Five Treatments Down...Sixteen to Go!

Thursday I had my fifth treatment for Lyme Disease at the West Clinic. As usual, I was pretty ill that afternoon and evening, with dizziness, nausea, muscle aches, light sensitivity and a terrible, splitting headache. But this time, by 9pm I noticed that I was feeling substantially better. Friday morning I awoke feeling refreshed and ready for my day...something that hasn't happened in a long, long time!

I could tell you all about the ASTONISHING improvement in my energy levels over the last three weeks; or I could tell you how I've gone from dealing with upwards of 30 Lyme symptoms in any given day, to perhaps 2 in that same time period. I could tell you how I go to bed feeling sleepy, ready to sleep and am now getting a good night's rest. Or I could tell you how I actually am having hunger pangs again when it's normal to feel hungry. I guess I would also need to point out that in spite of terrible exhaustion, insomnia is a major part of Lyme Disease; and that I had totally lost any appetite for food, including ever feeling "hungry," (in spite of not being able to lose any weight,) and that a month ago my husband pointed out that I never ate anything unless he made it and insisted I eat it. This was one of his major concerns that he wanted to discuss with the doctor on my first appointment. There are many other things I could point to or tell you about that have completely amazed us about the last three weeks.

For my part, I feel like telling you the things I've been ABLE to do in the last three weeks (that I have been UNABLE to do since I relapsed) might be the most effective illustration:

1) Wrestle, lift, dance with and carry my children around the house
2) Vacuum, sweep, do laundry, dishes and other household chores
3) Carry my children up the stairs and lift them into their cribs for naps & bedtime
4) Walk up the stairs without having to stop to rest halfway up
5) Walk around the house & up the stairs without being winded
6) Go to the grocery store, walk around and push the cart
7) Be able to get through the day without lying down once
8) Drive my car

In addition to being able to do all these mundane, ordinary every day things that most healthy people take for granted or even begrudge, I've also been able to do some really AMAZING things, especially considering that three weeks ago I could hardly take 5 steps out of bed or off the couch without being completely winded and exhausted. Some of the fun stuff includes:

9) Walking around the local mall for a couple of hours, including trying on clothes
10) Going out to dinner with my kids, husband and mother-in-law
11) Cleaning out and organizing my pantry
12) Canning 54 pints of food over the last week (a new hobby of mine)
13) Deep cleaning my house, going to bed tired and then waking the next day feeling rested and ready to go again
14) Going to a salon for a haircut & pedicures with my mother-in-law
15) Unloading groceries, luggage and kids on my own
16) Attending all three hours of our church services without being exhausted
17) Realizing that as I type this, I have NO PAIN anywhere in my body

I could go on and on, but I think that's enough to make my point. We are thrilled at the prospects of this new treatment. When we first heard about the clinic, we heard that people that were much SICKER than I were having these results. We were dubious. We were skeptical. We were nervous. It all seemed so strange and so different from everything we had been told that we needed to do. But there's something about having a debilitating illness that makes you open to trying just about anything. So we tried it, and now, I'm experiencing those same results that others had told us about.

Lest you think that I'm exaggerating, I will tell you that the day of treatment, and sometimes the day after, are a little rough....mostly "flu-like" symptoms for me. And, in my excitement and exuberance at having energy and feeling normal, I did "over-do it" one day, needing to take it easy the next day. But that's only happened once in these last three weeks. What I'm trying to say, is that while I've been feeling extraordinary compared to where I was three weeks ago, I don't want to misrepresent things. But I also need to qualify that statement by saying that compared with my two-years-long combination antibiotic therapy two years ago, this has been an absolute cake walk!

After dealing with Lyme Disease for a decade already, we're not naïve enough to think that this will be quick or easy. We've been warned that Lyme patients sometimes need 60 or 70 treatments before things resolve and they can go off treatment. By the time I have my re-evaluation in July, I will have done 21 treatments. But I'm perfectly ok with however long this takes. If I can enjoy this kind of quality of life, while I'm on treatment, it gives me so much hope for my future and getting back to my old self, the person I was 10 years ago before all of this started! I have so much hope of finally being able to organize my life and my family the way I have wanted to for so long, but have not had the physical or mental ability to do so. Finally, incredible hope for being able to be a hands-on Mom, to be able to really get down and play with my kids, and to be an involved and enthusiastic companion to my husband. These are the things that are most important to me, and they're the things that have been impacted the most by this illness. I can't tell you how relieved I am that I can pick up my kids when they cry for me, and I don't have to feel such deep sadness and guilt that I can't take care of them myself.

When all of this started happening back in November, I was disappointed. By February, when I had become virtually incapacitated once again, I was completely discouraged and feeling hopeless. Now, in light of having found this doctor and this clinic, I am so grateful for the timing in all of this. I realize that had I not relapsed while living where we do, I may never have heard about this doctor, this clinic or this treatment. People fly in from all over the world to be treated here, and we're only 90 miles away. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who provides for our needs and wants. And while He doesn't always lift our burdens completely, if we will allow him to guide us, He will show us how we can get through them successfully.

My next treatment is tomorrow morning at 11am. I would never have thought in a million years that I would actually anticipate going to treatments, looking forward to them as I would any other great event in my life. But I do! It seems as though I can almost feel my body getting stronger and more capable. It has been absolutely wonderful. I'll keep you posted, but for now, things are really looking up.