Lyme Link

So, I thought I’d give everyone an update on where I am with the whole Lyme disease deal. After three years and two separate Lyme disease infections, I feel pretty close to myself again. I have gone from having one pain free day a month to two or three painful days, which makes a huge difference.

I do still have to really be careful when balancing checkbooks or setting up appointments. Figuring out what time I need to leave to get there and back again is oddly hard. I’m hoping I still improve, since I used to be the geek who got 99.2 in Algebra on her report card and now seem to have trouble with some basic math skills!

The biggest change is that I don’t plan to garden any more. I was a passionate gardener and a garden writer for several years. It is a hard decision, but turning the entire yard into a mown expanse is the best way to keep the ticks and all the wonderful little critters carrying them in the woods. I also will be adding more nematodes to the lawn to help stop new baby ticks from hatching.

I also make sure that my last stray kitty gets flea and tick drops every month to be sure she doesn’t bring any deer ticks up near the house. (I think I’ve mentioned the 19 cats and the kittens that were here when I moved in. They were covered in ticks from playing in the woods. I found homes for everyone but this little girl. She won’t be an indoor only cat, so she has a heated cat house on my porch to keep her warm.)

The important thing is that it took a long time, several sets of blood tests, several sets of antibiotics and bottles of Vitamin D, but I did finally get a lot better. So, if you are feeling like you’ll never get better a few months after you first got Lyme, please don’t give up. Go back to your doctor and ask to be tested for Lyme again because you may have gotten a second case. Ask to be tested for vitamin deficiencies. And keep believing you will get better. One day, when you least expect it, my prayer is that you wake up, get ready for the day and find yourself singing, “I feel good! I knew that I would now…” at the top of your lungs.

So, I have now discovered three different articles in farm journals by people who have free roaming chickens, turkeys, ducks and/or guineas and they all say the same thing. Those little birds love to eat ticks and they have many fewer ticks in their yards than their neighbors do. Hmm. If Avian Flu wasn’t a possible concern, I’d say that Cecil County needs to institute a chicken or guinea hen release program.

If that won’t work, maybe one of the other organic tick control methods researchers are working on will control the population around here. The USDA has an older report on some different methods being researched that makes for interesting reading. I’ve got some nematodes to spread in my yard and have that chore on this week’s to do list.

That’s right, folks. According to my doctor, it wasn’t a flare up, but an actual new infection because the lab work showed two different results - one for an active infection and one for a previous one. Since I’ve been taking every possible precaution, I’m a bit frustrated right now! The good news is that it was the milder form of Lyme as opposed to the form I had before. The bad news? It’s Lyme Disease.

So, now, although I finished the antibiotics, I feel like I have Mono and will probably feel that way for about six months on top of everything that’s still wrong from the first bout. Ick. Those guys in the country songs that mowed down paradise to put up a parking lot?  They probably had Lyme Disease and then got it again! I’d like to do that to all the nice green stuff around me, too.

Anyone else get two separate bouts with Lyme Disease  back to back or am I just special?

So, back in October, I went in for more tests because my bones were hurting so bad that I could barely walk. I felt like I had aged thirty years in one. My doctor was about out of ideas when she decided to test for Vitamin D. My levels came back ridiculously low. I don’t know if they were depleted from the actual Lyme Disease or just from being outside less in the summer, but I had levels in the teens instead of the forties.
When the test results came back, my doctor prescribed 2 Vitamin D supplements a day. (Not the plus calcium kind.) I didn’t end up pain free, but I am much better. I went from being barely mobile 24/7 to having a few joint pain flareups a week by the end of January. If  you start getting bone pain on top of the joint pain, don’t just think it is in your mind or let your doctor dismiss it as something unimportant. Ask for tests and keep asking until the doctor finds out what is wrong.

 I was planning to write this last week, but I was too sad. Lily, my mom’s little Yorkie, who was only 8 years old, died on Sunday from kidney failure.

My mom always made sure the dogs had a good flea and tick preventative and Lily was usually an indoor dog, but she did run off a few times last summer and there are fields nearby. Still, it wasn’t very frequent and no one thought to test for Lyme’s when she seemed sore because we thought the bigger dogs stepped on her. When she acted lethargic and sick a few weeks ago, my mom took her to the vet, who drew blood and ran tests. She said Lily had kidney failure and one of the things that caused it was Lyme disease. She went back and ran a Lyme’s test and, sure enough, Lily had Lyme disease.

She gave her three days to live and said she didn’t seem in pain, so my mom went home with an IV bag, a broken heart and her little dog. Lily actually lived two more weeks because, despite her tiny size, she was a spunky, feisty creature. We all said goodbye, but we are so sad that she died so young.

Please, please don’t just depend on your expensive flea and tick preventative to keep your dog safe, even if it rarely leaves the house. The bigger dogs were vaccinated against Lyme disease, but no one thought to vaccinate a small dog who spent most of its time indoors.

We love you Lily.

I was watching the first episode of the  third season for Ugly Betty last night because it is supposed to be more like the original season, which I loved. I’m not sure about that, but I’m glad I watched The Manhattan Project because Betty confronted a former school enemy (Kimmey, played by Lyndsay Lohan) to patch up a fight that ended up with her dad being fired and Kimmey listed a bunch of stuff that was going on in her life and said she thought she had Lyme.

I’m always happy to see a mention of Lyme disease in prime time television, even if it is in a slightly silly context, because it raises awareness.
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It never fails. I’m feeling great, so I agree to work a few days and take on an extra freelance project to boot. By the end of the week, the joint pain and nausea are just bugging me so bad. Why don’t I learn I can’t do that stuff like I used to? It just is someone else’s normal work week and it seems like I should be able to, but not happening.

Is this normal for Lyme?

I debated for a long time this year over whether I was going to garden at all. I considered options like getting a huge load of green concrete in and covering the whole yard with it, but in the end, I decided that the pleasure of gardening outweighs the risks. Besides, one of the feral cats probably delivered the tick that infected me to my door.

I could get a relapse of Lyme disease. Or catch West Nile Virus. Or receive a bite from one of the poisonous baby snakes that enjoy the rock wall. I could also get hit by a falling ceiling fan in the house. So, I’m gardening cautiously. Very cautiously. I’m doing my best to alleviate risks with:

• Light colored clothing with long sleeves
• Hat
• Off sprayed on my shoes

And I’m enjoying my time in the garden, even if it is a bit painful because of the joint pain and I can’t do the more strenuous activities I used to handle easily. The bulbs are blooming and the veggie garden (Freshly tilled thanks to my brother.) is partially planted.

I love spring, even it means a legion of infectious deer ticks are being hatched.

Here I was, working on a post about how I have felt like my old self for a good, solid week. No fatigue, no arthritis pain, no swollen, red hands, no mental blanks. I was so excited. I had an off day and thought it was just an off day. Then, the next day, major fatigue and swollen, painful joints.

Then, I realized something. I was on antibiotics for a bronchial infection and they were in my system for a few days making me feel great. As they wore off, the dratted Lyme related symptoms returned.

Even more annoying is the fact that my brother-in-law can’t comprehend that his sister recovered with no lasting side effects and I still have problems. He’s decided that what I have is carpal tunnel syndrome from blogging and freelance writing. Well, I can see where he’s coming from. It makes sense that all this typing is affecting my knees and ankles, as well as my hands. Aggghh!!

Well, I think I’m doing much better lately. I don’t suddenly lose words like I was doing. Do you know how annoying it is to suddenly forget the word for fridge in the middle of a conversation when you’re trying to sound intelligent?

“I’m just going to run and stick my lunch in…uh…that white box thing that keeps food cold and I’ll be right back to help you set up, ok?”

“You know, I think I’ve got it covered. Are you sure you can handle working today? Maybe you need to go home and rest.”

“No, no, I’m fine. Just forgot the word for fridge for a second there.”

I still tire out really easily, but something reconnected in my brain and on top of losing words less often, I am no longer taking an hour to compose a single paragraph. Yahoo!

I’ve been thinking, though. If I knew I’d get Lyme disease, would I have avoided gardening and hiking and feeding feral cats? I don’t think so. I still do some of those things, although I am a little weird about it.

“Here, kitty, kitty. I’ll just stand three feet away so I don’t startle him, wait til his head is in the bowl and stretch over with the treatment tube… Ah, ha! You’re good for another month, buddy.”

It isn’t cheap treating every stray I still haven’t managed to trap and place in a new home, but it is worth avoiding having them drag ticks near the house.

And gardening - well, I like to do that when temps are well below freezing and hide indoors when it is nice. I’m certainly not doing much, either. Walking across the yard wears me out. Digging and transplanting -forget it.

Hiking is still really important to me, too, but I haven’t gotten the nerve or the stamina to venture back out there.

So, what about you? Would you have still done things that could result in a tick bite? Are you still doing that kind of stuff? I really want to know.