My Journey With Lyme Disease

Learning more about me: my struggle with Lyme Disease as a kid.

Lyme disease is a tick born disease, meaning if a tick bites you, you could get Lyme. Most people don't! You notice the tick, take it and no Lyme Disease. But what about the times when you don't see it on?

*Just because I don't look sick doesn't mean that I'm not sick. * Lyme disease is not an obvious disease, you won't walk up to me and say you have Lyme. That also means that people always say, you're not sick. But yes I am. *

Remember, this could all happen to you! So please, when coming home from the outdoors or anywhere a tick could be (woods, tall grass, etc.) check your whole body for ticks! Including your hair. You can never be to safe with ticks.

So after 24 hours since the tick got into your skin, you could have Lyme Disease. Again, I've known people who had a tick for more than 24 hours on their skin, but didn't get Lyme! It's all about luck, and if the tick doesn't infect you with its disease. This is my journey with Lyme.

I don't really remember how I got the tick on my skin, must have been hiking (we do that all the time) but I do know it was summer, I had horse camp that week, and my leg had a huge rash, and I was tired, the next day after hiking, the day I had to go to horse camp. I really still wanted to go to horse camp, so we told the teacher, she has a rash, make sure she's okay. Well, I survived! But I was super tired, and itchy!! My mom thought nothing of it, no one did. I am very lucky to have not a very bad case of Lyme, my mom had a super bad case of Lyme, headaches didn't stop, fell asleep at 5 woke up at 7, I had headaches and pain, yes but I am positive and try to view it as I am lucky. A few months later, my itchiness faded away along with my rash, and I was fine! Enjoying fall foliage, and then BOOM! I had another flare. Even though my Lyme is mostly better today, I have flares. Today, for instance, I have Karate, but I'm not going. Why? Because of my headache and fatigue I have today. Tomorrow I'll probably be fine! One night of not sleeping perfect will ruin a day. This flare didn't go away though. Mom took me into the doctor, and I got a test that I didn't have Lyme! Yay! I was super happy, but I was still experiencing fatigue and headaches. So we went back to the doctor, and she said I likely have Lyme and the test was wrong. I took six months of that stupid medicine and still didn't feel better. 3 months! So I stopped taking meds, and explored all natural treatments. We tried everything. All winter I had appointments with my massage therapist twice a week for an hour, I had a professional chronic disease doctor help me, and I started to feel maybe a little better? But that didn't last. After deciding that didn't work; we went to the normal doctor again and I was put on meds. I started to feel better after a while, for a month or two, so I was taken off meds and had a family friend help me with herbal natural remedies. That didn't really work. Thank god, as soon as summer 2020 came round when the weather was nice I FELT GOOD. For the first time in nearly 3 years of medicine, doctors, treatments, I felt good. And it kept up all summer. Hikes, swimming, I could do it all! And now, I still feel good. " Will my Lyme ever go away?"I asked my mom one day. Probably not. But for now I'm okay with feeling good 80% of the time. I'm grateful that I'm feeling better! ❤️

I want to also talk about what helped me manage to get through all the days in the winters and days I had to stay at home on the couch, and that's Shoplook. It distracted me from my headaches, and it entertained me, and kept me busy. I love Shoplook.

Thanks for reading and help me raise Awareness for my disease. 

-lyla