So upon retirement of my previous princessandthepeatg blog I am creating this new blog to try and sort out the craziness of my life and times. I may repost my original posts from princessandthepeatg and then try to move on from there, filling in the blanks and trying to expand and expound upon said past posts. Ha! I hope to keep the line drawn between the subject matter in my ifucanbeadit blog and this. It may take me awhile so be patient. Today we finally, (five months after the initial call) had an appointment with an infectious disease doctor in hopes of kicking the effects of lyme disease in the pants once and for all. I will begin a new adventure of antibiotics (yuck) diet choices and supplements. This will be an exciting (okay, probably not) time. But seriously, I hope to journal this attempt to find wellness and relief for myself and for anyone else looking to find someone else out there who is struggling with this crazy thing. This goes back to a yearly family outing the first week in July of 2012. I probably picked up the teeny tiny bugger then and within a few days I was felled like Goliath. I had made a fast trip to visit my Mom and sister and on the drive home experienced a searing pain in my head. I became almost instantly hyper sensitive to light. Now I have had migraine headaches for probably more than 40 years and this was a new experience for me. One of these headaches generally hit after an hour or so of "aura", blindspots and numbness. It was a long ride home that day. I went to bed and pretty much stayed there for the next three days.I began to hurt all over. On Monday after trying to find relief with over the counter and prescription pain relievers I gave in to my husband's urging and decided it was time to go to the ER. As I rolled over to get out of bed my husband noticed a large Bull's eye rash on my upper right shoulder. Hm. Could this be part of what was happening to me? On to the ER where they did a CT scan and tried intravenous pain medication pretty much to no avail. The doctor's did not seem to make the connection between the rash and the pain and I did not know that this type of pain was related to Lyme disease. I was sent home without a prescription for antibiotic for the lyme. It finally came 2 days later from the NPA at my primary care practice. In between I had a session with my acupuncturist who used a bleeding needle and cupping to draw some of the poison from the bull's eye rash. Within about 4 hours the body aches began to abate. The terrible headache and neck stiffness remained. It would be much longer, and many more acupuncture treatments, before that would be relieved. The next six weeks passed with me in bed and in the dark pretty much all the time. When I got up I wore huge dark glasses over my own prescription glasses. I was a vision! Missing the bridal shower for my new future daughter-in-law brought me to tears. A very sad day for me. As time went on I improved some here and there. I was able to be a part of the wedding in September so I felt like I was finally on the mend. A wonderful weekend full of love and laughter and Ridiculous Amounts of Joy. I was there and even danced, A LOT! Autumn came and I was still struggling to recover. Acupuncture helped, the medicine helped, but something just wasn't jelling. I had been on a list to see a doctor who specialized in Lyme disease, but there were no openings anywhere in the near future. Still exhausted at the least little thing, trying to exercise a bit and get on with life, but still coping with a stiff neck and headache and joint pain in my shoulders, hips and knees. Now be aware that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia more than 20 years ago, but I can honestly say that this new adventure was different in many ways. Holidays came and went with much family and fun. Lots of wonderful food and good company. We are so grateful for all of this. But, I just kept feeling worse and worse. Finally an appointment opening and I met with the doctor today, more than 5 months from the beginning of this. Blood has been drawn and sent for testing. Lots of testing, lots of vials, lots of hope. I will begin a new regime of antibiotics tomorrow. Pro-biotics and supplements and watching my diet to see if we can get a handle on this teeny tiny monster. Today for the first time in a long time I felt some hope. I am determined to beat this crazy thing. This is not a terminal illness, others are suffering so much more than me. I am grateful every moment that I may be getting the tools to regain my health. So I will rant and rave here about what I learn about how to achieve this goal. The good the bad and the hopefully amusing and hopeful. There is much to learn. Share your experiences with me here. Give me advice. Tell me a knock-knock joke. Life is good and we are going to enjoy the ride.