Tag Archives: lyme

Patience and Waiting for Healing

Posted on by swollenmystery

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One might think with all the detoxing, eating so well and anti-bacterial treatments, my pain levels would be great. Unfortunately, I can’t yet proclaim I’ve been healed from Lyme disease or my co-infections. But I can attest to gaining patience and obedience when it comes to waiting for healing. You might ask How do you gain patience when every cell in your body feels like it’s under constant attack? There are several things that have helped me get through the last few months.

  1. Books – My good friend Tim at Life Fitness Academy recommended a book called Suffering and Sovereignty of God. To my great surprise, my wife already read the book this year so we had a copy in our library. It took me a while to start it but once I did every time I had to stop I couldn’t wait until the next time I could continue reading. The authors discuss their own sufferings and I can relate to their questions and what they went through. There are so many Scripture references that it made me seek out those passages, read them, and think about them. When I read about Joseph’s suffering in the Old Testament or Paul’s suffering in the New Testament and realize suffering has been around for such a long time, or that God can allow suffering for a greater glory we don’t understand, my short life comes into perspective and it helps me be patient.
  2. Family – Often I overlook this one, but I gain so much patience by just watching those around me. My mom has taught me patience without ever saying anything. When she was only a few years old she unexpectedly caught the polio virus, leaving her with partial paralysis and the use of only one leg for the rest of her life. Growing up with a mom who always walked with crutches and never complained once to her children is not only astonishing, but it helps me see that if she can get through it, I can have more patience for my suffering. Even if I suffer the rest of my life, I still had 30 years more mobility than she ever had. To this day, my mother has more energy and spirit than any other woman I know at her age. Who would think someone with a lifelong disability could always be on the move? She’s an avid shopper and I often joke with my brother or sister about how mom can out-walk us all. It’s humbling to think that she raised 3 kids, went back to school, and took on a new career later in life while patiently realizing she could not physically do what most moms do.
  3. Knowledge – If this disease has taught me anything, it’s that there is hope. Perhaps not for a cure in the short-term, but hope that my Lyme and co-infections will go into remission. Hope that others with Lyme can experience relief. Hope that others with similar auto-immune diseases can feel like they are making progress toward healing. Reading so many studies and articles, and listening to doctors and specialists has shown me that there are a lot of conflicting reports out there. It can be frustrating sorting through what is right, what is wrong, and what we just don’t know. However, every time I read an article or listen to a speaker talking about how they have seen progress with a patient or have experienced relief themselves, I gain a little more hope. Along with that hope I gain a little more perseverance. And with that perseverance I acquire a little more patience.

Lately I’ve realized how much our society trains us for the quick fix. “Take these pills and come back in a month”. Who doesn’t want the most immediate path to feeling better? I’ve fallen right into the trap of impatience and doubt when it comes to healing. Maybe that statement should be, “Eat like this for a couple years, give your body the time it needs to heal, and don’t worry about ever having to come back”. That’s the kind of healing I want. One of the hardest things to deal with when going the natural route is the patience and discipline it takes to get through to the end and not settling for the quick fix. If taking that route, whether it’s 1 year or 10, gives my immune system a chance to get back on track, I’m opting to be patient for a little while longer.

Detox Protocol: 2 Months Complete

Posted on by swollenmystery

Living with Lyme isn’t easy. And I’m beginning to think I must be a little crazy to attempt to heal from it naturally. I have now successfully finished week 8 of my detox/healing protocol and swiftly moving into week 9. Since beginning, I’ve been able to add bananas, molasses and coconut oil to my green smoothies now that my digestive system and colon has shown significant improvement. They really help aid those bitter greens each morning and make downing each one more tolerable. Last week I was able to sparingly introduce some sardines and salmon too. Never having tried sardines in my life, I was pleasantly surprised how mild and tasty they were. Or perhaps they’re deliciousness comes more from my lack of eating solid foods lately. Either way, I welcomed the addition with delight.

I’ve also experimented with the ingredients that go into each smoothie. Some days I add several huge handfuls of spinach, some kale, cauliflower, red bell peppers along with freshly juiced lemon and ginger. Other days I toss in random mixed red and green lettuce, various types of chard, arugula, broccoli or alfalfa sprouts, pea shoots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage. Each day I try to add some avocado, coconut oil, banana and blueberries or strawberries along with a dash of molasses for flavor. The smoothie making process is a bit of work each morning, but knowing it will take some time gets me to bed earlier each night, and results in a better night’s sleep which doesn’t hurt the healing process.

Along with the smoothies, alternating beef and chicken broths, fermented sauerkraut, pickles, probiotic and systemic enzymes, natural herbal drops, and a lot of teas I been increasing my workouts too. Every day I try to go for a good 30-45 minute walk outside. The warmer spring weather now helps out with that. Then I do about 75 pushups and a couple rounds of isometric exercises. Or tiger moves to be exact. I think I just heard my wife chuckle.

So far most of my Lyme symptoms have disappeared completely. The first few weeks I did experience back pain, especially near my kidneys, a lot of stabbing leg, feet and hand pains and continued fatigue. But over the last few weeks my symptoms have dwindled. I’m hoping those were herxheimer reactions that I’ll only have to experience at first. Occasionally I do still get a few smaller pains randomly throughout my muscles and jaw along with some strange numbness and burning in my upper left quadriceps muscle, but I’ve had no more severe stiff neck pain, headaches, tremors, back pain, overall flu-like feeling with chills and mild fevers. One of the greatest feelings is that my thrush is almost completely gone and my tongue has returned to a nice healthy pink again. Digestively speaking, my constipation and hard stools have now become softer and more consistent. But the greatest improvement has happened in the past few days. Knee inflammation has gone down considerably. My right kneecap is even visible again. Halleluhia!

I’m now looking forward to completing my third month of the detox protocol and continuing to see more improvement each day while introducing more foods slowly. I’m amazed at how healing with natural, raw, organic food has changed the way I feel. I sleep well all through the night now and have a lot more energy during the day. Although I’m nowhere near completely healed, and my knee inflammation will probably take a long time to normalize, I do have renewed hope to continue healing and persevere on this long journey of recovery.

Diagnosis Solved?

Posted on by swollenmystery

During the past  three years I’ve developed an enormous amount of skepticism, caution and indecisiveness when it comes to the medical world. I’ve felt that every path has led to a dead end. Often the treatments I experienced have made my symptoms of inflammatory arthritis worse. Yet I now look back at those events as learning experiences. Perhaps God was showing me something, giving me knowledge and experience with those events for a purpose. A purpose which I may never understand. But that’s ok. Through an unexpected chain of events, meeting new people, finding new doctors and growing closer to Him, I finally have a diagnosis.

Last week my western blot test came back CDC positive for lyme disease. Along with that I tested positive for several coinfections including Bartonella, Chlamydia Pneumonia, Mycoplasma and HHV6. Wonderful? Yes! In fact, I’ve never been so happy to have a diagnosis. A diagnosis that can be treated. Better yet, a diagnosis that can be treated with a possibility of complete remission!

So that’s it. I have lyme disease. More specifically chronic lyme disease, as it’s apparently settled in for quite some time. The greatest part of all this is knowing what to treat and having confidence that there is an end in sight. So what will I do with this blog now that I have a diagnosis? I will continue to post progress during my treatment. I’m continuing the natural detox protocol while introducing other all natural treatments aimed specifically at the bacterial infections. I plan to continue providing a resource for those with not only lyme but other related autoimmune diseases. My hope is for the best possible diagnosis and healing of anyone that continues to suffer through the mystery of pain and inflammation.