I discovered how strong I was when my body was at its weakest.

My Lyme Disease Story.

I love spending as much time outside in nature as I can. As an athlete, you can find me running, hiking, and biking on one of my local trails in Wisconsin. Being surrounded by nature is where I feel the most at home and alive. Unfortunately, there are many ticks in the woods and at some point, a tick had infected me with Lyme disease.

In July of 2015, I hosted a cycling ride in my community that connected two of our most popular gravel trails in Polk County, Wisconsin. We decided to ride about 80 miles total, to our destination and back to the trailhead where we parked. About a week leading up to this event, I noticed my energy level was lower, my legs were really cramping, and I wasn’t recovering from my rides as usual.  When I woke up the morning of the ride, I was not feeling well, but since I was the host of the event, I had to show up and lead the group.

The entire ride was a blur. I felt nauseous, and my legs were screaming with pain with every pedal stroke. I kept pushing it off as over-training, and I would be mindful of resting and taking some time off for a couple of days when I got home.

With my friends' encouragement in the group, I finally made it back to the trailhead where we had parked. Someone loaded my bike in my car, and somehow I made it back home. I took a shower, changed, and crawled into bed. I had always been a very active and competitive cyclist and athlete, but I had never experienced anything like this before.

I woke up about 24 hours later with my entire body in excruciating pain.

I couldn’t move.

I was not even sure if I had a body.

Logically, I knew I was lying in my bed, but I felt like a host within my own body. My body was not responding to commands to move at all. It all felt very surreal. I forced my eyes open and attempted to raise my head. The unbearable pain radiated through my body and forced me to remain there and sleep.

This was to be my life for almost an entire year before I started feeling better.

After resting some more, I slowly got out of bed and realized that I could not walk. My legs were so weak; that they could not physically support me. I collapsed to the floor. As I crawled to the bathroom, it felt like my nervous system was being electrocuted, and every cell of my body was on fire! Instead of getting better, my health continued a downward spiral fast.

About a week later, the right side of my face was in tremendous pain, and my nerves felt like they were on fire. I also had the worst headache in my entire life. I had such intense pressure in the back of my head; that I thought it was going to explode. When I was able to look in the mirror, I noticed small little blisters on the right side of my face. I had shingles!    

After seeing my doctor and getting lab work done, it was confirmed I had shingles and chronic Lyme disease. I never had a bulls-eye rash. Medical literature states that it is one of the first signs, but most people never get this. The doctor concluded from my symptoms that I’d had Lyme disease for a while. A multitude of lab work was ordered to get more information to see what was causing all my symptoms.

I returned home to continue resting and waiting on my remaining lab results. The lab work came back, showing that I was deficient in almost every vitamin and mineral.  My thyroid level was the highest the Dr had ever seen in their practice. The test was re-run multiple times to verify it wasn’t a mistake. My thyroid was attacked by Lyme disease and rendered non-functioning, which contributed to my permanent muscle fatigue/atrophy. 

As time went on, I got much worse.

With all my sleeping, I hoped my body would improve, but every ounce of my body hurt too much to do anything. I would stare at my arms and hands like they were foreign appendages attached to me. Brushing my teeth and my hair and even writing felt like I’d done 1000 push-ups. My muscles constantly blazed with fire. Even the smallest tasks made me way too fatigued. I had to crawl up the stairs to my bedroom and stop at each stair to rest as if I was running a marathon.

I started on the standard antibiotic protocol and had to repeat it many times. For the rest of the year, I could not walk as I suffered from muscle and nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy), which made it extremely difficult and painful to use my limbs for normal daily activities or even to be touched.

Most of my days were spent in bed looking at the ceiling or sleeping.

One of the consequences of having Lyme Disease is that it impacts every area of your life, especially your immune system, to no longer perform its job to protect you.

My immune system was so impaired that I also contracted viral meningitis (multiple times), other tick co-infections (babesiosis, borreliosis, and ehrlichiosis), staph infections, shingles (multiple times), and spinal fluid leaks.

I was also diagnosed with a severe traumatic brain injury from meningitis, which made it difficult to listen to any form of sound, watch television, or even read, be physically touched, and my vision was altered.

For a time, I couldn't even understand what people were saying; it sounded like some weird jumbled-up language. I am still recovering from some memory loss and word recall at times. My physical and mental body could no longer think, move, or function properly. 

My life and health were abruptly rerouted on a path that was scary and unknown.

Eventually, I had to make a choice.

Who would be in control of my future health and life, Lyme disease or me?

I chose myself.

I chose to trust and listen to my body, so I could continue to thrive, learn, teach, and live a life of purpose.

As time went by, I explored various pain management and health care modalities and was introduced to Energy Healing Medicine. I began to witness my health really transform. It had such a profound impact on healing me physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually that I became nationally certified as a Healing Touch Practitioner to help others who were also experiencing chronic pain and illness.

After facing the reality of my own mortality and empowering myself with a new mindset and new tools to heal, it showed me the strength I never knew I had.

If you had told me that living with chronic illness would have brought me more freedom and opportunities, I would have said you were crazy. But much to my surprise, the freedom came from living my life more intentionally than ever before. 

I now view my life from a new perspective to create my place in this new world of chronic pain and Lyme disease. Within this new view of living with multiple diagnoses, symptoms, and pain, I embraced and changed my experience and relationship with Lyme disease and other symptoms to help me release my fears, heal, and transcend them into a story of strength and purpose. I also implemented alternative healing tools and methods into my daily life to reclaim my health and start creating a life I was in love with again. 

When chronic illness invades your life, you have a choice to make. 

Living with multiple chronic illnesses and pain, I decided to use my story, education, and skills to help educate others. I have made the most of my situation, learned new ways to cope, discovered how strong I really am, and have become my own best advocate. 

If you are struggling with chronic pain and limitations, your life may be very different than how it was before. With new healing tools, a new perspective, and a positive attitude, you can discover a new you to look forward to.