My Life with Lyme (and Hopefully Without)!

  Appointment 4 – 12/01/2020 This is the appointment that I had been eagerly anticipating for the last 4 months.   Not the actual appointment itself but an appointment where we found something that was potentially a cause of some of these issues and not just a result of something.   Something that if we are able to fix it, I could actually make some progress towards my body working properly again.   What was this diagnosis?   The answer would be something that I had heard of many times in my life, especially growing up in MN, but I had no real knowledge about.   The answer would send me down a rabbit hole of research, opinions and other people’s experiences until my head was spinning.   The answer was Lyme Disease!   I quickly was up to my eyeballs in IgM versus IgG antibodies, Lyme band numbers (along with intensity percentages) and CDC (USA) testing results criteria versus alternate (the rest of the world) testing criteria and how all these th...

I had said in my first post that this process was similar to peeling back an onion.  You have to peel back one layer to see what is underneath.  In my case, I guess it could also be described as a Domino Effect.  One issue lead to another issue which lead to another issue and so on....  This post will will take us through my first three appointments at The Genesis Center and the first two dominoes. Appointment 1 - 07/28/2020 My first appointment was around the beginning of August.   I discussed all of my issues and we talked extensively about my medical history.   The first step was lots of bloodwork to see where my body was at currently.   An extensive panel of tests was ordered and what seemed like an endless number of vials of blood were drawn.     This is a list of all the tests that were ordered: CBC with Differential/Platelet Comprehensive Metabolic Panel Thyroid Panel with TSH (not just TSH and T4) DHT Testosterone, Free and Total ...

Where to Start? Honestly, I am not sure exactly where to start because I don’t really know when it all began.  I also don’t know where it will end but what I do know is where I am now and how I got to this point!  Before I even go there, however, I want to set the record straight.  I was a solid B- to C+ student when it came to English Class.  This means that this blog will likely have numerous grammatical errors as well as run on sentences and I am sure the occasional improper use of certain words.  That being said, I want to write this blog in hopes that someone reading this may at some point think "That sounds like how I feel" and perhaps be moved to not accept it as "It is just how I am".  Yes, much of your health can be attributed to diet and exercise but sometimes there is more holding you back from being your best.  Listen to your body, it often will tell you more than we actually hear. This journey to improve my health is proving to be a p...