Really, October! I guess most people are well aware of that fact, since it's a very common and normal thing to know...plus shops are full of Halloween 'decor' and pumpkins, for those of us who do need a reminder since I seem to have 3 day weeks (physical therapy) & 4 days sleeping... or close enough! Time seems to just fly past, in one way. Some days do seem reeeeallly long. So it's probably not necessary to remind anyone else, but... my blog, my title, my reminder.... my exclamation mark! My: 'I can't believe I last posted in AUGUST!'
I really thought I would at least manage a blog post a week... then a month.... then, well I guess I slept a lot! (It's healing!) I have had various ideas - mainly: I should blog with photos, it's easier. So I do have collections of photos from various things we've tried, along with a few stories and I'm aiming to 'catch up' to the end of October... by the end of October 😀.... mainly by organising and posting the assortment of photographs I've been planning to use. Hopefully afterwards, I will actually manage to take advantage of my good days and engage a bit more !(Although good days are somewhat fewer right now, but I'm hopeful that means we are getting to the deepest parts of spirochaetal infection and pulverising the little Lyme-hell inducing buggers!).
So, an overview of the past 3 months...
When I arrived here in May, we began 'deconstructing' my body and its somewhat obstinate, definitely obscure, health issues again. We made a plan (by that I mean I had about a dozen medical appointments) and we moved forward ... then we adapted, made a new plan and pushed on with that.... I blogged a few times about what we were doing and... now it's October!!
We kept going... made a plan, pushed on....then we stepped back, puzzled over some stuff, made a new plan and pushed on with that... then.... we remembered why the word plan has never really been the best word dealing with my body and its rollercoaster recovery. We 'decided' (like it was a choice) to go with my gut - which has been pretty damn good in this whole saga; it's so important to remember to listen to your body and trust your instincts when it's your body that you can feel.... screaming at you!
So right now, and for the past several weeks, physical therapy has been purely working with 'how I feel today'. There is no doubt that the ongoing IV Lyme treatment has systemic effects - it's going directly into my blood to target infection at the deepest possible level, and spirochetes can affect the entire body, especially when left to run (spiral/ drill) riot, unchecked throughout the entire body AGAIN - of course it's affecting everything!
But my PT can "feel a difference" in all my muscles (good side included) on weeks that the Lyme treatment affects me more (it goes in cycles). That wasn't really something I had thought about, but it's a HUGE validation of something usually only I can feel - most importantly, it means it's working (torturously!).
So, I have continued to infuse Lyme medication every day, as part of my protocol (I have oral meds and some herbs & supplements too); I have continued to go to PT three times a week - sometimes I make it into the gym-area, mainly for some lower body strength training; other times I hardly move from the treatment bed while knots and spasms are worked out of my muscles; and dislocated ribs and twisted bones are eased back into place. (Yeah, that's fun.)
And so I continue on this path for now - things are so much better than at the beginning of the year - unbelievably so! - but they still have a long way to go. We have positive and encouraging signs that things are working. And I have complete trust in my 'team' of medical professionals here, who offer such fantastic support - even after all this time.
The photos are more interesting, I promise. And coming soon....!
I'm exhausted hearing your protocol and all your efforts. Of course it doesn't help that I took a few days off my personal PT when we camped last week. I began again this morning and hope it's doing as good for me as yours is. I'm so glad to hear you get deep, restorative sleep. If only ...
ReplyDeleteDo take care and keep fighting the good fight. It's gratifying to hear you're making progress and reassessing along the way. This Lyme stuff really sucks. Be gone, buggers. Go away!