Greetings everyone!
I have learned something recently that I am sure all of you have picked up as well - I'm really not so good at this whole blogging thing. I apologize for falling behind on my updates!
Well, I've got some big news - as of March 18th, I officially have been diagnosed with Lyme disease. And this is no April Fools joke, this is the real deal. YAY!!! Well, I mean, not yay - it actually really sucks to have Lyme. But I cannot express how incredibly relieving it is to finally have a diagnosis and to know what the heck is wrong with me. All this began June 14, 2014, which means we have spent a little over 9 months in the dark, seeing doctor after doctor only for them to say that they don't know what's wrong. Although the road to recovery is a long one, I'm so grateful to have finally found the right road.
Even though 9 months seems like a long time, it's really nothing compared to what so many others go through. Because Lyme is still so new in the medical world, there are people infected with it who go
years before they are properly diagnosed, which is so awful knowing that the longer one goes without treatment, the worse the disease becomes. I'd like to give a big shout out to my dear friend Craig Blair. He's the one who informed my mom about Lyme disease (who then informed me about it) and suggested that I get it checked out. If it weren't for him, only the Lord knows how much longer I would be searching for this diagnosis.
Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering what all the long road to recovery entails. Lyme disease is something that I will have for the rest of my life. The goal right now is to get the disease in remission, then worry about handling flare ups of the disease once I get to that bridge. It's too soon to know exactly how much longer it will take for my Lyme to be in remission. However, my doctor was optimistic about me being well enough to start school and work and
maybe even strong enough to start exercising again come this fall (something which I have been banned from doing for the time being).
In the mean time, though, the most important thing for me to do is to rest, which sounds easy enough, but at least for me, it is the hardest thing I've ever had to do! I love being busy. I went from cramming my schedule to the absolute limit to having all the time in world with nothing to fill it all with. I haven't been able to work and I barely was able to handle six credits this past semester. And during my herx weeks, I'm so sick and tired that I can't even get out of bed without help. Needless to say, I sometimes am bored out of my mind. Any recommendations of good books or activities to fill my time would be much appreciated (Seriously, please.)
The way I had always approached illness up to this point is that if I just shrug it off and push through it, it will eventually go away. I never let a little sickness get me down. Well, unfortunately, that is the exact opposite way I need to handle Lyme. If I don't give my body the time it needs to recover, I won't. I'll just stay sick. So although it is killing me to do nothing but rest, my good husband always reminds me that this is the treatment, this is how I'm going to beat this. So let this be a lesson to all you people out there reading this - take good care of your body. It's the only one you get, and as Jeffrey R. Holland, a man I know to be a apostle of the Lord, recently stated, "If we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill".
Well, that's about all I got for today. I love you all so very much! Your love and concern really means the world to me and I am so incredibly blessed to have such an abundance of friends who are looking out for me.
Until next time,
Makenna
