Tag: Lyme disease

Flexibility is Key

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Yellow roses and purple irises for our anniversary!

Today is the five year anniversary for my husband, Steve and me.  I struggled to try to figure out how to “celebrate” since  I am still battling Lyme Disease and don’t feel well most of the time.  Let’s see, a little creative flexibility would be in order:

Dinner at Biaggi’s:  we checked local restaurant menus online, made a couple of calls then decided on Biaggi’s as there’s enough on my allergy-free list to comprise a dinner.  Once there, the host seated us in a quieter section of the restaurant (without even asking!) and the waiter was able to turn the music below my sensitivity level.  And yes, the waiter was able to have a salad made for me, picking and choosing from all the acceptable ingredients on the salad menu.  The coconut yogurt dressing came with me, packed in my purse.   Result:  a romantic anniversary dinner with my beloved Steve.

Movie date:   started having a headache (the pre-seizure attack kind) on the way to the theater so we stopped at Walgreens for some OTC meds.  Then we sat in the parking lot until the headache subsided but the seizure attacks came anyways.   I cried and Stevers drove us to two Red Box DVD dispenser machines.  Only problem was that most of the movies were either obscure or rated R.  Next, we came home with mixed emotions and Steve’s daughter, Christina mentioned that you can rent and download DVDs at Amazon.com for $.99.  Seemed like workable alternative then the seizure attacks returned.  (Guess the other unknown ingredients in the dinner got to me?  Hard to say . . .)  The attacks ended and we relaxed for awhile before staging a movie theater in the office with a ton of pillows and comforters. Result:  Pixar flick “UP” made for a sweet movie date.

So you can see how grateful I am for so many things this evening.  Steve takes even the weirdest, ugliest, most stressful things in stride; these qualities make a HUGE difference in this time of illness.  Oh how I am blessed to be his wife and partner in this life.  I hope that when I am called to serve him that I will be as gracious!  Just finally figuring out what to do to celebrate our anniversary was a huge gift since I wasn’t sure we could do anything at all.  Thank you Lord for guiding us and providing a sweet evening together.

Flexibility is key in celebrating an anniversary in a time of illness or trials.  Flexibility is key in living everyday with gratitude and hope.  There is sweetness not to be missed, we just gotta look for it and go for it!  If it don’t work one way, try another.  We can celebrate so much more than the special dates and events.  And if we have faith in the Lord and we let Him guide our paths and bunny trails, well, the outcome is Providential indeed.  Let’s see, what can we celebrate today?  :J

Habakkuk 3:17-19

New International Version (NIV)

17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.

Faith in Jesus is Critical

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Yeah so it’s the message I put on the metal template of my new jewelry.  Of course.  It’s not just a trend for me.  Faith in Jesus is critical to my survival these days!

I think I slept  2 hours, twice last night, awakened by demonic influences, seizure attacks, and a massive headache.   Somewhere in the middle of these 2 episodes of sleep, I pushed myself out of bed to eat, drink, and read . . . my husband’s Popular Mechanics magazine, of course!  Reading about the most innovative inventions of the past year is sport for a re-budding entrepreneur like me.  I love creativity in virtually all of its forms.  We all have creativity in us, I believe placed here by the Lord of all creation, the master Creator.  And somewhere in the middle of reading about these inventions I developed a theory about my seizure attacks (formerly known on this blog as “seizure-like tics.”)

:J
Here goes:  if I have seizure attacks when falling asleep and perhaps in a unique stage of the sleep cycle then can the attacks be caused by disease in the sleep center of the brain?  I have pulsing sensations behind my eyes at times, perhaps near the hypothalamus which is part of the brain’s sleep center.  If this dysfunction is localized I wonder if it is possible to use my Rife, Beam Ray machine to target the frequencies of these particular tissues?  Cautiously I may even consider medications or supplements (although I have already tried several of each!).  My brain MRI was normal so there’s no structural issue.  Hmmmmm.  Looking forward to my next appointment with my Lyme Literate Doctor; we have so much to discuss!

:J

The Lord gave me and you the ability to create.  The Lord gave me and you the ability to use our minds to solve problems, reason, remember, learn, and experience emotions.  These are called executive functioning skills.  We are unique from all animals and plants in this regard and with these gifts comes stewardship.  I will only ask the question for myself:  am I using what I have, where I am, with what abilities I’ve got?  Better said is as follows:

1 Peter 4:10-11

New King James Version (NKJV)

10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

So I create.  I try to figure this Lyme stuff out.  I also wait on Him for answers, inspiration, healing, grace, mercy, everything.   In the middle of the night, when I can do nothing because of the wretchedness of Lyme Disease, I simply say the name, “Jesus.”  In the end, faith in Jesus is critical.

:J
Thank you Lord for increasing my faith.  Thank you Lord for meeting me in the middle of the night last night.  Thank you for the comfort and faith I can feel in the arms of my Steve.  I humbly submit to your will and purpose.  And if something good comes from this wretchedness, may You alone receive the glory.   In Christ’s name, Amen.

And then there were two

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Sorry Charlie, it’s Julie and Mike in this story!

So what’s a big sister to say when her younger brother calls after 6 months and has nothing but nice things to say about her?  Well that’s an invitation to share a few nice comments in return.  First, oh my, how you have grown!

The ravages of Lyme Disease are bringing more blessings that I could have ever imagined.  Let’s look beyond my tearful doctor appointment today for a moment:  my brother Mike is growing into a nice guy who can look beyond his own situation with compassion for others.  He is sensitive to things of the Lord and the delights of the world around him.  He spent time reviewing this blog, researching Lyme Disease and discussing it at some length with his girlfriend before contacting me.  Thank you for caring about me Mike and calling me yesterday!  You are helped me see beyond my situation.  Maybe the Lord is working in more than one person’s life?  Hmmmmmm . . .

As we reminisced a bit it was clear that our childhoods were a mess, with heartaches sprinkled with some good times too.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed talking about one of our favorite places:  Grandma and Grandpa Lech’s house on Lake Columbia (Brooklyn, Michigan).   Yes, that tractor tire was a blast that Grandpa got for us to play on in the canal in front of their house.  Remember paddling it by hand out in the deep water to the “big lake?”  That was risky as Grandma would be worried if we ventured too far from home.  Worried that is, if she noticed while in the midst of overcooking the chicken for dinner or putting the Better Made Potato Chips just a little further from our reach on top of the refrigerator!  She always had those cookies striped with chocolate and would slip a few quarters in our pockets before we went home.  You were an expert at locating golf balls in the cornfield and woods around the golf course.  And you always made more money than me and our other brother, Rob, selling them back to the golfers!  Loved sneaking onto the golf course to use the ball washer.  Such a cool gizmo for a kid to use!  Yes, the times at the lake each summer were the best of times.

Rob is now gone and so is our mom, dad and Grandma Lech, all within the past 9 years.  We have both been through so many changes in addition to these losses that it’s tough to keep up with all of them and the impact that they have had.  Perhaps we need another phone call or visit before too long?  And let’s keep looking to Jesus Christ as our strength and hope in all things, k?  He cares about both of us more than we know and holds our hearts and future in the palm of His loving hand.  I praise Him for you and thank both of you for thinking of me.

Once there were three of us kids, three that mom would yell for out the back door for dinner, “Julie, Mike and Roooobert!!!!”  And now there are two of us.  Let’s make the most of it, eh?  I love you Mike.

Life is like a box of chocolates

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Remember this famous line from the movie, Forrest Gump?  “Life is like a bunch of chocolates.  Sometimes you just don’t know what you are going to get!”  Yeah, I get this message when the day begins with renewed hope and ends, well, somewhere else.  That was my day today.

I am grateful for a local Lyme Support group, started by Tonya Floyd and co-facilitated by Cyndi Null-Jakacki and Diane Geeting.  To have a place to talk face-to-face, at length about this journey with Lyme Disease without boring or bumming anyone out is a great blessing.  Those of you who have had an extended period of illness probably know the value of this kind of support.  You just can’t talk very long with most people about being sick before the person to whom you are speaking starts to squirm, offers some quick advice, or even presses forth to pray a little too quickly.  Sometimes, I just need someone to listen a little longer.  Ask me a question.  Or I need to hear a little more of a fellow sojourner’s story to know that I am not alone.  And this morning, and every third Thursday of the month, I find it.  Thank you ladies for putting this together.
And thank you to those of you willing to read this blog.  Feel free to drop me a note sometime and let me know what’s up with you and how I may pray for you too.  I’ve got a blog now so I won’t go on with the details of the seizure-like tics that lasted several hours this evening, the flu-like symptoms and pain that lasted most of the day, or the worry-fest that rattled my brain when the symptoms were ramping up this afternoon.  It’s all better  now.
Praise the Lord, it’s all better now!  Goodnight.  :J