I've written a letter for Lymies to share with family and friends who may not yet understand the complexities of this sickness. This is a complicated disease to diagnose and treat, but that means it's also complicated to live with it. If you suffer this sickness, give yourself a break, let yourself rest. If you…
Someday…the train will come
Under the Tuscan Sun is about a woman (Diane Lane) who buys a large house in Tuscany, on a whim, after a painful divorce has drastically changed her outlook on life. "You have to live spherically, in many directions. Never lose your childish enthusiasm and things will come your way." She realizes as she's remodeling…
Peeling Back the Layers
The process of healing chronic Lyme isn't easy. Over the 8 years from the time I contracted Lyme to the time I was diagnosed, my body developed a whole mess of conditions that all need to be treated - at the right time, in the right order. Can you imagine being a doctor and having…
Listen to Your Body
I keep improving - but then something happens, I don't know what, and I start to feel like I'm going backwards. More pain, cognitive issues like word finding, I feel just yucky all over - I can't always explain it. I just know I'm not ok and I'm scared that I'm slipping backwards. It's easy…
Take Chances – Make Mistakes
"Take chances, make mistakes. Sometimes it's important not to be perfect. It's important to do the wrong thing!..... To find out what's real and what's not, to find out what you feel. Human beings are terrible messes." ~ Portia, Bicentennial Man It's so true, we humans are a terrible mess. We make mistakes and do…
NUCCA – not your mama’s chiropractic
I've been seeing a chiropractic specialist for about 5 years. NUCCA doctors specialize and only adjust the atlas (the first vertebrae at the top of the neck). However they do it in a non-invasive manner that you honestly barely feel. There's no manual cracking, there's no twisting of the neck and back, there's no popping…
Pressure System Release
"Every pressurized system needs a relief valve. There has to be a way to reduce the stress, the tension....there has to be a way to find relief, because if the pressure doesn’t find a way out, it will make one. It will explode. It’s the pressure we put on ourselves that’s the hardest to bear.…
90 MPH to 0 in 2 Seconds Flat
I think the most misunderstood component of Lyme+ is the way we appear to be doing fairly well one second and suddenly we are crawling into bed for a week long crash. "But you were doing so well! What happened?" "What did you do that made you get sick again?" "Is she faking it?" All…
Disturbed – The Sounds of Silence
Simon & Garfunkel's famous song has always touched my soul, but it wasn't until I was watching figure skaters Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres performing to a remake that I fell in love with the depth and sentiment of the lyrics. I am a talker. I love to talk, I think it's important in any…
Apollo 13 – what events may transpire
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the return of the Apollo 13 astronauts to earth. So, in true Hollywood form, there have been documentaries and space movies on all day - and in true Shawn form, the stories have me comparing chronic sickness to the "successful failures" of space travel. In all these stories, there…
PhilippiJoy 