A New Day , New Visitors

I have been contemplating the poem posted previously a lot lately. It is my way of trying to come to some sort of peace with what has happened and is happening with my body since being infected with Lyme Disease. I was growing weary at being so angry all the time and railing against this disease so fiercely. I wanted it OUT . And i wanted it out NOW ! I was very close to being placed on a PICC line ( intraveneous anti-biotics for the uninitiated) and wanted to hit the Lyme HARD. As hard as needed to blast it out of my system. My PCP ( primary care physician) was at a loss as to what else to do. That is when i started in earnest for someone better versed in tick-borne infections. They are not easy to find - as politics and the powers that be have driven most LLMD's ( Lyme Literate Medical Doctors) into an off-the grid ( outside of insurance company control ) existence. They are fiercely protected by their patients - who they have so generously dedicated their time to helping with this difficult and controversial disease. They are our last hope if conventional treatment fails- which it almost always does if you are not treated within HOURS not days of an infected tick bite. It only takes several hours for the disease to disseminate through the human body - much less time than originally thought. Once disseminated , it becomes extremely difficult to eradicate completely . In fact most people well-versed in Chronic Lyme Disease believe that the most you can hope for is a remission of sorts . Not what i wanted to hear , but closer to the truth of this disease as i have now found out through exhaustive research and talking with many others who have battled this disease for months , years , and even decades. There is no easy cure .

So that is where i ended up , with this sobering reality and a different game-plan. I have a very wise and learned LLMD who has put me on a protocol that begins with re-building my immune system brick -by-brick and using low dose -pulsed anti-biotics for a longer period of time. He has convinced me that a tough course of IV drugs would take my body down with the disease and give it a leg up , rather than destroy it completely . I didn't want to take the chance . Not yet. I know my body has been ravaged this past year - these past few years with multiple surgeries and illnesses . I need time to heal. Slowly.

The New Visitors -
Recent bloodwork has revealed a few more ingredients in my already heavily spiced Tick Soup . I have Babesia Duncani, which invades red blood cells and a form of Bartonella , yet to be classified but seen crawling all over my once-healthy and now compromised red blood cells.This is not good news , to say the least but not unexpected. I have had so many symptoms , my LLMD was pretty sure i had someone else on board , too.
This , of course , makes my treament even more difficult because it is virtually impossible to get the upper hand with Borrellia if there are co-infections present. You must get those under control first and then move to more aggressive treatment against the Borrelia. Babesia is a protozoan organism that is alot like Malaria - causes some of the same symptoms but to a more or lesser degree depending on the strain. It is not easy to get rid of , either.
I am not strong enough to handle the drug Mepron which is used . I may be put on Malarone instead but not until my system can handle it. The Bartonella is even more complicated so we won't tackle that until later either.
I am in a state of having to accept these microscopic creatures as my guests , like it or not.
Rumi was one enlightened dude.
I hope i can follow in his footsteps and see the light at the end of the tunnel, too.