Thursday, November 10, 2011

Positive Lyme Tests After Pregnancy


(Photo taken with Instagram: MsBirdieB)

It's been a couple of weeks, and I'm still trying to work out details with doctors and insurance for my last round of IV treatment.

I started questioning the need for IV in the first place after a solid week of improvements--I definitely bounced back from all of the viruses our family passed around, and I've been able to be pretty active with the kids. Definitely not the same sick person I was when I last wrote, however, many annoying symptoms remain, mostly involving joint pain, blurry vision, memory, and vertigo.
I'm sticking with the plan that if insurance covers me, great, and if not, I'll move on to plan B. What's plan B? Who knows--right now every last bit of my energy has gone into plan A. Ha!

I received my test results by phone today.
Initially, Lab Corp gave me a positive IgM band 23.
Igenex provided me with a positive IgM for 41, and an indeterminate for bands 31 and 39
I also got a positive IgG for band 39, 41, and 58

Apparently, I have put all co-infections to bed, because those were negative.

Here is a link that explains what the bands are, in case you're new to IgeneX or western blot testing.

Here's the bottom line:

Could this all be a result of pregnancy? Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to say, because I don't think I was ever in remission before or during both of my pregnancies. I truly believe that no one (ILADS or IDSA followers) knows enough about the disease at this point to pin down where things go wrong or why this disease is so hard to treat. Everyone seems to have a theory, but in reality, most are throwing solutions out there to see what sticks. That's why treatment is so "individualized."

I think a lot of things come into play in my case. Yes, the pregnancy was hard on my body; Pregnancy is hard on a healthy body. No, I wasn't considered "cured" when conceived. I've also dealt with three viral illnesses over the last couple of months, and I've also struggled with finding an antibiotic that works well for me. I've been run down, stressed, and lastly, it took over ten years to get my Lyme diagnosis. Who knows what the hell goes on in a body that's been infected without treatment for so long.

What I do know is that the only way to get through this is to remember that, even though Lyme hurts in every aspect, it does not have to dictate your outlook. Three years ago, I would curl up in a ball and feel sorry for myself on the bad days and come up with all sorts of dismal thoughts about how I would never be able to move on with my life. I didn't realize that as I was thinking these thoughts, my life was moving forward anyway, whether I wanted it to or not.

After a bunch of life changes, financial distress, and two kids later, I am still here. My family is still here, and it's grown. Despite a few hiccups and scares, I am relieved that my children are healthy, and I can't imagine a world without them. So, instead of allowing the fear to keep me from enjoying what I have, I decided to push through and live as if I'm healthy. When I need to rest, I rest. If I need more treatment, I need more treatment. Someday, maybe I won't.

As cliche as it sounds, when you have a chronic illness, you have to take it day by day. Today sucked, and I've spent most of the afternoon curled up in a chair with a baby in one arm, trying to complete this post. But yesterday, we took both kids to the playground in our neighborhood. I photographed the kids, helped Wyatt go down the slide eight million times, and giggled with him as he learned that he could blow the seeds off of a dandelion. It was truly a fun experience that made me appreciate all that I have. My bones ached, but whatever, they would have ached at home, too. My vision was extra blurry, and as I teetered down the street and my husband asked how I was feeling, I responded, "I'm on a boat!" (From the funny SNL video that's too explicit for me to link to here.)

Since I've had kids, I've stopped asking so many of the "why" questions. I'm sick. I'm not sure how long it will last. I will do what I need to do to get better, and I will love my family and have the best time that I can as I go through treatment.

17 comments:

  1. Oh man- do I hear you on some of this. I totally agree with what you said about no one really knowing what they are doing and thats why treatment is "individualized". hehe. I'm so happy your kids are healthy, and you will be too someday! Thanks for being so positive:)

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    1. Am Hellen, thanks to Dr oniha who cured me of fallopian tube blockage and fibroid with his herbal tuber cleanser. My marriage was on the verge of collapsing, because I was unable to bear a child for my husband. Until I came across Dr ONIHA's recommendation onLine,of how he has helped numerous of childless couples to have children with the help of his wonderful herbal medication, and I contacted him. And he administered his herbs on me.within the space of two months, i became pregnant, I now have a child I can call my own. In case you want to contact him for a similar problem, or all other infertilty issues, you can reach him through his email:
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    2. Thankes to Dr OSAZE, who cured my wife of fallopian tube blockage and fibroid. we got married for over eight years wthout a child of our own. because of the problem with my fallopian tubbe and fibroid, until we came in conntact with Dr OSAZE's testimony and recommendations online, on how he has cured and healed so many people of the same illment, and we decided to contact him, and he administered his medicatons on my wife, and she became pregnant in two monnths. incasse you wannt to reach him for a similar problem, you can call or whatsap him on +2347089275769 or email: DROSAZEHERBAL@GMAIL.COM

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  2. Sara - Thanks for continuing to share all of your experiences with all of us!
    Wishing you all the best!

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  3. You go girl, so true and thank you for posting. My husband and I plan to take the plunge next month and start trying for a baby..been feeling fairly well lately and we are tired of waiting and what will be will be.

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  4. The fact that you bounced back from the viruses on top of being a very busy mom, not getting much sleep says a lot! You are definitely getting at more layers of the "onion". Check to make sure any of the abx you are taking aren"t causing the vertigo. Some abx can be toxic to the middle ear. Best wishes!

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  5. I've never in my life posted on a blog. Until Now.

    Thank you so much for all your life stories, so many resonate with me even though I have different symptoms and am yet to have children.

    I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue that started 18 years ago when I was 16. 2 years ago I found out I had Rickettsia, got treatment for that. Took about 6 months after that to recover then felt the best I'd been in since I was 16. It lasted 6 blissful months that felt like they'd go on forever until I relapsed in a perfect storm of health issues. 5 days ago I found out I have Lyme, and probably have had it all those years.

    And we were looking to get pregnant. So I'm reading your whole blog in one go. I've laughed, I've cried and feel happy and sad. Congratulations on your babies, for having a wonderful husband and for having the strength to write with honesty. Thankyou.

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  6. We got Nice though in this sit !!!!!!!!!!! So many Woman's wants to take precaution in their pregnancy period with the help of pregnancy calculate pregnancy calculator

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  7. Don’t think of anything else just contact priest eka and purchase some of his herbal medication and your depression will go away. This was my state of mind when my doctor told me that i will not be able to concieve due to the Fibroid that was rolling in my family life and when i decide to reach out to the priest, and the priest told me what to do in other to get the medication. Eventually I receive all the Herbal medications that cure my Fibroid and give me the chance to become a proud mother: Eka is a great spiritualist, He did it for me, you can contact Eka on (dreka14demons@gmail.com). If you are suffering from the following gynecology disease::
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