I haven’t written in a while, but I decided to revive this blog to share my journey with Lyme’s disease.  Hopefully, I’ll find out that it was discovered early enough that I will be 100% cured, and that this journey will be short.  But, if not, I’ll let you know how it goes.

A few months ago, I was bitten by a deer tick on my arm.  Don’t confuse these with dog ticks, deer ticks are very tiny.  My arm was a little red, but there was no rash, and I didn’t get a fever.  I showed it to Shawn and questioned whether I should go to the doctor  (I SHOULD HAVE). Shawn also had Lyme disease, but he had the classic bull’s eye rash, fever, and chills.  He went to his doctor and the physician’s assistant recognized it right away.  He was promptly treated and cured.

Because I didn’t experience symptoms right away, I quickly forgot about the bite.  It wasn’t until months later that I started having symptoms.  I have a routine of walking/jogging 3 miles, 3-4 times a week and never had a problem.  But when I decided to cross-train on the treadmill, I adjusted the settings too high and completely overdid it.  I think the Lyme’s popped at that time.  I broke out into what I thought was hives, and my back and neck became very sore.  You can get hives and sore muscles from overdoing it, so that’s what I thought it was.

After researching what would be a more appropriate speed and incline for me, I reduced the treadmill settings dramatically.  I still became sore in my back and neck.  I blamed it on the treadmill and went back to my routine of brisk-walking/jogging.  After I completed my usual 3 mile jaunt, I would be fine…until the next day.  My hips, knees and inside of my feet would all hurt.  I would rest for a few days, and try it again.  The same thing kept happening.  I remember visiting Cape May, New Jersey, around that time.  Shawn, my two daughters, Laura, Kayla, and I toured an old Victorian home.  At one point, I told Shawn that I needed to sit down, I couldn’t stand.  My joints hurt too much.  I noticed my left knee was swollen and my right hip still hurt.  Even though I could walk, it hurt to crouch to get things out of my drawer at work.  Every time I tried to exercise, it exacerbated my symptoms.  It was clear that it was time to see a doctor, so I made an appointment with an orthopedist.  To be continued…