Beginning Month 3

Hope you enjoyed the last post featuring Brenda Cosentino's success story. I know I did and it keeps me looking forward to the future and feeling better. 

Last Monday I opened my 3rd package of the Restore Program from Vital Plan. So far I've had about 8 pretty good days and 2 really good days where I felt almost normal. 

In reading of posts and comments on various Lyme Facebook groups, I've found that people are saying that month 4 is the one where they start feeling better regularly. I'm holding on to that and looking forward to May 1st! Projects have been left undone and are piling up around here and it's getting frustrating feeling ok when I'm sitting in bed and thinking I can do something, only to get up and have to stop and rest 5 minutes later. That's just the type A personality in me giving me grief. 

It took me until Saturday evening to recover from traveling to Chicago for my mother in law's memorial.  Dr. Rawls sends out weekly emails and had mentioned that traveling is difficult while recovering and it should be avoided. Despite his warning, I was willing to pay the price because my mother in law's memorial was important and I would get to see my daughter who lives in LA and only get to see once or twice a year. The thought that I would see my daughter was motivation in the weeks before the trip. 

Driving up was really difficult for the first half of the day. It was one of those experiences where I felt like I was going crazy. Since it was a 13+ hour drive, we started driving while it was still dark.

I had to look down and cover my eyes because the lights of the oncoming cars were too bright and the painted dashed lines in the road made it seemed to be coming at me and causing symptom overload. (sounds crazy, I know) By the time we stopped in Kentucky at a McDonald's to use the restroom and for our daughter to get something to eat (I brought my own healthy food), the noise and movement of all those people were overwhelming and I had to get back into the car. I told my husband that I felt like how they describe someone with Autism. I started to feel better some time after lunch. 

We stopped in downtown Chicago to say hello to our oldest daughter who flew in from Los Angeles and to drop off our youngest daughter so the two could spend Friday in the city shopping. I was happy to see her and couldn't wait to spend a few days with her even if it was going to a memorial service.

I got a good night's sleep on Thursday since I had my own hotel room (daughters were staying in it the next night) and my husband had brought the memory foam mattress pad off of the guest room bed, which made the bed very comfy. 

Friday I spent the day resting and detoxing.  My husband had something to do, so I started off the day with my Kale/Blueberry smoothie, then took a hot Epsom salt bath. Sounds easy, but that took me several hours to do those 2 things. I dressed and finished hair and makeup, prepped lunch and sat down to rest at 2 pm. So thankful for the internet, as it is a great distraction to keep my mind busy until I was rested.

We went out to eat with all of my husband's cousins and my husbands brother and sister in law. The restaurant was really loud and the noise and all the movement was nerve wracking, but I'm glad I went anyway. 

Saturday was the memorial service and I was still having trouble standing and staying steady, but my girls and husband helped me along. The eulogies given by my husband's sister and brother were beautiful. I held it together during the service and barely made it past walking by the guy playing the bagpipes as we left. I covered my closest ear, but the bagpipes were so loud I nearly burst out crying! For those who don't know, those with Lyme disease often have a problem with loud noises and light. One of my biggest fears in this is not being able to keep from losing it- of not being able to keep things together. 

After the service there was a reception for friends and family and it was good to see and speak with one of my mother in law's friends Margaret, who is 101 years old. She is just as spry as ever and her memory is very sharp. After the reception, the family and a few close friends went to a lunch reception at a local restaurant. 

My husband's family spent a lot of time with their cousins when they were young and the cousins really wanted to see the family home he grew up in since he had mentioned that a classmate of his purchased the house several years ago. My husband found out about his classmate buying the house at a past high school reunion and invited us to see the house back then and to come back any time. 

The cousins really wanted to drive by the house and take a photo in front of it. 

My husband's classmate happened to be in the driveway working on his car, so my husband went up to say hello and to ask him if it was alright all of us took a couple of photos in front of the house. We all went up to say hello and he invited us all to see the inside of the house. Wasn't that so nice of him?

The cousins were thrilled and memorable stories were told as we walked through the house. 

We all  posed for photos at the end of our tour. 

photo courtesy of  P. Coates

We all went out again for dinner and thankfully, it was a much quieter place. It was sad to say goodbye after the great weekend we had reuniting. 

We left early Sunday morning and dropped our oldest daughter back in the city since she didn't fly out until Monday morning. I'm so glad I got to see her!

The drive home was long. About halfway home I had to trade seats with our daughter who was camped out in the back. I couldn't recline my seat because my mother in law's dresser was wedged behind me.(we have a minivan). We'll be redecorating the guest bedroom to accommodate the dresser from my mother in law. It will be a beautiful treasure to have in our home. 

Last Monday I spent the day again resting and detoxing, which brought me to the first day of month 3.

I hope today is a good day for you.

Pam

These are my symptoms Starting Month 3:

(I write them so I can look back in a few months and will see how far I've come, as well as to help others who have lyme disease not feel like they're crazy)

extreme fatigue (6-7)

Numbness, tingling in feet

swollen pads on bottom of feet near toes

dizziness (4)

clumsiness (3)

forgetfulness (3)

difficulty finding words (2-3)

dyslexia/trouble with spelling when typing

blurry eyes ( comes and goes)

urgency  (3)

light sensitivity (3-5)

noise sensitivity (3-5)

startles easily (7)

muscle pain (3)

muscle weakness (7)
high pitch ringing in the ears/low pitch ringing
97.7 temp (has been as low as 95.6)