10 Quotes on Life and Love for Those Tough Lyme Days

Inspiration June 19, 2013 Comments: 4
: Plenty of life and love. Photo: LifeLoveLyme

Granddaughter, grandmother: generations of life and love.
Photo: LifeLoveLyme

On days like today when I’m feeling too sick to write—well, that’s when I most need encouragement from the words of others. Here are some quotes that really speak to me; be sure to click on the links to read a little about these inspiring women and men.

1. Where there is love, there is life. Mahatma Gandhi

2. Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live. Dorothy Thomson

3. We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are

used to loving. Friedrich Nietzsche 

4. Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw

5. Life is the flower for which love is the honey. Zora Neale Hurston

6. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. William James

7. When life kicks you, let it kick you forward. Kay Yow

8. I love life in spite of all that mars it. I love friendship, jokes and laughter. Tahar Ben Jelloun 

9. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply

gives you courage.  Lao Tzu 

10. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Helen Keller

Is there a special quote that helps keep you strong and inspired? Maybe you keep it on your fridge or the bathroom mirror; I like to write them on an index card and switch them out from time to time. It would be great to see a lot posted here so that everyone has a good chance of finding some words that are meaningful for them.

IMG_0553Giveaway: Want to wear one of my LifeLoveLyme bracelets to remind you to stay anchored in life and love—and to spark important conversations about lyme disease? I’ll be mailing one to someone (chosen randomly) who contributes to the comments section this week. So share your thoughts or a quote for a chance to get a bracelet for yourself, a relative, or a friend (come on, guys, this means you, too—I’m betting you know someone who would love one as a gift!).

Video: Rachel’s Lyme Story: What It’s Like to be a Teen with Lyme

Inspiration, Lyme Basics, SUCCESS STORIES!, Video May 30, 2013 Comments: 3

I like so many things about Rachel’s YouTube video, I hardly know where to start. She’s so earnest, so honest, so insightful.

The details she gives of life with lyme at 14 along with her perspective at age 20 reveals so much. Her juxtaposition of “then” and “now” is simply brilliant.

I’m right there empathizing as she describes the gradual onset of her symptoms over several years, from knee pain to total collapse.

I know just how she felt when dismissive doctors didn’t believe her pain was almost off the charts…or declared that she didn’t have lyme.

Like Rachel, I know how lucky I am to have the support of steadfast friends and family to see me thorough.

What I do not share with Rachel is what it’s like to be a teenager with lyme. However, from listening to many moms who live with and support sick kids every day, I’m keenly aware of all that teens miss.

They lose out on things they can never recapture, from the social life and studies at school to scouting and the soccer team, drama club, a first date, and prom. And countless other special times.

If you are a teen and you feel like some people in your life just don’t get it, this is a good video to share with family, friends, and maybe even teachers.

By the way, while people who weren’t diagnosed for a long time may need treatment for longer, every recovery timetable is different.

The important thing to keep in mind is Rachel at 20, and knowing that however long it takes, it will eventually be possible to get out of bed, feel energetic, and get back to doing the things you love.

Thanks for sharing, Rachel.

You can post comments for Rachel aka gigglegirl13 on her YouTube page.

Facing Facebook, Craving Face Time

Battling isolation, For friends and family, Mental health May 28, 2013 Comments: 15
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Two things in particular sustain me: natural beauty and friends.
Photo: LifeLoveLyme

For a long time now, I’ve been in a place where viewing the lives of friends through the window of my personal Facebook page is incredibly painful. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just enjoy the happy happenings of others instead of being overcome by my own piercing grief, frustration, and regret?

I checked my page today and saw a lot of posts from folks, many of whom I have not seen since I got sick. They’re experiencing all kinds of life events. Meanwhile the depression cloud hangs over me.

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Garden of Evil?

Inspiration, Ticks April 26, 2013 Comments: 5
Photo: LifeLoveLyme

Photo: LifeLoveLyme

After months of being severely limited by lyme – worn out by an hour or two of daily activities and resigned to holding court on my red sofa for most of my waking hours – I am enjoying a period of respite from herxing between treatments as I build up my immune system for the next big round of IV antibiotics.

Mind you, at the moment I still only have maybe a quarter of a tank of gas per day to run on, but that’s enough to get me a fraction beyond just the basics. It’s enough to allow me to drive myself about an hour to the weekend house all by myself, which means an incredible sense of freedom.

The first day, I settled in to read a stack of library books and a bagful of New Yorkers and simply…rest.  But yesterday I was seized by the exuberance of the season and went to the hardware store to pick up a small shovel and hot pink petunias.

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Burning Feet

Co-infections, For friends and family, Lyme Basics March 7, 2013 Comments: 4
DSC00242

Photo by LifeLoveLyme

I’m pretty sure most people around the world who aren’t living with lyme think the symptom list is this simple and straightforward:

  • bull’s eye rash
  • flu-like symptoms

And I reckon that this false belief is a major reason persistent lyme disease continues to be missed in people with a wide range of complaints physical, cognitive, and emotional.

 

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Juicing Up My Diet

Eating for better health March 6, 2013 1 Comment
Can you eat all this lush veggie wonderfulness in one sitting? Photo by LifeLoveLyme

Can you eat all this lush veggie wonderfulness in one sitting?
Photo by LifeLoveLyme

Carrots, celery, brocoli, a hearty portion of kale, parsley, an apple and a big red beet: so much nutrition! A couple of day’s worth of vibrant vitamins, right?

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Do Ticks Survive Winter?

Lyme Basics March 5, 2013 Comments: 3

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Well, I started this post in January and have been too sick to finish it—but with what sounds like the biggest snowstorm of the season hitting tonight, maybe it is okay that I am posting this in March.

It used to be that there were few things more satisfying to me than wading into an overgrown flower bed to pull weeds, tame overgrown shrubs, and make space for my plants to thrive.

The photo above shows the flowerbed where I got a tick embedded in my hip one summer. And a bull’s eye rash. With lyme and co-infections.

As you can see, my garden is in a sad state these days.

That’s because last summer and fall I did not have the energy to clean it up—and, quite frankly, I was afraid of ticks. I said to myself, I will feel better in the winter. I’ll clean it up then, when the ticks are gone.

Flash forward to the middle of winter, when I still hadn’t gotten the job done. Then someone in my support group reported that she’d come inside her house and done a complete tick check—in January. In Virginia.

And found a live tick.

I’d assumed that once temperatures dipped below freezing, ticks were done for ‘til spring. Now I know otherwise.

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