composed

So this week I started meds again after three weeks of being off of them.  That is the longest I've been without the medicine since I started this whole thing in 2010.  I did so so well on those three weeks and didn't ever plateau.  Good sign my body is finally learning how to deal with those spirochetes!  But the real test was going to be going back ON the meds.  If I crashed hard, it probably meant that three weeks was too long and that I might not be as far along as we'd like (moving toward a "maintenance regime").  So with trepidation I embarked on Monday with the first handful of pills.

I felt weary.  My daughter caught the nasty flu that is going around (fever, chills, aches, etc) and at the same time started HER first treatment for her Lyme disease.

Tuesday came and again, down the hatch went the pills and by late afternoon I was stuck on the couch.  I was getting pretty discouraged.  Not to mention that my little girl was healing from the flu AND fighting spirochetes.  It was hard to tell what was flu and what was possibly herxing.  My mama bear heart doesn't like to see her in what could be, in a lesser degree, pain and lack of energy that I've felt.  On top of that, we were in talks with her doctor all day because she had an "adverse reaction" to one of the drugs.  We discontinued it and are waiting to see if the mean patches of hives goes away (and it is decreasing...cuplrit: Septra).

By the end of the day I was feeling awful and discouraged over my little girl and over my seemingly bad response to meds and how I must not be as far along as I thought.  I prayed.  I prayed that "tomorrow You will give me the grace to face the day".  I pray it every morning when I get up....especially when I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of caring for the kids and feeling yuck all day.

And when I woke up the next day and sat up, it was hard to tell what would happen next.  I went about our morning routine, swallowed my pills, and guess what?  I had renewed energy.  Yes, I could feel some herxing going on (air hunger, etc), but my energy was so that I dusted the whole house (at my own slow pace), did 4 loads of laundry and folded and put them away, and cleaned one (out of 3) bathrooms. All that WHILE caring for the kiddos.

This is a new thing for me.  I've never in the middle of treatment been able to just go about the day doing MORE than I usually do. Praise God that it looks like my body is getting the upper hand with this disease!

This morning I woke and again have *enough* energy to care for the kids, etc.  I added a real killer of a drug to my regimen (well, the doctor did) today and I'm anxious to see if I herx.

My daughter has perked up a lot and is playing pretty normally, and she just said, "Mom?  Are you going to dust today?"  This is the same girl who thinks dads cook dinner in every family.  She noticed it was different than my usual "on" week.

So yay!