I do hope that yesterday's three-post writing splurge didn't leave you overwhelmed. This has been building in my heart for a while and now there's a lot to get off of my chest. Today I will answer another common question, for your general information and for my own reflection.
"How did you get Lyme's?" Simple - you live in the northeastern US and spend time outdoors between March and November. Ticks live in grass and like to stow away on living creatures. They tend to prefer penthouse views from the top of a person's scalp, but they will settle for a protected place, like under a dog's camouflaging tail hairs. Once settled in, the tick bites its host and feasts on it's blood. The host or hostess is then infected. A lot of ticks are just pesky, but the Deer tick (one of the teeniest and hardest to spot breeds) can transmit all sorts of nasty things, like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme's, and a few others.
GOOD NEWS!! It usually takes the tick a while to attach, so if you shower and have a friend check you for unwelcome hitch-hikers after nature adventures, you'll probably be fine. I have always been faithful about checking for ticks and have pulled a few off in the past, but they were always the big ones - dog ticks and the like. That's the real kicker - I'm ill with a disease transmitted by a creature I don't even remember getting bit by.
(Thanks for the cool picture, MSNBC.com! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41973641/ns/health-infectious_diseases/t/under-the-radar-tick-diseases-spreading-across-us/#.TtWNirLNlTA)
When I first started feeling symptoms in the late spring or 2011, they were easy to ignore because they came on one at a time, barely noticeable at first. Today, I fumbled back to my room between classes and chocked down more pain killers with caffeine because I could't get through class and chorus rehearsal without them. My body can't do it on it's own. After rehearsal, I sat hugging my knees on the floor, crying - out of pain, frustration, and discouragement.
And to think - I never found the #$@%&* that did this to me. The only thing I can do is be grateful that it's not entirely fatal, drug up, and smile. Smile? What? Yes, smile. Smile because one day, I will be happy and wholesome again. I shall be made new, and I will have no more sorrow, nor will I cry, neither shall I be in any more pain: for the former things will have passed away. This is the eternal Hope that wipes away my tears.
All my love,
~Melissa
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