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Welcome to my Lyme blog where you enter the world of Lyme Disease and get a firsthand glimpse of what Lyme can do to a person!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Summer Flu Misery

Summer Flu Misery
Dorcas Annette Walker

I was doing better. In fact I almost convinced myself that I was normal once more. Sure it still didn’t take much to wear me down, but at least I was able to be up and around each day and feel more like myself. I did some canning, sewed my granddaughter some slips, and painted a gourd birdhouse. Doing things that I enjoyed puttering around with to help build back up my self esteem that living with a chronic disease destroys. I felt like I was controlling my life instead of my body controlling me. I was able to attend church nearly every Sunday morning and be with my church family and friends.

Then it happened. Somehow I got the flu bug. Overnight I became sick, started throwing up, and running to the bathroom. I hoped that it would be a twenty-four hour kind of flu. No such luck. Instead due to the fact that I couldn’t keep anything down- pain meds included- my pain level shot way up. I drank Sprite to try and get my stomach settled enough so I could take my pain meds. I wasn’t able to sleep day or night due to the nagging pain. Instead I survived in my recliner dosing off now and then totally exhausted only for the pain to jerk me awake into more misery. After two nightmare days of wishing I could die- anything to get away from the pain- I was able to take my pain meds and got my pain back under control where I could halfway function.

I thought the worse was over, but my intestines had another idea. They were in an uproar. The flu had triggered off my IBS. Eating anything solid would send me racing to the bathroom not one time but every couple of hours. I switched to drinking Coke (the ony thing that works when my bowels go crazy) praying that my stomach would handle the change as I tried to baby my insides along. I existed through each day praying that the next one would be better sleeping the day away in my recliner. By the time a week had gone by, when I finally got my intestinal system under control, I was very weak physically. Once again I had to inch my way- a slow and drawn out process- to gain back my strength.


I can understand why some, who struggle with Lyme disease don’t go out anywhere, but instead isolate themselves living totally inside their homes. It is a scary thought that every time you step outside your door you are at risk to catch something that can put you flat on your back after struggling so long to be able to function. If you aren’t careful your mind will play all kinds of games with you tying you up in knots mentally. But I refuse to let fear control my life. It is bad enough that my body takes over and controls me at times. So I am working on building myself back up to venture forth and not cut myself off from being with my friends. It’s a fine line of guarding oneself, using wisdom, and living life as normal as possible with Lyme’s disease.



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