THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

so i've recently had a relapse of bartonella (co-infection of lyme). 

i started antibiotic treatment (septra ds) for it on april 30. on may 2, i had a bit of a herx (a die off of the bacteria which temporarily increases symptoms) but for the most part it was very manageable (rare) and it didn't slow me down too much. 

i've even been feeling a bit grateful for this relapse because the anxiety i've been living with since getting strep in spring 2014 has been virtually non-existent since starting septra and experiencing the herx on may 2. POW! how fabulous is that? that's been an unexpected and superb side effect i will happily take. (and it could possibly mean that this lingering anxiety that we thought was residual damage from strep is possibly related to an active bartonella infection.)

so all in all, i've actually been managing this relapse ok...until this week that is. 

monday i had an awesome time ripping trails with my eldest, taylor and his dog lily. i was just so happy and grateful to be out there doing that. i never ever take for granted the ability to be able. 

Delta Watershed, May 16, 2016

tuesday we had friends for dinner. i was really tired when i went to bed that night but you know, i had to actually, horror of horrors, cook that day and that is always exhausting to me. i woke up on wednesday morning to an explosion of treatment side effects and a pretty intense flare in symptoms - burning nerve pain in my feet, fatigue, brain fog and stiff and inflamed joints. by the evening, the twitching and tremoring had set in.

i wasn't entirely sure if it was a herx, side effects or a bad flare but what i did know for sure was that i'm in for a bad spell.

sigh.

in a flood of tears, plans for the day and weekend were cancelled, phone calls and emails were placed to my doctors, and a treatment plan set in motion. then i dragged my aching, quaking body off to bed. 

i've been in bed ever since.

once again life comes to a sudden and abrupt halt. rather than heading out on my bike for the many adventures we had planned for this long weekend, i'm riding out a plethora of debilitating physical and neurological symptoms in bed.

not at all how i envisioned this weekend going.

this is hard. the hilly terrain of chronic lyme with its unpredictable crashes, cycling symptoms and ever-changing landscape is hard to ride out.

but this is the nature of the beast.

Squamish - May 14, 2016

"If you are feeling frightened about what comes next, don't be. 

Embrace the uncertainty. Allow it to lead you places. Be brave as it challenges you to exercise both your heart and mind as you create your own path toward happiness. Spin wildly into your next action. Enjoy the present, each moment as it comes because you will never get another one quite like it."  ~ Everwood

i'm trying to stay positive. after all, this could be over as quickly as it started. on the other hand, some times a flare marks the start of a long, slow, painful uphill grind that takes months to recover from.

at any rate, i'm trying to use the down time constructively and wisely... to watch grey's anatomy. ha ha. to blog. to create. to process. to organize the photos on my laptop. oh snap! that could take years. to remember to have compassion for my body. to remember that i am strong and i will come back from this. 

the return of my neurological symptoms reminded me of the recording we made during one of my tremor episodes back in october 2013. during my laptop tidy up and in between episodes of greys, i found it. seeing as it is lyme disease awareness month, flashback friday on IG, and i'm once again living with similar symptoms (albeit not as bad), i've decided to post it. (pardon the editing - i'm no editor plus i had to slice and dice it to get it to fit within IG's 60 second video limitations)

i hope it will help shed light on this beast's confounding nature.

from the debilitating yet subtle nuances of it; the fatigue, pain and brain fog that are not visible to the casual observer to the more obvious symptoms such as twitching, paralysis and memory loss.

the bacteria itself is a beast that morphs and changes and is able to silently and suddenly attack your organs and central nervous system in the blink of an eye. you really can be fine and living life one minute and the next you can't get out of bed or think straight.

aside from the twitching, i don't look sick in the video. i'd bet most people would say i even look healthy. this is not unique to me. most people with lyme (or other chronic illnesses) don't 'look' sick -  at least not if you are on the outside looking in. 

the abrupt shifts in ability and our healthy appearances can impact the way others perceive us and cause them to question the severity of the illness we live with.

compounding the confusion is that most of us work really hard to disguise or mask symptoms when we are out in public. which, i guess in some ways, defeats the purpose of trying to seek understanding but most of the time it's just easier to try to appear 'normal' rather than try to explain this inexplicable beast to those who don't have it.

and, sometimes, we hide it because when we have been open or vulnerable about the true nature of this beast, we have been shamed, ridiculed or accused of attention-seeking or over-exaggerating.

i hope this video can shed some light on that. i think we all live with some hidden pain or hurt that impacts us in ways no one else can see. i like to think that if we believe this to be true, then it's not such a far stretch to believe that someone can be seriously sick and yet look fine.

be kind. you never know what kind of battle someone is fighting behind closed doors.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

oops, i did the disappearing act again. darn! i was on such a roll with posting again and then whoosh, 3 weeks go by and nada. 

so what happened?

a few short days after the premiere airing of ticked off, we flew out to SF to see DR H. i planned on posting my thoughts about the documentary once we got down to SF. but, clearly, that did not happen.

so what did happen?

life.
lyme. 
and the roller coaster that life with lyme is.

so what happened?

in short; a sudden onslaught of nausea, increased vomiting and tremoring

in many ways, what happened is not explainable. 

it is often very hard to find the words to explain what happens in the world of lyme. my blog is meant to give a glimpse into what goes on behind closed doors but many times, it is just hard to find the words to describe what that looks like or how suddenly things can change. 

so we (graham and i) did something we've not ever done before - we filmed the sudden attack. we thought it might give folks a new perspective on what lyme looks like. lyme patients often hear "you don't look sick". what does sick look like anyway? lyme has a way of redefining that. after all, sick doesn't always look limp, pale and lethargic. 

at first, we just recorded a few seconds of footage but then, inspiration hit and we decided to make it into a "video blog" and share it on FB. we were completely caught off guard by the response we got... it made a huge impact and people wanted to share it as they found it to be a very useful awareness tool. so, i thought it would be a good idea to post it here on my blog as well. 

a short back story of what happened before:

this attack came on very suddenly during our second office visit of the week with DR H. prior to this, i had been feeling "ok". in fact, the day before, we had spent the day on the beach at santa cruz. i had started a new anti-microbial treatment protocol 6 days earlier so a herx reaction was somewhat expected - however, no one was expecting what happened to happen. just before the tremors started, i began throwing up. i have been dealing with daily vomiting episodes for 19 months now, so barfing is not out of the ordinary for me however, there had been a steady increase in the vomiting in the week leading up to this and it was accompanied by nausea. the nausea is a new thing. the vomiting began at DR H's office. before i knew it, he was IN the bathroom with me. shortly thereafter, the tremors and twitches came on. i am grateful that i was with DR H when the tremors started. he was very caring and reassuring and immediately implemented medical interventions but i have to admit, i was a bit mortified to be barfing my guts out in front of him.

here's the video footage we shared on FB. it has taken me quite awhile to post it here. it was filmed on october 17 in our hotel room in california- it is but a brief glimpse into what is happening...i promise, there is no footage of barfing!

so what happened since the video was shot?

we are home from california and mainly, we are just taking it one day at time as my medical team tries to sort all this out. i saw a specialist at a local hospital just shortly after arriving back in canada. he was very lovely and he wanted to try and set up some treatment for me which he felt could be beneficial. we were shocked and so grateful to be offered help. we left that appointment feeling as if we'd just won the lottery! however, last week, i got the very disappointing news that this had fallen through. i do believe this doctor was very sincere in his desire to help but his hands are tied by red tape and bureaucracy. it is so difficult to have your hopes raised only to have them come tumbling down again. it is what it is, and i must just pick up my hope, tenderly brush it off and carry on. 

DR H has set up supportive IV therapies for me thru a local ND and has started me on meds to address adrenal issues. i have had 3 very mild and mini tremor attacks since getting home. i'm on very powerful anti-nausea medication which has helped with the nausea a bit but has not stopped the episodes of vomiting. i have lost 6 lbs since the video was shot. i am tired and weak and as a result, have been laying low but i am hanging in.  i would appreciate your prayers. please pray for wisdom for my docs as they sort out what happened and what is happening. please pray for me as i continue to battle on.