Lymie Friends

Being hooked up to an IV for a couple of hours at the West Clinic allowed me the opportunity to meet others who were receiving treatments as well. The first lady I met was a woman who flew in from Connecticut. Lyme Connecticut which interestingly enough is where a lot of this whole Lyme issue started.

This woman was probably in her 40's. She's a mother of nine. She's even a grandmother although you'd never guess such a thing by looking at her. Nor would you guess she had had Lyme. She had been getting treatments for the last seven months and was now only needing to come in once a month just for maintenance. I enjoyed being able to visit with her.

One other Lymie I met wasn't in as good of shape. She was as pale as could be. Had a feeding tube inserted into her nose and wasn't as lively as the first woman I chatted with. I did get a chance to talk to her though. Her husband was there with her as well so we got a chance to hear his side of the story as well.

Her health had been ailing her for many years, from childhood really. She did her best to hang on. She had surgeries removing her gall bladder and appendix. But then crashed just last Summer.

She became quite sick, sleeping most of the day. Her husband said she'd only be awake 4 hours in the day. They took her to a multitude of hospitals but they didn't know what to do for her. The last doctor they saw shrugged her shoulders at them and told them to "go home". Her husband told me that they did so knowing that she only had a couple more weeks to live.

During that first week they found out about the West Clinic and, not quite sure whether to believe in such hullabaloo, took her there anyway. She had to be wheel chaired in. She was unable to talk. Unable to eat. Her skin color was gray. She was on the brink of death.

Although she looked quite sickly to me (and maybe that was mostly the feeding tube talking to me) her ability to walk and talk and be alive was a complete miracle to her, her husband and her four young children. And she was only improving. Her feeding tube was going to be taken out in a week.

Her issues stemmed mostly from Lyme and parasites.

One person that I should also mention is Alicia. She never had Lyme. But her daughter Sara did. Sara had Lyme ever since she was a toddler - they weren't aware of the fact that it was Lyme that they were dealing with.

Alicia was the lady who took and analyzed my blood under the dark field microscope. She was such a great listener and so compassionate and caring. I know she's able to be so compassionate and caring because she dealt with the reality of Lyme, through her daughters experience, for so long.

Here's her daughters story.

Alicia lived in a motor home, next to the West Clinic while Sara received her daily treatments. Alicia informed me (a few times) that her daughter is now completely well. "She's like the energizer bunny" she explained to me a couple of times. I just teared up. The story is touching but the tears came because I want to be energetic again too. I want to be who I know I really am again. It almost seems to good to be true.

It was nice getting to know these people. We all seemed anxious to hear each others stories. We all understood each other. Related to one another. We knew that even though we looked okay on the outside - our blood was (or used to be) riddled with the Lyme bacteria that wreaked havoc to our health and slowly pushed us away from being well and from enjoying life. Instead it created a life of constant struggle, unpredictable days and near death experiences. 

Although these new found Lymie friends and I carry an ache in our hearts, the ache is covered with hope. We are all in the right place and we know it. It was exciting and energizing to be there with them and I'm excited to meet others as I continue my treatments.