posted
So I am very new to Lyme disease and this website of course. I am here to help my mom who has been suffering for years!! I am a RN who became knowledgeable about Lyme disease as I was hooking up Ceftriaxone into a PICC line of a Lyme patient. I sat down next to her and she educated me on this disease, her symptoms and treatment protocol. I was amazed!! Not only because of how much I was in the dark, but that it FIT MY MOM TO A T.!!!!
Like i said I am new to this site, and am unsure if this is the area to tell her story, but here goes. She is 61 years old and has been suffering from "moving" symptoms for nearly 30 years now. She recently said to me (before I even knew the truth about Lyme disease), "something is eating me from the inside out." She told me that she has given up on finding a cure, given up on ever getting better I instantly wanted to cry!!! That is where this journey began.
So my mother was quite an outdoors women in her 20's and early 30's, we were always playing outside and I remember tons of times when we found ticks imbedded and crawling on us. (Don't get me wrong, we are a very clean family, just played outside constantly) Anyways, she started having "racing heart symtoms" when she was somewhere around 30 yrs old, along with "joint pain" No rashes or bullseyes. Like everyone else, she went to doctors who just blew her off.
The "Lyme Symptom Checklist" within Dr. B's guidelines, fits my mom perfectly. She has nearly every symptom!! She has traveled to different doctors without evail. Her most recent doctor tested her for Lymes again and one of the tests came back positive. Her provider said it was probably a false positive and again blew it off. This was only 2 weeks ago and of course, I have those labs being mailed to mom as we speak!! Not sure what lab it was yet.
Anyways, mom has been to probably 5-10 doctors through referral or simply searching for help. She has had somewhere around 16 knee surgeries, her cervical neck fused, multiple shoulder surgeries, etc, all for "joint pain" and "arthritis symptoms" and degenerative joints. She has had her thyroid ablated and written of as a psych patient essentially. Mainly because of her waxing and waining symptoms that they can't diagnose. On top of her major joint pains, she has neurological symptoms too: confusion, can't finish sentences sometimes, calls people the wrong name, anxiety, mood changes(nearly to the point of bipolar), irritability, etc. Her other symptoms include: on and off facial numbness, dry eyes, facial flushing, nausea, night sweats, insomnia, depression, weight gain, SEVERE fatigue, inability to exercise or work (No disability because the doctors can't "diagnose" her with anything of course), shooting pain in arms, tingling in fingers on and off, migraines, there is more I am sure.
Like I said in my first paragraph, I have taken this into my own hands, i am now my mom's advocate....she will not be made a liar anymore, we will find a cure!! I have made an appnt with a LLMD in Waupaca Wi, it sounds like everyone trusts this MD with their lifes!!! He is going to PERSONALLY call me on Monday to discuss mom's case and schedule the appnt. Who would have thought, an MD is going to PERSONALLY pick up a phone and call us, WOW!!
Anywords of encouragment or ideas??
Thank God I met that patient, thank god I have learned about Lyme Disease, thank god we are going to see a LLMD and thank god I have found this website!!! LymesWI
Posts: 12 | From Wisconsin | Registered: May 2010
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17hens
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23747
posted
And thank God your mom has you! You don't know how much it means to have someone believe you let alone advocate for you and help you get help. So many of us here could have used someone just like you! Happy Mother's Day!
-------------------- "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalms 73:26
bit 4/09, diagnosed 1/10 Posts: 3043 | From PA | Registered: Dec 2009
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I instantly wanted to cry!!! That is where this journey began.
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