Lizbeth Finn-Arnold

I Finally Turned a Corner

I completed my version of a Triathlon today. I walked 3.8 miles on the Henry Hudson Trail (all flat terrain), then came home and swam my laps (gentle breast stroke) and after dinner took out the bike and made a couple laps around my circular driveway.

Not bad for a Lymie who has been almost completely physically inactive for three years. I truly feel like I've turned a major corner, as I am finally able to partake in physical activity. It's baby steps, I know, but feels so much better than being a lump on the couch. I didn't know how much I missed being active, until it was taken away from me.

Of course, the real test comes tomorrow. Will I have the energy and stamina to stay active? Or will climbing the steps feel like I'm climbing a mountain? Stay-tuned.

Tired of the Lyme Skeptics...

The ignorance around chronic Lyme continues. I'm so tired of articles about the skepticism around Yolanda's lyme diagnosis. Read latest here. 

When you have cancer or AIDS, people support you rather than question your health. When Pedro Zamora took part on The Real World, he was trying to raise awareness about HIV and nobody complained that he didn't "look sick" or "act sick." He was a young, vibrant-seeming man giving a human face to an ugly, terrible disease. A disease that took his life way too soon, and that many people ignored until they saw celebrities or reality stars dealing with it.

I have met so many people who have suffered exactly like Yolanda Hadid. Not one of us who has fought this fight has any doubt she is telling the truth about her sickness. WE HAVE FRICKING BEEN THERE!!! And we understand how hard it is to get the medical community and insurance companies to help us when the general population treats us like we have an imaginary illness. If they don't acknowledge it, there's no research. Without research there's no cure for millions of people currently infected and suffering.

Tomorrow is Another Day...

Woke up with a terrible headache today and all over aches and pains. Not sure if I'm herxing, or it's hormonal, or due to weather changes, or something I ate, or maybe I was just due for a bad day. I can't complain, as up until today, I've had TWELVE GOOD DAYS in a row!!!

 

I'm hoping this is a temporary flare and am focusing on the fact that I have felt almost normal over the past two weeks. Now I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. My body is capable of healing. I'm not always going to feel this way. I'm going to beat Chronic Lyme!

 

Like Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day." Hopefully, it's a good one.

 

#ChronicLymeWarrior #lymeawareness #invisibleillness #upwardandonward

 

I Feel Good...

Last week was a very good week! In fact it was the best week I've had in three long, brutal and agonizing years. I feel like a new person, or rather like my old self.

I'm not saying I'm completely cured. I still am extremely tired, but for the past nine days, I have been almost pain-free. As in, for the first time in 1095 days, I am without pain in some part of my body. I haven't even had a headache.

Now imagine how I must feel. I've been in pain for every second of every minute of every hour of every day for 1095 days! And now, suddenly I am free of pain! It is nothing short of a miracle.

Texting and Walking Zombies

In NJ, they are proposing a bill to make texting and walking illegal.

I think fining the "walk-and-texters" is a great idea because they drive me nuts, and it is actually dangerous. I cannot comprehend why people can't live without their phones for even one second. I see kids getting off buses, staring like zombies at their phones, unaware of the world around them. Cars whizzing by? They don't even register it. They literally can't wait two minutes to get inside their homes before they answer a text?

Also I hate shopping in stores, because people on their phones continuously walk into me (and then look at me like I'm an alien). I see people walking around in cities completely clueless to the world beyond their phones. Whatever happened to being street smart and aware of your environment? And why does every message need to be returned instantaneously?

 

Lyme Disease and the Insecure and Unsupportive RHoBH

"The fact is my challenges are multi-faceted. So far, we've treated my Lyme disease, co-infections, heavy metal toxicity, silicone ruptures, parasites, and viral, bacterial and fungal infections. I don't expect anyone to understand a disease so complex. I've been immersed in discovery 101--finding my way back to health. "

The above statement comes from Beverly Hills Housewife Yolanda Foster, but very well could have come from me (minus the silicone ruptures from breast implants). It makes me very emotional to watch her story unfold on the latest season of RHOBH because I do feel every bit of what she is going through. And I also understand how difficult this fight is, and how hard it is when others don't understand why you are still sick, or speculate that perhaps you are just depressed.

Guess what? You'd be depressed too if seemingly overnight you went from a vital functioning human being to a shell of your former self, who always feels sick and tired and rarely has the energy to leave your home or engage in life. It's bad enough to be sick but so much worse when you have an illness that elicits so little compassion in people.

The Rocky Road to Recovery

Nine days ago, I embarked on a 28 Day Clean Eating Challenge. The first four days were more than rocky to say the least. My body was detoxing and I felt miserable. I had a migraine for four straight days and could barely muster the energy to get out of bed. And then, suddenly, out of the blue, I felt a sudden shift in my health. I woke up feeling good. I mean, really, really good. And I had energy. And I felt motivated. And I could function without having to lay down and take breaks in between tasks. And I didn't have any headaches, or sugar cravings, or the desire to sleep for days.

Truth is, I felt better than I had in years. In total, I had four straight days of almost feeling like my old self. And I began to believe I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. That was until I woke up today. It wasn't a horrible headache, but it was there all the same. It was joined by the evil twins -- sluggishness and fatigue.  And so I was reminded that I'm still not off this twisted path of Lyme. 

I wish getting better was just a matter of eating clean, but I'm afraid things are more complicated than that. I've been sick for a long time, and it's going to take a considerable amount of time and concentrated effort to put me back together again. Eating clean is definitely part of the equation, though, and probably one of the best things I can do to heal my body. After all, food is medicine. But it's not going to happen overnight. There are no magic pills here.

The Rocky Road to Recovery

Nine days ago, I embarked on a 28 Day Clean Eating Challenge. The first four days were more than rocky to say the least. My body was detoxing and I felt miserable. I had a migraine for four straight days and could barely muster the energy to get out of bed. And then, suddenly, out of the blue, I felt a sudden shift in my health. I woke up feeling good. I mean, really, really good. And I had energy. And I felt motivated. And I could function without having to lay down and take breaks in between tasks. And I didn't have any headaches, or sugar cravings, or the desire to sleep for days.

Truth is, I felt better than I had in years. In total, I had four straight days of almost feeling like my old self. And I began to believe I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. That was until I woke up today. It wasn't a horrible headache, but it was there all the same. It was joined by the evil twins -- sluggishness and fatigue.  And so I was reminded that I'm still not off this twisted path of Lyme. 

I wish getting better was just a matter of eating clean, but I'm afraid things are more complicated than that. I've been sick for a long time, and it's going to take a considerable amount of time and concentrated effort to put me back together again. Eating clean is definitely part of the equation, though, and probably one of the best things I can do to heal my body. After all, food is medicine. But it's not going to happen overnight. There are no magic pills here.

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

 

1. The illness I live with is:LYME DISEASE AND BABESIOSIS

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2015

3. But I had symptoms since: 2013

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: ACCEPTING I CANNOT DO ALL THE THINGS I WANT TO DO AND SPENDING MOST OF MY DAYS TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF SO I CAN HEAL. I DON'T ALWAYS FEEL NOT VERY PRODUCTIVE, AND THAT'S FRUSTRATING FOR SOMEONE WHO USED TO GET A LOT DONE.

5. Most people assume: LYME DISEASE IS NO BIG DEAL. EASILY CURED. 

6. The hardest part about mornings are: GETTING OUT OF BED. MY ENTIRE BODY IS STIFF AND HURTS AND IT TAKES  A LOT OF ENERGY TO GET GOING.

Conquering Life

When I see people on Facebook talk about how overwhelmed and overworked they are (pulled in a million different directions by their kids' commitments and their weekends and vacations are much more stressful than their work week) I think -- there is a solution to your stress. You hold the key. You set the pace of your life. You can lean in or lean out. You can overload your kids with activities, overcommit yourself, try to conquer each day as if you were fighting the battle for your life, or you can learn to live with less. Less stress. Less busyness. Less saying yes.

One of the blessings of living with chronic illness, is that you begin to understand how you too once were on this Merry-Go-Round and how it once ruled your life. Chronic illness forces you to not just slow down, but to stop completely. You learn to say NO a lot. You are forced to lean out and you realize the world doesn't end just because you aren't busy every single minute of every single day.