Hello, my name is TLD and I have lived on Vancouver Island, Canada all my life.
In the spring of 2009 while resting in a meadow on a popular Vancouver Island mountain I noticed my arm was covered in nymph ticks. They were so small I could barely see them. I didn’t recognize what they were as I knew nothing about ticks or Lyme disease at that time so I naively thought they were harmless tiny spiders, brushed them off my arm and thought no more about them.
I soon developed a small bull’s eye rash that grew to the size of a toonie/silver dollar but I still didn’t relate it to my hiking experience. Upon seeing a doctor l was told it was probably just an unusual reaction to a spider bite and was told not to worry.
I was only in my late 40’s at the time but within a year I quickly began to feel like an unhealthy eighty year old woman.
I never remember being very healthy most of my life despite living an exemplary lifestyle, but I gradually became very ill indeed. By the spring of 2010 I was almost falling apart and became unable to work. I was seeing a naturopath at the time and it was she who was the first to suspect Lyme disease. She had me complete a questionnaire and shockingly I had developed 60 out of 72 Lyme symptoms. These included incredible pain everywhere in my body including muscles and joints, as well as extreme fatigue, insomnia, mental confusion, sudden blurred vision, twitching, jerking and whole body tremors...
I was so lucky to have great connections and was immediately tested and found positive in Canada for Bartonella (Cat Scratch Fever), Rickettsia (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever), Anaplasma (Ehrlichia) and - not surprisingly - negative for Borrelia burgdorferi. I rushed to the US and received a positive test result from IGeneX for Lyme.
For me and the doctors that I saw who were “Lyme literate” it was undeniable: I was sick with Lyme disease. I was paralyzed with fear as I was already allergic to every antibiotic in the book, one of them putting me in the hospital for days with a severe “herx” reaction. However I knew I needed to take immediate action.
I was also financially strapped, being a single mom always trying to make ends meet. I needed to figure out how to make myself better on a budget. I didn’t know where to turn when I realized I was not going to be able to afford the doctors in the US.
Thank goodness for a Lyme support group where I found out about the Marshall Protocol. By April 2010 I was on my journey to wellness. I am so lucky that I have a great medical benefits plan that covers a majority of my medical costs. I just recently added up my medical bills for this year’s income tax and I have only had to pay just over $3000.00 out of my own pocket. This included regular out of town visits to an MP-friendly doctor. I would never have been able to make trips to Seattle and pay a "regular" Lyme doctor for less than this.
I am so grateful today that I found this cutting edge medicine. So far I have had a very rough ride and I will not tell you it has been easy for me keep the faith when I experience horrible Immunopathology (Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction) - or healing crisis as it is sometimes called - but I believe I wouldn’t be alive today without it.
Based on my history, doctors tell me I probably have had
Lyme since I was a child and this is of course why all my extensive therapies
hadn’t healed me. These therapies included hormone therapy, herbal
programs, vitamins and supplements, cleanses, bio-feedback, scenar therapy,
nano-pulse therapy, acupuncture, massage, reflexology, homeopathy, chiropractic
treatments, osteopathic treatments, physiotherapy, TENS therapy, bach flower
therapy, aroma-therapy, allergy diets, celiac diets, parasite cleanses, counseling,
meditation, reiki, reconnection therapy, immunologic desensitization, affirmation
programs and having all my root-canalled and mercury-filled teeth removed.
Now after 23 months on MP, I have never looked back. I have never returned to the state I was in at the start of therapy. Gone are the days when I had trouble balancing while standing and walking, uncontrollable tremors, and I was stuttering and stammering and barely able to get my words out or form a coherent thought.
And bonus: I haven’t even gotten lost in my small home town like I used to, or forgotten phone numbers I have known all my adult life. There is no looking back for me even though I am sure it will still be a long journey full of ups and downs. Much gratitude to all those professional and otherwise dedicated to supporting us Lyme warriors with the Marshall Protocol. You are a blessing.
