Because of her neuropathy, cold weather is tough for Heather. Sadly, in the last few months, her neuropathy has gotten worse. It mimics how sick she was when first diagnosed with Lyme and last year when she seemed to relapse. No longer is the numbness contained to her toes. Now she is experiencing tingling and numbness from her toes to above her knees. What is worse though is that she has shooting and stabbing pain that goes from her toes to her head. Why????? Lyme disease.
I wish I could wrap my arms around Heather and protect her from additional pain. There is nothing worse than hearing her cry out in pain, begging for relief, her body spasming from nerve pain. I have seen her curled up in pain and NOTHING can help it. I don't know how she does it.
Any pain that I have experienced has been easily treated with pain medication. This isn't the case for Heather. Narcotics don't eliminate her pain. Heather also HATES taking pain meds. Her pain management consists of nerve meds, epsom salt baths, and a puff puff here, and a puff puff there. Here a puff, there a puff, everywhere a puff puff. I'm just trying to add some humor to Heather's painful situation. Every single doctor is aware of her pain management. Trust me, these doctors would love to have that magic pill/cure to rid her of this pain.
Sadly, nothing really gets rid of the pain. Prescribed meds that are used for neuropathy can have a very sedative affect. Not the best thing if you are trying to live a normal life.
Hmmmm, I just used the word normal. I have no idea what a normal life is, but I do know that Heather is not living a normal life. Every day she experiences excruciating pain. It comes out of nowhere. There isn't a trigger or a reason.
Recently, in addition to the nerve pain and brain fog, Heather had sudden onset double vision and extreme pressure behind her right eye. She saw a neurologist and neuro ophthalmologist, had several scans and tests and once again, they are stumped. That isn't a bad thing - they ruled out some scary stuff. However, once again Heather is a mystery patient. Seriously, where is Dr. House when you need him?
Living with a chronic illness sucks. It breaks my heart to hear Heather say "why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this"? Heather is just another innocent victim to Lyme disease. She never saw the tick, she never saw a rash.
There are so many other health issues that we will be sharing in a future blog. For now I just wanted to say that Lyme disease sucks. But what sucks more is that the mainstream medical community doesn't recognize the enormous number of people that are dealing with chronic Lyme disease. There really isn't a cure for Lyme disease. If it is detected and treated in the early stages (e.g., when you see the tick and the rash), then you may be able to avoid what Heather is experiencing.
Please pray for my Heather and those affected with chronic neurological Lyme disease.
xo
Lisa
