If I had known that my experience with Lyme disease was going to be the way it was, I would have started this blog on day one. I don't want this to be a "how to" guide on how to deal with such a debilitating and emotionally trying disease, because I have yet to figure that out for myself. To tell you the truth, what I was and still am dealing with now is not anywhere near the level that many many others have suffered through. But I still feel the need to share my experience and what I learned from it. If anything, just to have a positive outlet for the thoughts and emotions that plague me every day. I know I am not the only one going through this experience, and I find some comfort in reading the words of others. Maybe one day someone will feel the same about the words on this page.
In one month I will be turning 26 years old. When I got sick I was in the best shape of my life. My body was reaching a level of fitness and athleticism that I never anticipated. I was the picture of perfect health. I started every day with a green smoothie and ate clean all day. Upon finishing work I would reward myself with a solid run, or weight training, or a Brazilian jiu jitsu class. I did yoga every morning, and on my rest days again at night. I looked great, I felt great, everything was just great.
Until I went on vacation in early June 2013. I went to Connecticut to visit my friends and family, and came back to Montreal, Quebec, with the worst souvenir you could possibly imagine. Two weeks after the day I believe I was bitten, I went to a doctor to "rule out" the possibility of Lyme, as I was having suspicious symptoms.. and instead found it to be confirmed.
What I expected to be two weeks of antibiotics, followed by a swift return to normal, became a summer that never existed. Life in an empty shell. Not being able to go to work. Not having the strength nor the will to move or even eat. The mental anguish and physical pain that you would never think would have come from a creature the size of the tip of a pin. And a lot of learning about this elusive disease, the political dilemmas surrounding it, and realizing the truth about recovery.
I will start from the beginning. With thanks to social media, my personal journals, and my cell phone's data for helping to jog my memory. I will go back and relive every detail for the purpose of hopefully being able to put it behind me and move forward. And hopefully by the time I finish with this blog, I won't need it anymore. Hopefully I will have found a "new normal," where maybe I won't be able to train every day or eat whatever I want, but simply won't feel sick all the time.
Thanks for reading. And wish me luck.
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