how I got here...

 I was standing in line at the DMV when the Dr called.

"You have classical Hodgkins disease.  I can make you feel better"

A shocking diagnosis, but it explained why I was not getting better.  In fact, with every week that passed I was getting worse.  "Unexplained weight loss" of over 30 pounds, months spent chasing symptoms, diligently researching, taking so many supplements it made me sick, and the endless fatigue.

Since many of my symptoms were typical for Lyme patients, it seemed I just needed to work out how to rid myself of this pesky bacteria.  I had endured 9 months of antibiotics, with much of that time spent laying in bed during the day, missing work, friends, family, and everything we take for granted.

The beginning of my story is posted here:

tick bite and rash

At the time I was sure the rigorous antibiotic treatment would take care of the infection and all would be ok.  I wrote:

"I will be ok, but it will take many months to recover.  Although my initial diagnosis and treatment was inadequate, I am now under the care of  a LLMD (Lyme Literate MD.)   But this was only because I knew exactly what happened and received good referrals.  Those less fortunate endure years of misdiagnosis and an endless misery that I would wish on nobody."

But the treatment was almost worse than the disease, and I was so sick, and getting sicker.

I had taken the standard 2 weeks of a single antibiotic immediately after the bite.  In hindsight I suffered severe "Herxheimer reaction" to that initial antibiotic, which should have been a warning to the doctor that I had been infected.  But I was so relieved when that was over, writing it off to a bad reaction to the drug and went back to daily life.

One of the first clues that Lyme had really got me was about 3 months after the tick bite - a swollen lymph node under my arm.  I also didn't realize it, but my declining mental function, blurry vision, and random joint pains were also a clue.  I had written it off to my advanced age (50 was just months away.)

They say stress can trigger Lyme (or cancer).  In September 2013 my wife, Alisa, had a terrible accident, falling off the roof and shattering her heel.  The stress of the accident and my new role as full-time caregiver pushed me over the edge.  My mental state deteriorated to the point that even washing the dishes was a major mental challenge.  This is typical with Lyme: http://www.igenex.com/psychological_effects.htm

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I know others who had dealt with Lyme disease.  So when my doctor said the standard lyme test was negative and there was nothing he could do for me I took a recommendation on a Lyme doctor.  This meant traveling 3 hours for an appointment and a series of long distance challenges ahead.  When the industry standard IgenX Lyme test came back positive, it confirmed my fears and defined what (I thought) was a path forward.

By March 2014, the lymph nodes in my neck were swelling up.  The lyme doctor seemed concerned, but I had no clue that cancer was even a possibility…

It wasn't until I found a new Lyme doctor in September 2014 and underwent a series of tests that things seemed atypical.  She told me, "I don't want to scare you, but this could be cancer."

She saved my life.