Life With Lyme

I have been sick for two years. For the first year I didn’t know I was actually sick, I thought I was just overworked and experiencing adrenal fatigue. The second year was different. I woke up on morning about a year and half ago and my knees were swollen; hot and red and all of my muscles ached. This is when I began the long road of searching for an answer. From several ER visits, to even more doctors visits, then switching doctors to get a second and even third opinion, to going to the US to see another doctor. No one could come up with anything. My inflamed and swollen knees never went down. My ankles ballooned shortly after, my right elbow locked into a permanent bent position and my muscles began to ache and burn all day and all night. Being a strong believer in alternative and natural medicine, I decided to everything I could do on my own since I was not getting ANY support from conventional medicine or the system.

The very first thing I did was entirely spiritual. You see, I have always been an A Type, workaholic, Wonder Woman type. I never knew how to relinquish control or allow people to help me. SO, the most logical first step was to surrender and ask for help. I started with my husband who quickly became the hero I never knew he could be. I did a lot of surrendering, crying, praying and forgiving. I don’t remember crying so much, I think I cried for about 2 or three solid hours a day. As I did that, I felt so much pain escaping my body. I went to the chiropractor, physiotherapist, acupuncturist and naturopath. I also had a deep intuitive sense that I needed to detox in every way I could. So I ordered an Infra Red Sauna (about $1400 from Costco), and I decided to reboot my system by juicing for three weeks. Both of those things, likely in combination with the other things I was doing, seemed to work well. I felt that I was slowly on my way to recovery.

From what, I still didn’t know. After a few months of very small advances I quickly began to spiral into the darkness. As I look back on it now, I think I still didn’t get it. Whatever this was that was attacking my body, was alive and thriving because of me. I didn’t realize (at the time) how essential diet is to the immune system. I mean, I knew more than the average bear but I knew and practiced WAY less than I needed to. So, inevitably I got worse. And worse. Finally, I just had enough. I did not want this to be the end of me so I began studying everything I could about disease and healing from disease. It’s really simple actually. The father of modern (allopathic) medicine, Hipocrates, said it himself: “All disease begins in the gut AND let thy food be thy medicine.” 

I became a student of medicine; all kinds. Science of all kinds. The micro-biome, digestive system, immune system and lymphatic system. As Dave Asprey (Bulletproof Executive) calls it, I became a full time bio-hacker.

Four months ago, my search led me to a Naturopath close to where I live. Truth be told, I found an old gift certificate for him and I wanted to save the money so I called. Although they said that they couldn’t take it after two years, I decided to see him anyway. As the divine and beautiful universe would have it, I watched a documentary called Under Our Skin, a couple of days before my appointment.

Under Our Skin is a documentary about people living with Lyme Disease. Something I had heard of but never given much thought to. About an hour in, I KNEW that this was what I had. I just knew it. And based on what the people being profiled in the film had to say, it was a very difficult disease to diagnose and an even more difficult disease to treat. I have since learned that in Canada, you cannot get treated for it at all.

After five minutes with my new Naturopath, he diagnosed me with Lyme but of course wanted to make it official. He sent my blood to the only place that diagnoses Lyme accurately.

The crappiest thing about all of this is that everything I had done to that point was all out of pocket. When my tests came back positive and we began discussing treatment, the cost just kept climbing. I am so grateful that I have the means to support this very expensive journey back to health but I am so devastated to learn that hundreds of thousands of people are suffering with this disease and cannot pay for treatment.

I have been on my Lyme journey for four months now and so much has changed in my life. From diet and lifestyle to work and self … everything is different. Knowing what I know now, I don’t think I will ever go back. Just like the old adage says, when you know better, you do better.

I finally understand what that means.

Photo Credit: Doug Bedard