You may recall in one of my first blog posts, Giving Thanks In the Midst of Trials, I promised to work my way backwards with our story, as it could take me a million posts to properly share how complex our journey has been. I am working on that and continue to pray for God to help me to share my story, not for my sake, but to help others! Since my diagnosis, I have regularly been connected to people with Lyme; these people are also searching for a diagnosis or treatment options. My friends, as well as total strangers, have continually told me that I need to be writing about my story, my treatment, and my faith! I met several people in one week at my parent’s home in Florida – living in the same subdivision who all had Lyme or had a close family member with Lyme! I have met people on planes, at doctors’ offices, and church parking lots; I meet people everywhere I go that have been affected by Lyme, or who are seeking answers of their own. I have had people in the gluten free aisle at the grocery store ask me which brand is best as they are trying to go gluten free after having recently been diagnosed with Lyme! There are so many people suffering. I am not afraid to say that this is an epidemic, and it is much bigger than AIDS and Cancer!!! Some experts have even gone as far as saying that this is a plague.

Throughout all of the people I have been introduced to or have randomly come into contact with, I have come to realize I am now being used to connect others to answers of their own. My communication skills, while significantly altered at this point and preventing me from my professional calling, are being put to use to remember details about the disease and explain treatments to people that are struggling to wrap their arms around it. It’s amazing, because I can’t remember how to get to my friends houses some days, but I can tell you names of medications, why the combinations seem to work, why one shouldn’t be combined with another, etc. My husband hates when I say this, but I feel like I have an unofficial medical degree. Sadly, you kind of have to in order to be able to understand this gray area of science and to navigate the unchartered, and individualized waters of this disease, as it stealthy attacks each person differently.

I firmly believe that I am being used in this way as a direct answer to many prayers and questions. When I begin to think of the answered prayers, I see the connections pretty clearly – even for my clouded mind. I have prayed for medical discernment since I first received my test results to better understand this disease. I have prayed for understanding of the medical jargon, the complexities of the disease, inclusive of the unnecessary controversy of the disease, as well as the medications and treatment avenues. I continue to question and ask God why there is so much unknown, why it’s so complex, why the methods for testing have failed so many, why, why why?

Through my interactions and late-night research, I have found many great resources, and while I don’t have answers or know how I will survive this, I do know that that through Him I have hope! I have been able to understand the corruptive behaviors that follow this disease and non-sense that has been taught to our medical community, which will never make sense to me and I will never accept, but I can rise above it – because of His grace!

So, for now I will push through the pain, the fog, the doubters and the mountain of questions and follow His calling. I will fight for fair treatment and a cure by sharing my story and continuing to educate and advocate to anyone that will listen – and even those that won’t.

In the next post, I will share an update on my 9+ months of treatment and then work my way back to tell the story of my family and their struggles with this disease too.