary. In theory, it's a wonderful sentiment. In practice, how much more can I take? No one on this earth truly knows the amount of pain I am in except for my wonderful husband. He's seen me swollen. He's seen me vomiting until I am basically unconscious. He's seen me unconscious.

He's seen the nurses try and try again for a vein to give me medication that I desperately need. He's seen me lying on the bathroom floor with no strength to even get up yet somehow I manage to pull myself together, get dressed and head out the door to do my 8 hour day at work only to get home and collapse for another night of ...

pain, swelling, fevers, vomiting, nausea, coughing, pain, twitches, massive sleep OR insomnia, nightmares, breathing difficulty, fatigue, emotional outbursts, migraines, brain fog, difficulty swallowing, ear ringing, blurry vision, rashes, seizures, burning sensations in my arms and legs and feet, loss of control of my feet, muscle weakness, and those are just a few of the things that I can remember right now.

I just woke from another 3 hour nap sweating so hard that my clothes were soaked. My head is killing me from yet another headache. I have floaters in my vision that won't go away. My brain isn't working the way I need it to. Thank GOD that some of the symptoms on my at random list have gone away. I don't know what I would do if I still had seizures on a daily basis.

I change one set of horrible things for another set. It's like .. I'll give you this treatment. It will give you nausea and diarrhea and vomiting, but if I give you this one ..you'll have daily headaches and severe weight loss. If we do nothing at all and just treat the symptoms, all those other things might come back (including the seizures, muscle weakness and twitches so severe that people started asking if I had Parkinson's).

I write because it's an emotional release. I am tired. I am weak and yet in the morning I will pull myself together one more day ... put on my work clothes and head to work for my 8 hour day.

I have some friends that are going through some tough times. They don't know it, but they have gotten me through my most difficult days. When I lack the strength I need, I look to them for guidance. They are the strongest ladies I know. From my point of view, they have two things that give them their strength. First is their belief that our God can do all things and the second is their families.

I can not thank them enough for their outward strength because it is through their strength that I get my strength to go through each day because I have the same two things they have. I have my belief that GOD CAN DO ALL THINGS and I have my family.

If you are my true friend, you know what I've been through and you have been there for me. I can not thank you enough for the gentle hugs, kind emails, and phone calls. They mean more to me than you will ever know. Here I sit at 11:21 wondering .. how I will get through tomorrow. I will get through tomorrow by my own strength .. my own will to survive and knowing that God will not give me any more than I can handle. A nice sentiment ... a truthful one. Pray for me. I need for all prayers to land on God's ears. I need strength and compassion from those around me. :) I love you all.

Reminder: Pens and Paper don't Feel

2011-08-11T17:57:00.003-04:00

I wrote a message back in April of 2009. I thought I'd revisit it and edit it as something happened that made me remember this. No it wasn't on the blog.

*** first this is extremely long and I apologize for that, but God has placed something on my heart that I must share ****

I have to say that I have spent most of my life feeling as if I didn't belong. I grew up in a very small town where I had extremely close friends. Then my family uprooted us and moved. We did not move far, but it was far enough that I lost all of my friends due to our ages (between 6th and 7th grade) and distance. I lived a depressed life from 7th grade until 10th grade when I finally felt like I belonged to a group of people that liked me even if though I was different. However, I still spent most of the rest of my high school years extremely depressed. My best friend now saved my life then. He was not my best friend at the time, but I would not be the person I am now if God did not place him in my path then.

I have spent my life writing: writing journals, writing poetry, writing doodles, just writing. The poetry I read that I wrote in High School (and even college) are some of the most depressing pieces of works I have ever seen. I read them now and can go back to the same feelings I felt then. I hated the computer. The computer guru at college used to say "Oh no not her" when I'd come into the lab because within 15 minutes of me sitting at it .. the computer would die. I could never figure out how to turn a computer on much less write my college papers on them. I didn't belong at college. I had almost seizures daily and people made fun of me behind my back, but when I wrote ... I felt free.

I would sit in the chapel at church and write. Some letters, some poetry, anything to get the feelings out. I always felt better and not quite so alone after writing. It's like the pen & paper were my friends. It didn't matter what I wrote because they would never get mad, upset or offended. My writings never made the pen & paper jealous or happy or anything. The Pen & Paper didn't have feelings. No one ever read them and I suppose no one ever will, but when I read what I wrote circa the 90's it makes me cringe to see what was going through my noggin.

So once I became computer literate and unable to kill a computer in 15 minutes, it became crystal clear that I should write everything on the computer instead of in pen & paper. just write. That was my motto. I discovered emails, Instant Messenger, forums, myspace, facebook and eventually a world of blogging. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of writing. A world in which others could view my thoughts. On one hand, I felt glad to share my inner most thoughts to people that cared ... but on the other hand it made me very vulnerable. Pen & Paper could never get hurt. People on the other hand. They could be hurt by my inner most thoughts.

I knew I would be able to write my inner most thoughts and feelings in Lyme groups and people would understand. About the same time as I found those Lyme forums and groups, I found out about blogging. I thought that I would never blog because I didn't really want the world to read my inner most thoughts.

However I realized in September of 2008 that I had a lot to say. I could educate people who found my little piece of the world about Lyme Disease. The first comment I received from someone asking more about Lyme Disease made my heart feel good. My motto for my blog: Living life as full as I can with the skills that I have and the love I receive.

For now this is what is on my heart & soul. Pen & Paper don't get hurt, but people do.
Sometimes people say things that aren't intended to be hurtful and sometimes I write things that hurt others and it was not my intentions. I must first say that no one that has ever commented on this blog has EVER been hurtful. It was something else that happened elsewhere that produced this lengthy blog. Because when I hurt, I write. I write ~~in journals, write poetry, write doodles, just write~~ on my blog.

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

P.S.

I need to remember that the people that truly know me love me and that it doesn't matter what someone that doesn't know me at all thinks because as a friend who loves me very much said a long time ago, "If people would really get to know you ... the real you, the you that I know, they'd love you as much as I do."

I just have to keep telling myself that.

My friend Alisa

2011-08-07T19:26:00.000-04:00

Compliments of Angelique Cook Photography

I have a beautiful friend named Alisa. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, her heart is absolutely pure. I met Alisa in 2007 after my Lyme diagnosis. I would go to get IV treatments and this beautiful girl sat near me. As we laid there in our own treatment chairs, we would talk when we weren't sleeping. I barely remember our conversations, but I do remember we talked about my Lyme Disease, her heavy metal poisoning and our mutual vein problems. I remember her talking about traveling, but with my Lyme Brain I couldn't remember why she traveled all the time. Alisa was there on the day I got my PICC line. And Alisa was the first person (other than my husband) to see my PICC as she was contemplating getting one. She saw my PICC less than 30 minutes after it was placed.

So I have been wanting to do a biography on one of my dearest Lyme friends since I started this blog. I contacted her recently asking if she would be interested and as all of you know, it's very difficult when you're in the depths of Lyme to form a complete thought. So while I know it's difficult for her to do my survey right now and while I don't have the information to do a true biography on my friend, I do want you to get to know Alisa and her soul.

Alisa currently lives in North Carolina not too far from me. She just recently got married and her husband is a dream come true for Alisa. I've seen her wedding pictures and to say that she looked absolutely radiant is an understatement. Alisa struggles with many aspects of Lyme. I don't even know where to begin and since we haven't actually seen each other in so long, I really don't know of even half of her difficulties. I do know that she has seizures. She does IV treatment at home through a port and also has a feeding tube. The difficulties of Lyme brings loneliness. Because you don't get Lyme until you get Lyme, people outside the Lyme world don't understand how complicated Lyme is for Alisa so she feels lonely. After you read this, you will hear her beautiful voice which is why it is so frustrating that Alisa now has to go to speech therapy because her muscles in her mouth have weakened so much.

When I reached out to her, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to answer the questions the way she wanted to. Her brain struggles constantly that she has moments where she doesn't even recognize her husband. She had two hours the other day where she could handle light noise and being able to read & comprehend, but that doesn't last long. So that's why I wanted you all to get to know my friend Alisa. She & her husband need your prayers.

The best way I know how to share with you my friend is to have you listen to her voice. This video is from 2008. And a year ago, I rediscovered why Alisa traveled so much when I discovered this video. Alisa is an incredible singer and talented song writer. Go to the bottom of those post to read the lyrics.

My note to my friend:

Alisa, I love you. I consider you to be one of my best friends. I thank God that He put me through my own Lyme journey because He allowed me to meet some absolutely fantastic people in this world which at the top of that list is you. It is my desire that God heal you completely and you absolutely deserve the best this world has to offer. This song gives me incredible goose bumps and reaches my soul. I think it is a wonderful anthem for Lyme Disease even though you may not have known you had Lyme when you wrote these heart touching lyrics. When you are able, I would love to do a true biography with the survey I sent. But for now, I hope this helps touch your heart as much as you've touched mine. May God bless and heal you.

Your friend,

Jennifer

Breathing by Alisa Turner

It is dying to come out
It is killing me within
Someone check if I’m still

Breathing
Just keep me breathing
Oh now what should I say
I wanna to keep it from the heart
Well someone check if I’m still

Breathing
Just keep me breathing
See this is why I sing it
It’s gonna keep me breathing

I should’ve told you from the start of things
That tonight I’m really suffering
And me I hope you’re still

Believing
Don’t stop believing
Cause if you stop believing
Than it will keep me singing

I do have thought of suicide
I know it’s brave of me to say (I know)
But am I brave enough

To Stay
Enough to stay
So this is why I’m singing
To keep me breathing

Waiting

2011-08-07T08:51:00.002-04:00

I have been waiting since Wednesday to get the results of my blood work in the mail. As I understood over the phone, my hormone levels are completely normal. My Vitamin D has tanked. Those were the only two I asked about. I meant to ask about my NK Cells, but forgot after she gave me the Vitamin D number because I was so shocked it had dropped 36 points.

If I don't have the results in hand by Tuesday, I'll have to go by and find out what in the world. 35 minutes from my LLMD and usually takes 2 days max to get something in the mail. So I decided why not save a little gas and just let them mail it to me. I'd have time over the weekend to sort it all out. Yeah not so much.

My online friend Molly

2011-08-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

So as most of you know in 2009, I was really focused on a second blog called Praying for Lymies. I haven't utilized it all this year and the other day I saw the original button for the blog on another person's fb account. It reminded me of the passion I put into the blog and made me want to reach out for more Lyme biographies and updating some old friends that I haven't talked to in a while. Imagine my shock when I talked to an old friend Molly and discovered her husband was battling cancer. I posted this on Praying for Lymies, but wanted to share it here too.

May 29th 2009, I featured Molly from Michigan. Molly is now 52 years old and I recently got in touch with her to find out how she has been doing. She began Rifing for Babeiosis. Molly thought she didn't have it, but her doctor felt that it couldn't hurt since it had been taking so long for her to recover. Rifing stirred up another monster and she herxed like crazy. She's been rifing for a year, but she's had some interruptions in getting truly aggressive. Molly is up to two Babs sessions per week. Molly's pain levels have improved as well as her overall health.

Last year, Molly lost two very important people in her life. It has really affected how her family feels. Then in early June, Molly's husband was diagnosed with stage IV Neuro Endocrine Cancer. This is a very aggressive cancer. Joe's Pet Scan showed that the cancer has metastasized to his entire body. This year has been very stressful and Molly's health as suffered.

Joe is responding very well to Chemotherapy and they haven't ruled out some alternative treatments. Molly says that while it may sound weird, she thinks he's going to be around for a while. They are praying for a miracle and aren't ruling anything out. Joe constantly displays a positive and friendly attitude which has kept Molly strong as well. Molly says, "He is an amazing man."

Please pray that Molly makes good decisions about her health so she can be well enough to care for her husband of 30 years. Please pray that if it is God's will that Joe be completely healed as well as his comfort during this horrendous journey.

Welcome to Living the Lyme Life

2011-08-02T13:22:00.002-04:00

Welcome to everyone who has found their way to my blog. I started this journal in September of 2008. I had already been in Lyme treatment for 18 months. I wish I had begun it earlier. The name of my blog would have likely been Living a Symptom filled with no actual diagnosis Life. What a mouth full.

My name is Jennifer and this is my blog. I actively began fighting the world of Lyme & Co-infections March of 2007. Actually my fight began well before then. It honestly began in 1995. Though since my diagnosis in 2007, I've dabbled in mineral deficiency, progesterone defiency, heavy metal toxicity and other health issues. I had a PICC line inserted into my right arm in July of 2008. I battled with it every day until February 2009. It probably should have been pulled on many occasions though I had wonderful nurses, doctors, insertion team and my husband to help me keep it as long as I needed it. I used it right up until the night before it was finally pulled.

My IV wasn't used to ABX therapies. It was used for vitamins, minerals and other supplemental therapies such as Chelation. I used an extremely experiemental IV protocol for about 9 months, but it is no longer available. I rarely talk about it because it's so controversial and it's no longer available. I'm angry about that however because I feel like that IV did more for me in 9 months than anything else I tried.

I try to live my life the best I can. Currently, I'm doing well. I use LDN Cream to keep my immune system functioning the best it can. Lyme ruled my life for a while, but I'm just a woman trying to live my life the best I can with the skills that I have and the love I receive. My husband and I got married in April 2000. He's my rock. Up until recently (when my brain actually started working), he went with me to almost every single doctor appointment. He supports me with his quirky sense of humor and selfless determination to get to the root of my health issues. Google was his best friend when I was having so many issues and we couldn't find answers in 2006. He found my LLMD and he helped me fill out all the paperwork to see him.

We have two dogs that we rescued a long time ago. One is a lab mix that we adopted from the SPCA 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. 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 school. Although I used to work full time in a preschool classroom, it became difficult to continue to do so. So for a while I taught 3 & 4 year olds how to read outside of the classroom in small groups. 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 4th grade. Last year, I worked iwth another lady that help my same position. Because I am very loved in the classroom, I released all my students to her and began floating around in the preschool rooms. Though I am capable in younger classrooms as well, my passion is those preschool students.

In addition to all of this, I love taking photographs, going to Carolina Basketball games and listening to WCU's Pride of the Mountain Marching Band.

Where to get Magnesium Gel

2011-08-01T16:27:00.003-04:00

In the comment section, I received a question about where to get the Magnesium Gel. I recommend asking your LLMD about this before just going out to buy it for yourself. You may not even need something like this. However, I got my Magnesium Gel from my LLMD's office. I have found it on Amazon although you can find it just by googling it.

Since I know you can't read it the official name is MagneDerm Transdermal Magesium Gel.

Magnesium Gel

2011-07-31T19:38:00.003-04:00

So at my last LLMD appointment, we discussed Magnesium Deficiency. I started doing a little research on this possible deficiency of mine and discovered a number of things. MedlinePlus says there are three categories of deficiency: 1. Early. 2. Moderate. 3. Severe. They mention fatigue, insomnia, irritability and muscle twitching as a few of the early symptoms. In an Ezine Article, they mention PMS, headaches, and that lights may appear too bright.

Well, I tend to have trouble taking supplements and as with the LDN Cream, we're trying alternative therapies. So when he mentioned that there was possibly a Magnesium Gel, I jumped on it. Apparently it's supposed to really help. I'm not sure how well it will work, but today I put on my arm a little bit and massaged it in. Per the instructions on the bottle, I washed it off after 30 minutes.

Some people online have sworn by this saying that they've had rashes disappear they've had for a long time. So I chose to go ahead and use it on my arm. We'll see how it goes and if I start to feel better as time goes on. Either way, I didn't get sick to my stomach since I didn't have to put it into my stomach. If it helps this rashy appearance on my arm to boot, I'll be thrilled as punch.

Blood Draw McGraw

2011-07-30T08:56:00.006-04:00

If you want to know about my My Diagnostic Codes for this particular Lab check out my previous post called Diagnostic Codes.

My day began Thursday night. I drank two extra bottles of water and went to sleep good & early to be well rested for Friday. I woke up bright & early and began my regiment on drinking water. I got in the car and left my A/C OFF. And in this sweltering topping 100's (yesterday in the sun, my best friend's thermometer read 115 .. though I doubt it was really above 104). Occasionally I would crank it up for a moment to keep me from melting away, but I was trying to keep my temp pretty warm so that my veins would cooperate.

I arrived at the lab expecting a line full of people. There was only one. It seemed to take a while, but honestly it probably wasn't as long as I felt (b.c I arrived at 9:15 and then left at 10:15). After the other client left, I handed the dreaded vampire my forms and cards (insurance, driver's license and credit card). As she was typing in the codes from the paper, I could hear her audibly sighing. Finally I said "What's wrong?"

She said, "These are some serious tests with difficult lab procedures."

It was then that I laid on her that, "My veins are difficult to get." We both took a breath and she was writing a lot of things down (SST*, Frozen; SST, Ambient; SST, Refrigerated; etc!). She's going over each test and writing down which test needed what. When all was said & done, she needed 10 vials. During this, I'm telling her my horror stories which included:

The time that the lab used the wrong tube for my "Day 21" lab which caused me to have to go back on another Day 21 which caused me to miss about 28 days of meds b.c I needed them
The time that the lab stuck me about 8 times before sending me home to come back the next day
The time I fainted
The "Latex" Tourniquet & Gloves Lady
The "OH I can so get that" vein lady (which just so happened to be the same lady as the Latex tourniquet lady).

She looked at me with horror as I recounted several visits in the past. I sat down and she went through all 10 vials and the paper twice before grabbing a beautiful blue pair of gloves. We talked about my arms before she even put the tourniquet on. She tourney'd up the left arm and felt around. She tourney'd up the right arm and felt around. She asked where this infamous "vein" was and I pointed the general direction of its location. She couldn't believe that anyone would try that particular spot.

She then said she wanted to try my hands, but in general hands didn't respond well to 10 vials. That she would do her best. So she tourney'd up my left hand and began manipulating my hand to get some veins to pop. And pop they did. I felt as if this lady had struck gold! She grabbed a butterfly (the heaven's opened up and sang her praises when she did that!) needle and said "Are you ready?" Like I even had a choice! We both took a deep breath and she stuck it in. I felt it all the way down to my toes! I felt a joyous feeling inside b.c I knew that when I feel that it means that typically at least 5 vials will get blood filled.

I started taking deep breaths, which of course worried her. But then I told her that typically the blood flows better for me when I breathe in and out slowly throughout the entire procedure. Vial after Vial filled with glorious blood. She got to the last two and said even if she had to pull the needle out that she was confidant that she could get two purple tubes out of another vein. I continued to slowly breathe. The blood continued to flow. Next thing I know, she's pulling out the butterfly.

I was so thrilled that I filled out one of those comment cards. I believe the wording I used was "miraculous visit. 1 hand stick for 10 vials on what's typically torture and 10 sticks filling only one vial! Thank you Heather."

After I stopped bleeding (I'm really hoping this doesn't mean that my blood work will stink b.c sometimes when it doesn't stop bleeding immediately some of my work is wonky), I went out front to drink 1/2 a bottle of Gatorade before heading out.

Let's just say, I'm thankful to a woman that listened to my past concerns and did exactly what was needed to get a good draw. I'm also thankful to some hand veins that have apparently somewhat healed enough to get some blood! Praise God for Miracles. Now let's pray that my blood work comes back with the answers we need. Heather said she was going to be thinking about me all weekend. I asked her how many was the most vials she had ever filled (thinking it would be in teh 20's ... after all Dr. P's office does this all the time). She asked, "including yours?" ... I'm like yeah .. she said "yours."

No wonder she had an audible sigh! I used to call "S" .. One stick slick. I think Heather will be Blood Draw McGraw! Too bad I can't make sure she's there every time!

*SST is Serum-separating tubes. They use this for a lot of different labs. The tube at my office is generally a marbled colored top. There are many different color tops for different tubes based on what's inside. Some are Red, Purple and honestly I can't remember the others

Website on Vacutainers)

Diagnostic Codes

2011-07-28T19:41:00.003-04:00

Earlier today I was looking at the Diagnostic Codes listed on my Lab work paper for tomorrow. I will be going in to get my "Grab & Jab" which will lead to the "hit and miss." Anyways, I saw these diagnostic codes and wondered what they were.

Thank goodness that Google is my friend

780.79 = Other Malaise & Fatigue.
625.4 = Premenstrual tension syndromes
280.0 = Iron deficiency anemia secondary to blood loss (chronic)
288.0 = Agranulocytosis

According to Medline Plus, "Agranulocytosis means a failure of the bone marrow to make enough white blood cells (neutrophils). Bone marrow is the soft tissue inside bones that helps form blood cells."

Medlineplus also says, "Agranulocytosis results in a person not having enough of a specific type of white blood cells, called neutrophils or granulocytes. A low neutrophil count (neutropenia) may also occur when white blood cells are destroyed faster than they can be produced."

People with this condition are more likely to get infections. So in order to insure that Lyme doesn't rear it's ugly head (since it IS a bacterial infection), we have to keep a check on my blood cells. I've had a problem with my cell counts in the past so my LLMD likes to keep a check on them. This is also something that the LDN should have helped.

Cross your fingers that the Grab & Jab goes well.

LDN Cream

2011-07-27T19:03:00.003-04:00

At my most recent LLMD appointment, we discussed what we have been talking about since August of 2009. I wrote a post then (click here to go to that post) Explaining LDN. He started me off at 4.5mg, but I had some really lousy side effects at 4.5mg. Those side effects included a severe lack of sleep, profoundly disturbing dreams, severe headaches, excessive jaw pain and fatigue. When this didn't improve, he recommended that I start off at only 1mg and increase as I adjusted to it. All of 2010, I had difficultly getting past 1mg and I eventually stopped trying. In May of 2011, I decided that I would really try to get up to 3mg. Things went okay and I actually did get up to 3mg.

So when I went to my LLMD, I explained to him that I had done really well. He was rather impressed that I had pushed myself. Then he told me something that I wish I had known before now. LDN can be compounded into a CREAM! The cream comes in syringes. There are 3ml of cream in each syringe and 10 syringes come in a 30 day supply. For a typical Lyme patient, they would use 1ml of cream per night. Well with my sensitivity, we're going to start off with 1/2 ml of cream. This is about the equivalent of 2.25mg of LDN. If things go well this entire month, then I can slowly increase until I get to the full 1 ml of cream.

Here are 9 of the 10 syringes next to my cell phone (an appropriate Lime Green!) to show size.

I push the syringe so that 1/2 ml out onto my arm. The instructions say to rub it onto soft skin. The pharmacist recommended the soft side of the arm between the elbow and wrist. I have decided to alternate the arms, though I don't think it's necessarily required. I have used it for three nights so far. In addition to the LDN cream, we discussed my difficulty sleeping lately. So he sent me home with some Melatonin hoping that it would help me sleep.

On the first night, I had no problems sleeping. I slept the entire night without waking. I did have dreams, but they weren't enough to wake me. On the second night, I woke once. I woke up and was extremely thirsty and hot. So I had to get up for some water and to turn the air cooler. Once I was settled with those things, I was easily able to go back to sleep. I was exhausted when my alarm went off however. Last night, I slept like a rock. I fell asleep at 7:45pm and didn't wake until 5am when my alarm sounded.

I get my blood work done on Monday and I'm hoping that all this work I've done since May will show up.

Lyme Walk 2011 in NC

2011-07-24T07:31:00.002-04:00

Read this Article in the paper regarding the walk I went to on Saturday morning. This article will give you the details about why the walk was being held in the little town of Albemarle North Carolina. Now onto my story.

Prior to my Lyme friend Whitney's benefit raffle, I was invited to this gathering a little over two hours from my home. I thought it would be fun to go, but wrestled with the thought of actually going. I always enjoy hanging out with fellow Lyme patients, but there are several reasons why I thought I wouldn't go. The thought process went something like this:

1. I'm going to spend over 4 1/2 hours in the car.

2. I don't think I'll know anyone there.

3. AND It's going to be OVER 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE!!!!

4. I could easily get sunburned or bit by another tick.

There were however three reasons why I thought that I should go.

1. I knew that I would know Wendy & Brenda from online and that I would have a great time with everyone once I arrived.

2. My ability to advise those that are just starting their Lyme journey or those that knew nothing about the disease.

3. I would be capable of capturing magnificent snapshots of moments.

So after convincing my husband that we should go (despite the HEAT that kept hot dogs warm long after they were cooked!), we went to the store and picked up bottles of Gatorade and water. We purchased three huge bags of ice. Yesterday morning we got up at 5am sharp and packed our car with the cooler full of ice with our drinks, sunscreen, bug spray and our awesome Olympus E-620 SLR camera with extra flash!

Well the drive there was pretty boring. However, I must say "YOU might be in the middle of nowhere IF you see a lady on the side of the road having a little mini yard sale on the hood of her car right near a horse & buggy caution sign." We were right smack dab in the middle of no where. We arrived around 8:20 and I generously applied both sunscreen & bug spray to my skin.

I took a walk over to all the Lyme Clad ladies & gentlemen and threw myself right smack dab in the conversation. Now I am telling you, Lyme has given me many problems. However, it also gave me a huge advantage. Five years ago, there is no way I would have walked into a place with several dozen strangers and felt comfortable enough just to be myself. No way, no how.

Shortly after arriving, I began snapping photos. I took almost four hours worth of photos. I took well over 300 photographs. I won't share them all, but to me these photos are priceless.

Lyme Disease Awareness Board: There were many brochures on Lyme to share with those that participated in the walk.

Tick Remover Tools provided by IgeneX.

Presents for the Lymies. Brenda & Wendy were kind enough to make up packages for those of us in attendance that had Lyme. So very sweet.

Holly presenting the Lyme Awareness shirts.

Ernie & Brenda talking about Lyme Disease.

Lyme Bracelet from May Day

ILADS bag.

Two Lymies sharing a moment.

Brenda counting funds raised.

My new Lyme friend & me.

So the biggest thing that happened was that I got to talk to a young lady I haven't connected with before online. She was the sweetest thing ever. I talked with her and her Dad at length. They got to take home the documentary Under Our Skin. The amazing thing is that I'm more than twice her age! In fact, I'm twice her age plus 3!

What an amazing day.

Lyme Walk 2011

2011-07-23T16:23:00.003-04:00

My husband and I went to the Lyme Walk today. Took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. We stayed from about 8:20 to noon. We had a blast and I took a lot of photos. I'd love to share many, but this sums it up.

I will be sharing more in the future, but I wanted to say that we had a great turn out. They raised 500 dollars for ILADS. I met many North Carolina Lymies. All of us have a very similiar story.

Lyme Symptoms in the past

2011-07-21T20:50:00.004-04:00

So there is this website that most Lymies know of called: canlyme.com. It lists about 75 symptoms of Lyme Disease. I thought I would share with all of you the symptoms that I have had starting in 1995 when I got my initial tick bite. Some of these didn't start until 2005 when I got a second known tick bite. Yes, this is a long post. So sorry, but this is a long illness. I'm sure there are things I've left out. Also, there are things that I haven't told very many people.

Tick Bite: I saw the tick bite.

Rash at the site of the bite. I don't know if there was a rash for the first tick bite, but other tick bites, there were rashes including the EM rash that is commonly recognized as the Lyme Rash.

Rashes on other parts of your body. I had rashes (and sometimes still do) all over my body. Sometimes it was on my legs, arms, trunk, face.

Raised Rash, disappearing and recurring. Yes my rashes would pop up and some of them would be raised. They would disappear as quickly as they came on.

Rash, basically circular, oval and spreading out. I had this as well. These rashes were more after the 2005 tick bite.

Headaches - mile or severe. My headaches were tremendous. They were so significant that my GP ordered an MRI to check for tumors.

Seizures - about 2 weeks after my tick bite in 1995, I started having seizures. Some were shown on EEGs and some were not. The doctors suggested that they were psychosomatic. I never believed that for a moment. They completely ended a few weeks into Lyme treatment.

Twitching of facial or other muscles. My legs and arms twitched all the time. Most weren't noticeable to people, but at the peak of my illness my husband could feel them if he were holding my hand.

Tingling of nose, tip of tongue, cheek or facial flushing. For a while, I blushed easily. I also had tingling all over. Nose, tongue, cheek, legs, etc.

Stiff or painful neck. I would wake and my neck would be so stiff that I couldn't turn my head. If I did turn my neck, it would be very painful. Most of the time, it would go away after about 2 hours of being awake. It made for a difficult drive b.c I leave for work about 40 minutes after I wake.

Jaw Pain.

Sore throat, Clearing throat a lot, phlegm, hoarseness, runny nose. I often times would wake with a sore throat and runny nose. It was not uncommon for me to get laryngitis. For no reason, I would wake up without being able to speak. I also would have what I called "clogged throat."

Double or blurry vision. at the beginning of my treatment in 2007, I had extremely blurry vision. Because I do wear glasses, it freaked me out. I sought help and my eye doctor was a little bit Lyme literate. She told me that b.c Lyme affects muscles that my muscles were being affected by the bacteria. She thought that with treatment that the blurriness would improve. She was right.

Increased Floaters. Oh My Word. There was one point where the floaters were so bad that I didn't want to be out in the sun at all b.c they were so distracting. Some looked just like the spiral bacteria too. I was very freaky. Again, they improved significantly with treatment.

Pain in eyes, or swelling around eyes. I often would have swollen lids around my eyes. I'd wake up and they would be swollen. Sometimes it would happen in the middle of the day. It still happens. I attribute it to allergies, but who knows. It could actually be Lyme.

Sensitivity to Light. For a while, it hurt to even be inside with the lights on. I would sometimes wear my sunglasses inside. I still have to have complete darkness to sleep. Otherwise I wouldn't get any sleep at all.

Plugged Ears. Sometimes I have moments where I can't hear. It feels as if I have cotton in my ears.

Buzzing or ringing in ears. There was a point where it was so bad that I wasn't sure if there wasn't something really buzzing in the room. I would have to ask others if they "heard that noise." Once I answered the telephone because I thought the phone was ringing. It was my ears.

Oversensitivity to noise. I couldn't go in a crowded room b.c it was so loud and it caused the headaches to increase 10 fold.

Diarrhea. I would get cases of having to wake up in the middle of the night b.c this was so bad. It generally only happened between 1am to 4am.

Bladder: UTI's were often.

Upset stomach. I would wake up in the middle of the night and run to the bathroom. It would be coming out of both ends. There would be no rhyme or reason for it.

Bone, Joint Pain, Swelling. My bones and joints ached all the time. My knees, ankles and knuckles would swell.

Stiffness of joints, back, neck. It's self explanatory.

Muscle pain or cramps. Almost every single muscle ached.

Once I started treatment, I had serious trouble catching my breath. It hurt to take a deep breath and I didn't feel like I was getting enough oxygen. It wasn't the case, but it felt that way.

Chest pain or Rib soreness. My ribs hurt constantly. It sometimes felt as if I had broken them.

Night Sweats, unexplained chills. The nights I would wake up running to the bathroom, I would be in a cold sweat. I'd be freezing cold and burning up all at the same time. No Fever, but my clothes would be covered with sweat.

Heart: Sometimes my heart would race or feel like it would skip a beat or two.

Tremors, unexplained shaking: My hands would shake sometimes so hard that I couldn't hold a cup a water without spilling. This was the hardest symptom to "hide."

Fatigue, Weakness. I felt completely exhausted. Sometimes so bad that I would fall asleep at stop lights.

Numbness, tingling, pinpricks in body. Sometimes it was so bad that I couldn't feel something that was vibrating. You know those bouncy seats that vibrate? Well I couldn't tell if it vibrating by touching it. I had to listen for the noise. Imagine my shock when I felt it for the first time with my hand. I often felt as if my body was asleep. You know that annoying sensation when you sit in one place too long. Yeah ... I felt like that a lot.

Poor Balance, Dizziness, Difficulty walking. I often fell. It was embarrassing. Sometimes my dizziness was so bad that I crawled.

Increased motion sickness. Well I've had this since I was a kid, so I'm not sure whether it was increased or not, but motion sickness during treatment was horrible.

Lightheadedness. I often felt faint when I stood up.

Mood swings: I went through a phase where my mood would dip with the blink of an eye. I was frustrated a lot of the time.

Unusual depression. Not a pretty topic, but I spent a lot of years depressed. Because of this, I was on antidepressants for a few years. Of course, my doctor thought that my depression was causing my symptoms. Turns out my symptoms were causing my depression. :O

Disorientation, I got lost all the time. I got lost going home from work, a place I worked at for a number of years.

Over-emotional reactions. I would cry at the drop of a hat. No reason. It was insane

Too much sleep. there was a time in which I could sleep 12 to 15 hours, wake for an hour or two and then go back to sleep easily for another 8 hours.

Difficult falling asleep: in the same breath, some nights were very difficult to fall asleep.

Narcolepsy. While never officially diagnosed, I did fall asleep quite easily - not always in the bed. In fact, once I fell asleep while talking to the nurse at the front desk of a medical office.

Panic attacks. Back in 2001, I had serious panic attacks. So much so that I took medication for them. Because I was terrified of addiction, I rarely took them ... but dealt with the anxiety through breathing techniques.

Memory Loss: Sometimes I would forget days at a time. I think I still have lost memory from the past. Once a friend came to visit me from Virginia. A few weeks later, I mentioned I hadn't seen him in a year. I honestly didn't remember his entire visit. I still don't.

Confusion: My words get jumbled sometimes.

Difficulty reading: This was the most troubling problem. I loved to read. I mean, I used to get in trouble in elementary school for reading! So when I brought home a book from the library and struggled to read a page, I cried.

Going to the wrong place. I once drove to my old place of employment. FOUR YEARS after I quit. I didn't realize I was in the wrong place until I got into the class and the kids didn't know who I was.

Slow, Stammering speech. Sometimes I would get told "just spit it out already." What those people didn't know was that I was speaking as fast as my brain would let me. It was so frustrating and I couldn't explain that Lyme was causing my brain/speech to be so slow.

Forgetting how to perform simple tasks. I once forgot how to use the washing machine.

Phantom smells. Sometimes I would smell foods that hadn't been cooked. Most of the time I smelled Popcorn.

Unexplained weight loss. I lost quite a bit of weight. I think I got down in the 70's. No reason for it. It took a while for me to get back into the 90's. Now I'm in the triple digits. No one jumped bigger than my doctor when we tipped the scales. :)

Swollen lymph nodes. Occasionally my lymph nodes in my neck would swell.

Unexplained "fever" My temp stayed way too low. 96.8 would have been high for me.

Continual infections: I almost always had some sort of sinus infection.

Symptoms seem to change, come and go. One day I'd have pain, the next day it would be cognitive problems. I'd make a doctor's appointment for one problem and when I'd arrive that one would be gone and another one would be in its place.

Pain migrates: Sometimes my right knee would hurt and other times my left elbow. It moved around quite often.

Flu like symptoms. I don't remember having the "flu" after my 95 tickbite, but I did get it after my 2005 tickbite.

Allergies Chemical sensitivities, I can not tolerate "smells" of any kind. Makes me sick to my stomach.

Lyme Walk in North Carolin

2011-07-21T11:08:00.004-04:00

On this coming Saturday (July 23, 2011), there will be a walk in Albemarle North Carolina. A couple of Lyme warriors have organized this walk. It will be held at ...

City Lake Park

815 concord rd

Albemarle, North Carolina 28001

All funds raised will be going to ILADS. There will be an awareness walk and free hot...dogs, drinks, and cupcakes. There will be a cornhole tournament ($20 per team, 2 game guarantee). The park is rented from 8 to 12. Raffle tickets are $2.

Here is the facebook event page.

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=214406478603459

Living the REMISSION Lyme Life

2011-07-17T08:28:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was my wonderful Lyme appointment. I say wonderful because one thing didn't happen. There was no Grab & Jab. That happens July 29th. I say wonderful because of something I read after I left his office.

So at each visit, I go into the waiting room. I sign a piece of paper that says I'm there, what time I arrive and whether I want treatment or not. It's just a cover all our behinds kind of thing. When I'm there for a follow up, I have to fill out another piece of paper that asks what specific improvements or problems I've had since my last visit. Also have to say what specific issues I want addressed and any medications to be listed. I'm taken back for my temp, weight, blood pressure (sitting and standing) and pulse Ox. These are typically all good. Though I did have problems with my temp for a while (being way too low .. and occasionally too high) and my weight was significantly too low, but we've worked out both of those issues. I'm brought back to the waiting room while I read a new set of policies just put in effect and wait for my hero to peer his head through the door.

I was sure to get a smile on his face because while he'd never admit it out loud, I know I'm one of his favorite people. After all, he took me to congress and our picture was in some journal together (though I did never see it). We sat together to see our first viewing of Under Our Skin. So a warm smile from him when he thinks about how far I've come in four plus years is very much expected.

He opens the door and peers his head. Before he could even get my name out, I've bolted out of my seat. We walk back to his most comfortable office where I proceed to tell him that I forgot my cheerleading outfit (which doesn't fit anymore ... :( but symbolic b.c I am his biggest cheer leader) and he kindly reminds me that I used to be the person that always came in dressed crazily. I knew he meant that he could always count on me for a laugh.

We sat down and I haven't been in since December. So he wanted to recount how I've been. I tell him first how well things have gone. I've only been on antibiotics once for Bronchitis since our last visit and those went well. Then, I had to mention the symptoms. I mean I was there to tell him about my symptoms. Well I chart ALL of my symptoms in this calender on google. The problem was that my printer wasn't working and my husband wasn't home to fix it. So I had to rely on the good ole memory banks. That's hard to do sometimes, but I knew the few problems I wanted to discuss.

I told him about the few headaches I've had (which I'm sporting one right now actually). I told him about the problem sleeping sometimes where I wake up from a vivid dream and struggle getting back to sleep. And then there are some nights where I sleep very little. Now those of you that really know me know that in days past I could sleep 12 hours without waking once and at the end of the 12 hours honestly I could wake up about an hour and go back to sleep no problems. I talked about my staring into space and not really being there and spacing out moments. There was one other too private thing (which really isn't that private, but I just don't feel like discussing it on the blog) that I discussed with him.

He dug through my chart and reminded me of some serious symptoms I had in the past. We smiled b.c I had gotten through them. We discussed LDN at length. Discussing that it could possibly be the cause of some of my symptoms, but more likely than not it was something else causing the problem. We discussed how in the past my Progesterone levels were low and this could cause every single one of my problems. So on the 29th, I'll go and have those checked out. We discussed some mineral deficiencies. I've had problems in the past (and probably still have problems). These medicines make me feel so extremely nauseated. So I tend not to take them. So we're working on solutions for that.

We discussed our mutual fear of Lyme creeping back or getting a new infection over every little small symptom. Though I told him I try not to let that anxiety rule my life as it did two years ago. I told him I was in the paper. Oh did you not know? Google News of Orange: Or better yet. It won't be up long b.c they change it weekly, but a picture of Whitney & I were on the front page of News of Orange.

Here is the photo:

http://www.aconews.com/content/current/noc/front/front.pdf

Anyways, in the article you will read what it says under it:

"Both women suffer from Lyme disease, though Allton has already completed her treatment and is almost entirely in remission while Corn is just starting her antibiotic series. Before she could start, Corn had to build up her strength by taking supplements.
Erin Wiltgen / News of Orange"

I wanted to share this with you because ... it's official.

All indications are that Lyme remains in remission potentially even eradicated (though concerns remain that it could return or I could get a new infection). Dr. P said all of this based on my clinical symptoms just as he diagnosed me clinically. However, once my blood work is done and comes back (which should be back by the middle of August) we will know for certain that my symptoms remaining are hormonal in nature and not from Lyme.

Can you see me jumping for joy? I'm THRILLED.

Be Our Guest

2011-07-15T07:46:00.002-04:00

So last week, my boss called me to the office. She told me that "they" had been thinking about me and a "fun" project she wanted me to do. When I asked who "they" were, it was my boss and another school director. Well sometimes these "fun" projects aren't exactly fun. Sometimes they are very boring. I waited for her to spit it out.

She asked for me to go over to another school to be Snow White. Well, that fell through for the week, but then another teacher said since I was already being Snow White that I should be Belle at our school. Well, that happened yesterday. I don't do anything 1/2. So my coworker brought her former boss's costume. I slipped into an empty classroom and applied make-up. Though that did have to be done 1/2 b.c I threw away all of my foundation a few months ago.

I just don't wear make-up. I feel itchy and uncomfortable so I just don't use it at all. Since this foundation was about 10 years old, I simply tossed it. I didn't however toss my powder, eye shadows or lipsticks so I went off to work with my tools in a shoe box (should have packed my caboodle, that would have been a blast from a past!). I put on the powder, a ton of eyeshadow, lipstick and mascara and went off to find someone that could fix my hair.

I can do a lot of things, but I haven't mastered a "pretty" up-do. I have mastered the simple bun and pony tail, but pretty Belle do ... well my hair has always been a mystery to me and yesterday my hair was particularly grumpy. So, I called for back-up. Then the back-up called for back-up. I wish I had pictures because wowzer it looked awesome (especially for a 5 minute fix with no bobby pins or hairspray).

I slipped into the bathroom where there was a whole debacle. I felt kind of like it was my wedding day EXCEPT I failed to remember that I would have to pull a shirt over my hair and make-up. So a friend helped me get undressed and redressed. We pinned where the dress needed to be pin. Put on a tiara and special shoes and voila. Ms. Jennifer turned into Princess Belle.

Wow. It's all I can say. Simply Beautiful.

My friend - Whitney

2011-07-10T08:31:00.007-04:00

Whitney & I have a funny (in an irony small world) story to tell.

So in March 2011, I received a request on facebook. I set up a VERY small group a few years ago for my friends in NC and SC that have Lyme. When we started, there were maybe 5 of us. Now it's grown to 37 of us. I personally now have met 10 of them including Whitney. So in March I received a "I want to join your group" request. Whenever I get one of these requests, I pretty much send back some questions to the person. It goes something like this:

Hi, My name is Jennifer and I'm the cofounder of (insert group name here). In order to process your request, I need some information from you.

1. Do you have Lyme?
2. Where do you live?
3. How did you hear about the group?

She replies back that she lives in (----insert city name here---- which is about an hour and 10 minutes from me actually). That she's not sure that she has Lyme, but is certain she does. She goes on to tell me a little bit about her symptoms and while usually I don't add people that aren't certain they have Lyme, I figured what the harm. Plus on her friend's list we had a friend in common. And it was a real life friend. So I partially wondered if my friend had told her about my story and was also convinced it was Lyme. In hindsight, they don't know each other. My friend probably thinks that Whitney is another Whitney, but that's another story for another day.

So anyways, Whitney joins my group and we chat for a while. I highly recommend my doctor and to my surprise she starts to go to him. I often will refer people to my Lyme doctor, but honestly 9 out of 10 people start somewhere else first and then come back to me 6 to 10 months later asking for the name of my doctor again.

Well when I first started seeing him, I was completely overwhelmed. All the medications and supplements was enough to drive anyone crazy, much less someone consumed with neuroborreliosis (or with the 'chetes' as we like to call them). So I took a morning and went over to help her organize a chart for her medicine. We became fast friends.

So yesterday, I went to her raffle benefit. OH My WORD. We laughed and laughed until we could laugh no more. We shared our laughter with three other Lymies. Two were from our small group. What a blessing. I didn't win the TV, but I did win award winning looks like this:

Unfortunately, my camera was dying and I didn't get a photo on my camera of Whitney & me.
Hopefully the photo that the reporter took will be much more flattering of the both of us. Yes, there was a reporter. Now most of the time people say "reporter" and I get so nervous that I revert back to introverted Jennifer. Well I met Erin and just absolutely felt like she was friend I hadn't met yet. She was completely awesome and has done two amazing stories on Whitney. I think there will be a third story and she asked for the correct spelling of my name. So I'll probably be in the paper coming up soon of me & my newest best Lyme friend.

Ps. The another story for another day can be shortened for today:

My mother works with a lady that has the same name as Whitney's mother who also has a daughter named Whitney. They live a few counties apart. So my friend Whitney gets a lot of the other Whitney's friend requests. So more than likely, my friend *T* thought she was the other Whitney.

Pps: want to read the stories?

First Lyme article on Whitney: http://www.aconews.com/articles/2011/05/19/noc/news/news13.txt

Second Lyme article on Whitney: http://www.aconews.com/articles/2011/07/06/noc/news/news7.txt

Raffle for my friend

2011-07-09T13:59:00.003-04:00

In a bit, I'll be headed out for a friend. A semi-new friend that seems to have been in my life forever. But I just met her this year. She is a Lyme friend. I seem to collect those easily. We share the same doctor. So this afternoon in a bit, I'll be headed out for a friend.

She's having a raffle and an overall good time with family & friends (and who knows maybe even some strangers) to raise money for treatments.

It's been a crazy day already and as soon as I get home, I'll probably do a lot of resting b.c starting Monday my life will be a little bit crazy for a couple of weeks. LOTS of things to do. One is my Lyme appointment a week from today.

Well I better go change into something green for a wonderful event for a wonderful friend.

If you're reading this Whitney, I love ya girl. :}

The Grab & Jab

2011-07-06T05:30:00.002-04:00

So whenever I go to get blood work, I typically get the "grab & jab." The lady (typically it IS a lady) slaps a latex band (regardless of me saying ... "LATEX ALLERGY") around my arm. As my arm begins to itch and turn red, she grabs my arm and jabs. This always turns into a hit & miss, where they hit the vein, but then the vein explodes.

Grab & Jab
Hit & Miss

For once I'd love to get a "listen & feel." They listen to my knowlege of my own body and then feel for a proper vein (and listen again when I say that vein will blow).

My favorite lady has left the practice. I haven't gone back since. Though now I am having to go back and I will have to get blood done at some point. I'm scared of the Grab & Jab and the Hit & Miss.

Fireworks

2011-07-05T22:16:00.002-04:00

So when I was little I loved to watch them. Hear them, not so much. Fireworks.

We live out in the country. And by country I mean ... we live in a subdivision of country people that love to shoot off fireworks (or guns whatever) for 4th of July (or 3rd .. or 5th or all three).

So on the 3rd and 4th, I got interrupted sleep because of these irritating noise sleep suckers.

Tonight, it's a little more God made.

I'm thankful for the rain. Really I am, but the thunder I've had enough of. It's been two hours of tossing & turning. Two hours of flickering lights (imagine my scare when I "woke" up to see my clock at 9:42 ... when my lights had been turned off).

I'm hot, tired and cranky. Throw in a little PMS and I hate to see what tomorrow is going to bring.

I just want some sleep.

Highs and Lows

2011-06-26T10:29:00.002-04:00

This week has been full of them.

Highs: I'm at my all time high of LDN! 3mg.
Lows: I have had a few LDN headaches this week. :( First time since starting in May that I've had an LDN headache.

Highs: Pre-K graduation finally happened after 2 months of planning and preparation
Lows: Vomiting, Crying and Boogers for the children. BUT overall it went fine. Plus, I woke up with sore throat this morning so I think I probably caught something from all those people that were at the graduation. Yes I catch things that fast.

Highs: Got a hand held vacuum for the couch.
Lows: It didn't work as well as I had hoped because the suction is so great that the material from the couch goes into it, but it is somewhat easier than using 1,000 lint brush stickies. It also showed me just how dirty my carpet was. I'll be working on that little project for a long long time. I'm hoping to get just the living room done this week. :/ I use my Dyson (I mean .. the thing is great, but we weren't as stoked about it as we thought we would be) to vacuum the carpet. Then I get on my hands and knees and use the hand held one. Then I use the Dyson again and get out MORE stuff. I've been over this one area of carpet probably 10 times since Thursday and there is STILL stuff coming up into both machines! It is finally getting better.

Highs: I get to see one of my best former work friends this week and work at her center.
Lows: Means I'll be working with new germs -aka teachers & children which means I'll probably really get sick- which means I'll probably be sick over the 4th of July weekend.

Highs .... MY DAD IS HEART HEALTHY! He had several tests last week and got the results that his heart was healthy. You have no idea how much weight was lifted off my shoulders.

LDN Update

2011-06-23T05:32:00.002-04:00

I've been on 3mg all week! Okay Okay that's a bit of an exaggeration. I skipped one night b.c I was so exhausted from not sleeping that great that I just decided to skip it. BUT, other than that .... 3mg of LDN. Dr. P is going to be so excited for me. Now we just need to pray that my numbers are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

:)

So you think you can (blog about it)

2011-06-19T09:30:00.005-04:00

Whooooooooooooooooooo. So You Think You Can Dance is back and SO IS MARY MURPHY!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

All 20 dancers are absolutely remarkable! I think that any one of these dancers would have given previous season winners a run for their money. However, I already have a few favorites. On the very first show I thought that Marko was a shoe in for the Top 20. Then after watching Melanie's audition, I thought to myself about the possible pairing of the two of them. Well my dear friends, looks like I got my wish! :o)

You see sometimes two remarkable dancers get together with a tremendous choreography and tremendous dancers and it turns out to be "pffffffffffffft" because there is no connection between the two dancers. Well, Melanie plus Marko plus Travis Wall = one fabulous piece. Wow. It was superb. I can not wait to see the next piece they dance together. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

We got a shocker at the beginning of the show letting us know that Mitchell wouldn't be performing because he had injured himself. Well as soon as I found out the piece was a Sonya choregraphed piece, I was thrilled for Caitlynn because I was certain she would either be dancing with Mark or Robert Roldan. They are up there with two of my favorite dancers. Well the show didn't disappoint. Caitlynn plus Robert plus Sonya? WOW! It was really hard to watch Caitlynn though because my eyes were staring at Robert!

Here are my lists!

1. Melanie 2. Caitlynn 3. Miranda 4. Missy 5. Ryan
6. Ivetta 7. Jordan 8. Sasha 9. Clarice 10. Ashley

I personally think Robert Roldan has gotten even BETTER since his season. Wow. He might would have won this season. :} Though he would have a fight with Marko. So with that said, here is my list of guys.

1. Marko

were there any other guys? Oh wait yes there were.
2. Nick 3. Jess 4. Tadd 5. Wadi 6. Robert (the *twitchy whoo man Urkel*)
7. Ricky 8. Alexander 9. Chris 10. Mitchell (just b.c he didn't dance)

Couples with commentary:

1. Melanie & Marko: loved the dance with Travis Wall. To paraphrase Mary, they had me at hello. Wow. I had chill bumps with this statuesque piece.

2. Caitlynn with Robert (in place of Mitchell). Wow did I get lucky to see Robert Roldan dance again. I truly hope he's an All Star. Would have also loved to have seen Mark dance this piece too, but wow. I wonder if in the end if we'll get to see Caitlynn dance this with Mitchell. I'm not sure if we would have had the fantastic results though. Who knows. I think Robert gave Caitlynn a leg up in the competition by getting to dance with him so early. ;) Can you tell I'm a Robert fan? And it's not just because he shares the same name as my husband. :)

3. Miranda and Robert. I was sitting on the couch dancing with them. They are so much fun. I personally love Robert's whoo personality. I think we'd be friends. and for the record if I were on the show, I'd be the "OH?" dancer. I have several different "oh's." I use it all the time. If you've never noticed before in life, you'll notice it now.

4. Missy & Wadi (Sean Cheeseman): How talented is that Wadi? Wow. I can't believe he could pick up the choreography and perform so well WITH A PARTNER for the first time! I think that they'll be in my favorites quickly. I hope Missy can show her softer side. It's awesome to be such a strong dancer, but my favorites are versatile. So I'm hoping to see it next show. For the record, I can't wait to see them dance a Sonya routine! :) Though that just contradicts everything I just said about being softer. ;)

5. Ivetta & Nick (Jason): It was obvious that Ivetta would do so well with the Quick Step, but I honestly can't believe Nick did so well at the kiss of death. wow Nick.

6. Sasha & Alexander (Travis): I liked them but it wasn't memorable. I couldn't even remember it at first and had to watch it again.

*** for some reason these four numbers didn't work for me. It had more to do with the choregraphy than it did the actual dancers b.c they did well with what they had to do and I love Jess, Ryan, Jordan, Tadd and Chris.

7. Clarice & Jess (Tyce --- for the record, if Jess hadn't been in this piece it would be number 10, not number 7)
8. Ryan & Ricky (Chris Scott)
9. Jordan & Tadd (Sean)
10. Ashley & Chris (Chris)

Can't wait to see the next episode. I don't know how the judges are going to kick off four people.

Swimming

2011-06-11T07:20:00.002-04:00

So when I was a child, I really didn't enjoy swimming to start. Then there came a time where I just wanted to be at the pool all the time. Then, I just stopped. I didn't want to be out in the sun. I didn't want to be in the pool with a whole bunch of germ infested people. So typically, I honestly only going "swimming" about once (maybe twice) a season.

Well, I have already been three times this season. The crazy part is that instead of just standing around chatting with whomever I'm with, I've actually been SWIMMING! So my neighbor has a pool and we pretty much have a standing invitation to go over whenever we want, but we rarely take her up on it. A couple of weekends ago, they were going out of town for the day and told us we could come over and "swim" (it's not really big enough to really go swimming). That particular day I wasn't feeling well and only wound up there for 20 minutes, but the water did feel good.

My best friend lives in an apartment complex and they have a pool. A lot of pools now a days don't much go above 5 feet, but this one reaches depths of 9 feet. I have been twice this season and yesterday ... I actually SWAM. I didn't stay by the edge of the pool. I SWAM. Now let me tell you this, it's been years (probably decades) since I've swam as hard as I swam yesterday. My body is telling on me today, but boy did I have fun.

LDN Update:

It's been 5 weeks. I started at 2.75mg last night. Slept so so.

4th week of LDN (plus ...)

2011-06-04T19:11:00.003-04:00

I started LDN on May 6th. So it's been almost one month since I restarted this medication. Now, the last time, I was able to get to only 1.5mg and had to stop because the headaches were so severe that I just couldn't get through the day.

Friday the 27th: I started 2.25mg. On Saturday I had the staring problem and a couple of bumps where the picc line was, but overall a good day. I repeated the 2.25 each night.

Sunday: I was fatigued all day because I didn't sleep well Saturday night. Other than the fatigue and the picc line bumps (I had a whopping 6 of them!), I had an overall good day.

Monday: Sunday night it took me a while to get to sleep, but once I was asleep I slept well. I had a bout of nausea and fatigue in the morning, but the afternoon was much better.

Tuesday: I slept really poorly Monday night so it left me extremely exhausted and feeling ugh first thing Tuesday morning, but I did have an overall good day until it was bedtime when I felt "ugh" again.

Wednesday: Slept okay Tuesday night, but was fatigued all day Wednesday.

Thursday: Wednesday night I had constant dreams. I woke up Thursday morning with very swollen fingers. Had an overall good day.

Friday: Slept well Thursday night and had an overall good day.

So my biggest four symptoms were fatigue, sleep difficulties, feeling ugh and the bumps. Neither were enough to keep me from increasing. Last night I began 2.5mg!

Plus:

I got a new bathing suit last week. I have to admit (like most women I know) I don't like shopping for bathing suits. In fact, I detest it. In fact, I don't really like clothes shopping period. HOWEVER, my new suit is way cute! I tried to find it online, but I couldn't so you'll just have to trust me. It's cute. :)

Finally ... a note on procrastination

2011-06-02T18:21:00.003-04:00

Procrastination ---

Finally doing something in July that should have been done in February. That my dear blog readers is .. Procrastination at its finest!

Today I did two things I have been taking my sweet time doing.

First, I made my follow up appointment for my LLMD.
Second, I called in a refill for my LDN.

I'm hoping that by then, I'll be up to 3mg! My LLMD will be jumping through the roof if I can do this. I had no idea it could be done and now .. I'm so close! 2.25 ... that's only .75mg away! If I go the way I've been going, I'll be there in 2.5 weeks!

See what procrastinating got me? I couldn't have done this 6 months ago. :)

3rd week of LDN ... Plus ...

2011-05-29T07:22:00.006-04:00

I stared 2mg of LDN on last Friday night. Friday night I slept wonderfully. I was completely shocked, but I did wake up with swollen fingers. However I had a pretty good day symptom wise.

I also slept well Saturday night, but I did have some serious allergy problems so I was forced to take a Claritin (my eyes were red & itchy). I also had some serious malaise and took an afternoon nap (not because I wanted to but because I had to).

Sunday night was a okay, but I did have several dreams that disrupted my sleep. So that caused me to be fatigued in the morning. I also had a small headache in the morning on Monday, but overall had a pretty good day. I was feeling like I was on a roll. Even with the severe malaise on Sunday night, I was doing pretty good on the 2mg LDN!

Monday night was a completely different story. I slept very poorly. I woke up every hour with nightmares and Tuesday I had body aches, picc line bumps (remember those pesky things that I really haven't had in months ....????), serious fatigue and what I call electric headaches. The pain shot right from the back of my brain up to the front of the brain. It would happen when I moved suddenly. It was an absolutely horrible day. I pushed through the pain and took another 2mg on Tuesday night.

I had some difficulty sleeping, but did have an okay day on Wednesday with only slight fatigue so another round of 2mg was in order. I slept better Wednesday night and had a great day on Thursday. In fact, I noted not a single symptom on Thursday at all! I slept great on Thursday night and my Friday morning was great. Friday evening I wound up with 6 bumps where the picc line used to be and a little bit of fatigue, but I felt comfortable enough to bump my LDN to 2.25mg!

I slept perfectly on Friday night. I went to bed and slept almost 12 straight hours without waking! I don't really like to sleep *that* long, but it was nice not waking up with dreams/nightmares. I felt really refreshed yesterday so I took my best friend up on his offer to go swimming. I swam (aka stood in the water and sometimes treaded in the deep end ... and occasionally actually swam) for almost two hours. I had very few symptoms on Saturday after the .25 increase. The only thing that was notably obvious was my "staring" symptom.

This is something that I really haven't talked about, but it's a problem I've had for quite some time. I honestly never really noticed it until about 8 years ago when someone commented that I needed to stop staring "at that lady." Well the thing was .. I wasn't staring at a lady ... I was just staring and it just happened to be in the direction of this lady in the restaurant. It was then that I realized I did it a lot and had done it a lot in the past.

Well in the last few years, the "staring" episodes have decreased until ... yesterday. I'm not sure if it was because (insert joke here) my brain was infected with chlorine (snorting very loudly ) or if it was because I was tired ... or something else, but I could not stop staring. My eyes would scan the room and then stop .... sometimes it was at a person, or an item or nothing at all. It was crazy! Fortunately my friend knows this happens so he was able to get me back on track most of the time before I looked like a crazy person. Anyways, there ya go. I have a problem with staring so if you & I ever hang out .. and I start to stare ... you know it's not my personal preference to stare .. at you or whatever it is I'm spacing out at .. it's just part of my Lyme symptoms sneaking out on me.

Plus:

Lightning Strike is still wreaking havoc. Still our phone is having issues. Still they haven't buried our permanent line. However ....

Our dishwasher is a dream! It's so very quiet. I hate that our old one was killed by lightning, but it was a blessing in disguise.

P.S. plan is to take 2.25mg the rest of the week until Friday and then increase to 2.5mg. AND I guess I'll have to make that follow-up now. The doctor's office called and left a message reminding me to come in for a follow up. At least I'll have something wonderful to tell him! (that I've been able to increase the 1mg of LDN to 2.25mg! and I'm really hoping to have it up to 3mg by the middle of June!)

P.P.S It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

2nd week of LDN Plus ...

2011-05-20T22:06:00.005-04:00

So this week was my 2nd week of LDN. Plus we discovered that our dishwasher was fried by the lightning too. So we went dishwasher shopping yesterday and today. We found one we really liked at Lowe's, but we debating on it because it was so "expensive." So we went to Home Depot and shopped at Sears online. It was there that we discovered the same dishwasher we wanted at Lowe's for $234 cheaper! Wow. So we went up to Sears to feel it out in person and it was 134 more dollars in the store than online. We bought it online and are having it shipped for free to the store. We'll pick it up one day next week.

Now onto the LDN Update:

On Saturday the 14th, I had a terrible day. I was exhausted all day. I had a headache that lasted all day and Tylenol didn't touch it. To top it off, that was the morning that the lightning struck our property. Because the symptoms were so severe, I decided to only take a 1.25mg Saturday night.

On Sunday the 15th, I was less fatigued, but I was still pretty tired. However I did sleep all night from Saturday to Sunday. Since my other symptoms were pretty void, I decided to take 1.5mg. I went to bed really late because of Survivor Finale.

On Monday, I was what I like to call "Zombie tired." I had an aura all day and felt as if a seizure could come on, but one never came to pass. (thank God). I felt fevered all day and pure exhausted, but I knew that there were a couple of reasons to explain this other than the 1.5mg of LDN so I took another 1.5mg dose.

Tuesday: From Monday into Tuesday, I had very vivid dreams from 2 to 5. I was also very cold all day Tuesday. However, I felt so great other than that that I decided to go ahead and take A WHOPPING 1.75MG! Woo hoo.

Wednesday: I had another bad day. I was very fatigued. I woke up often Tuesday into Wednesday and this was a huge impact on my stamina. So I only took 1.5mg that night.

Thursday: I slept really well Wednesday into Thursday and my headache was better. I had an overall great day so I took 1.75mg of LDN.

Friday: I've had a pretty good day though I did wake with very swollen fingers (my rings wouldn't fit on) and a small headache. I took some Tylenol and it took care of it. I only needed 1/2 my normal dose too. So that's good. I slept well Thursday night only waking once and that really didn't count because it was at 5am (my normal wake up time for week days). I took today off work because my Mother in law had surgery. She's back at home so the surgery went well. My plan ... in a few minutes ... is to see how I feel tomorrow after taking TWO MG of LDN tonight! Since I don't have to work and it doesn't really matter how badly I feel, I thought I'd take a risk!

So that's how things are going so far this go around. Here is hoping I don't have vivid nightmares or a headache tomorrow.

Update: I slept mostly through the night ONLY woke up ONCE! I remember having some dreams, but don't remember what they were about so that's actually completely awesome! AND my head feels pretty good this morning. I have some swollen hands and feet, but hey .. I'll take that!

Boom Boom Pow

2011-05-14T14:03:00.003-04:00

Not the song, but the lightning and thunderstorm last night was Boom Boom Pow.

It was a bit crazy over here. I didn't sleep well through it, but once I heard a little pop (okay a loud pop) and hail, I was outta bed! I woke to find that one outlet in the kitchen was kapoot and that a breaker was probably fried (b.c there was no electricity in the computer or other bedroom) and that our phone line was dead. Nothing appeared to be a direct hit to the house, but rather a hit to something else that slowly leaked to the house.

I went back to bed and struggled to sleep. When I did get out of bed, found out that the telephone cover was blown off our house so that our phone line wasn't going to get fixed until the phone company comes down (and we're still waiting) to fix it. More than likely will be a temporary fix first and then a permanent one. My husband fixed the breaker and the electrical outlet. Our wireless router is fried along with my beloved electric blanket (well the controller).

Crazy. In any case, we are all okay. I'm sure we'll find other things that have been struck. There is a huge hole at the base of one of our Bradford Pear trees. Add to that: we've found that our doorbell is also broken.

On other "electric" news. Scotty McCreery is back in town! If I were a country fan, it would be a huge deal. But he's taken over the television today! I wish the kid luck, but I'll be honest ... I haven't watched this season at all and country music makes me cringe.

One week of LDN

2011-05-13T20:38:00.002-04:00

I started LDN again one week ago tonight. I took 1mg dose and went to bed. I slept all night and barely even budged that night. It was a good start. The next morning, I felt very warm and had a small headache, but it wasn't enough to keep me from taking another dose Saturday. Sunday morning I was very warm and my hands were swollen a bit. That afternoon I felt a bit off kilter. I was a bit dizzy and off balance, but nothing to keep me from taking another dose.

In fact, I decided to up my dose to 1.5mg. Within 15 minutes, my heart rate increased. I did go to sleep, but my sleep was disrupted with dreams. Monday I woke up exhausted and stayed fatigued through the day, but it was a fairly good day symptom wise. So I decided to take another 1.5mg dose Monday night. The next morning I felt pretty good., but in the afternoon and evening I felt very warm, off kilter and had a small headache.

This caused me to reduce my dosage to 1.25 mg. I didn't want to drop all the way down to 1mg and I didn't want to repeat the 1.5 so I went right down the middle. I woke up every 2 hours throughout the night. I had dry mouth and skin upon each waking. I had funny heart flutters in the afternoon, but they were gone by the time it was time to take the LDN. I decided to go ahead and take another 1.5mg dose that Wednesday night.

In the middle of the night, I woke to find that my fingers were swelling so I took off my wedding rings. When I woke at 5am, my fingers were so swollen that my rings wouldn't go back on. By that afternoon, my fingers had returned to their normal size. Other than a slight bit of fatigue from waking up in the middle of the night, I had a pretty good day. So Thursday night I took another 1.5mg dose. I slept well from Thursday into Friday, but Friday morning from midnight to 5am I woke 3 times.

That brings us to this morning. I actually had a pretty good day, but I woke with a slight headache. However, it went away after a few hours. I did feel fatigue through the day as well. I plan on taking another 1.5 mg. I'm so thrilled that things are going well this time around. I don't remember taking this many 1.5 mg in a row before. I'm hoping that I'll be able to up my dosage to 1.75 before long!

My Mom had to endure this ....

2011-05-08T07:26:00.003-04:00

What this teenager wouldn't do to watch a little Doogie Howser. Remember, this was before VCRs were really big much less DVR's. I had to watch all episodes live (IN THE LIVING ROOM NONE-THE-LESS!).

Then there was the year I met this marvelous basketball player and drooled over him. Oh who am I kidding, I still drool over him a bit almost 2 decades later.

Then I was in love with Patrick Dempsey BEFORE he was hot!

Then there was Michael J Fox

See what all my Mother had to endure?

Happy Mother's Day Mom. Thanks for putting up with all my celebrity crushes! :)

Dose 2

2011-05-08T07:20:00.002-04:00

I slept all night and woke up with no headache after the 2nd 1mg dose of LDN. I do remember having some vivid dreams, but none really vivid enough to keep me awake. This is the huge problem I have with LDN. So hopefully it will remain this way. I did wake up a little "swollen" and "hot," but I can tolerate the tiny bits of this if it indeed helps my immune system function properly.

I'll probably go ahead and increase to the 1.5 mg soon. Usually I have much more symptoms than this on even the 1mg. So I'm pleased as punch to be making some headway already.

Lyme Awareness

2011-05-07T11:39:00.002-04:00

Part of Lyme Awareness is truthfully being away that Lyme just never really goes away. So in this truth, I have to look at myself. I have to remember that it is always there. It may be hidden, but it is there. I must keep working to keep my immune system in good shape so that the Lyme bug doesn't come out and wreck my body.

Over the past few months I have experienced several health set backs. I've been on antibiotics twice for different things and recently (this past week) experienced the ever so much fun urinary tract infection. I didn't go get tested for it, but I knew it was there. I also have this most wonderful supplement for Urinary Tract Support called Mannose D Powder. I decided that I would give it try and see if it would help before going in to the doctors to get tested (and then antibiotics when the test proved positive).

It's something that can be taken 1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon 1 to 3 times a day. In the past, I have used 1/2 teaspoon twice a day. This time since my symptoms were so severe, I decided to go ahead and max dose it at 1 teaspoon 3 times a day. I did this for 3 full days and then decreased it to 1/2 teaspoon 3 times a day. Yesterday I did it for 1/2 teaspoon 2 a day and today I haven't even taken my dose yet. However, I'm not going nearly as frequently and things are improving. I'll probably stay at this 1/4 teaspoon 3 times a day for a few more days and then stop. If things go back, then I'll have to go see a doctor for testing. However I'm confident that things will stay great.

With all of this in mind, I decided it was time to go back to the regiment that I should have been on. Back to the LDN. 1mg last night. I can tell today. :( Headache, swollen hands and feeling hot (though I don't have a temp). I just got to push through this initial phase. Wish me luck and remember

Stay Lyme Aware.

Lyme Awareness month

2011-05-01T12:44:00.002-04:00

It's Lyme Disease Awareness month. Check out your local PBS station to see if they are playing Under Our Skin this month. It the Raleigh Durham area, it's being aired on May 17th at 8pm on UNC-TV (most people's Channel 4 I think). Check this documentary out. The first time I watched it, I got sad. The second time I watched it, I got mad. The third and fourth time I learned something new. Please DVR it so you can watch it time and time again.

I still have my Lyme Green ribbon up, though I'm in desperate need of a new one. This one has been out for a year! Share the Lyme Light by educating others on this disease.

since I last posted

2011-04-28T19:32:00.004-04:00

Two sets of friends are in need of your prayers.

I don't want to name names, but both set of friends I've known for a while. Two of them I've known since elementary school and the other two I've known for ten years.

W & J lost their father late last night, early this morning. When I was in elementary school, I was extremely close to W & his Dad. His Dad had a way that just made me chuckle. He looked just like Yosemite Sam and whenever I think about my elementary school friends ... his son is one of the first that comes to mind. I just saw him for the first time in quite some time Easter 2010. I gave him a huge hug and he called me my mother's name until he realized that I was the tiny little Jennifer all grown up. So please pray for my friend's family.

V & J lost their Uncle early yesterday morning. V was one of my first friends after I married my husband. She was one of the first people in my world that didn't know me by Jennifer (insert maiden name). We worked together and her little brother would come in often to hang out while we worked our hind parts off. During the time we worked together, I became close with her mom & dad. Their Uncle that passed was their Mom's brother. While I've never met him, I know the close bond that their family shares. Their Uncle has been sick for quite some time and while it was expected, it's still a difficult time for their family.

My heart aches for all of them and if I could, I'd put my arms around each one and let them know how special they are to me. I'm just not sure I'll be able to see any of them anytime soon.

I've also heard that in the last week we've lost 2 people in the Lyme community. If I do say so myself, this week stinks.

I know I know

2011-04-27T16:22:00.002-04:00

I know I've been quiet. Between being really busy at work and being really busy at home and being sick off and on, I've just been quiet. There have been a couple of anniversaries and birthdays.

Health: I'm okay, but the past couple of weeks I've had several really bad migraines. I'm pushing through them and finally today it eased off. I'm hoping that it will be through, but I think it has to do part weather and part stress.

Anniversaries: Rob & I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary on the 15th. Then two days ago, it was the one year anniversary of my Grandfather going "home." Today was the 2nd anniversary of my friend Pam going "home."

Birthdays and a BIRTH day: My niece Piper turned one! Happy Birthday Piper. My sister had her 5th baby and he's precious.

April has been quite a month, a busy month. I am glad that May is almost here.

62 Tornadoes in NC

2011-04-17T18:43:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a frightful day in North Carolina (and surrounding states). There were 62 tornadoes. I spent a good portion of 15 minutes in the bathroom terrified, though most of the day shaking in my skin. I thought there was a good possibility that we'd get hit by one of the many tornadoes. There are 24 deaths in North Carolina confirmed so far.

Many stores including a Lowe's Home Improvement store were destroyed. One university has suspended classes for the duration of the Spring Semester because of damage to the building. Many schools will be delayed or closed. Many families lost their homes and many people lost loved ones.

Thankfully, my neighborhood was unscathed and as far as I know all my friends and family members are safe. However I know people that are friends with people that lost family. They are devastated and for that I am devastated for them.

I'm still kicking

2011-04-10T17:15:00.003-04:00

I just haven't been around much lately. I've been working hard and for some reason neglecting this.

Yesterday I had a very exciting day. I drove a little over an hour to meet someone I've been talking with online about Lyme. I am now proud to call her a friend. I spent quite a long time there and we even watched Under Our Skin together. We talked a lot about Lyme, but mostly about life.
Yesterday I felt as if we were old dear friends that were hanging out on the couch instead of people that were strangers less than two months ago.

The project

2011-03-27T11:26:00.001-04:00

We're having a gallery auction. The kids are going to create one masterpiece (one per class) and we'll auction them off. The highest bidder wins. The money is going to help the Tsunami Victims in Japan. I purchased the materials for the project and gave it out on Friday. I can't wait to see each classrooms creations.

sometimes I wake up

2011-03-25T05:30:00.001-04:00

in such a great mood. I have no idea why, but I wake up SMILING. It's such a great feeling! :}

I have a post in mind to do, but I've not had time (imagine that!) to work on it. I'm working on a really big project at work and it pretty much consumes my mind at all times. I'll share about that later because I'm really excited about it. Anyways .... got to run to work (or drive ... that's my preference since it's a good 45 minute drive).

Surviving the Raw Nose

2011-03-15T18:21:00.002-04:00

I've seen to get over the worst part of the illness. I'm still coughing (which always lasts forever), but the thing that surprises me is the amount of mucus! Oh My Word. It just seems to be non-stopped. My nose was pure raw from the blowing. I finally had to pull out vaseline and pretty much lather it on my nose and lips after every single nose-blow.

Update

2011-03-09T10:50:00.003-05:00

So I was pretty sick over night. Yesterday I fought to stay at work. Probably paid the price last night. I was doing pretty well, but decided on a whim to take some Night Time Delsym. Figured it would help me sleep and keep the coughing at bay over night. So I took the dose around 8pm. Around midnight, I woke up burning up. I thought that I had turned up my electric blanket so I checked it. It was OFF. Apparently I was so hot that I turned it off in my sleep. There are 10 levels on my blanket and I generally sleep with it on level 3 or 4. Sometimes hotter and sometimes cooler, but mostly 4. So I was shocked when it was OFF.

I decided to check my temperature and was a little stunned when I saw it say 100.5. I decided to wait 30 minutes to recheck and as I laid there ... I got hotter and hotter. When I rechecked it hit the 102 mark. I decided it was time to go ahead and take Tylenol. I went ahead and got a bottled water and Tylenol thinking that soon I'd be able to go back to sleep. Well by 2am, my temperature had reached a shocking 103.5. I stumbled into the kitchen to get a cool wet cloth for my body. I knew I had to take care of that fever quickly, but I can't take Motrin. Motrin makes my eyes swell up. It may help with the fever, but the last time I took Motrin I wound up at the Urgent Care getting a Steroid Shot.

I argued with myself over whether to use the Motrin or not and in the end decided that I would hold off. I continued to check. At 3:30am, it was 104.6. At this point I was pretty much out of it trying to sip water. Throughout all of this, I talked out loud to God. I knew He was with me. I knew He wouldn't give me more than I could handle. I remember asking for him to take away the fever. Somewhere around 4, I essentially passed out and woke at 5am when my alarm went off. I felt the coolness of the sweat and knew my fever broke.

Needless to say, I will be starting those antibiotics because I haven't gotten any better and all the factors my doctor said to watch out for started. I'm so glad to be alive. I'm so glad to be alive. Praise God I'm still alive.

cough cough sneeze

2011-03-07T15:41:00.002-05:00

Because I'll have a long day of work tomorrow and because my head hadn't improved with Claritin or Zyrtec or Tylenol or any other thing and this morning was even worse, I decided to cough my way to the doctor.

I sound completely pathetic so if no one gets phone calls this week ... it's because it is down right frustrating to talk. When I left work today, I called over to my PCP to see if by chance they could squeeze in a sick visit. I was thrilled when they asked if I would be willing to see "K." "K" is the nurse practitioner that I saw before my diagnosis. She sent me here and there trying to find out what was wrong with me. Though I was frustrated with no diagnosis, I loved seeing her. She knows my "preferences." And what I mean by that is that she knows which antibiotics I prefer and she also knows that I prefer to do something else before antibiotics. So I went in today telling her about my symptoms. I knew that I didn't have an infection yet, but I also knew that within 24 to 48 hours I might.

I told her what I had tried (minus some special integrative things that she probably has never heard of) and what I thought. She investigated (looking at my ears, nose and throat) and told me that there was no infection (yet), but that she would write me a script just in case the tides turned. She also sent me on my way with 7 days worth of samples of Singulair ( I used to take it before Lyme during the seasonal times). I get to take this and hopefully it will improve. If not, then Zithromax will be my friend again. While it's not my favorite antibiotic, I know it works.

Gah! These pollinating trees are going to be the death of me. I think every bone in my face hurts. Hopefully the Singulair will work and I won't need the Z pack.

Allergy Season

2011-03-06T17:51:00.004-05:00

I love March for one reason. It's March Madness. Basketball. UNC.

However March also makes me mad. It's the start of allergy season. So I woke up yesterday with a small sore throat and itchy eyes. Thought I'd "work through it" on my own, but this morning I woke wiht even more sore throat, irritating nose drippage and a small cough. All this tells me, I better jump on this and quick. Leucozepin, Zinc, Total B drops, Vitamin D ... to start. Then add in a Claritin and finally ... I had to add in Tylenol.

I'm hoping to be able to knock this out before it turns into an infection. Lately I've not been able to do that, but we'll see.

Madness, March Madness. One part exhilarating and the other part frustrating. Speaking of both the weather and basketball.

Is it summer yet?

2011-03-04T18:45:00.002-05:00

I'm ready for summer because I'm ready for So You Think You Can Dance. I am wanting it so bad that I googled some dancing. And I found this:

Well this search led me to look up the artist of the song. I looked her up. I couldn't believe it.
She's actually a friend of mine. I didn't realize she was a singer/song writer. We had never talked about our careers. We had only talked about bad Doctors, Integrative Medicine, PICC Lines, Heavy Metal Poisoning and Lyme Disease. Anyways, I wanted to share with you Alisa's music.

Here's the full song called Breathing by Alisa Turner

Here is another song that I just have fallen in love with .. I can't get the tune out of my head.It's called Trouble.

Alisa is so sweet. I've seen her struggles, her troubles and she's seen what few have seen. Me at my very worst at the peak of my condition.

If you check out her music page on myspace, you can hear her music there too.

http://www.myspace.com/alisaturner/music/songs/trouble-68778538