Wow oh wow, nine years. If you would have asked little 14 year old Cassidy if she would still be sick in 2021 she would have laughed in your face. But alas, here we are.
Don’t get me wrong, I am the best I have ever been, but I am still sick.
However, my issues right now are not really the Lyme infection but rather the lingering effects. Over the last year we have been treating the parasites in my body. Everyone can get parasites form produce, water or whatever, and usually be fine, but when you have a weakened immune system—hello 9 years of an autoimmune disease—those suckers can cause A LOT of issues.
We finally got my digestive issues under control and I am happy to report that the last year of my life is the first time I have had regular bowel movements in my entire life so yay progress! But parasites are not just in your gut, they can go everywhere.Luckily for me, my amazing doctor is on it and we have been treating with herbs and Accupunture. Things were going pretty well until about 3 months ago.
I started getting super tired again recently and even though I’m exhausted, my sleep is awful. I get tremors in my hands, stumble over my words at times and even forget what I was just saying. I also got paralyzed for the first time in over a year two nights ago so all in all, we are struggling a bit there. Even though my GI stuff was under control, I was still having horrible pain and bloating in my lower abdomen. Since your girl has been sick for 9 years, I’ve become pretty familiar with my body and I could tell this bloat was different then the stomach bloats I was used to—this was all female related. So I brought up the topic of endometriosis to my docs again. About 2 years ago, when working at The Mighty I came across a lot of information about endo and started thinking I may have it. I’m going to do a whole episode on my podcast about endo soon but briefly let me explain what it is. Basically, the endometrium tissue from inside the uterus starts growing outside it and can cause horrendous pain, heavy periods and many more issues. My doctors have been testing it with birth control for 2 years and it’s been good but with the GI issues resolved, I started to realize a lot of my pain I’d been in for years was in fact from down there. So, 3 weeks ago I had a laparoscopy done to see if I actually have endometriosis and low and behold, I do. The doctor removed what was there and I have been trying to recover since then.
What is supposed to be a 5-7 day recovery for most people (according to my doctor) has been a 3 week recovery for me. Because of this surgery, we had to stop all of my medicines. I had to stop my sauna treatments and detox baths, too. At first, I was terrified to stop my treatments, but I’ve actually been doing pretty well. Even though it’s been three weeks since my surgery, my doctor is still being super slow about restarting my meds as we want to let my body rest and recover a bit from the trauma of surgery before we start throwing more at it.
We are also doing this because my liver has been having issues. I had some bloodwork that was a bit off a few month ago and that, with my symptoms, my doctor believes that my liver is pretty much shot right now. When you take any form of medicine, whether it be chemicals like antibiotics or natural herbs, your liver still has to work to filter them through. My liver has been working nonstop for nine freakin years. So we are giving her a nice little vacation for a little while longer so that hopefully, we will be able to fight off the last of the parasites and get me where I deserve to be soon.
But enough about my health, let’s have a life update shall we. I ended my semester at school yesterday. This was my 3rd semester at the University of Maryland and I love it—zoom school has been a blessing for me. I love my professors and classmates and the material is actually what I enjoy learning about—yes, I am that person that enjoys communication theories. I was lucky enough to get “tapped” for the Mortar Board at UMD which is an honor society with members like Condoleezza Rice and Rue McClanahan.
I have a few credits left to go but the end is so much closer than it used to be—then comes the looming “what do I do with my life” question.
While I still have some time to figure out that question, one thing I know for certain is that my life will always be spent advocating for those who are chronically sick. I have been seeing so many posts recently from fellow warriors about people not understanding, feeling alone, feeling guilty and feeling scared. That’s what pushed me to start my new podcast—It Goes Without Saying. I have learned so much over the last nine years and the most important lesson I’ve learned is that we have to speak up. We have to talk about the corrupt medical system. We have to talk about the shitty symptoms we are dealing with (sometimes literally shitty). We have to talk to one another and show support because this journey can get awfully scary and lonely at times.
Almost 40% of my life has been with Lyme disease and yet I wouldn’t change it—the knowledge I have gained about myself and the world is unreal, the amazing people I have met who have changed my life in so many ways and the person I am today. I wouldn’t have any of these things without this bug working its way through my body/life. So, Happy Lyme-aversary, spirochetes! Our next year is going to be the best yet!
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