Tour de Doctor Visit

Well, I made it.... but just barely and I definitely left a trail of green boa feathers in my wake.
I have a tendency to try to do more things than my body can physically handle (human nature?), when I am feeling halfway "decent," or when dreaming up near future plans of what I think I can do.  I blame adrenaline, disillusion and genes.  Shoot, IF you muster up enough adrenaline you can mask all sorts of symptoms and rest warning signs, but it is VERY temporary and their is a little thing called- aftermath and it's a bum deal.

Don't get me wrong, their are also days where no amount of adrenaline could get me out of bed and I am pretty sure that if the house was on fire, I wouldn't be able to make it out.

Then their are times like last week where I mustered the adrenaline to do a little Tour de Doctor Visit to VA and Company.  Which included flights in Ms Ella- (loaner from a generous co worker.)  Here was the plan.... I'd lower my doses drastically and we will do this:

*note- plan is a very loose word these days

Stop 1- Cincinnati for gas and most importantly to see my sister and her family at their new home including our 3 year old nephew on his birthday and almost 1 year old Matthew!  We'd stay a few hours and eat lunch and visit.

Stop 2- Syracuse where J will drop myself and Zoe off while he leaves for a few days. J's sister and family will meet us there for a night, other time in Syracuse will be spent resting and being spoiled by my mother- I was definitely not feeling so good. 

Stop 3-  Leesburg Airport in VA to stay with friends and see doctor.

Stop 4- Cape Hatteras for a few nights to hang with friends at a beach house.

Stop 5- Knoxville, TN to visit dear friends and meet their latest addition to the family.

Stop 6- Home

Really? What was I thinking?  Disillusion. Sometimes I just want things to be better than they are.  Problem was I used up most of my adrenaline before even making it to Stop 1, because I was so stinkin excited to see everyone and any type of travel is very hard on my body- I don't leave the house much, let alone the state.  I spent most of the 1.5hr visit in Cincinnati in vegetable-like state on the couch.  Same thing when I got to Syracuse and Leesburg.  Stop 4 and Stop 5 were cancelled and I am home now recovering.


However their were a few moments of functionality....
 

And the doc appointment was great.  Perhaps I will write more about that on the next post.

My Contribution

Here is a link to a recent article that I wrote for the Fenske Holistic Healthcare Center.... A few things that I wish for everyone to know about Lyme: Click here

Welcome to the 21st Century

As many of you know, I have had a bit of an aversion to Facebook over the years, and it's not just FB, I had an aversion to blogging too, at first.  I guess I am naturally a fairly private person, but with this Lyme disease business all bets are out the window.  I am on a mission to create awareness.

So here it is- In the name of Lyme awareness I have succumb to Facebook and I think it is going to be a great way to reach more people.  Check out my page at SubLyme Facebook. 

And yes, I am wearing a green boa.  And yes, it came from a store named Clownin' Around.  My girlfriend Jojo got it for me to wear for Lyme Disease Awareness month.  The deal is- I can't leave the house without the boa. So far so good.

 

Tick Season and Summer Survival Guide

 May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.  Help spread awareness and show your support by replacing your porch or outdoor light with a green bulb.  (A big shout out and thanks to my friend Jo Jo for bringing me an awesome dinner and green light bulbs to kick off Lyme Awareness month with me!)

I love being outdoors and playing in the garden on my good days. However, the whole Lyme disease thing has put quite the damper on my comfort levels for being outside. And the headlines announcing that this is suppose to be a "banner year" for tick populations due to the mild winter, does not help the situation. Nor does the fact that Wisconsin is listed as the 3rd most endemic state in the country. But I am determined to take back the outdoors, or at least our backyard for now.

So who are we dealing with REALLY?

It is well known that deer spread the population of ticks. In fact, ticks don't move very far on their own. They are the ultimate hitchhikers traveling mostly on their hosts such as deer, birds, squirrels and such....Ticks wait or "quest" on a tall blade of grass or in brush until they hitch a ride on the next host to pass by.

However, the biggest players in the spread of Lyme disease are mice and other rodents. Those darn varmints primarily harbor the bacteria that causes Lyme disease-not deer.  Deer are just a formidable host who had a nasty bug named after them. When the deer ticks are in their nymphal stage and feeding on rodents- this is how they become infected with Lyme bacteria. Gross right? And even more disturbing is that supposedly 1 mouse can host 100 nymph ticks at once.

Soooo, back to creating a safer backyard:

Favorite Find: Damminix Tick Tubes- They are biodegradable cardboard tubes filled with Permethrin (mild insecticide) treated cotton. You place them around your property, The mice take the cotton back to their nest and voila ticks are killed. It's like putting Frontline on mice. The mice and environment are not harmed... just the ticks. Damminix Tick Tubes are also quite affordable.

Tick Control System (TCS)- A somewhat similar theory, however the TCS uses bait boxes to attract mice and it dispenses trace amounts of insecticide onto the mouse as it passes through the bait box.  For further details on how it works click here. This system was developed by the CDC. In field trials it reduced tick populations by as much as 80% after one year and 97% after two years. Unfortunately this system is much more expensive and not as easily obtained.

Shoo Tag- This is something I am currently testing out and so far I am impressed. It's a plastic tag that creates a "frequency barrier" for you, your dog or other animals. Research found that each insect is repelled by a different frequency. Specific frequencies are encoded onto a magnetic strip on the tag. I keep a Shoo tag in my pocket. J also has one and Zoe (our dog) wears one around her collar. The reviews were a bit sketchy online but for $20 bones, I figured it was worth a shot and so far I give it 2 thumbs up!

 Other ways to keep your yard safe.

• Keep piles of firewood and bird feeders away from your home.
•  Remove leaf litter as much as possible. 
•  Trim trees and bushes to allow more light to enter shady landscapes. 
•  Children's play sets should be placed in a sunny location where the grass is kept trimmed.

Incase you missed

If you missed the Dr. Phil show about Lyme and would like to see it, please click here...

If you only have 5 minutes and would like to watch a clip of it, I would recommend this one:

Be Aware

Rumor has it that Lyme disease is going to be discussed on the Doctor Phil Show tomorrow, Friday April 13th. How apropos. I think it may be the first time I watch a Doctor Phil show..... no offense Dr. P, it's just not my bag..... but thanks for creating some Lyme awareness! This is always greatly appreciated.

Speaking of Friday the 13th, slasher films and misfortunes..... this Babesia treatment is no joke, it is making me very sick. As I have said before, the goal is to make it up to 2 tsp a day. Currently I can last at 1/2 tsp for 2 doses, then I get so stinking sick I have to back down. It feels like an elephant is sitting on me, which makes it nearly impossible to do anything. The nausea is horrible and my bones and body just ache and hurt. BUT, all this means that it is killing off this nasty babesia, (which is an infection of the red blood cells.) Now I just have to keep working up the cojones to try a 1/2 tsp again and again until eventually I can handle it, and then up my dose and so the cycle continues. Unfortunately their never seems to be a good time to walk into the fire. The good news is that when I am at a very low dose or off the Mepron I really don't feel too bad. And I do seem to bounce back rather quickly as long as I back down off the Mepron soon enough. As you know, my tendency is to try to push through.... but I am learning otherwise.

More press

I friend recently brought this article in the Washington Post to my attention, click here to read it. It's a great article, one that has some striking similarities to my story..  In fact, I am pretty sure that I have said a few of the same things verbatim, especially how it began.

I am back working my way up on Mepron.  Last time we had me start at 1/2 tsp... ( I am working my way up to 2 tsp 2x's a day.)  This time I started at 1/8tsp and I am now at 1/4tsp and I am feeling very sick.