Thankful November

Some of the amazing people I've met in the Lyme community

It's November, and I'm taking time to be thankful for how far I've come.

I look at the above photos and I can see just how sick I was. I remember last year, saying how whenever I saw photos of myself it was like the light was gone from my eyes. It's almost like I was a dead woman walking...that's exactly how I felt the entire time I was sick. It's a dark, lonely place.

And now...I'm making rapid progress with my herbalist, who is hoping to get me from 80% to 90% better this month. I've lost almost 30 lbs and I'm no longer in pain every day. I've met some amazing people who also have Lyme, lifelong friends, whose value can never be measured. I'm growing my business. And I'm still working my butt off on getting to remission. 

It's been a long, hard journey, and it's not over yet, but I finally feel like I have the upper hand.

Some details on where I am at as far as treatment goes...

I'm down to a small handful of symptoms. Most notably, those are hip flexor pain, pain & stiffness in my hands, and air hunger. These are some of the first symptoms I experienced in my lyme journey. The air hunger has become worse in the last couple of months, undoubtably because I have beat the Lyme & Bartonella into submission, and the Babesia is coming out a bit more. My herbalist adds Sida Acuta into my herbs every other month, and I do much better on the months it's in there. This was one of those months. All last week I was herxing...mostly headaches and joint pain. But the air hunger is already remarkably better.

I've been busy. I'm constantly working to try to balance all aspects of my life, and with the holidays coming up, it's especially challenging. I've got business picking up within the next few weeks, which means tons of orders and late nights stitching. Then I have my family, my husband, my house (and all that entails) my friends, plus myself and my mental and physical health. I've been really trying to make sure to take care of myself first. I've reached this point in my treatment and I don't want to go backwards. A sure-fire way to relapse is to become stressed out. I've become better at saying no, and limiting time spent doing things that will negatively affect my mental health.

I am by no means perfect, and life isn't all roses and butterflies. But I am whole-heartedly grateful for where I am in life and what I've been blessed with.