Campus Tour

 I Toured my Soon to be College Campus!

This morning was amazing! My mom and I went and toured my soon to be college, I will start in April. I was able to meet people and see the classrooms and apartments. It was great! The people on campus, staff and students were the nicest people. They all told their story briefly, and everyone of them had a story. The college, being a chiropractic school, is multinational big time. One of our guides was from Puerto Rico and another was from Berlin, Germany. One was raised by a chiropractor, the other had a neck injury when he was a teenager and was inspired when he was healed by a chiro. In Germany, he said there are only around 120 chiropractors for the whole country-so not very many at all. I bet theres that many within 75 miles of me LOL. 

I felt like I was around other people who got it, people who are living with a purpose and dedicated to helping others. All of the teachers on campus are either DC, MD, PHD or a combination. One teacher that toured us around was from Egypt, he was both an MD and DC. He did not entirely give his story, but he seemed very fascinated by people. 

One of our tour guides, we were her last tour before she graduates, she had a back injury when she was a teenager and took the medical route. It didn't work for her and she was miserable, she lived with her issues for a long time but when she reached her early 30's she decided to go back to school and ended up at this one. She told my mom and I how she was pushed into it all, by God, how it all just landed into place and how she ended up in the chiropractic field. Pretty much all of the students who spoke said similar, they felt that this is where they were supposed to be and it was not an accident. Imagine being around that many like minded people who all believe that they are actually serving a purpose, rather than living aimless!

Talking to this tour guid though, she almost made me cry. When I told her my story, and I was only able to share a fraction of it with her, all she said was "oh my God" and she got it. She could see all I had been through and didn't question it. And she said to me "you keep sharing your story and never stop. Remember your why. Share your story often, it will mean so much.".

I have never felt like this before, but I felt like someone put such a strong value on my purpose to help others. No one tried to critique it, question it or tell me there was something wrong. I always shy away from sharing my story too much, I don't want to over share or make it seem like I have been through more than the next person. I never want to let someone feel bellow me because their story is different from mine. But this lady made sure to show me, that I am adding a value rather than substituting someone else out. How often do you hear a doctor, not talking over or trying to explain why they are right and you are wrong?? The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear "doctor" is someone who is smart but not wise, someone who tends to be snotty and a bit holier than thou. I did not get that feeling at all with any of these people today. 

This was a way different feeling from my undergraduate, the whole campus. It was a lot cleaner, a lot friendlier, a bit smaller. It will be another hard journey, making it through and passing all the boards, but I can do it. I have to do it. The environment will be much more positive than my undergrad though, because the nice thing about grad school is that most everyone that is there, wants to be there. It is more than just a means to an end, its a foundational beginning. 

A New Blessing

Something New I am Grateful for

This week I am going to (sorta) lean away from the lyme aspect of my life. I mean this loosely because lyme ties into this, but maybe in a more positive than typical way. 

My best friend introduced me to a hall mate from his school, who also has lyme. This guy is only a little bit younger than I am, he's been sick for 2-3 years. Only recently diagnosed though, just found out in August. He's found an LLMD within a few hours from him (thankfully!) who is now treating him with antibiotics. 

This guy though, he's still new to the lyme front. He's done some research and he's learned a lot about the trickiness of the whole disease, that it may not be as simple as a few months of meds. Plus he's learned about the whole controversy behind it, so he's done a great job educating himself on the Ins and Outs of lyme disease. Which is great considering his brain fog and except for his doctor, he's flying solo here. He doesn't have much of a support system. 

Well, My friend gave me the guys number and we ended up talking on the phone for..oh..about 3 hours and 45 minutes give or take. Which for me is a LONG time to talk on the phone. A long time. Im usually a 30 seconds or less type of person when it comes to talking on the phone. But we had a whole lot to talk about! It turns out me and him have very similar lyme symptoms and very similar upbringing, we also think very similar and have a similar outlook on the whole disease fighting deal.

I feel special for being one of this guys (lets call him E for now) first people to talk to about lyme. Its been fantastic for me also, ive met a ton of people with lyme over the years between my own work and going to the clinic, but this is the first person whose around my age. He's also the first GUY, usually I meet girls who are sick. Usually guys bottle everything up and aren't much for being friendly with other people, just from what ive noticed.

Me and E have really hit it off. Him and I have yet to stop texting for more than a few hours at a time, we have FaceTimed for hours on several occasions. 

We go back and forth talking about some fun stuff, like work, cars, school(well almost fun lol) or talking about lyme things. We will text each other and ask a question like-hey do you ever get depressed out of nowhere? or-Do you ever go from having plenty of physical strength for work then all of the sudden have none to work with?

Its been nice to see a little more into how lyme has affected us and what isn't normal. January 26 next month is my 8 year anniversary of being sick, at this point I remember very very little of what normal feels like. Its been nice to have someone to compare to who has been sick for a shorter amount of time.

E went from having plenty of energy and being a full work horse, started working at 14 years old, long hours outside! To being able to do a small tiny fraction of what he used to be able to do, at a much much less intense level. He has even fallen asleep at the steering wheel and has had all sorts of scary things happen to him that were not at all his normal pre-lyme. 

I had him write a post for me to post on this blog, which he has done and it will be my next post after this one. I really wanted him to share his story and begin finding his voice. I know it took me a long time to be able to find my voice for what I was going through, I knew I was tired but it wasn't so easy to explain or understand. Now I can.

On our first phone call, one of the things we talked about was the fatigue. It was nice to talk to someone who knew what bone crushing fatigue meant, fatigue that starts at the skin and permeates through the muscle and bone all the way through. We joke about all of the other people who whine about "being tired" that we hear at school, and we both laugh about. They just think they are tired, or they should try a little more sleep and a little less alcohol (more so the case at my school than his). I know I feel less alone now when I feel like the fatigue and other symptoms set in now that I have a friend my age who gets it.

We both talk about how we hate that the other is sick and that we both have this journey to battle through, but that its so nice to have the other now. 

I shared more about myself and my illness with him on our first phone call than I have with anyone else right off the bat. Usually I only share little bits of personal information and I focus more on the other person, but we both just right off were fairly comfortable with the other. I even shared this blog with him, I have NEVER shared this blog with anyone so fast. To date, counting E, I have shared my blog with three people in total. This is one of my safe places, to keep it safe for me to share and reach out to other people with lyme (looking at you Rebecca :), I have to filter who I share this with in my life. I dont want to be judged for what I write, I dont want to be critiqued by my 3rd grade writing level, and I dont want to be gossiped about behind my back. I write a lot of RAW material about myself on this blog, which is beneficial for others going through a similar battle. I know I have an astounding appreciation for people like Yolanda Hadid who put her entire life in a book about her lyme battle, to which she faced a lot of judgment and ridicule, but in turn lifted people like me up in encouragement. 

I was put on this earth for a reason and it has been made clear to me that at this moment Lyme is part of my life, lyme itself isn't so big anymore so much as reversing the damage left by the little bugs. But I have accrued an amazing amount of research and knowledge  over the years from all of the books ive read and people ive spoken to, I feel wrong for not at least giving a shot to helping someone else out.

My best friend has never even seen my blog, and its probably the only secret he doesn't know about me. I did share to him its existence a while back but I didnt give him a link or the name, he just knows I write one somewhere on the internet. I share a lot online to the people in the lyme community who care to read, but in person I am actually very private except for a very very small select few people who I feel safe sharing with. 

So meeting a nice fella like E who is fighting the fight like I am and holding his self together with prayers and pill bottles, I can only thank God for placing this person in my life. 

We have yet to meet in person but its going to happen in the next few months one way or another, since he goes to the same school as my best friend I will now have two amazing people to visit every few months over in Missouri. We *almost* managed to pull off a visit at this end of this month, a very short one, but it didnt work out. Its gonna happen though.

Him and I have spent a lot of time relating over the rather messy aspects of being chronically sick, such as how friends disappear and family doesn't appear to care, or the emotions we dont share with just anyone, or some of the other darker scarrier parts of the whole deal, but we also encourage each other. Its easier to encourage someone when you deeply to the core understand the rough waves they are going through, I know for me its encouraging just to share the frustrating parts of being sick and having someone else get it or tell me they understand because they have gone through the exact same thing. Lyme isn't a disease that comes with much encouragement, its not as simple as going on the internet and finding all sorts of positivity as it is with some diseases such as cancer ( not bashing cancer patients at all, but there are many more cancer foundations etc. to help out and encourage them). So him and I both have an appreciation for the other for what we go through.

Our lyme symptoms are fairly similar, which is not necessarily super common with lyme because it can cause SO MANY different symptoms. The only major differences for us are-he can sleep at night and take naps during the day and he doesn't get panic or anxiety attacks, he has to take naps some days (especially work days) because he gets flat out worn out. Whereas its rare that I actually take a nap, when I get up for the day I typically keep going (I may have 0% productivity and accomplish nothing besides breathing oxygen, but I can stay upright longer than he can). I think he has more pain than I do, I still have pain and aches but its improved a lot. He has yet to gain any actual noticeable improvement with his medical protocol, I was the same with antibiotics, but he is on a very strong protocol ( I was never on a super strong ABX regime). A lot of our emotional aspects are very very similar, which is like a breathe of fresh air for me to have someone to talk to about all of this. Especially with it being a guy, usually its a girl that I end up talking to about emotional things and as bad as this is going to sound, talking to a girl-friend my age about emotional issues usually comes with strings attached in some way or another. With a guy, not so much, we are both fairly easy going people and we just talk about whatever we need to. We may be talking about something serious and something fun in the same conversation, just because we can.

Okay okay, Im rambling again which is one thing I can usually do all too well. I just dont like sharing only sad or depressing things all the time, its needed for me to share uplifting and positive things such as this every so often.

I have been praying for another guy friend who gets it for a long time, especially since my best friend moved away. Meeting E has been an answer to my prayers. I had this post practically written a few days after I met him a month ago, but do to busy christmas schedule and brain fog I couldn't get it all out onto paper like this.

I hope you all enjoy reading his post about his story :)

Hansa Round 3 day 1

Well you guys, I am back in Kansas. I saw the doctor yesterday for an hour then went through all of my therapies for the day.

Doctors report-bloodwork looks good. Blood sugar has come down to the 80's, vitamin D is ok, immune response is high, iron seems to be ok, good cholesterol is low so I need more fat in my diet, easonophils are high indicating parasites/allergies, liver and kidneys are fine, gallbladder seems to be good.

I would say that's a much improved report over last visits. 

Doctors visit-parasites, yeast, and mycoplasma are what I'm dealing with at the moment. Bacteria and heavy metals did no show up as significant through his testing. To me that means Lyme and Mercury aren't causing me any major issues right now, which makes me happy. Progress made.

I knew parasites and yeast would show up, I've been having itching and yeast rashes. No surprise there.

He found the parasites are affecting my brain, stomach, and heart. Which would explain my weird appetite changes, insomnia and brain fog, and contribute to my inability to exercise. 

He also found I have heart worms, which is relatively rare in humans according to Google. He gave me 3 remedies to take, two liquids he compounded with herbs and homeopathics, and a tablet called parazyme.

He also did some chiropractic work using the percussor on my rib cage. This is on of my favorites, whatever he does always makes my back so much less stiff and sore. When he's done I don't feel so frozen from the tight muscles in my back and abdomen.

I do what I can to keep my muscles loose, oils and magnesium, stretching when I can, Epsom salt baths-it's just not the same.

Therapies-sauna, Q laser, lux, st-8, PEMF(new!), massage, and beamer. 

At the end of the day I was satisfied with my results. I felt well, but extremely fatigued. I managed to sleep very hard last night( praise the Lord!) and actually woke up before I had to this morning. I did not get to sleep earlier than usual though.

I'll take it, sleeping hard and waking up without major struggle is a battle in itself.

Today is the Last Day of the Year!

2015 is almost gone. Passed by in a flash for me.
It was filled with many events, good and bad.
Next year can certainly be better if you ask me, just sayin'.

Health wise this year was a totally new experience for me. I had my amalgam fillings removed, I found an LLMD who I trust(even though I haven't seen him yet), I started a blog, I took control of 90% of my treatment(what I say goes now), and I started my own challenge to make myself feel better.

I would say these are some good starting points. No more mercury, I tell my doctors what I really feel even when it contradicts them, and I am doing a better job at cutting back on crap food now that I am feeling a little better.

I hope you guys have also had a great 2015!

I wish you all a healthier and happier 2016! Just think about what it holds, we already know we will be getting a new president for sure. That's fun right? Well...hopefully...the last two were rather embarrassing in my book, maybe the next one will accomplish something important.

Artemisia, Cinchona, and Black Walnut

Hello my friends!
The new supplements for babesia arrived today!
A few posts ago I said I was ordering cinchona bark, artemisa combinations, and black walnut hull. I did this because I have been stuck in a babesia flair, this should help knock it down a peg. Here is some info I found on the herbs-

Cinchona bark is used for malaria treatment in South America. Traditionally ground and made into a tea for usage.
Quinine, which can be derived from cinchona bark, has been used as a traditional drug for malaria in North America. Quinine is no longer used for malaria treatment because of possible side affects.
However, the synthetic versions of drugs are nearly always much less safe than what they were derived from, so the bark should not have these side effects at low dosages.
I am going to drink a cup of tea daily.

Artemisia and its derivatives have been used in Lyme/babesia treatment for a long time. Many of the prominent LLMD's use Artemisia or artemisinin in their treatment protocols. It is also an antimalarial that is effective against babesia. It is typically taken in a capsule, 3 days on, 4 days break. It is said Artemisia builds up in the tissue and should be discontinued to allow it to clear. If it isn't allowed to clear it cannot be utilized by the body, it becomes desensitized. I don't know if its true or not, sounds kinda odd to me.
I am going to take 2 pills, 3x a day, three days on 4 off.

The black walnut is not for babesia (as far as I know), but it is good for killing parasites and yeast. Because Artemisia is also a parasite cleanser, although weaker than black walnut, I wanted to pair the two for a stronger effect. I take this every few months then take a break.
I am going to take 2, 3x a day, 15 days on, 5 off. Taking five days off is supposed to allow the parasite eggs to hatch, then restarting the herb will kill them after they hatch.

 

Here are my herbs after unboxing

 

I made a cup of cinchona tea. I had to grind the bark using the coffee grinder to make it into a powder.

I mixed 1tsp of the powder in a cup of boiling water and let it sit for a while.

Its not bad, kinda bitter. It has a unique flavor, with a texture like a raw sweet potato(know what I mean?) I can definitely take this without much difficulty daily. Its weird, but not bad.

 

Here is the finished product. The bark needed to be ground a little more, but hey, it was my first try!

 

 

I have already taken my first dose of everything. I became very fatigued late this afternoon, almost took a nap because of it. Wonder if it was a short herx? After I finished everything I had to do for the day I sat down, about 6:00pm. I almost fell asleep! I didn't get up for almost two hours. I am still tired, but on the days this happens...I know I wont sleep during the night. I can only pick one time to rest, today my body picked the late afternoon. I never know what to expect with this disease, its like a roller coaster.

 

One last thing, I emailed the ND today, asking him what I should do about my Dopalift situation.

He told me to half the capsule and try again tomorrow.

So tomorrow I am going to take half a Dopalift at 8:00am.

 

 In my last post I said I was going to try taking it at 8am this morning, but my alarm didn't go off. Slept right on through... I didn't think about halving it, I am kinda glad I forgot.

 

Until next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 1!

Its the first day of November! The leaves are falling and its starting to get cool. The best part is the ticks start disappearing, so its safe to stay outside with minimal fear:)

I have some good news for a change. I went to sleep at my usual 3:00 am this morning instead of 6:00am! So it was definitely the Dopalift that was keeping me awake.
I skipped it again today, so I should sleep tonight. I am going to try the DL one more time, this time I am going to start fresh. Before my first dose was 7pm, so the dose of day 1 probably overlapped on day 2 and so on. I don't know what the half life of DL is, with it beings herbs I don't even know how that works.

So tomorrow when I restart dose #1 will be at 8:00am. Maybe this will be enough time for the caffeine to exit my system and allow me to sleep. I am going to try it for two days. If it keeps me up, I will talk to the ND and see if he has an alternative.

Another thing I have been looking for is info on brucella. Last week I showed positive for it at the ND, which has never happened.
I found this.
It looks like essential oils are beneficial for this! I actually have all of these so this should be easy.

Sorry for another short post, my brain fog is better than yesterday but its still going strong...

Until tomorrow