Blessings in Disguise
Years ago, something happened that forever changed my outlook on life. At the time, we were too angry at the world to realize it was a blessing in disguise−our life as we knew it, came tumbling down. I became severely ill and totally debilitated within a few weeks and my husband was about to lose his job. As I continued to struggle to get better and slow down the deterioration of my health, he faithfully went to work, researched medical articles and journals for answers, while tending to me and our home. I seriously wanted to just give up. I thought I had ruined our lives. We tried everything and my health only marginally improved and they began handing out the pink slips at my husband’s company. It was just a matter of time that we’d both be unemployed and the medical bills kept piling up.
I had no idea that a tick I found on me could make me so ill. I had heard to be careful about ticks as I was growing up but I never realized it could completely debilitate you so quickly and ferociously. In less than two months, I had reached the state where I was unable to care for myself. I was asked by some if I had Cancer or if I was dying; although I’ll have to admit there were many days that I had wished for death, but I only said that I was not. I struggled for a couple of years with this malady. I had my good days and my bad days but, ultimately, I realized that this struggle that we had to overcome was a blessing in disguise.
Just as our faith and hope was about to diminish to nil, my husband was asked to fly out for an interview. A place where my sweetheart had dreamt of living in his early twenties but he thought was only a pipe dream that had never materialized. Somehow, it all worked out. We ended up settling in the foothills.
It is unbelievable that we now awake to an amazing view. My husband seems to be quite happy with his current position and I have been able to recover from a very serious bout with Lyme Disease. I had never ever imagined that Lyme Disease could change your life. I went from being healthy, enjoying life and working full time to having my husband bathe and clothe me and losing my job. It took me two years to recover and when we moved to the foothills I was just regaining my health. Of course, I still had some lingering bouts with “flare ups” but I was able to return to work and enjoy taking walks around the neighborhood.
For a few years, we were living a rather normal life and enjoying every minute of it. But, after a simple routine surgery, I was not recovering as I should and once again I had to rely on what I had learned from my past experience. I listened to my body and followed my intuition to seek out a physician that was familiar with conventional as well as unconventional medicine. To my surprise, there weren’t many that were familiar with tick-borne diseases. Was it a reinfection or a relapse? My tests showed that the culprit of all my problems was another tick-borne disease, Babesiosis (Babesia), and that was why I was experiencing the fever, chills, night sweats, high white blood count and hearing loss. The treatment was successful (and it only took a year). With the treatment, I also found relief of any and all lingering symptoms of Lyme Disease. I felt even better than I had been in the last few years. This was definitely a blessing in disguise! I would have never known that I could feel this great! I learned how to listen to my body even more, watch what I eat, and find out how to use alternative methods to be proactive in my health.
I have learned to appreciate even the smallest of things. I relish awakening to see what is around me and not feel any type of pain. I love to listen to music and hear my husband and dog breathing as they lay in a deep sleep. I even enjoy the repetition of being able to vacuum, prepare dinner, shower, and all the other daily or weekly chores that most find monotonous. I love looking out and seeing the brilliant blue skies, majestic mountains and trees, and white billowy clouds. These are all things that I savor because there was a time when I was unable to do any of these.
We have been able to meet some unbelievably, exceptional people. We’ve made special friends. It seems that we even have a closer bond with one another. It was the people within my community and family that encouraged me to start Lyme-Aware.org. With their encouragement and the meeting of an old classmate, I began my quest to help make those aware that tick-borne diseases can be very serious if left untreated. They encouraged me to follow my heart and help those that are still struggling with their major battle of overcoming Lyme Disease and the other tick-borne diseases like Babesia, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Bartonella and so many more. If I had not followed my heart I would have never met the thousands of victims/warriors still out there suffering each and every day. Some of whom I have really developed a very strong kinship with. I would have never met my calling to help those that are still trying so desperately to receive the treatment based according to their needs as they so deserve. The very same guidelines for treatment that failed to work for me are still being used and there is about twenty percent of the population that don’t fit the “one size fits all” or “cookie cutter” approach that has been adopted by the CDC. We just didn’t realize it was a blessing in disguise.
We love the outdoors, wildlife, mountains, fresh air and the whole way of life. Every day there are things that have to be done, precautions that have to be taken, and a constant sense of awareness of your surroundings. It makes you feel so alive! It’s just wonderful!
If our circumstances hadn’t changed several years ago, we would have never experienced all these wondrous things. We even find ourselves longing to go further out into the wilderness away from society much to my surprise. We are so blessed to have found this great camaraderie and in the years to come, we hope to be able to meet and make more special friends.
I'm most proud of the blessings that God has bestowed upon me, in my life. He's given me the vision to truly see that you can fall down, but you can still get back up. ~ Martin Lawrence
Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ~ Charles Dickens
Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from. ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross