Tick-Borne Disease Specialist, Update.

I had my first appointment with my new tick-borne disease specialist yesterday and and it was absolutely amazing. He was engaging and talkative, cracking jokes and treating us like people, not patients. His office was extremely thorough in gathering information from me and examined what my previous doctor and was not very happy. A lot of treatment routes were overlooked or ignored altogether. 

I've been placed on two antibiotics (I'm choosing to not share what ones) and left the office with hope in my heart that this is the doctor who will get me better. I was offered IV antibiotics, but we're waiting on doing that unless I fail all other options, simply due to logistics. 

My doctor is a 240 mile round trip from where I live so being monitored while on IV would be extremely difficult and in this case would alter insurance coverage. I am going to look into options near me (we have an infusion clinic near our house) and the financials to see what we can do. 

We have even discussed staying near my doctor on and off if we are able in order to do IV, when and if the time comes. People might disagree, but my thinking has always been it's not worth doing IV if I can only do it for a very short period. I want to be able to take advantage of my insurance paying for more than just a spark in the pan. 

I was told my insurance, if I was closer, would cover long term due to my doctor being able to administer my infusions and monitor me directly. Right now we are taking a multitasking approach that hits multiple infections, but he was very honest and told me that we may end up trying varied approaches over the next couple of months until we see noticeable results. 

He is not integrative (body, mind, spirit), but that's okay. My other doctor is and is very good, just not so much with advanced Lyme and co-infections. I'm also looking into to seeing a naturopath (combines the wisdom of nature and the rigors of science) to do holistic and herbal treatments. 

There is also an integrative practice right near where I live that offers primary care services. I am planning on moving to that office when I am able to. Other options that I am dipping my toes into are biofeedback and acupuncture to help augment my treatment. 

I will be starting my antibiotics today and will chronicle my journey as a go through treatment. Whether that be the good, the bad or the ugly, so that someone out there suffering from tick-borne illness can see that they are not alone and that there is hope.

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell.

It has been five long years since my chronic Lyme diagnosis. Such a simple sentence and yet it exemplifies the summary of my recent existence. When I started on this path to wellness I honestly could not have imagined what has transpired. I've learned much about my limits and the strength it takes to survive a chronic illness.

I would be lying if I said this has not been a traumatizing experience. I have learned a lot about loss and living with what's left behind, a catalog of fossilized memories and a manic hope for the future. I'm mot the same person I was five years ago.

I have lost everything and gained much, faced death and lived to carry on another day. I am scarred but realize that no journey is complete without tragedy.

Life does not simply exist for the sheer purpose of light-hearted amusement. It is our collected experiences, both comforting and diabolical, that together sew the fabric of who we are.

I am still fighting an uphill battle, the darkness like a hound at my heels. However, I see the future beyond, growing past the fear of what I've lived, of what I must still face, running headstrong into the storm.

In loss you find truth. You find meaning.

KMH, 9/30/15