herxing

It's the middle of the night, and I'm awake. I'm taking a medicine for my Lyme this week that is actually an anti-malarial drug. It kills off the spirochetes and the cysts. How do I know? Because my legs won't stop shaking and jerking and I can't even focus on the computer screen. I'm pretty much typing blind and letting spell check do the rest. My pupils are dilated like I've been to the eye doctor. No matter how much light is in a room, my pupils are taking in huge amounts of light. Days and nights like these are no fun and horrible. No sleep plus crazy things happening to you makes for one tired Allison the next day. I have one more dose of this medicine and I could not be more thankful. Right now the jerking has moved from my legs down to my feet. I think I'm gonna turn my movie back on, cause there will be no sleeping with these crazy jerking feet.

It's easy to go silent

In Blog-land it's easy to go silent if you are busy, if things are difficult, or even if you just don't feel like sharing. I think that lately it has been a little of all these things. The medicines haven't been so bad this month, but the detox has. Joel and I both have noticed that in general I have more energy. I feel a little more like a normal person. I still can't leave the house by myself, but that doesn't bother me so long as I get to Chick-fil-A every week or so. I love their fries!! There are always chickens to take care of, cats and a dog to love on, and well, to be honest, there's always Facebook. Can I claim that it keeps me in touch with the rest of the world?

Detoxification is really important during Lyme disease treatment. When you kill off the spirochetes (the bacteria that makes you sick) and the cysts that they build around themselves for protection, the side effect is that they release terrible toxins into your body. I've never handled this well; my body just doesn't detox easily. I know that there are lots of ways to detox, but the ones suggested by my doctor are Epsom salt baths, green tea, burbur drops, and lactated ringers. Most of the time all of these methods are gentle, easy ways to clear your body of toxins. However, last week after two of the lactated ringers that I did, I had spells of confusion and short term memory loss. Both symptoms went away within hours, but it was scary. Joel called the doctor and they said that this was not unusual at this stage of treatment. I just finished four straight days of IV antibiotics tonight and I'm doing my first ringer in days. I hope that it doesn't cause confusion and short term memory loss, but I'm sure the phrase "better out than in" applies to toxins as well.

In other news, we let the barn chickens free range most of the day yesterday. Joel was home with me to supervise my medicine taking in case I had anything unusual come along. After my meds, I had to drag all of the young chickens out of the barn and into the yard. As soon as I put them on the ground, they looked down and realized there was green stuff and bugs to eat. They stayed out till 8 when we had to herd them back into the barn. Hopefully next time they will go in and out of their own accord. I thought I'd post some pictures so that you can see how happy they were. I loved watching them run around and eat their fill, dust bathe, or just sit in the shade and relax. They're so cute. The picture quality is terrible because all I had was my phone, but they are cute anyway.

Here is Eugenia Price sitting on the hull of an old lawnmower. I love this picture!!

My flock.

Chicken happiness!

I'll be selling eggs soon. I get about 9 eggs a day right now but that still leaves 14 chickens who need to start laying. It's getting more exciting every day!

Please continue to help us with this medical treatment.

Hope

I was really scared about doing my medicines today. Lots of pills this morning and 2 IV bags tonight. The second IV made me incredibly sick in DC when the doctor tested it on me. Tonight, however, I have had no problems except for a little bit of wobbly head. Let me just say, God gives hope and he does not hold back. Joel reminded me that the treatment could get much harder as the week goes on, and he is right. But tonight gave me hope, and sometimes that is all you need. The song I heard in my head this evening is one that we sang in the small church I grew up in. I absolutely love hymns and the hope and comfort that they give.

To God Be the Glory
To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Refrain

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain

Because hope always comes at just the right time.

One Crazy Weekend!

This past weekend we traveled up to D.C. It was wonderful to get out and go somewhere, especially as I love the city of DC so very much. I love the monuments and the magnificent buildings and the sense of pride one has when recalling how our nation was founded. I love the museums and have really wanted to go to the American Indian museum. Of all the museums, however, I love the ones that have art-fiber arts, painting, sculpture...Oh how I love art. It's not surprising then that I was an art major at college. But I love to read too. I just finished Brave New World and now I'm on to Macbeth. Oh, Shakespeare, you were brilliant. I actually didn't like Macbeth at all in high school, but I think that I didn't have the capacity to understand some of the lines. In Brave New World, the character named "Savage" spoke mostly in verses from Shakespeare. Thus, the transition from a dystopian novel to a Shakespearean play.

Our appointment with the doctor went okay. The normal things were fine-talking about symptoms and problems I'm having and his advice for how to handle it. One thing he did say was that I need an extra week off. My body has always had a hard time detoxing from the medicines. This week will be dedicated to getting those toxins out. I'll be doing lactated ringers, Epsom salt baths, and green tea. And rest. Rest is good. I felt fine at my appointment while they were administering my test dose of antibiotics to make sure I can take it without having an allergic reaction. It was fine-I'm not allergic. However, it took a toll on everything else. I started feeling like I had the flu. I was nauseated, weepy, and everything hurt. I couldn't eat anything till the next morning and even then I felt like I had been hit by a mac truck. I was in a haze the next two days with loss of balance, confusion, terrible short term memory, and weakness. People, it was no fun! But I did get to see my wonderful roommate from college. We lived together for 4 years and it was wonderful. Neither one of us were exceptionally tidy, but I remember looking at the floor one day and there was a line straight down the middle floor and my clothes went right up to that line. I didn't destroy her side of the room, I don't think... (Well, maybe you should ask Christy). Anyways, we had tons of fun together this weekend, and she even hung out with me when I was so sick on Friday night. I love you, Christy! This is the two of us at the Nats ballgame last trip up. We both love baseball!

We now have a place where you can sign up to bring us a gluten-free meal. The website is Food Tidings. You have to make an account, but that is super easy. Then you can pick a date that hasn't been chosen and sign up. If you have questions about how to make a gluten-free meal, feel free to contact me. I can answer your questions.

On a very happy note, two of the hens that I raised from chicks this spring have started laying. They have the cutest, most perfect little eggs you've ever seen. I haven't figured out yet which two are laying yet, but I'm super excited, and can't wait for the Easter Eggers lay. I'm dying to see what color eggs they lay. I really, really want one or all of my EE hens to lay blue eggs. That just might be a dream though. They'll probably all lay green eggs out of spite. Oh well!
Tchau, or goodbye as we say in Portuguese.

Please continue to help us make these trips to DC for medical treatment.

3:37 am

Good morning to those of you who can't sleep like me. I must suggest having some decaf green tea and a maple glazed gluten-free donut for not feeling sorry for yourself at 3:37 in the morning. I was out of chamomile tea-quite an accomplishment as we have 25 boxes of tea in the cabinet, but I wasn't about to dig around and pull out every tea box out for fear of waking the dog. I did find Tazo "Awake" black breakfast tea. That was decidedly out of the question, because at some point this morning I would love to crawl back in bed and sleep for a very long time. I've always slept better during the day due to the Lyme; I don't understand it, but there you have it.

I thought I would write a chirpy little post about some of the things I love-things that get me through the day. The first is my wonderful, loving, holds-me-when-I-cry husband. From the outside it may not be as visible as it should be, but this man sacrifices everything for me day in and day out. I could not have asked the Lord for a more perfect husband to take care of me. He married me knowing I was sick, and I was diagnosed with Lyme 9 months into our marriage. How's that for your first year of marriage? But he took it all in stride. This is Joel, my wonderful hubby, who loves Farmall tractors (John Deere is not welcome in our house), gardening, sci-fi, computers, XBOX 360, and fixing and building things. And I LOVE him!

The second thing I'd like to highlight are some of my favorite blogs and websites. I love to crochet and Lucy at Attic 24 in England is my absolute fav. She constantly comes up with new projects to try and graciously writes tutorials so that everyone can crochet them. She has a zest for life that not many people have, and it is for the simple things that I love-bright colors, nature, and family.

The next blog is the Carpool Queen's Blog. My friend Susan is the author here. She loves coffee as much as I do, and shares all of life here-the nitty gritty and the sweet moments. I'm not sure her boys technically qualify as kids anymore. This set of triplets just turned 14. I met them all 10 years ago and they will always hold a special place in my heart. Susan, celebrate having a week with a little less chaos now that the boys are at camp.

By now, you all know how much I love chickens, and Backyard Chickens is the best website/forum for figuring out what you need to know. When your chickens are sick, you can't always run them to the vet, though to be perfectly honest, one time I did. Those days are over, and now I'm the vet. Backyard Chickens has so much information that with enough searching you can usually find the solution to your chickens' problems.

Since I am starting to get sleepy, I'll quickly highlight three books that I've really enjoyed this year. I'd been wanting to read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley for a year or two and finally picked it up. It was amazing! Thanks to Mary V. for lighting a fire under my tail so that I would read it. If you like classic novels about dystopian societies, you should read this one. It is my favorite so far.

My next favorite was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It is a book about books-what could be better than that? Both books are about societal control and individuality. It is a great, quick read that will leave you thinking about it for days.

The final book that I enjoyed definitely surprised me. I don't typically pick up modern fiction, but The Paris Wife by Paula McLain was quite good. It focuses on Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, and the intensity of their life in Paris. The author is a great writer and the book drew me into the world of the Hemingways, Fitzgeralds, Pounds, and the ever important Gertrude Stein.

Farewell for now, I'm going back to sleep. It's 5:34 and the birds are singing. Hopefully Adah the rooster is not crowing. But I wouldn't bet on it. Here he is in all his glory...

As much as I love these things and my husband, I cherish the fact that I might be well in the future. Please help us get there by donating.

Why we need financial support

I've been wanting to write a couple of different entries lately, like "What is Lyme Disease," or "What do I need to do if I've been bitten by a tick?" However, this one popped out at me today as important because it might not be obvious why the insurance company won't pay for the treatment that Lyme patients so badly need. Over the years we have been given multiple reasons by doctors and insurance companies. Here is a list:

1. Lyme disease does not exist in North Carolina. (wrong answer!)
2. If you indeed have Lyme disease, the only treatment you need is two weeks of Doxycycline. You will be fine once that is administered. (not necessarily)
3. Chronic Lyme disease does not exist. There is no proof that it does. (the research is there but ignored)
4. A positive blood test is the only way to properly diagnose Lyme disease. (you also need to be evaluated for symptoms)
5. If you didn't have a bulls-eye rash, you don't have Lyme. Moreover, if you did not see the tick that bit you, you can't contract Lyme.(only 40% of Lyme patients have had a bulls-eye rash)

I'll try to address the reasons that affect my case quickly. Otherwise we could be here all night :-)

Backstory: I got into a nest of nymph/baby ticks on a hiking trip here in NC. I never saw the tick that bit me, nor did I get a bulls-eye rash. When I got sick 6 months later with typical Lyme symptoms (remember, I had  no hard evidence), my doctors brushed it aside. My test was negative. I don't remember if I did two weeks of Doxy or not. At that point, 16 years ago, a negative test meant NO HELP.

My mom took me to any doctor who would listen. The answer was always the same: your test is negative, and besides, this disease doesn't exist in North Carolina. The doctors were not kind. They wrote in their notes that Mom was seeking attention for herself. The reality was that she was watching her teenage daughter get sicker by the day.

It took 8 long years to get a diagnosis. I graduated high school. I graduated from Meredith College. By that time, I was married and was so sick that i couldn't hold a full time job. Eventually, I had to quit working. My mom and Mema convinced me to go to a doctor they had found, and I was immediately diagnosed. I did oral antibiotics regemines that to keep the illness under control. Over the last two years, however, that stopped helping for various reasons. The only choice I had was to do IV antibiotics for 9 months.

So here's the question: Why does this bright young couple need to raise $50,000 dollars? (Do take note of our very cute niece :-)

Because 16 years later, very few things have changed with doctors and insurance companies! There are small signs that more doctors are listening, but the insurance companies aren't. There is a tiny possibility that they will pay for 2 weeks of IVs, but it is more than likely that they will pay nothing, and the IV meds are very, very expensive. They don't cover doctors visits, and they don't consider that we drive out of state to get the best care. Bottom line, they make the decisions, and when it comes to Lyme disease the answer is NO. I don't say this for you to pity us or put a guilt trip on anyone. However, the reality is that we can't pay for this on our own. We need help from our family, friends, and the community around us. PLEASE DONATE TODAY! It will make such a difference in our fight against Lyme.

Good days, bad nights

Aside from Monday of this week, my treatments have really not been that bad. The morning IV's have gone swimmingly, but the evening treatments leave me feeling yucky. I just took my final antibiotic pill of the evening and I'm so thankful. I wasn't sure if I could get another one down. I'm doing my last IV treatment for two weeks and then we get to go see the doctor. I'm so excited about this! I'm actually excited about being off for two weeks, just to clarify. Tuesday and Thursday (my off days) were pretty good and I actually felt like a human being :-) The doctor believes that we will be able to get a good picture of my prognosis based on how well I do for the next two weeks. I do start a new pill next week that I have never heard of, but hopefully it won't be too bad. I'll let you know if it is.

 For the local weather report, we had a severe thunderstorm last night which left us with tons of limbs down but no downed trees, thankfully. Straight line winds preceded the storm and they were dangerous-up to 70 mph. I was convinced I was going to see one of the pecan trees in the back yard just lay on over. If the chickens in the outside pen hadn't had wire surrounding them, I'm convinced they would have blown away out of sheer stupidity. That really nice coop they have? Nope. They weren't interested in seeking shelter there.

 I have 3 laying hens who are all in need of treatment for an illness, and it is difficult to know what to do. There are no vets that really specialize in chickens, and then, really, how much is a chicken worth when it's all said and done? I've giving them baths and meds, and hopefully it will all start working. Ever wanna bathe a chicken? Just come on over and I'll put you to it. Here are the three fluffy butts and their rooster:

These meds make me so groggy. Blogging helps normally keep me awake, but I'm not sure it's working this time. I'm off to find a snack or something. Must.Stay.Awake.