Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks
Boy, am I grateful.
If you go to the U.S. Open, you have to be prepared to walk and climb stairs, often. Last year when I went I was still waiting for my Lyme Disease Western Blot results from IGenx to return. I wasn’t being treated for Lyme Disease, I was being treated for pain.
I walked and limped all over the center. I climbed stairs greatly relying on those handrails to pull me up (and begged to use the escalators at times) and then in the evening, I’d take narcotics to ease the pain in my joints and lower legs enough to allow me to get to sleep.
This year, after treatment (which is still ongoing) I walked all over the place (no limp.) I took every stair case I came across (no use of handrails), and I didn’t use the escalator once.At night I needed nothing more than a cool glass of water before I went to bed.
The difference really is remarkable.
This is after being on antibiotics for the better part of a year. But here’s the thing, I haven’t been on anything else – no steroids, no anti-inflammatories, no pain meds. Nothing. Just antibiotics.
A drug that kills bacteria.
I remember sitting in the doc’s office when I was first being evaluated for Lyme. “If you could just cut off both of my legs at mid-thigh, I’d be fine,” I told him. And I meant it. Without the pain in my legs, I could think better, I’d be able to get around better (I was pretty much staying put on the couch with my legs.)
Unfortunately cutting my legs off would have done nothing for my memory loss, my heart palpitations, my tendonitis, my headaches, my twitches, my fatigue, and my nerve pain.
Fortunately, my doc thought of a better solution. Antibiotics it was and now a year later, I’m back to playing tennis myself, walking at least 4 miles a day, and swimming.
Am I cured? Even I don’t think so. I still have some muscle tremors. I’m sure that my joints have been damaged, and I’ll probably be on meds for a very long time, if not for the rest of my life, but I am *managing* my Lyme and that’s something for which I am so grateful. I haven’t taken a narcotic since December (and this from a patient who was on a “chronic pain contract.”)
If you have Lyme disease or you suspect you may have it, reach out. Find a support group and get thee to a doc who treats Lyme. Ask questions and challenge answers.
You don’t have to suffer.
Be safe and see you all next week.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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