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.

I Don't Know What to Expect

I leave for Hansa in just a few days! I am getting excited. I could finally start the beginning to the end of my chronic lyme disease and co-infections.

I cannot even fathom living without these symptoms. Whats it even like??
*flashback time*

I contracted lyme and co's in 2010, we think. I was bitten by a tick for sure. I saw it with my own eyes. This wasn't the beginning of my symptoms however.
I have had some form of insomnia my entire life, when I was a baby it took a long time for me to fall asleep and I never napped. (so I have been told)
I have also had fatigue and low motivation for as long as I can remember. I don't know when it began, it just became intolerable after my tick bite.
When I was around eight years old my parents took me to an allergist who started me on allergy shots. I hated the idea then and I hate that I did it now.
The doctor said my fatigue was caused by allergies. According to their skin prick test I was allergic to dogs, cats, grass, pollen, milk slightly, and mold off the charts.
My parents went with it. Seeing as I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, I hoped for the best.

Around six years later I finished completely with the doctor and the shots, haven't seen him since.
Guess what? It didn't make much of a difference in how I felt. According to their skin prick test I was less reactive to the allergens, so the shots did something. Yet I felt the same.
Interesting right?

I am not saying I have had lyme since I was a little kid, but something has been wrong with my body and the cause is unknown. It could have been candida, parasites, food allergies, diet, or something else.

The point of this story, I don't know what normal feels like. I have always been tired and I have never slept.

Anyway, back to the present.

I begin treatment with a real doctor who has seen hundred or thousands of people just like me. I like that. In my life my pediatrician, allergist, DO, and ND have all said "I don't know" when it comes to my disease. While we didn't know about the lyme, RMSF, and babesia when I last saw the allergist or the pediatrician I was tired. They didn't have an answer.

Now I am going to see a doctor who understands, he's been in my place. That alone is valuable, I don't care what other credentials a doctor has. Understanding is one of the most import qualities a doctor can possess.

I don't expect to be cured or in remission after two weeks. That's just too unreasonable.
I do expect to have a treatment plan and guidance, I have never had a good one. I think the consistency in treatment will help me if anything.

My one goal I personally want to achieve with these upcoming two weeks is to be able to be able to eat and exercise.
I am a six foot four inch tall teenage boy. I should be able to eat!! I consume maybe 1,000 calories on a good day. I weigh about 137 pounds last I checked. To give you an idea of how large my arms are, I can reach my fingers around my arm, top to bottom. Easy. I do not have any muscle left. Exercise is just not possible for me.

Teenage guys have energy. They workout and make a point to look decent to other people(well...some). They are conscious of what they look like, not necessarily to impress anyone. Just look good.
Ha, not me man. My only attempt I make is to not look like I just walked out of bed when I go out in public. If I look that good, I exceeded my goal.

I have made attempts at starting a light exercise regimen so many times in the past its ridiculous.
Stretching was the first thing I tried, I stuck with it the longest I think. I would just do a basic warm up and basic stretching for about half an hour a few times a week. This was around the time I first went to the ND and was doing better before I got worse again and went to the DO.
Since then I have tried doing reps of just 2-3 pushups and sit-up plus a few other exercises mixed in. Several times I have been able to keep at it a while, a few days a week for a few weeks or month.
I just cannot keep it up though, I crash.
Its like my muscles and connective tissues cannot rebuild and repair themselves well. Now my joints and muscles are the strangest they have ever been(for lack of a better term).  My knees will come out of joint and pop back in randomly, my fingers do the same, plus muscles spasms/cramps and they are just harder to control.
This is a newer symptom for sure. I am sure it has something to do with my body not being able to function properly. Not being able to eat enough its probably related to this also.

SO that's what I really want to get from the two weeks. If I can fuel my body and use it, I know I will be able to get myself to a better health standard.
Overall I expect much more to happen from two weeks of intensive treatment but this is the starting point I want to accomplish.

Three days until I leave!!

Luke the Lyme and Ticks and Trust blog, seen them??

As I have mentioned a few times on this blog, I like reading. One thing I enjoy reading (all the time) is blogs written by other people suffering with lyme disease. I mentioned several weeks ago I was reading Ticks and Trust, I finally finished it a few days ago.

Ticks and Trust is written by a Canadian mom who contracted lyme disease and several co-infections. Throughout her journey that began in 2006 all three of her kids have tested positive for lyme disease, with her youngest son hit the hardest. Her son Parker went from being a normal boy to not being able to walk in 6 weeks.
Can you imagine that?? Suffering for years with lyme disease travelling to another country to be treated, then your child being knocked out of his reality into a wheelchair and a new life. That's mind boggling. I am not a parent, so I cannot even remotely understand what Shannon went through. They did it though, it took years and some crazy, God sent perseverance . Parker is still sick, she hasn't updated on him in a few months but he has not reached remission as far as I know.

Here is where their journey began.

Lukes blog, Luke the Lyme is still a work in progress. Luke only found his diagnoses a few months ago.  He is just in the beginning of his fight.
His symptoms originally started as face pain, then began to disseminate around his body into the more common Lyme symptoms. He is still suffering from this disease everyday.
I found Lukes blog through twitter, often times we are both tweeting about our symptoms of the day.

Both of these blogs have something in common. Something you may find surprising...but only if you are not educated on lyme disease. Shannon and Luke both live in Canada.
Lyme disease "doesn't exist" in Canada! Says those who believe ticks need a passport to cross the border.
If there was no lyme disease, bartonella, babesia, in Canada I wouldn't have made this post. Neither of those blogs would have ever been created, because they wouldn't be infected!!
Shannons family and Luke have Lyme disease. In Canada.
Shannon and her children have positive blood tests to prove it.
If Lyme didn't exist in Canada, why are their bodys producing antibodies to it? Its not because they were bored in their spare time ill tell you that!

Here is the Canadian Lyme website for more information

Moving Over the Hill

Yesterday I finally had a turning point and started to feel better. Today was even better.

I woke up sick last Monday, this time around it has been hard to kick it. I just couldn't get ahead of it until now.
Finally my kidneys are hurting less, my sinuses are better, my eyes aren't tearing, my joints aren't hurting, and my ears are starting to clear.

Chronic illness is my normal, so when a regular illness like a sinus bug takes hold-it really knocks me down. I do everything I know to do to get rid of it as fast as possible-tea, essential oils, herbs, vitamins, anything. But even all of this isn't enough to replace a failing immune system. To actually be truly healthy the body has to fight. When I am sick though, my medicine cabinet has to fight for me, because I just go downhill and stay there a while.
This time around I was sick with a sinus infection that would normally last a few days for over a week, and I was sick for a solid week. Now that I am finally turning a corner I feel like I have been physically fighting, I feel better but I'm tired and my muscles are worn out.

I start treatment at the Hansa Center on Monday! Their treatment philosophy is to strengthen the body so it can fight for itself. I am ready!
I used to be able to recover quickly but now it takes time. My body just doesn't have the excess energy to spend on healing itself, just preventing further decline.

Last week for example, I spent a week on a strenuous vacation then came home and contracted a sinus bug that was still going strong a week later. 
Other examples are- scabs are slow to heal, I stay worn out after exercising, my joints aren't as tight(sometimes they dislocate briefly), and my kidneys are certainly taking a battering (for unknown reason).
This is not normal teenage stuff. I have friends that brag about how fast their wounds heal or how they never get sick. How do I respond to that? Better yet, why am I still like this? Ive been in treatment for years.
To keep from getting depressed, I usually turn my problems into jokes.
Recently for example I found a good way to explain how my body works.

"Brain-Alright everyone, lets quite."

Sums it up well, my brain doesn't work, my muscles don't work, my kidneys are messed up, my knees hurt, my sense of smell is weak, etc.

Anyway I am glad to say I am finally on the mend. I am going to try restarting my normal tea for babesia and detox today. I had to stop it because every time I would drink it while I was sick, I would get worse. So I guess now that I feel better I need to start back with my normal routine, which is better than staying in bed hoping I wouldn't need to find ANOTHER tissue box.

December 26

Christmas has already come and gone for the year, can you believe it??

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Hopefully with minimum symptoms for all of my chronically ill readers :)

I spent yesterday on the couch, my sinus infection hit its worst during the afternoon. One good thing that did happen was I felt good enough *briefly* to eat. I ate more than I have been able to on average this whole week.

Last night I did finally start feeling better and ate what I would normally eat. On average I haven't been eating much, just drinking tea mostly. Being sick has killed my appetite.

Then today is so far a decent day, still not well. My ears are clogged and my eyes bloodshot but I do feel better.

Christmas Eve already!

I cannot believe that it is Christmas eve already! It feels like yesterday was Thanksgiving...time flys

I am still sick, runny nose, tired, and side pain. The symptoms are the worst in the morning becoming more tolerable throughout the day. I just keep drinking Cold Eze tea and swallowing essential oil pills. Its making a difference but its been hard trying to get ahead of this. Definitely easier last time I was sick.

Because of my sinuses draining into my stomach I haven't felt like eating at all. Its just uncomfortable and the kidney infection probably is not helping. The slippery elm blend tea is making a difference in my side pains. They typically diminish within a short time of drinking it. So if anything that's one symptom that isn't too unbearable.

ND Today!

Today was my regularly scheduled ND appointment! It went well.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I've been feeling crappy since I woke up yesterday morning. So today I talked about that with the ND.
During the usual biofeedback testing and searching for my current infection mycoplasma showed up. Great.
I had a feeling it would show up...usually mycoplasma is the cause of recurrent sinus infections. I had one a few weeks ago and as of yesterday, a second. Here is the best part...not just one but 4 strains showed up.

Go big or go home folks.

The one infection I have so hoped I actually avoided by some miracle, I contracted anyway. Awesome.
At the moment, I am not going to worry about it. I am on several things already which should already have it covered good enough. If not, I go to the Hansa Center in just a few weeks! That will knock it out for sure.
I have been tested for mycoplasma several times, blood and biofeedback. Not one positive before today. So my guess is it is not a chronic infection I have had at high levels for a while now.
I'm sure I have had some level of mycoplasma the whole time, most people do. Just like with candida, most people have it just not at high, infection causing levels.

Another thing showed up for a change. Its something I have been saying for a while now...
I have a kidney infection. Let me put on my shocked face.
My stomach, kidneys, and bladder have some kind of bacterial infection going on-kidneys taking the biggest hit.
Unknown what bacteria specifically, could be mycoplasma.
So the ND had me start a UTI tea made from Marshmallow root and slippery elm bark. Doesn't taste bad, I just hope it knocks it out. I do not want a chronic stomach/kidney infection. Not at all.

It was nice leaving the ND today with only a tea and a homeopathic for colds, both temporary. I don't get to do that much!

There is good news, my usual infections-rickettsia, lyme, babesia, virus, etc did not show up today. So they aren't at astronomical levels today. Probably because the mycoplasma and kidney stress overshadowed it, but still. Ill take it.

Today was a good day though, I felt better than yesterday by a long shot. I expect tomorrow to be a good day :)

Only a few weeks left before I go to the Hansa Center for treatment, its getting exciting. Just knowing that in a few weeks I could feel like a different person is amazing. This morning I had my blood drawn for the visit, I checked out the bloodwork panel, looks very thorough. I cant wait to see what all it says about me.