About

So after many years of thinking on this I decided to do it.  I thought it might be a nice outlet and might help some people.

Around 7 years ago, after having work as a Veterinary Technician for a couple years in South Carolina, I was diagnosed as having Fibromyalgia.  I was no longer able to work and had extreme fatigue.  I even went through the process of getting disability, even though I receive very little, because I was no longer not only able to work but to do anything consistently.  I required days of rest between anything I did.

Fast forward some years.  I had seen every kind of specialist recommended for Fibromyalgia (even though no one can seem to agree on what that is), Neurologist, Rheumatologist , just my PCP, and been on numerous medications with no real improvement and no noticeable difference except side effects.  So I pretty must just stopped going and tried to live my life.  This did not go so well but at least I had a baseline to start from again.

I sought different kinds of medicine to see if anything could help and not give horrendous side effects.  I went to Naturopaths, Acupuncturists, and even invested in therapy since at one time one of my doctors said it was my emotional state that was making me sick.  I’ll admit the therapy helped some but only my emotional state.  My physical being continued to deteriorate, but with an ebb and flow that at times made me wonder if some of the things I was doing were helping.  The most beneficial thing I got from this time in my life, is that both my Naturopath and my therapist suggested to me that I could have Lyme Disease.  At the time I dismissed it as the newest possible diagnosis that probably would come out negative- just like so many other things.

Time went on.

And I eventually decided to get tested, since I had not much to lose.

Lo and behold it came back positive.

Now what?  Apparently I have now crossed into a mine field. A new diagnosis that no one wants to touch- may not even treat you if you have it- and specialists that do not take insurance 9 times out of 10.

My primary doctor got me in to see a specialist in the largest city near me.  This was very exciting to me because it was only 4 months away verses the year I was told I would have wait normally.  And so it started.  This whole practice focused mostly on natural medicine with the inclusion of some single months of using antibiotics.  I was ok with that but……  The entire staff focused on using Kinesiology (yeah, not talking about this-look it up if you want to know more) to tell what my body needed for the next month or two.  At first I was willing to go along with it, since 1) I have no where else to go, 2) they at least took my insurance for the actual doctor visit- but nothing else 3) I had never really tried it before.  Alas this approach did not work for me- to say nothing about the horrible bed side manor and lack of communication skills they all showed.

So after a year of treatment and thousands of dollars later, I am no better, worse even, and they tell me that it is my fault- I have mold in my house.   -Growl-

I start scrounging the internet for Lyme specialists, in any state.  Start looking for the states with the most specialists, getting on the Lyme forums, doing anything I can think of that might give me a lead on someone that might help me.

I finally get a recommendation from a fellow lymie about someone who has had success and good patient reviews.  I got in to see her, even though it meant flying out of state, and the process continues.  She had me do several tests prior to our visit, one being a mold test of my house, and it was negative for anything other than small amounts of regular mold everyone has in their house.  However my DNA testing showed genetic markers and other blood tests showed I had been exposed to mold at sometime in my life and it is still affecting me now, especially with the Lyme also being there.  This makes it harder for me to heal.  She also discovered I have a few other conditions that make it harder for the Lyme treatment to work and me to heal.

And so life goes on and feeling like crap seems to be par for the course.

Since I can only sit around most days, I picked up my crochet again.  I had learned how to do it when I was around 6 years old from a close family friend and had done it off and on over the years.  But now I picked it back up hardcore.  I started looking at stitch patterns and all different kinds techniques.  I wanted to improve my skills so I bought internet classes and just started working at it again.  I’ve even opened an Etsy store to help support my yarn addiction.

So we are up to today, where I thought it might be nice to share my daily experiences while going thru Lyme treatment and my crochet accomplishments.   Thanks for reading!

medical bills and yarn addiction

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