Diagnosis to Recovery

Unspoken Grief: My Miscarriage Journey

Unspoken Grief: My Miscarriage Journey ✨ Pregnancy Journal: Week 4 ✨ We started 2 weeks straight of family travel around the 4th of July. First we spent 5 nights in East Texas on the lake with my in-laws. It was so peaceful and calming,…

Unspoken Grief: My Miscarriage

Unspoken Grief: My Miscarriage Week 3 We spent the whole week celebrating Steve’s birthday! Interesting enough, looking back, I remember not being very interested in drinking – gotta love how our bodies know things LONG be…

Anyone else struggle to figure out if you are getting sick? Having a Lyme flare? Or for me, shingles is coming?

It’s always such a hard distinction between “I got the normal cold” and “Oh it’s just the Lyme” either flare and/or herx. And of course, we have a weekend away planned for the mountains!

I actually expected a herx after my hospital stay Thanksgiving week because I haven’t done IV antibiotics in so long and they were heavy duty ABX without any detox support (cuz you know, hospitals…they don’t really do holistic care). But I wasn’t expecting it to come almost 2 weeks later!!

After a few days of feeling like trash, it isn’t turning into a real cold, no runny nose or swollen glands or fever, so it’s definitely Lyme but the question is flare or herx???

Some might ask why does it matter to figure out? It’s actually critical to minimizing the recovery time - herx vs flare requires VERY different strategies.

If it’s a flare, then a kill strategy is needed - try to reduce the Lyme load while avoiding a large herx reaction.

If it’s a herx reaction, a kill strategy would double down on the current problem and make it worse and harder to recover. For a herx reaction, targeted detox is the best strategy.

And of course all this right before our first mountain trip together 😭😭 well, Lyme be dammed, we’re still going!! I’m not 💯 that this is just a herx, but I’m focusing on detox because I’m too worried to switch to kill before/during a trip. Especially during physical activity that I know on my best days is a challenge for my body.

So I’ve packed the extra detox meds, the herx management meds, looked up IV clinics in case it gets worse and praying for the best 🙏🏻

How do you determine flare vs herx???

Grateful doesn’t begin to capture the emotions I feel for the last 15 year journey to where I am today and the people that have been with me on it.

I have put every ounce of brain power and energy over the last 15 years into getting better and it was definitely not linear, more like a bad carnival ride that goes upside down and loops around.

I know I’ll have lyme forever but I am so grateful that I am confident in my ability to manage it. I don’t feel so out of control, I know my body so well, and I have knowledge and tools to help me stay out of the super low valleys I’ve hit before.

When I think about the low lows, having to use a wheelchair certainly comes to mind, or having to move for daily treatments or having 3 concussions in 2 months from my legs failing…..Im proud that I fought to get out of the valleys and even more so that I have learned from each one and how not to end up in it again.

This journey has taught me so much, I’m trying to figure out how to share everything I have learned during this journey, because if it can help others, even a little bit, then I have to find a way

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What an amazing celebration to start a new and exciting chapter with as my husband ❤️

During the last 15 years of fighting Lyme and co-infections, I had so many dark moments thinking “no one can love me while I’m sick” or “no one wants to take on a chronic illness partner”. Then Steve came into my life and never even blinked at my health challenges and makes me feel loved, safe and taken care of so deeply every day.

For anyone that has been hurt or scared to@be vulnerable - don’t give up hope! Some men will choose to walk with you through health challenges - even those that never go away 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

Pineapple upside down cake 😋 😋

For some reason, after my mom mentioned a pineapple upside down cake, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. So 5 days later I have in a made one! Gluten, corn, egg and refined sugar free and it was delicious!!!

Always great to be able to catch up and chat about new treatments and hypotheses with Dr Rick Sponaugle] with trying a new treatment - IV liposomal curcumin

Finding a doctor is never easy. No matter what you are looking for, even just a primary care doctor, but for anyone that has tried to find a Lyme doctor, you know it’s worse than dating.

For my second major treatment round, I researched over 100 doctors and clinics around the world. I narrowed it down to the top 25 to ask a set list of questions to be able to compare price, methodology, medications used, medication administration, facility and staff.

From those responses I narrowed it down to my top 3 and scheduled in person tours. My first stop was .wellness and I just knew I was where I was supposed to be!

Almost 5 years later from starting treatment, I know I made the right choice. Dr Rick Sponaugle] and staff has been with me every step of the way to give me my life back!

I’ve been able to push my body and know I can show back up to the clinic and they fix me :) I know, I know, with Lyme and co-infections and Celiac I should travel less, rest more, and all that jazz - but that wouldn’t be me.

So I travel often. Continue to be a foodie and super active. Live between New York City and Austin. And couldn’t be happier 💚💚💚