Update a few years later

In prior posts I talked about Lyme Disease and Peripheral Neuropathy. Now I'll post about my fight for recovery and a normal life. In 2011 I had my right hip replaced which helped me to be more mobile and active. However, even with my back fused and the new hip I still was not comfortable in many circumstances and was limited in my ability to walk on hard surfaces like in stores. My left hip was replaced less than three months ago and now I can walk without a cane, shop in stores without even being aware that I am walking normally and can walk around the stores, and can do projects involving lots of movement and lifting. It is just so amazing that I have finally reached this point where I feel I have my life back. It has been a long journey over more than ten years to get to this point. I have stopped using any handicapped devices and the scooters at the stores. My son gave me a FitBit for Christmas and that is a big motivator to be active. I have found that my limit is about 7500 to 8000 steps or the PN is triggered at night. I've had more attacks than I've had in a long time as I try to increase my activity and have at least one day with 10,000 steps. The attack the other night felt like someone had smashed my ankle with a sledge hammer. PN is such a strange disease that is a silent burden that no one really sees or understands. It attacks without warning with charlie horse-like cramps that can last 4-5 minutes and paralyzes whatever part of my legs and arms it has decided to torment me with at that moment. It really sucks! My husband often witnesses the attacks but its almost like he is in denial that it is a strange problem. That's OK with me as he is very helpful and supportive when they happen. I have a good friend who is a doctor who also has PN and she has been really understanding and supportive. She also has a great treatment regime that she uses and has taught me to use. It has helped manage the disease tremendously. It is really important to be motivated to move. I've taken up photography again and am on a wonderful website with my own gallery where I get reviewed, critiqued, peer awards, and jury awards from professional photographers. If I do say so myself, I've done pretty well for only having my gallery for one month. I've been pulling photos from my archives of years of taking pictures and have done some excursions to take new photos. It is so much fun and gets me out of the house and most importantly, keep me moving. My daughter and I will are going to Mexico in two days for a week with my doctor friend and I can't wait to see what photos I'll take there. One of the other guests is a professional photographer so I hope I will pick up some tips from him. I'll keep you posted. I'm also getting back into my writing. As I pack up my precious books that I've used in my research for my novel I long for the days when there aren't a million things to do to get the farm ready for sale so I can write more. We just signed the contract to put a new roof on the house so someone else can enjoy the peace of having a solid roof over their heads. We have been painting, fixing, and staging the house room by room, packing up our things as we go and basically living in chaos while it all is going on. For relief I signed up for the LV Writer's Group Conference in a few weeks and that is always a weekend packed with great information on how to improve my writing. There's a lot on our plate right now but as always, things will turn upright in time. This uncertainty and chaos is all part of life. I'm just thankful I'm more up for the challenge than I have been in a long time. It's a good time to make the move. So, to all of you I will say good night and have a great day and week and month to come.

Living in the Country with Lyme Disease Carrying Ticks

It's hard to ignore the threat of Lyme Disease when 5 out of 6 of your dogs have been diagnosed with it. Antibiotics are the main treatment and even I have been through 3 courses of antibiotics for Lyme Disease. When you and those you love suffer or are always threatened by a disease, you get educated as fast as you can. You want answers. How did you get Lyme Disease? Could have I prevented it? Are antibiotics the answer? Is there such a thing as Chronic Lyme Disease? What happens if it goes untreated? Is there any alternative to antibiotics?

Getting answers is not always easy but thank God we now have the resources of the Internet. I have spent years of research to find out some answers. What I have learned is you are very lucky if you spotted a small tick on your body, see the telltale halo rash, and then showed flu-like symptom 2-3 weeks later. Guess what, you probably have Lyme and should go to your doctor immediately. Then if you are lucky, your doctor will perscribe the correct type and course of antibiotics and that will be the end of the disease in your body.

But what if you miss a step? This easily can happen if the tick falls off before you see it. It can happen if you do not have a telltale rash - only 30-40% of victims see a rash - you may still have flu-like symptoms but without the other identifiers you probably will pass them off to the common cold.

Now you have this parasite called a Borrellia living and breeding in your body and eventually it will leave your bloodstream and entrench in you tissue where no blood test can confirm you have it. Without a confirmation the doctors cannot perscribe antibiotics. You are basically stuck in a catch 22.

Research was my only hope. Weeks on the Internet led me to a natural regieme called C-Salt which is a combination of Vitamin C and Sea Salt. The basic premise is that you change the Ph in your body to a level that is hostile and even deadly to the Borrilia. It takes a long time are there are certain people who should not use it because of pre-existing medical conditions so get informed and check with your doctor before you start.

It takes a long time for a successful outcome. My improvement has taken over a year. During the new diet program you can have some pretty ugly episodes where researchers theorize that the dying Borillia are releasing their toxins as they die. The whole process takes a lot of patience. Quality Sea Salt and vitamin is important so check out the source I used by clicking on the banner below.






I hope you experience the same success I have. Good health and long life!

Living With Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral Neuropathy is a life changing condition that threatens your ability to fully function as time goes by. Living with Peripheral Neuropathy has meant vicious leg cramps, locked feet that refuse to come out of the taut position, and getting a handicapped sign for those days you go shopping on hard surfaces and can't walk after 20 minutes.

I've sought answers from the health world's experts and been on a merry -go-round for over 5 years. Most of that was just to find out what was wrong with me. Finally a trip to John's Hopkins gave me the answer through a skin punch test. It confirmed that the outer layers of the small nervous system in my legs was going away. Why? I haven't found the answer to that question yet. It is somewhat of a coincedence that my father had the same symptoms at the same age as me but I will never know if there is a connection because there is no DNA to test.

Anyway, we all try things to make ourselves more comfortable. My strategies have been to lose weight, get injections in my lower back where I have bad disks and one disk is missing, and sleep on a soft air mattress. The back injections have given me my life back. I am active all day again instead of laying in bed in pain most of the day. This is the first year I have planted a garden and things are growing fast with all our rain.

I'm too young to let this condition slow me down so I'm determined to get to my peak performance every day. The air mattress is a big help. It gives soft support to my back, and the best part, it came with a heated mattress pad, kind of like an electric blanket under you, which helps so much in cold weather when I can't get my legs to warm up.

My neurologist at Johns Hopkins said I was the first patient to ever come to her who had figured it out before seeing her. She said they recommend air mattresses to all their patients. You can get them through many places like Internet stores or local stores. The Mattresses are sold in many versions; King, Queen, twin, platform, etc. They even make Aerobed brand chairs. To get more information on buying a mattress that is right for you click on the banner below and search for air beds:


I hope my sharing has helped you. We all need to stick together and hopefully we can improve the quality of our lives when we share what has worked for us.