*Originally published 8/14/13*
This past week we had our family vacation to our lake house. Last summer I wasn't able to do pretty much anything, so I was kind of scared for this trip. The first day we were there, I tried to water tube and I had to stop quickly because it hurt too much. 4 out of the 7 days we were there I had to have someone help me out of bed in the morning. Sometimes it's just too hard to push myself up. On our last day on the boat, though, I got back on the tube with my cousin and my best friend. We were supposed to go really slow so I would be ok. The water was rough and we ended up getting bounced around like crazy, and I was able to stay on and have fun. The next day I was sore but able to function. On our lat night there, my cousin and I had a dance party for almost 3 hours. It was so much fun!
The Pre-Lyme Cassidy would be able to do this everyday and have no repercussions, but Lyme Cassidy had some trouble. My sister had to help me out of bed and then it took me a little while to get going. My shoulders and back hurt a lot still, but I don't regret dancing around having fun. If I get a chance to have a good time and forget about the Lyme for a bit that's all I need.
After I got home I was talking to a fellow lymie, and we talked about how we wished there was a place Lyme patients could go where we could just forgot about Lyme and the pain for a while. When you have Chronic Lyme Disease, it takes over your whole life. You have to plan things around doctors' appointments. You can't really make definite plans, because if you feel bad, you have to change them. You have to worry about if the medicine is working. You have to worry about school and jobs. And most importantly (for me at least) you have to worry about your social life.
Like I said, Lyme Disease becomes your life so you don't really have a social life. What's worse is that when you try to have one, everyone has plans and has moved on. This week all the fall sports start. What am I doing? Just staying at home like I always do while my friends go out and play sports. I would give anything to actually be able to run around and do sports.
Lyme also has given me a different perspective of my life. I have realized who my true friends are. I have realized what I want to do in my life. But most importantly, I have realized how screwed up the world is.The Lyme controversy is still going strong. It's just so hard to believe that the government and doctors can stay so blind to this. Lyme is one of the fastest growing epidemics in America with no cure and very little knowledge of it. The Lyme spirochetes are so complex and we don't know all that they are capable of. We don't know if ticks are the only way Lyme is spread. We don't know how to test accurately for Lyme and its co-infections. So many people fall victim to this disease and are treated wrong.
A few weeks ago a bullseye rash was found on my little cousin. They took her to the hospital and they put her on 3-4 weeks of antibiotics. What if its not enough? If it's not enough you have to pay $600+ to go to a doctor so they can give you the right treatment. The doctors that are willing to help us have to hide because they can lose their licenses. What I don't understand is how the government and doctors tell people that they can't be helped. Everyone is supposed to help each other. It's what makes us good people. That's why I choose to not sit around letting the disease keep me down. I am trying to go to school. I am trying to have a social life. I am trying to spread the word about Lyme disease and help get us the treatment and research we deserve. But most importantly, I am biting back!
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