Time To Sit

It's what I need. Just time to sit and chat.

 About a year and a half ago. I had this dream that I wanted to fulfill of making handcrafted soaps and scrubs. Artisan types. It was something that I had been interested in for years, but I just never pursued it. I have dabbled with it back and forth over the past year. Even have changed my logo. I am now enjoying spending time every day building what I hope to be a steady business. It gives me a great out from the everyday. Helps take my mind off of things from time to time. What is great too is I don't stress over it. I can get up and work on it and take a break and repeat.

I did my very first show this past weekend. Weather was great and it gave me the perfect opportunity to do a run through. I know am ready for a farmer's market.

I have had horrible ulcers the past few weeks. Reflux in the middle of the night, and a cold that I cannot shake. The family just needs to wake up, say one "bless you" then be on with their day. I have used the heating pad on my back every night I go to sleep and I get some relief there. My back feels shingly right now. I am going to go back to eliminating the gluten from my diet. I may not be seeking treatment through a doctor right now, but I am going to lean on a little western medicine. It's been a year since I did my 18 day fruits and veggie fast. While I'm not ready to give meat up just yet, I will probably start preparing for the fast. I prepackaged a bunch of fruits and veggies for my "green drinks". Perhaps one a day. Detox baths and rest. I just need rest. I CRAVE rest right now. I just can't. I see everything that needs to be done and rest just isn't in the equation. Lyme + type A personality + big family = no rest.....
Now with the holidays, those chances go down even further. Boo whoooo.

Off to make 5 tutu's for some very precious teenage girls for halloween.
Adrienne

Houston "Insert cliche here"

I have hit a complete road block in my fight. I have chosen not to continue with treatment. This was not a hasty decision and my husband really tried to talk me out of it, but ultimately it is my choice.  I don't fight the bad days anymore. I rest. Good days still require some rest. I am tired. I am broken. I am trying to just make the best out of what ever I can. The stresses that my everyday life have brought on in conjunction with being ill has made it so very counterproductive. I cannot keep up with both and it seems the only thing I do have control over is my choice.  I am finding it easier to just sit back and let everything run its course.

Something in the Air

Today's entry is brought to you by sheer frustration and a free ride with me on the Pity Train. Yes, there is something in the air this past week. It's going from 104 degrees to low 80's. NOT a Lymie's friend. I spent a lot of last week crying and laying around in bed. Even on Friday during my gym session I managed to run off to the locker room not once, but twice to cry. The sense of myself losing control over my neuro side sucks. Small twitches, muscle myalgia, freezing body temps, and the sleep. I cannot get enough sleep.  We had been on vacation with friends where the temps were warm and the sun was shining. I wanted to sleep. Even felt like the flu a few times. (Classic herx onset.)  As the low pressure systems and the fronts have all shifted, so have my bones.

I'm not really sure where my energy comes from these days. I have started taking on more projects and trying to be positive. I work out quite regularly, run more errands, try to just be more involved than what I have been allowed to be over the past year.  It takes a lot of digging deep.  I haven't been on any of my medications except for my nighttime dose of gabapentin and the occasional Tylenol. The past week though, I can't get enough hot epsom baths.  I also discovered through one of my Lyme groups that drinking Alka Seltzer Gold helps with the herxing. The sodium bicarbonate in it helps raise the PH levels in the body. I'm not sure of the science of this all and I'm also not sure if this is a mind over matter deal, but either way, I seem to get some relief.

We took in Chung Do, a foreign exchange student from Vietnam.  He came to live with us just at a month ago. It's been easier than I thought explaining to him when "Mom isn't having a good day".  He seems to understand and when I ask him if he understands he just says, "Yes, because of your Lyme Disease."
Lyme is universal.  I was able to pull up some information on it that he would understand.

I see the doc in a few weeks. It will be my first visit to him since April.

No such thing as Chronic Lyme some say......I wish I say.

Maintaining Positiveness

Greetings to all. I know it has been a good minute since I last posted. What a summer I have had. Best in a long long time. We traveled, celebrated birthdays, kids went on vacations with friends, and just spent quality time together. I now have 2 sophomores, 2 jr highers, and 1 in intermediate.  No more elementary. It's super bitter sweet for me.

Lyme Problems

When I last wrote I was scheduled for removal of my left thyroid. It was a very simple surgery. I did walk like Frankenstein for about two weeks, but my recovery went way better than expected. I spent most of May taking it as easy as possible. A challenge when you have 5 kids and it's the last month of the school year. Two weeks after my surgery we had a crawfish boil for close friends and family. My husband and I also went out of town to Messina Hof Vineyard for the weekend. It was perfect.

Louis Pasteur's doors that now adorn the entrance
to the B&B at Messina Hof Vineyard

As I healed and started to feel better, I slowly started to exercise again. I started walking, then running and walking, got back into the weight room at the gym. Now I'm up to 1 hour workouts sometimes longer 5-6 times a week!! I could barely walk last year and now I'm running. Amazing.  I thank my Jesus everyday for the blessing of health he has poured down on me. It has allowed me to thoroughly enjoy my family and friends.









I have noticed over the past week maybe a bit of a relapse. Brain fog seems to be setting back in. I'm hoping it is because I haven't been sleeping all that well.  I'm tired all day and when I lay down at night I'm wide awake. Some nights only getting 2-3 hours of sleep.  Not good for a body that is fighting a disease and slowly winning.  I have started taking melatonin at night and last night added Chamomile. I slept wonderfully.

Thyroid scar healed beautifully. 

Every day I dig a little deeper into putting natural things into my body, eating cleaner, taking care of myself.  I know how gloomy and doomy having Lyme can be.  Lack of support, lack of proper treatment, awareness, etc. It's so key to surround yourself with positive thoughts and people during your fight. I'm very blessed to have a super great support system.









I know this is crazy, but we are returning to the cruise ship we were stranded on in a few weeks. I am super excited. A few weeks after that I head back to my LLMD. Our last conversation was on the phone. It went well. There's only so much you can discuss on a phone visit. I'm hoping for a "remission" prognosis. We will see.

Lil pic I like to show off showing the change I've made
and the progress that has come in just 6 months. 

Post Triumph Recovery

It's been almost 3 months now since I last posted.  My goodness has so much happened.

Our first Texas Lyme walk was a success and I reached my goal!  I had quite a support group show up to walk with me in the freezing cold on a Saturday morning that required us to get up before the sun.

We went on our cruise in February. Yes we were on the ill-fated Carnival Triumph that was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for 5 long days.  The poop ship, the turdtanic, the floating petri-dish. The first part of the cruise was a blast.  The second was an experience.

Our Bedroom and Neighbors

Needless to say, I surprisingly was healthy as possible during that time.  I happened to take all of my medications with me for fear I would need to prove my RX while going through customs.  I did I do not know how many flights of stairs over those few days.  We were displaced after the fire and slept on the deck. In order for us to find a restroom it required us to search on different floors and different parts of the ship.  It was miles I'm sure over the days that we walked.  The warm and humid weather helped with joint pain. As we got closer to Mobile, AL we went through a cold front and by the last day I was spent.

The following Monday after we arrived home and I had an MRI scheduled.  My neuro-lyme had ordered it to check for any nerve damage.  It took pictures of my brain, neck, and spine.  A few days later they called and told me it was all okay and showed no signs of damage, but that they discovered a spot on my thyroid.
A week later I was having an ultrasound done.  The ultrasound revealed several spots and resulted in me having a biopsy on one of the nodules.  After four passes into the nodule they were not able to break it and therefore could not get enough cells out to confirm if it is benign or malignant.  The doctor and myself have decided to proceed with removal of my left side. This will happen next week.  She said they will examine it while I'm in surgery and if it is benign then they will leave the other half in and will just watch the other spots over the next few years.  If not, then they will remove my whole thyroid.

I have made great progress since first starting treatment.  I met with my LLMD last week and he explained that the surgery will set my progress back a bit, but I'm positive in my heart and soul that I will bounce back. I'm so much stronger than what I was. He had given me a break in B-12 injections and I was only having to inject 3 times a week.  After my last visit he had me go back up to 5 times a week due to the fatigue I'm having.  Well, it was a nice break for my thighs while it lasted.

Gas Monkey (where they film Fast N Loud)
was on our way to the doc and we had time to
kill.  We popped in and snapped some pics and
picked up some t-shirts.

After the appointment we headed over to my neuro for a nerve conduction test.  They basically hook you up to leads and shock you to make your nerves react.  He did confirm mild neuropathy in my hands.  My thumbs have lost just about all strength. He said basically it's the beginnings of carpal tunnel and if I wear braces at night for the next few month I should get some relief.

I do not have to travel to Dallas for my next appointment.  I will be doing a phone consult with him which is fantastic news.  Travel days really take it out of me.  I usually am crawling out of the car into bed on these days.  My memory is getting sharper (at least I think).  The brain fog seems to be lifting.  Just pressing forward like a good little soldier.