Just say the words
I have Lyme Disease. There. I said it.
I’ve only told a few people what has been going on with me these last few years. I’m a private person and tend to keep things to myself. I also don't like to show weakness. I've always been a tomboy, and I'm pretty darn stoic. And let's face it if you don't say it aloud maybe it doesn't exist.... Ah, good old denial.
I don’t like to complain about myself, and I have always been a person that muscles through. I’ve had a lot of shit to sift through in life. I lost my mother and sister to alcohol and drug addiction. I was the primary caretaker for my grandma for the last six years of her life. And now this, a mystery illness to many AND when I say to many I don’t just mean you and me, I mean to doctors and infectious disease specialists.
Sometimes things sneak up on you and elude detection and blow past your basic awareness and your better sense that something is amiss. Lyme is tricky like that. It's a real sneaky bastard. You bump along dismissing this and that. Perhaps that bout of vertigo is normal, or you say to yourself everybody gets back pain, or those facial twitches must be stress.... then the list starts to pile up, and it gets in the way and brings you to a halt. But I digress- more on this later.
Last summer I did a lot of gardening. There was an unusual amount of bees in the yard. They even followed me from window to window when I went inside. Driving I saw bumper stickers with quirky beekeepers slogans. Then I met a couple during a monthly meeting at a Lyme disease support group I attend. They introduced themselves and shared their story about stinging themselves with bees to combat Lyme. At first, I thought they were off their rockers. I’m sure you can imagine- stinging yourself with bees!? My god, are you crazy? But then I started to listen to them, watch and soon became amazed at their results. I began to research Bee Venom Therapy; I joined Facebook groups that have thousands of people using Bee Venom to heal from this wretched disease. I was intrigued.
You see, when you are sick, and you have tried over and over again to become well, and nothing seems to work you reach a point, a point where you will try ANYTHING to feel like yourself again.