May CA Trip & Lyme Treatment

One good thing about having my Lyme specialist being located in CA, is that I get to visit more often.  I have been on treatment for 14 months now.  I have improved a lot, but am holding steady for the last few months, without reaching more or complete improvement yet.  When I started treatment, I was at about 50-60% with a lot of fatigue, muscle and joint pain, memory issues, lots of bad headaches, gut issues, very hard time focusing visually and mentally, and much more.  It was getting worse each year and taking a toll on my body.  Thankfully, I was finally correctly tested and diagnosed after 10 years of being diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome that had no cure.

I'd say I am generally at about 75-80% today, with it varying some with changes of treatment protocols and day to day.  Lyme can take 3 to 4 years of treatment to be completely cured.  The Lyme bacteria, if not treated within 30 days of entering the body, can grow and hide throughout the body.  It is a spirochete type bacteria similar to syphilis and burrows into joints, and places out of the bloodstream, so the body cannot fight it.  Therefore, the treatment is pretty harsh and long.  I have been on umpteen antibiotics, herbs and such to bring the Lyme out into the bloodstream to be killed.  I'm praying that it won't last much longer, because it is not good for the body to be on so many antibiotics for so long.  I'm sure there will be adverse affects in the years to come, but we thought it'd be the lesser of two evils.  

The Lyme specialist I see is supposed to be one of the best in the world and patients come to him from all over the world.  He and his team work with me over the phone every 6 weeks with in-person visits 2 to 3 times a year.  I had a great trip in May (and go back in a few weeks).  I got to see so many good friends, my Mom and step-dad, visit my old church, go on runs (I so much more enjoy running in CA than here) and thoroughly enjoyed my time.  I had such a good time, I neglected to get many photos.  I hope to do better in Sept.  I really enjoyed my time with and conversations with you, Mom & Wayne, Mehl, Lisa, Gretchen & Patrick, and Connie!  Thank you for letting me stay with you all!

 Mehl and Riley :)

Oh, how I miss these beautiful hills.  I snapped these as I was driving.

 My Mom and Wayne drove 2 hours from their house in Groveland to meet me for dinner in Tracy. We found this cute little restaurant with healthy and yummy food, except my mom's scallops were overcooked.

 It was Wayne's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Bayner!

The beautiful sunset I had to pull over to snap on my way back to Walter and Connie's from dinner.