TRAIL DOG (LDC 2016)

so i'm not the only one that has caught the mountain biking bug...harrison is taking trail dog to a whole new level. please heed his warning so that biking is the only bug you catch! 

this warning comes on the tail of learning a teenager recently contracted lyme on a family bike ride on a trail in our city, that's right NOT in the woods or the forest but on a suburban city trail that runs through the city of Richmond, BC. 

lyme is on the rise in canada and around the world... anyone, anywhere is at risk. please learn about lyme! Read the facts on Lyme Disease at Canlyme.com and Lymediseasechallenge.org 

And please help spread the word by doing the Lyme Disease Challenge - take a bite out of lyme before a tick takes a bite out of you!

Biking is rad; Ticks are bad.

One bite from a tick could make you really sick.

Lyme Disease is a global epidemic;

Furry or not, all are at risk!

Guard against tick bites;

Wear deet at your feet &

put permethrin on your gear.

Get advice from your vet;

on how best to protect your pet.

Then ride without fear;

shred without dread.

Choose flowy or tech;

Or take on the north shore gnar if you dare.

Roam over loam; Rip with pride.

Whoop, holler, and get big air!

But most important of all,

Do a tick check after every ride!

On Instagram, Harrison, Lyme Pooch, challenged these mountain biking badasses: 
Steve Wong, Yoann Barelli, Brett Tippie, Daniel Corso and Different Bikes West Van to take a bite out of Lyme! Let's hope they do and that they help spread awareness one rider at a time.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE: It's as easy as 1,2,3...

1. TAKE A BITE: Take a video or photo of you biting a lime
2. SHARE A FACT: Spread awareness by sharing one fact about Lyme Disease
3. PASS IT ON: Post online & Challenge 3 other people to take a biteout of Lyme! Use hashtags #lymediseasechallenge #lymepooch 

To wussy to do the challenge? Then please consider making a tax deductible donation to ILADS.org

More info & facts on lyme: lymediseasechallenge.org

You can follow Harrison on 
IG: Harrison P. Goertzen @Worldaccordingtoharrison
FB: World According to Harrison

HEALING IRON MAN

{comedy is a necessity to get through life with the fewest scars. 

humor is the best antidote to help relieve struggles.}

                                                                        ~Suzy Kassem

the boy has started physio to rehab his broken collarbone from his mountain bike crash. His therapist sent him home with a list of daily exercises....naturally the Hubster had to add in his own two cents. 

where would we be without the hubster's humor, eh?

sparky's incision & collarbone are healing well and range of motion in his arm/shoulder is back to nearly 100%. we are amazed at how quickly his body is recovering from this injury. it has actually been very odd to experience such a rapid and uncomplicated recovery process.

this is not in our realm of normal. 

healing from (chronic) Lyme is so vastly different.  fighting chronic Lyme is complex, frustrating and never follows a predictable pattern. it is an arduous marathon of "one step forward, two steps back"... it takes an iron will, body and mind to battle this disease.

it is a journey that sparky has been battling his way through for nearly 7 YEARS now. we are grateful that he has been doing better since the end of february (2016). he has "good" days and "bad" days - most days are still a grinding uphill slog. his current treatment protocol has helped reduce his joint pain and as a result he is sleeping better. he has also gained back 10 of the 20lbs he lost this past fall. less pain, more sleep & weight gain mean that he is stronger & able to get out for small amounts of time and/or attend school for a few hours per week. we do not take these gains lightly - they are significant and we are relieved that he is no longer deteriorating. however, he continues to spend a good deal of time in bed due to profound fatigue, brain fog, headaches and noise sensitivity. some days these symptoms are very intense & disabling.

his medical team is still working to uncover what set off his relapse and rapid decline this past year. and find a treatment protocol that will help his remaining symptoms. his mountain biking crash temporarily side-lined further investigation as well as delayed treatment. IRONically, he had been undergoing heavy metal detox protocol at the time of his accident. so there we were trying to move metals out and there he went getting metals put in. funny. not funny.

heavy metal detox can be hard on the body so this treatment was tabled while he recovered from his surgery. now that his body is healing from that we are finally able to move forward with more aggressive treatment.

on thursday we will be travelling to Seattle, Washington. he is scheduled to have a two hour appointment with one of his Lyme docs as well as undergo additional testing and treatments in the clinic there. the following week we have an appointment with DR H (this is phone appointment. we are not going to SF at this time). 

we are hopeful that as a result of these appointments, he will have a treatment plan that will address his infections, his mitochondrial deficits, and heavy metal toxicity & other underlying co-morbid issues that are continuing to cause him such disabling symptoms. we know this is going to be a tough course and we have to target each thing one step at a time in order to heal our iron man.

ok i feel like i should some how close this post with something funny or lighthearted. especially since i started it with humor. but i'm just sitting here like, "ummm, hmmmmm... nope, nada. i got nothing more to add." 

my heart is heavy as lead. 

here's the thing. some days we can laugh and find the humor in all of this. other days we cannot. some days we find ourselves laughing and crying. today is that sort of day. this is hard. we are so worried about our boy - his present and his future. we so desperately hope and pray for healing for our iron man. 

but, ok. here we go. as we road trip tomorrow, we'll be listening to the comedian jim gaffigan. he's worth a laugh or two or three. check out his McDonalds rant here or search him out on youtube. 

LYME POOCH RETURNS

may is lyme disease awareness month 

and oh me! oh my! - the first week of it has flown by! 

i've been buried under a mountain of recycled clothing whilst the dog feverishly sewed himself a new wardrobe... all in anticipation of spreading lyme awareness and participating in the lyme disease challenge.

Sew Serious!

have you heard of the lyme disease challenge? it is a grass roots awareness event that launched last year. it is back this year and will be running for the entire month of may!  (for more info visit: lymediseasechallenge.org  - there are also details about participating in the challenge at bottom of this post)

it was a smashing success last year! harrison participated in it and that is how he earned the nickname, 'lyme pooch'. he felt like his little posts helped to make a difference and he hopes that each of you reading this will do your part too.

so that's right! the lyme pooch is back. and he's got lyme awareness ideas galore and brand new attire to wear! (believe it or not, he makes his clothes by altering and tailoring thrifted menswear shirts and/or from raiding master's closet.)

i've been very busy photographing all his fur-brained ideas for this year's 
campaign. this past week, he's been re-posting pics from last year but soon the brand new ones will be ready to share! one evening as i was working like mad to edit one of his photo shoots, i caught him taking selfies in his brand new attire.

sheesh, there he was... just lounging around while i work myself to the bone!

you can follow harrison on his 
IG account - Harrison P. Goertzen @Worldaccordingtoharrison
FB page - World According to Harrison

...and please make sure to follow the lyme disease challenge on Facebook or Instagram too!

this year, harrison has already challenged a couple of ladies he has little crushes on and he is planning on challenging several interesting characters from the mountain bike community to take a bite out of lyme. he hopes they'll all rise to the occasion!

additionally, he will be re-doubling his efforts to get ellen degeneres to participate - he's still licking his wounds after his challenge to her last year went unanswered.  

but one can always hope! 

maybe this year she'll come through! sometimes persistence can pay off. after all, when harrison believes in something, he is like a dog with a bone... and this is the one time that taking a bite out of something is a very worthy thing to do! 

every bite counts! 

you do not have to be 'nominated' in order to participate. please join harrison and help spread lyme disease awareness one bite at a time! take the lyme disease challenge today! it's as easy as 1, 2, 3..

also, if you take the challenge as a result of harrison, please tag your post with the hashtag #lymepooch so that he can send you a a big lyme pooch smooch!

thank you in advance!