*Originally published 5/7/14*
“The sickness is mine. But the tragedy is theirs.”
Above is a quote from a favorite film of mine, that I felt was apt for the subject of Lyme Disease. It may seem a bit lofty or dramatic, but witnessing this sickness firsthand would be enough to change anyone’s minds, I feel.
My younger cousin was dealing with Lyme before she even knew she had it. Anyone who’s been reading this blog will know the struggle she has gone through, and yet the disease fights for legitimacy everyday. Having seen her before the diagnosis, trying to get diagnosed, and learning to live with it after being diagnosed there is no doubt to the realness of what she is going through. The aches and pains are a daily nuisance, but don’t we all have those? The day she started talking about having issues with memory and her mind was the day I really caught wind of just how serious this all was.
Seeing her have to forfeit activities she loves doing, sleeping without feeling like she got enough, and not to mention all the treatment that is involved. From my perspective, it seems like people with Chronic Lyme are trudging through an endless battlefield of medications and therapy to try and ease anything and everything they can. When every part of your body has hurt at some point because of this sickness it can seem like nothing will help. It masks itself as many different things, only amplifying all of the symptoms that come with it. There are so many faces behind those masks that need more compassion.
The tragedy in all of this is the ignorance and blind eyes given to Lyme. It is not just your tragedy or my tragedy, it’s all of ours. Until everyone is behind this,those afflicted will continue to fight to get their voices heard. The countless dctor visits, restless nights, and ever-resent pain I’ve seen her go through should be evidence enough.
Not everyone with Lyme will have a bullseye, but unfortunately, they all have been targets. It’s time to change the aim.
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