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Greetings from Boston,

Out of the many Lyme Disease articles & posts I try to read daily, “An Ode to Health and Ignorance” truly captures the essence of this nightmare illness. I am seldom energized enough to respond anymore, as I have been fighting for my life from the devastating effects of Lyme & coinfections which have resulted in a multitude of health complications for over 6 years now.

I was misdiagnosed for 1 ½ years by supposedly the best doctors in our medical community. They might as well have tried bloodletting with leeches because that is how advanced my treatment began, allowing me to go from Acute & easily treated with a short course of antibiotics to Chronic & debilitated now.

The thought of this disease beating me hurts more than the daily suffering I endure. This is from where I somehow draw the strength everyday to crawl out of bed & willingly allow myself to be tortured yet again. If I didn’t believe that I would eventually triumph one day, I would not have made it this far & quit long ago.

But I am stubborn, & that would be too easy. If it’s any comfort, you are not alone in this desperate battle that requires us to put one painful foot in front of the other. I sense your despair & hope you would not act in a dangerous way towards yourself. I have certainly considered it time & again, but realize such drastic action goes against every fiber of my being that I have left - which is what keeps me going each day no matter how painful & tedious.

May you find some comfort in my words & know us Lymies are a chosen group of people for whatever crazy reason, even if it is to just forewarn others of the potential plight facing the uninformed. Now I have to stick around to find out how it all ends or die trying on this journey too few people understand or will ever take. Any other option would be karmic cheating!

Please Be Well,

Jim