Heal Thyself

"You're not doing all you can to help yourself"

Changing your life is hard. Changing your diet and habits is hard. Doing this while you have children, little time and money is even harder. However the above quote from my doctor this morning keeps ringing in my ears.

Have I changed my eating habits? yes, somewhat, but it has not been a wholesale change - at least not as much as I had when I started this process. I have regressed to some of my old habits. Eating fast food for lunch is difficult for me to overcome. Someone keeps putting chocolates outside my cube. ...And Coffee? Oh lord help me. I have a hard time even thinking about quitting.

Have I increased my exercise? Only a very modest amount. Finding time for this is difficult as I am not a morning person and that would be the only time I have to run.

So where are we now on my road to recovery? After 4 months of antibiotic I am going to continue drug free. My LLMD wants to take a 'wait and see' approach. eat better, exercise more and see if symptoms don't continue to improve. 4 months of treatment should be enough to kill the disease, but the only other thing we can do are expensive and inconclusive tests.

I will redouble my efforts at improving my lifestyle and increase my prayers to Blessed Pope John Paul The Great

Drug Free

As a preliminary to my next anointment with my LLMD, he asked me to go off all drugs for two weeks. One of the difficult things to know about Lyme is simply "are you cured?" Are your symptoms permanent damage done by the disease or a result of an ongoing infection? Getting of the drugs for two weeks is part of the diagnosis. I have therefore tried to pay close attention to my symptoms these past two weeks and my appointment is tomorrow.

Two days off drugs and I felt awful, as bad as I had ever been, however soon afterward (a day or two) I felt quite better and as good as I had since the start of my dizziness 9 months ago. that continued for the majority of the time. I was hopeful that I was at least disease free and could focus on repairing some of the damage done. 

Now, I am not sure. The past few days have not been good, Heart palpitations, increased ear ringing, nausea have all been returning. 

I believe I have a longer road to travel to a cure. I will post an update after my appointment tomorrow.

Please keep me and our family in your prayers.

You're Either On Something Or Onto Something

...and hopefully a little of both.

After the last visit with my doctor here is the complete list of medications/supplements I am on

(BIG RED disclaimer: This is a list prescribed specifically for me and is not intended to cure anyone else. If you have or believe you have Lyme please see a Lyme aware doctor)

Rx:

Doxycycline: (100mg 2x a day) Antibiotic - Kill those blasted buggers

Hydroxychloroquine: (200mg 2x a day) Another antibiotic to help the other antibiotic work better

Herbals*:

A-Bab: An herbal (and other) supplement to boost immune system and work as an antimicrobial

Samento: Another Microbial Defense Herbal Supplement

*These two I take 15 drops each in 6oz of water x2 a day- Drop it in wait a minute and slam it down, not that tasty but it's my daily elixir.

Supplements:

Alpha Base: (3 capsules 2x a day) Overall vitamin supplement

Immuno-viva Core Capsules: (1 capsules 2x a day) Immunity boost and essential fatty acids

Grape Pip: (1 capsule 2x a day) Mostly to help tinnitus symptoms I think

Probiotic: (2 capsules as often as I can remember) This is to help put back the good bacteria that all the antibiotics are killing

Vitiman D3: (25000 IU 2x a week) Support Immune system and help other medications to work better

Well - that's it. I think I have to go and take something now.

On the News - Finally!

Well, I have heard this now from several friends and I decided to blog it.  On August 4, Fox News reported on the new disease, 'Ehrlichia' transmitted by ticks. Surpise! Surpise! Did you know there are more than 100 different strands of the borrelia out there? Supposedly a little over 40 are present in the USA (as of now), but your blood tests are only checking for 10 strands.  Question: What about the other strands, shouldn't we be looking for those as well?  In Europe there are supposedly over 300 strands.
 I am not surprised to hear there is a new tick borne disease as reported by Fox News.  However, I am surprised at how long it is taking our medical community to figure it out.  WE ARE NOT GOING CRAZY! The news report covers the symptoms, and prevention for the disease and ticks in general (they got some of it right).  I question what happens when the symptoms go untreated, especially with the many people out there who would never go to the doctor for the flu, and the bacteria presents like a flu.  Coo dos to the news, they covered the statistics of Lyme, and anaplasmosis from last year to this year - 'Going Up!'   All in all, it was satisfying to see the media catching up to what we have known to be a problem for years, that the bite of a tick can really be bad.

Eat Your Fat

While my wife is on the topic of food, I'd like to share some thoughts on fat. Fat is good for us, we can't live without it and we should generally be eating more. I ran across this Paleo post today...

I told my friend I was thinking about trying to have a baby in the next couple years and she asked if I’d continue eating paleo if I got pregnant. I told her that the only change I’d make would be to add a larger proportion of fat into my diet.[...]
I told her I’d be eating more fatty meats. More lard, more pemmican, more organs, more fish eggs, AND more avocados and nuts. And don’t forget palm oil, coconut oil and fish oozing with omega 3′s. It’s all good.

Really? you can't be serious, but yes: Fat is much better than simple Carbs (breads)

Our bodies prefer it [fat] as fuel over carbs. Here’s a mantra to help you work through your guilt while enjoying your un-skinned chicken legs cooked in lard: my body prefers fat for fuel, my body prefers fat for fuel. Or just try to say it five times out loud because it’s fun.

Read the whole thing: Fat, fat, fat, fat. Eat some.

Say NO to Junk Food

Farmers Market Here I Come!

Junk food - really it has plagued us this past week.  Think your doing enough with how your family eats (interesting blog)?    Take the challenge begin to eliminate the bad stuff, and see where you end up.  I find this an interesting journey that we are on as a family.  Franklin noted that this past week of bad food choices has really taken a toll on how he feels.  I have noticed he seemed a little more forgetful, and presenting with more dizzy and sick symptoms.  It is that time of year when we spend way to much time at the county fair.  Yes, the kids are in 4H at the county fair, and instead of paying those terrible prices for junk food, I paid some lower prices at Costco for junk food!  What was I thinking?  Really, the Kudos bars, licorice, chocolate chip cookies, pretzel thins, and Vegi sticks were probably not the best snack choices.  The result has been cranky kids who are going off the wall with more agitation than they normally display, and short tempers.  We need to be done with quick meals for the county fair, and onto healthy cooked meals at home.

Cheese

Here is a response to the question about what kind of cheese I purchase.

First of all I look for top of the line cheeses, because they seem to have less preservatives in them and are more naturally aged. Having information on the farm or location of where the milk comes from is important. Sometimes a company will tell you the region or location of where the milk came from, or where the cow's grazed. Look for cheese with little to no additives - including added dyes. The fewer the ingredients the better.  Try to make sure milk or cream is the first ingredient. If the milk or cream is pasteurized it sometimes will be listed next to the milk. Purchasing cheese as a solid block, instead of shredded seems to me to be more fresh, or better quality.  I also find we use less cheese as a solid.

 I enjoy the strong sharp tasting Dubliner Cheese (Ireland), found at Costco, but it is very rich tasting and not something that all the kids like. I will purchased an occasional package of Feta cheese from Costco - but again I check the ingredients.   I do not remember the name of the White Cheddar I have purchased, but wow that was rich.  I find a small slice of this good quality cheese is really all we need when we do have cheese. There have been other brands, but I haven't had time to find them again.

We used to consume large quantities of cheese at every meal.   We had the traditional cheddar or mozzarella on everything we ate.  Now we hardly ever will see cheese.  I noticed the cheese I was purchasing seemed to be covered in a powder substance and I wondered if it was moldy (Kirkland brand shredded), but now after tasting good cheese I just can't go back.

Physically I can tell the difference when we eat too much cheese. My family will want to drink tons of water all night long, and seem extra tired and cranky through the next day.  A few will get tummy cramps the next day or several hours after eating too much cheese (pizza).   I can say that when we eliminated cheese (mostly) we find that we substitute other foods for cheese into the menu's, and it seems to be fine.  I make taco's and no one complains that there is no cheese.  I make avocado dips that capture my kids attention and they fight for that instead of the cheese!  I will admit that with the purchasing of several pizza's this month from Papa John's and Jets Pizza I was able to enjoy the delicious treat that cheese can be; but did I pay for it the next day -  tired and cranky!

My friend received information from  a company called Rumiano, and she and I were very impressed with their response to her. Here is what their representative wrote to my friend...


Thank you for contacting us regarding our cheese.  Yes, all of the Rumiano Cheese producers do sign an affidavit stating that they do not inject their cows with artificial hormones such as rBST/rBGH, making all of our cheese made with No Artificial Hormone Milk.  All of our dairies are small family owned dairies in Humboldt and Del Norte counties which unique climate allows year-round access to pasture.  The cows on average spend 300+ days per year on pasture, which is why our cheese is more yellow due to the high amount of beta-carotene.  When the cows aren’t on pasture they are in the barn staying out of the rain, the typical farmer says, “if it’s too rainy for me outside, then it’s too rainy for the cows.”  We also pay our producers a clean milk bonus for keeping their milk extremely clean, and process the local milk within 12-24 hours.  The difference between our conventional and organic products are the certifications.  The organic dairies have to be certified organic, which means that the fields haven’t been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides for the last 3 years, and the barns are situated a certain way to allow the cows to be close to the calves during milking, etc...  We actually went a step further and had all of our organic dairies become Humane Certified through the American Humane Association, which made Rumiano Organic Cheese the first Humane Certified cheese in the world.  We also recently became Non-GMO Verified through the Non-GMO Project for all of our organic cheese, which was a first in the world.  We use the best ingredients in all of our cheese both conventional and organic.  For example we use sea salt for all of our salt and only Non-GMO approved ingredients in all of our cheese.  Thank you for your inquiry and please let me know if you have any other questions.  Have a great week!

Regards,

Joby Rumiano

So there it is a little start on the road to eating healthier cheese, and as my husband said the other night, "Would you like some cheese with that wine?"  - No, I was not complaining, he just simply surprised me with some cheese, nicely cut up to go with my much needed Merlot for the evening - delicious.

How are you feeling?

This is the question that I receive most often. I know that people are just concerned about me and wish they could help, but it is the question I dread the most. Mostly because I almost never know how to answer. I usually just answer the generic 'good', in the same way anyone would answer the question "how's it going?" when the question is really just a greeting and not requiring your recent medical history as an answer. So If you are one of those people I have dismissed in this manner, I apologize.

I don't know how to answer this question because 1) I don't like to complain. I never have. I don't like to air my personal struggles with others, it's just who I am, so please don't take it personally. and 2) I honestly don't really know how I'm feeling.

I believe that everyone who has late stage Lyme deals with their own unique disease and it is difficult to describe exactly what I am feeling. At times all I could describe how I was feeling 'icky' or 'awful'. I know these are not very descriptive terms the best way I could describe it was that I felt I needed to throw up at a cellular level. The intensity of this was the worst before treatment started, fortunately this feeling has been one of the areas of the greatest improvement. Also, how I am feeling changes day to day. If I am asked "How are you feeling?" do you want to know this instant? might be fairly good (or bad), but I know that will change. So my response is often 'some days are better than others' For me it can sometimes be some hours are better than others.

..but I am writing this post to answer the question despite my personal issues and the difficulty of answering it. Overall at this point (after nearly two months of antibiotic treatment) and despite ups and downs my answer is: 'Slightly improved'

I'll take improvement by degrees. I knew this would be a long (and expensive) process. I hope for continued improvement as the days,weeks and months go by. I also pray for my son who will soon be on treatment as well.

thank you to everyone who has asked me how I was feeling and please keep Zachary and myself in your prayers - it is helping.

Victory I Guess

Constant battles and waiting for victories seems to be our latest family course.  Unfortunately, we found an EM rash (we think) around an unknown bug bite on our 9 month old on Friday.  I knew about the bite on July 4, and thought it was just a really bad mosquito bite.  After seeing this bite go from bright red, hot, swollen, pea size pimple, to a flat scar like color, and then a red ring around it, I decided urgent care on Saturday was our next plan of action.  The urgent care gave us a horrible lab technician, who used an adult size butterfly needle on my babies arm.  She missed his veins in both arms, and fished for it both times.  Obviously the needle was so big it just kept pushing his vein around.  I firmly asked her to remove it the first time, and the second I told her "Stop, No fishing!"  She immediately obeyed.  Today at our clinic I had a great lab technician who took out a baby size needle, which was how I knew the other lab tec. screwed up.  I shared with them my experience and they just shook their heads.  She even told me she would never fish, if she didn't find it on the first poke she would remove it. Nothing like a confident, knowledgeable lab technician to draw blood from your precious baby.

I was given some interesting facts from my babies pediatrician today, who called to allow 10 more days of antibiotic for our baby who originally received 10 days from the urgent care doctor.  Dr. Y informed me that she spoke with an infectious disease specialist about Lyme disease, and she was corrected by this infectious disease specialist with regards to EM rashes.  Dr. Y originally believed that around "50% of cases present with an EM rash," however today she found out the "90% of all cases actually have an EM rash,"  she went on to state that most people need to just check more carefully because almost all the time there will be some rash.  Unfortunately, I strongly disagree, and they just keep thinking that those stats exist, when in reality it is closer to that 20-30% listed from published Lyme aware Doctors.

Dr. Y told me that she was confident that I would be able to find a rash, because I check my kids so well.  Oh, please!  I told her that I just completely disagreed with the infectious disease specialist, because the cases in my house with positive (lets go with them) results did not ever have an EM rash.  I only know one friend who has had an EM rash, and others who were confirmed positive with no rash.  The doctors seem to have no accurate information to go with, and constantly they seem to be questioning what they originally knew.  Our nine year old was the only one, and now baby, who have ever had EM rashes, and test results both times were negative for my older son (waiting for baby, confident it will be negative).  I really believe that we need to stay connected with educating ourselves and keeping our doctors reading as well.  My little victory for today was Dr. Y gave the extra antibiotic to bring my baby up to 20 days total for treatment, falling short only by 1 day of the recommended dosage.  I guess that is a victory.

Our legacy - Our Children

There are many directions we parents must consider when looking into the health of our children, and one of these is vaccine information.  What about the huge levels of Autism being seen across the country?  What will be the long term implications if we vaccinate, and what about if we don't?  My husband and I do vaccinate our children, but we choose to vaccinate at a later age.  We also limit what vaccinations we feel they should get.

What to do:
I decided to stay connected with Dr. Mercola, and his website, because he shares similar views on our health as we do. My children have upcoming vaccinations, and I decided to check the vaccine calculator to see what levels of chemicals are really in the vaccines I want to inject into my kids.  After contacting our pediatrician I was given the manufacturer and brand names of those vaccines that my children would be receiving.  I then went to the vaccine calculator and plugged in all our choices. I made sure to choose the safest (in my opinion) vaccine without compromising my moral beliefs - NO HUMAN FETUS CELLS.  Each child's vaccination report was then printed, revealing what levels of each harmful chemical would be given at one time to my child. I am currently NOT OKAY with some of those levels of dangerous chemicals: Mercury (non have), Aluminum 455.0 mcg (36.5 mcg is safe range), Formaldehyde exposure amount 105.5 mcg (no level is okay), Phenoxyethanol 5.8 mcg, Yeast protein 1 exposure, Bovine protein 1 exposure. Those rates are for my 9 month old baby!  The levels for my 5 yr. old, and 11 yr. old are even worse. Really, is this actually what I want to do?  Every time, no joke, that I vaccinate my children they come down with flu like symptoms, and high fevers, and aches - Is this okay?

I decided to research what the FDA reports on these vaccines, and what the risks of natural exposure instead of a temporary, poorer choice vaccination would be. I found more information on Dr. Mercola's site, but I did find information through the FDA's own listings. Now I am wondering if I should forgo vaccinations altogether.

I suggest that if you are interested in finding out what is in the vaccinations that you want for your loved ones you start with Dr. Mercola, and start reading some of his information.  The question remains, does the vaccination out way the risks of the disease in it's natural stage?  Will our children be immune for ever?  According to Dr. Mercola he addresses these questions and more through his ongoing research and findings. He said recently on a video about the Mennigitis vaccination (need to be signed into his website), that a vaccination is an inferior way of building up antibodies to these diseases, because they are manufactured and not identified by our bodies the way a true immunity would be produced in our bodies had we contracted the disease in our natural environment.

We parents need to feel we can make an informed choice when it comes to vaccinations, without the government (state) mandating what drugs must be shot into our children. This is not a money making issue for us parents, it is the life and longevity of our legacy, our children.

A Doctor, A Doctor, We are going to see a Doctor!

Keeping our blog up to date has been challenging in the midst of our busy planning for 4H and county fair just around the corner.  This past week with the terrible food (sugar), lack of sleep, and too much sun stirred up a challenging week with our oldest son who was feeling very sick (possibly symptoms from Lyme).

I prayed to God to please help our son get to the Lyme doctor now, and through the intercession of Pope JPII I asked a very specific request, 'For my son's appointment in August to get moved to an earlier date - Lord I will take anything.'  Two days after my prayer request (today) I decided I should call the clinic and ask if they have any cancellations.  God is good, because I never had to call the Lyme clinic - they called me!  Yes, that is right, my son's appointment moved to next week.  This is fantastic news for desperate parenting this past week, especially after seeing our son suffer so horribly.  Thank you Jesus for leaning your tender ear our way.  Peace be with you all.

EM Rash

Here is the photo of our son's EM rash.  Sorry for the poor quality.

Medicine Zone

Thursday morning, my nine year old son, came crying into my room frustrated that he could hardly get down from the top of his bunk.  He came to me all tuckered out and whined, "I just can't pick up the baby today.  I can't stand straight, my back has sharp pains up and down the center.  My shoulder is throbbing."  I was  concerned while listening to him rattle his symptoms off, that naturally he needed a hug - Thank God he had no shirt on!  There it was, the red EM rash, the size of a baseball.  It was a little surprising at first to see, because this was our first ever EM rash.  Then came the dozens of questions only a mother knows how to drill, "Did you fall and hit your back?  Did a ball hit you?  Did your brother hit you?"  and the questions went on.  Then I realized what I  was looking at, the mark of the Lyme beast; and I felt slightly greatful. Unfortunately, he had been suffering from  a list of symptoms since the end of May, right after I removed a normal wood tick embedded deep beneath the skin.  I was told wood ticks can not carry Lyme disease and not to worry.  After symptoms started showing I went in for the tests, but they were negative.  Without a known deer tick bite, EM rash, or positive test results his doctor would not prescribe an antibiotic.  I have no idea if he got bite again, or if this was some delayed rash, but I pray the 21 day antibiotic treatment will be enough.  It is all about how soon treatment can be started, and our doctors need to start using clinical diagnosis, to prevent the long term suffering for some people.  Check out this link, I had no idea the rash could appear around 32 days after exposure - Wow!

I am a firm believer in keeping lists, and well kept logs for each  child and their symptoms (I have a horrible memory).  I had a clear list of symptoms, dates, strange marks or known tick bites for my adventurous son.  As frustrating as it was, I believe we parents need to have this type of knowledge as proof, in order to help direct our doctors in properly seeking the correct diagnosis.  Perhaps these listed dates and symptoms played some roll in helping treat our son this time around, but I truly believe it was the EM rash which was the clincher.

The question was asked by a friend, 'What would you have done if the doctor wouldn't prescribe antibiotic?'  The plan would have been - Find a Doctor Who Will!   As mothers we seem to just know what is normal for our children and what is not. A good doctor should really listen carefully to our concerns.  It just isn't normal for a nine year old to have joints that ache, back pains, shoulder pains, unable to put on their socks, or not want to play their favorite sports.  When they just want to sleep, or lay around sad, then there is really something seriously wrong.  I believe there are other diseases out there as well, and this is the tough part about Lyme, but when in doubt what is the six dollar antibiotic going to hurt?  Yes, I realize we do not want to create the super bug, but diagnosis at the clinical stage is very important and we need to be on top of this disease. I pray our doctors can learn to take ownership of their educations and start learning to be doctors of medical science, to solve problems outside of the box, and have the confidence to treat our sick loved ones.  This is the war zone we are living in, our American medical system at its best. We should hope for a better medical future, where we have doctors who are not under the governments thumb and insurance companies stifling grip; that's a blog for my husband.

Bon Appétit!

Thanks to a friend, I was able to enjoy this 'Meatrix' video. If you haven't seen the movie Matrix, then the above link might not be as funny as I found it to be.

In December, I started researching the food we buy and where it comes from. I enjoyed watching the television series with Jamie Oliver, who has been trying to educate the American people about our horrible eating problems. Check out his Food Revolution! He seems to have encountered some horrible restraints, with absolute fear pressed upon him from our government run agencies. American's should be outraged to know, that in the land of the free, this man is not allowed to reveal the truth behind our nutrition.

Some other serious footage we saw on Netflix, showed how our food is grown, fed, and prepared for our consumption. If you want to be educated on corn, and how good corn really is for us, try this movie on for size - King Corn. If you are a meat eater, or know someone who is, then you should make sure to watch Food Inc., before you purchase your next meat products.

These were just a few of our basic steps in getting back to traditional, healthy, farm fed and home grown food.

Bon Appétit!!

Paleo vs. Traditional Cooking

The showdown started with my husband reading his new book about the Paleo diet on one couch, and me reading Nourishing Traditions across the room from him.  I had to laugh, each was sharing something exciting from their book, trying to win over the other person with a fantastic fact for our future.

In January this past year, I started researching how to help my family eat healthier.  As I have mentioned in other posts, we implemented many changes in our diet, and the biggest was cutting out sugar, and processed foods. The result, aside from the complaining children over what they no longer get to eat, will hopefully be a life altering approach to our favorite pass time - eating! Although, I really enjoy my Nourishing Traditions book, and the fantastic nutritional scientific analysis Sally Fallon provides in her book, I am forced to figure out what  I can continue cooking and what must go.

A question that keeps running through my mind is, Why not MILK? Eliminating milk in all it's forms is required with the Paleo diet, and I admit this bothers me. My family has been consuming raw, fermented, full- fat dairy since January, and loving every minute of it. I use the raw milk in different ways, one of which is for kefir.  I enjoy making smoothies as a probiotic drink with kefir, and for soaking our oatmeal (kefir is one way to help break down our grains - through fermentation).  The raw cream is fantastic!  I use it for cream soups (no more processed powder substitutes or canned milk products), homemade whip cream, drizzled over fresh fruit, or in a cup of coffee (no more artificially processed creamers).  Yes, the milk tastes delicious, and none of my kids have complained of any tummy pains. I believe this is where Loren Cordain, the author of The Paleo Diet, falls short.  I would really like to see research by Cordain or the Paleo scientists on raw, unpasteurized, non-homogenized, grass fed cow's milk. The facts and research he states in his book I agree with, no one should consume the highly processed milk from the store. The research is definitely out there, just start reading to find the many layers with which our government is involved in our food, it is stifling.

I feel a little better after Franklin sent this post to me today about dairy, and another with regards to the paleo diet.  I believe for now we will continue to drink milk, at least those not infected with Lyme in our family, but reduce the quantity of raw milk consumed each day.  As for cheese, I had already made the switch from shredded, colored, or highly processed cheeses, to the longer aged, milk based (raw grass fed - if possible) and to learn more about the farm or region that our cheese came from.  I have found some acceptable cheeses at Costco, costly , but the taste is amazing. No longer does my family oink down cheese like we used to.  We are limited to one slice when served for a meal (because of cost), and this has been fine considering the quality of the cheese is notably better.  Research that I had found, stated  that the longer the cheese aged the less lactose it has, the less lactose in cheese the less carbohydrates present; result less sugar and that is great.

Even though I am clinging to our dairy, my husband will be dairy free, and Zachary, well he is trying very hard to figure out all these new changes.  Like my younger son exclaimed, "I am on the Paleontologist diet, like dad!" as he joyfully refused his glass of milk today. With laughter in our hearts we remember we are on this journey together, and God will help us.

Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs!

Currently, I am struggling with reminding myself not every pain, ache or fever my children come home with is a result of the haunting bacteria, Lyme disease.  This past week of runny burning eyes, aches in our bodies and joints, headaches, fatigue (like mono), and fevers which plagued our family, reminded me that we can actually get sick from other bugs!  Last night, as my husband and I cooled our 104.4 fever ridden daughter, I worried about the infection known as anaplasmosis, which she could have gotten from a deer tick.  Of course, I knew nothing about this disease except what the local news put up about it this past month, and so I worried. Especially, because our little one's fever was so sudden and eventually a rash started over her arms and chest.  Reassuring our daughter she was not going to 'die' as she kept asking, we all calmed down.

Looking back over the years, I can say it is definitely scary to see my active child go into such a lethargic, withdrawn state and see them suffer so quickly from something invisible to the eye, doctors, and even those unreliable tests. Non, of my infected children ever had the EM rash, but all of them presented with a few or all of the following known acute Lyme disease symptoms, such as; headaches, mild aches and pains, low grade fever (rarely over 101 degrees F), and mild flu-like symptoms.  As you can see, that sounds like every flu our children have ever had!  Well, I still keep a notebook close at hand and make sure to note strange flu's that are out of season, and any other possible symptoms - just in case. Tonight, we enjoyed grilling on Nana and Pop's deck, being bit by mosquitoes, watching the bugs crawl over the deck, feeling the warm air hold us, and walking back home through the woods. This is living.

Under His Eye

Our first prayer request to find a doctor for Franklin and Zachary has been answered!  On Friday May 27th, I shot out an email  to a Lyme aware doctor in the twin cities, and received an immediate reply from him, "Yes, make them an appointment!"  Thank you Pope JPII the Great!

So why do I believe Pope JPII is praying with us for the doctor and the cure? First, I had an intolerably difficult week of calling numerous doctors. Continuously, I was turned away with, "We are not accepting any new Lyme patients." This I am certain, was my cross to bear for the week.  Then after some crying, and praying,  I received the name of Dr. F (he is trying to "stay out of the radar") from our chiropractor.  Tired of calling doctors, I decided this would be my last attempt for the day.  I researched Dr. F's clinic, and to my surprise, I had found that he was connected to a particular homeopath I had been trying to contact for a few day's without any luck. Then the email!  Three minutes after sending him an email, requesting treatment, I  received Dr. F's immediate response to treat my spouse and son. Overjoyed with this hope, my family was able to enjoy most of our long weekend.  Then there was the cancellation of an appointment at Dr. F's office, which lead to Franklin being seen several months earlier, and for my sick husband this was a big deal. Zachary, however, will have the next available appointment which is in August, but I am praying for a cancellation to bump him up as well.  After praying that God would open doors he wished opened, and tightly close those He knew needed closing, we began waiting for the appointment.  God is Great!

Franklin, has since been to his "Surprising!" visit with Dr.F, who he seemed to mesh well with.  His doctor wrote out the plan for his recovery, and started him on a second antibiotic.  We were strongly pulling for this kind of treatment, and hoping to see further progress in healing.  Dr. F has asked Franklin to change his diet with the adherence to no processed foods, no dairy, and no grains - following the strict diet from, The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain PhD (80-85% adherence before his next appointment).  Franklin has also increased basic supplements that Dr. F advised for the general area's of vitamin and mineral nutrition, fatty acids, gut ecology, vitamin D levels, and healthy immune function. We're mindful of how important it is to have faith in these times of trials, and to keep our eye's on him.

What are Their Symptoms?

'What are their symptoms?' is the most asked question from those who hear our story.  Well, for the sake of my son's privacy I will not discuss his symptoms.  It is hard to admit, but I never saw my husbands symptoms as Lyme disease until recently, because I thought they should have resembled our son's multitude of symptoms, and they did not.  Unfortunately, Franklin's journey started before 6 months ago with symptoms.  It was only six months ago when  he finally sought out medical advice.

One thing that I had Franklin do immediately after diagnosis was make a list of  symptoms.  I believe this is important to document all the possible ailments experienced, which could be an indicator of how long one has been struggling with the disease.  Also, when antibiotic treatment starts it can make you feel better (eventually), but then symptoms may return.  Having a list will help prove to your doctor your not crazy, and these symptoms were present at some point in your life.  In our son's case that was the problem.  We knew he had chronic Lyme, but the infectious disease specialist said the antibiotics (3 weeks) were enough to kill the bacteria, and his symptoms that returned were just underlying normal kid symptoms.  They gave us horrible advice one of which was to seek psychological help.  We were reminded the disease was gone (even though they never did any co-infection tests, and dismissed the fact that I removed a deer tick from him when he was 11 months old) cured by that miracle drug Doxycycline (right!).

These are most of the symptoms for Frank.  They occurred as early as 1998 and to the present.  Allergies, eye floaters, ear ringing and hearing problems, carpal tunnel, numbness in hands, feet issues, nausea, dizziness, heart racing, sensitive to loud sounds, foggy brain (unable to think clearly, or remember names of things and people), decrease in appetite, migraines, fatigue (only recently), inability to sleep, itchy scalp, hair loss, numbness in cheeks.  He does not ever remember the EM rash. (Just a note less than 50% of people have this rash.). Unfortunately, his numerous list of specialists, expensive tests (every scan in the book it seemed), unnecessary medicines (never cured ANY of his symptoms), everything the doctors did came back NEGATIVE and "You just have a virus, this will run it's course and you will be better soon."  kept plaguing my husband.  I saw my stable husband on the verge of his first ever mental breakdown.  Thank God for little miracles - I thought of Lyme disease.  Can you believe that not one doctor considered to ask, "Where do you live?  Could you have been bite by a tick ever?"  Had they looked into our lives and inquired if we possibly live near tick infested woods, or MN for heaven sakes, maybe they could have found this disease 6 months earlier.  Had I not suggested the possibility of Lyme, how much longer would my husband have questioned his medical health.  I was feeling the burden of fear, and the uncertainty of how to help him, especially when he would say, "I am not sure I can live like this."  Symptoms like these, and many others are one of the reason's why this disease is so hard to diagnose. If you know someone who has a series of undiagnosed symptoms,  don't hesitate to have them be tested for Lyme disease.  Remember, if the doctor dismisses the possibility of Lyme, then find a Lyme intelligent doctor who will test your loved one.

'I Sing for Joy at the Work of Your Hands'

Thunder crashed. Hail fell like marbles over our roof, and at our windows, early this Memorial day morning.  When I finally rolled out of bed, around 10am (nice to sleep in), I went to our windows and pulled back the curtains, and  for the first time in over two weeks I was able to see the work of the Lord's hand through our captivating multi - green oak tree forest.  The rain this morning woke every leafy green plant up - it was breath taking.  For the past few weeks I have been living in the fear that circles our home.  We live in a very thick, shady woods and it butts right up to our yard.  Every time I looked out into those woods I would think ticks, lots of ticks, and nothing beautiful, nothing peaceful for my soul.  I would some times cry over the overwhelming fear that  my children would be found day in, and day out running through trails to feed the rabbits or visit Nana and Pop, most likely collecting ticks.  Today, however, I came to the realization that this is God's home, and I must trust in the Lord.  With that, I can hear the words of my friend, who expressed, "Just burn your forest down."  She was joking, obviously that is not possible.  The question then remains... How will we protect our children?

Prevention!

Well, in the book The Lyme Disease Solution they cover many preventative measures, and I will only cover those that we are able to do at this time.  First and for most, we pray that the Lord will protect our children, even when we try our hardest to stop the tick insanity.

Mow, Mow, Mow!  My son started with mowing the law and then into trimming the weeds around the house, and making our environment less tempting for ticks. After my son took care of the lawn, my hubby went out to tackle the many trails my children have in our forest.  This is no easy task for a sick man.  I heard the chainsaw for about 5 minutes, and then shortly after he came in to tell me he was tired and that was enough for today.  Wow, this is hard to handle.  I am used to the man who could go out on a Saturday, early morning run, God only knows how many miles, and then do yard work until dinner.

To Gander Mountain and home again. We bought the yard spray, the rat poison (we have mice, which are the leading carriers of deer ticks, along with squirrels, deer, and birds). Daminex tubes are supposed to be the best to kill the ticks on the mice.  We are just out to kill the mice! Permethrin spray (0.5% aerosal, other options: Duranon, Permanone, Permakill), is the choice we have chosen for our children's clothing. .  Apparently, Avon makes Skin-So-Soft Mosquito, flea, and deer tick repellent that supposedly the military uses profusely (haven't found this one yet).  When the kids go outside we will spray their clothes with deet spray 97%, or at least 30% (this one has proven hard to find).  Franklin found information on these current myths regarding deet.  Eat lots of Garlic- yummy - insects hate the smell.

"Strip those clothes off in the garage!"  has become my common phrase to my adventurous, outdoor children.  Then we proceed to the check out line.  No, joke, it is a very challenging procedure to check six kids, but it must be done each time they go out and come in.  We only hear the boys complain, because they spend the most time in our woods and are constantly being checked.  Often times they have to wait outside until I am ready to check them over.  Yesterday, we found a nymph tick the size of a pen's head on our five year old.  It was just walking through his hair, but we were able to show the boys how important it is to look closely for those nearly invisible ticks.

Next, don't water the lawn!  This season with all the rain, MN is prime for the breeding of those dangerous ticks.  We look forward to the middle of summer when God blesses us with the hot days, and the decrease in ticks who hate the hot sun.  That's right, we won't water our lawn. Shade and moisture is where ticks desire to live, so eliminate those factors and your rates of tick bites will drastically decrease.

Camping... Great, my least favorite activity for my family.  I no longer go camping, but that is a different post for another day.  I have seen my men come home with dozens (no joke) of ticks and they just keep on crawling out of their clothes, and sleeping gear. Well, spray is the best for decreasing the amount of ticks. Checking and early removal of ticks is next.  The tents and gear, we just learned, are supposed to be sprayed down with permethrin as well.  Then each child is always sent with a large black garbage bag for all used clothing to be sealed away to contain the ticks.  My husband is the one who takes the kids camping, so if these things really are dealt with properly one would have to ask him. One thing is for sure, when the come home, I will feel like ticks are crawling all over me for days to follow when they return - creepy.

As my daughter said last week, "Why did God have to make ticks anyway?"  Well, other than to feed the chickens, I told her to ask God when she gets there.  With a big hug, we smiled, and remembered to be joyful for the things that God has created.

The Eye Opener

While watching the video, Under My Skin, several weeks ago,  I had this horrible heart racing feeling that my husband was suffering from Chronic Lyme Disease. I fearfully looked over to my sick and suffering husband (over 6 months of severe problems) and said, "Have you been tested for Lyme's yet?"  His response, "No, can you make me the appointment?" That evening, was the second time in my life that my eye's would be opened to the reality that one of my loved one's was suffering from the horrible imitator disease, Borrelia burgdorferi  (Bb). After my husband Franklin was tested for Lyme disease, I persisted in emailing the doctor, begging him to administer antibiotics now, and not wait for the unreliable test results.  Like most doctor's, he would not give the medicine without the confirmation from the test (I don't blame him, for I am that crazy wife who is paranoid over reading into her husbands long list of symptoms for over 6 months), and so we waited. Knowing that many of these tests come back false negative, I feared the worse.  Believing in the power of prayer, I turned to God, and my family went to mass and petitioned the Lord to produce the positive test results needed in order to receive antibiotics.  In God's goodness later that day Franklin's test's came in positive, and Franklin started antibiotics (that is the key).  For Franklin the journey has just begun, and the antibiotic Doxycycline is just the beginning of a long road to healing.

Several days later I finally got smart and went to my husbands appointment to support him on this journey.  I had this strong urge to hit our doctor over the head and scream my frustrations out at him for not catching these symptoms earlier.  Knowing my husband would not appreciate those actions I depended on my knowledge and began the steps in educating our family practice doctor on the true nature of this bacteria.  I know it is not our doctor's fault, but still there needs to be an awakening for our medical professionals.  After years of research, and literally weeks of cramming as much knowledge into my head as I can find time for, the true struggle for us seems to be underway. Finding the specialist for our family that will treat my husband and son for chronic Lyme disease.

In future posts, I  hope to share my thoughts and frustrations that we are undergoing with Lyme disease. Hopefully, I will be able to share our joys while on the way to recovery, even in the midst of  those dark forests where light seems unable to penetrate our need for healing.  My hope is that those who read this post will become aware of how to prevent Lyme disease, and how to catch the early signs, and what to do at the different stages of the disease.  Perhaps we will all learn to sympathize better with our loved ones or friends who are truly struggling physically, mentally, and financially from Lyme disease. As a friend of mine said last week, "Are ticks really that big of a problem here?"  Well, education is a start, and sharing our story could possibly help others see through the numerous tests that their love one may be undergoing, only to hear those same frustrating words over and over again, "Your test results were negative, it is probably a virus, take some time to rest more, and try this medication.  Your symptoms will gradually get better."  Instead, perhaps it is time to help them find a Lyme literate doctor, who will test to see what is actually Under Their Skin!   JPII pray for us.