Week 6

So I was going to write about how all my autoimmune issues started. When, what it was like etc. Instead I decided to share some good news. (I'llget to that another time)

I am starting to slowly feel better!! I am almost scared to say it out loud in fear it's a fluke but I can say with honesty that I am seeing improvement in certain areas. I know I still have a long road ahead of me but I am excited to feel some changes, it's very encouraging. I even felt so good last Saturday I wake boarded. I am still sore from it but it was wonderful to feel alive again. I love the water. 

Usually by the end of Thursday I am pretty worn out from the week and all I feel like doing is coming home and going straight to bed. Guess what, I still have some energy left in me! My pains are definately still there. My feet feel like they're on fire and my knees are both really sore. Other than that I would say it's a better day! One of a few I have had over the last week.

I started back on exercise. Very slowly and on days I can handle it. MAN do I miss it and it feels so good to do something again! I am one of those people that needs to workout to stay sane. I've grown up an athlete and it's a part of me, that's all there is to it. 

I also started treatment for heavy medal toxicity. I have slightly elevated levels of lead and mercury.

Whatever it is that's helping I hope it keeps up, for now I am grateful for my better days and working on getting stronger and back to my old self :) 

"And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Colossians 3:17

Why I decided to share

If you know me personally you know I am not the type of person to openly share personal things. I am more of the sit back and observe a crowd type of person. 

After going through what I have been going through and learning more and more about this horrible disease (more to come at a later time), the politics involved in it (more to come at a later time) and the pure lack of awareness I decided it was time I started sharing. I hope it helps people. 

I would like to share an example that I had today of how important more awareness is and of how truely great our God is. I also obtained permission from this patient to share and for their privacy, will refer to them as bear (my dog's name :) ) 

I have been treating bear as a patient for a while now and have grown to learn about bear's medical history and struggles for almost 2 decades now. Bear said a prayer before starting Physical Therapy that God would put bear with the right person that could help with the pain, suffering and finding answers. I helped bear realize something systemic had to be going on with all of bears issues and medical history and asked if bear had ever been tested for Lyme disease. Bear didn't know anything about Lyme nor had any of the multiple different health care specialist in different fields over many years ever think to ask the same question. After begging a doctor to do a test for Lyme with other testing that was being done, bear came in today and told me the test for Lyme was positive. 

If that isn't God's work I don't know what is! My heart breaks for bear knowing what the diagnosis means but I am thrilled to have been a part in helping someone find the answers they need to get on the path to getting their life back. I only wish I could have helped sooner. Hang in their Bear, it's a bumpy road but you have one amazing God and all his angels watching out for you!

This saying is for you tonight Bear:

"Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel."

Philippians 4:6-7

My symptoms

One of the first questions I get asked is what my symptoms are. Which with my disease is a fun question to answer because they vary, move around, and can change a lot within each week, day, and hour even. Here we go:

1. Fatigue

Over time my fatigue has progressed to levels I didn't know possible. Some days it feels like I have been hit by a semi. Sometimes just sitting up makes me exhausted. It's almost like the way you feel after getting a really bad flu, but all the time and often worse. So at times fatigue/pure exhaustion alone makes me stay in bed all day.

2. Burning feet

For me this started in 2010 during PT school when I started clinical rotations and those oh so pretty shoes with heels became much harder to wear (yes I am just a little bit of a girly girl from time to time). This feels like I stand on fire. It gets progressively worse the longer I am on my feet cumulatively during the week. And it is not plantar fasciitis but has a lot of similarities. 

3. Joint pains

Location of pain and severity moves around a lot. Basically at all times I am having some kind of joint pains but where and how bad varies. I get pain in: neck, elbows, wrists, fingers, back, hips, knees, feet and around ribs/sternum when I wake up. At it's worst, everywhere hurts. Bad. 

4. Neuropathy

I already mentioned burning in my feet. All extremities have tingling and some numbness, worse in my legs than upper extremity. I'll go ahead and add in here circulation issues, coldness to extremities. Raynaud's

5. Headaches

Daily

6. Brain stuff

That's my medical term. Decreased mental capacity, decreased short term memory (if I don't write it down it's not going to happen), trouble speaking English (forgetting words or forming sentences). On that note don't judge me on my inevitable grammar and or spelling mistakes. I swear I have a Doctorate degree.

7. Weakness

Kind of goes in with the fatigue but my weakness seems more than what a normal amount of deconditioning would be for not working out. Let's just say sometimes one flight of stairs takes me a while and by the end of the day my legs buckle under me some with walking.

8. Stomach issues

Food sensitivities, really medication sensitivities too, GI issues. If eat a little bit of the wrong thing it can mean a day spent in bed or the toilet. (Don't act like you have never used it!). For this reason I now strictly abide by my doctor's recommendation to have no gluten, dairy, added sugar or alcohol. It's not easy, but when you get bad enough you will do anything to try and help. Along the way I am learning a lot about "real" food and using it as medicine. I plan to live a really long time. 103, I'm calling it. 

9. Mood swings

So stay on my good side! Just kidding, but if I am being fully honest I have more agitation and some depression/anxiety at times.

10. Insomnia 

I think that is the main stuff of right now. Honestly, some of the symptoms have changed, developed or progressed over time. They continue to vary or new things show up. 

"When I felt my feet slipping, you came with your love and kept me steady. And when I was burdened with worries, you comforted me and made me feel secure." 

Psalms 94:18-19 

Welcome

Thanks for stopping by. I wanted to create a place to record my journey to wellness, in hopes that other's out there can know that they are not alone.

I don't want to get into my long  medical and health history story tonight but this is where I am at now:

I am currently being treated for chronic Lyme disease. I just started week 5 today. There will be more to come of information about that. For those that don't know much about this disease, you are not alone. It seems not many are aware of the fastest growing vector bourbe illness in the United States according to the CDC. And the more I learn, the more I realize it is far more complicated in every way possible.

A good place to start for trustworthy information is www.ilads.org 

Another great source is to watch the documentary video "Under Our Skin" you can find it free online but just a warning it is a lengthy one.

For those reading, I invite you all to listen and follow on my journey and fight to get my life back. It's been a bumpy road so far but if their is one thing you will learn about me, I NEVER give up. No matter how hard, how long or how much I have to endure I will find the way to health again.

2 Corinthians 1: 3-5
"Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ."


Tara