July 1, 2010 is was bitten by a tick while hiking Yonah Mnt in beautiful Helen Ga. This was mine and my boyfriends first date and the beginning of a long journey together. Within hours of being bitten I had a head-to-toe rash. I thought it was poison ivy and we continued out the camping trip. The next 48 hours I became very sick with vomiting and weakness. July fourth rolled around and I realized I needed to go to the doctor. Immediately they diagnosed me with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I did the normal rounds of doxycycline and after a while my rash went away. I thought I had been healed and never went back to get retested.
A few months later i was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I had developed very painful leg spasms and the feeling that my bones were just turning to ashes. It wasn't long before I started feeling the same pain in other areas of my body. All my joints hurt, at times i had such severe hip pain i could barely walk. My head became a ticking time bomb. I had no idea that Lyme was hiding in my body so I just tried to cope the best I could.
Six month after the bite i became sick with salmonella poisoning. This kicked my hidden Lyme into over drive.I started vomiting uncontrollably. At first it was only once a week.. then became twice a week. Before i realized it I was vomiting up to 20 times a day. (progressed over a six month period) At my healthiest weight i weighed 125 lbs.... I now weight 90. I cant keep anything down... despite any form of medication! For almost a year all I could eat was applesauce. A few spoonfuls every 20-30 minutes ALL day long. My stomach was starting to cause me secondary pains that would make me trow up even more. I can actually feel my stomach turning itself inside out and traveling up my gut. I had no idea what was going on with me.
I started seeing a gastroenterologist. He did test after test. After a year of testing (a colonoscopy, two endoscopies, and exploratory surgery on my belly) the doctor told me that he could no longer do anything for me. that obviously I had a serious eating disorder. I WAS OUTRAGED! Why would I waste time and money on something I was doing to myself?
I started seeing a gastroenterologist. He did test after test. After a year of testing (a colonoscopy, two endoscopies, and exploratory surgery on my belly) the doctor told me that he could no longer do anything for me. that obviously I had a serious eating disorder. I WAS OUTRAGED! Why would I waste time and money on something I was doing to myself?
I was ready to give up. I was so scared of not knowing what was wrong. I was starting to feel crazy but I KNEW something was wrong. My body was telling me that!
After not knowing what else to do my general practitioner sent me to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville Florida for a week of extreme testing. I went through radiation, ct's, mri's, nuclear scans, biopsies, pelvic exams, blood work, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and injections of chemicals i cant remember! After the week was over they sent me hope to wait on my results.
NOTHING!
I was heart broken, lost, confused, I was at the end of my ropes. What more could I do? Supposedly I had just went to the best clinic in the southeast and they couldn't help me!
WHAT NOW?!
NOTHING!
I was heart broken, lost, confused, I was at the end of my ropes. What more could I do? Supposedly I had just went to the best clinic in the southeast and they couldn't help me!
WHAT NOW?!
I gave up on doctors, I didnt trust them anymore. Why go to a doctor when he is just to belittle me and make me feel like a whack job? So, I became sicker.. I lost a lot of much needed weight and became depressed and very detached from everyone and everything. Why was this happening to me? Am I dying and no one can find it? I was starting to believe that i was going to die of an undiagnosed cancer. That any moment a doctor was going to tell me "you only have so long". I was in a very dark place that I didnt see a way out.
A friend of mine had contacted me about a website called www.chrisbeatcancer.com Basically Chris healed himself from cancer by changing his diet to eating raw/vegan. He never did chemo or any of the other harsh drugs associated with this dreadful disease. He just changed his habits. I figured, why not... i have nothing to lose and i've tried everything else.
after a month of eating mostly vegan ( since may 2013) the vomiting had almost stopped. I still have the severe abdominal pain and i do have days where i will vomit but at least its not all day and night EVERYDAY! I started feeling better! I was happier, i could go hiking again, paddle boarding.. a lot of things that I have missed over the two and a half years. BUT I got too excited and I over worked my body and it sent me back several steps. I never really got over the body pain, nausea, brain fog, weakness but now it was back full force.
July 24 2013 it was so bad that I went to the ER (AGAIN!) Luckily they did a blood culture that came back positive for Lyme Disease.
So here I am... I finally have a diagnosis and a huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Although I know I have a long road ahead of me Its so relieving to know what i'm up against and that Im NOT crazy. I now feel that I have a purpose and that God has chosen to put me on this path because I can help others and I needed a major life change. I have always been content with life but maybe a little TOO content. I feel driven and motivated to help others learn and protect themselves from this life altering disease and THATS EXACTLY WHAT I PLAN ON DOING!
after a month of eating mostly vegan ( since may 2013) the vomiting had almost stopped. I still have the severe abdominal pain and i do have days where i will vomit but at least its not all day and night EVERYDAY! I started feeling better! I was happier, i could go hiking again, paddle boarding.. a lot of things that I have missed over the two and a half years. BUT I got too excited and I over worked my body and it sent me back several steps. I never really got over the body pain, nausea, brain fog, weakness but now it was back full force.
July 24 2013 it was so bad that I went to the ER (AGAIN!) Luckily they did a blood culture that came back positive for Lyme Disease.
So here I am... I finally have a diagnosis and a huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Although I know I have a long road ahead of me Its so relieving to know what i'm up against and that Im NOT crazy. I now feel that I have a purpose and that God has chosen to put me on this path because I can help others and I needed a major life change. I have always been content with life but maybe a little TOO content. I feel driven and motivated to help others learn and protect themselves from this life altering disease and THATS EXACTLY WHAT I PLAN ON DOING!