How has Lyme Disease affected your life?
I was diagnosed after failing out of my third year of college. The doctors couldn’t pinpoint how long ago I had contracted Lyme, but estimated it had been about 2 years. I didn’t have energy to get out of bed and while there was pain, what I found most debilitating was the brain fog. I remember a moment during a bad Lyme week laying there feeling helpless and thinking, “This is so boring and I am sick of feeling weak”. I realized that if I continued to allow myself to feel consumed by my illness, I would never be able to get back up again. Motivated by this fear, I found the strength to keep moving. After 8 years of stubbornly pushing myself through tears and massive amounts of doubt, I am finally completing my BS in Clinical Laboratory Medicine! I still have days of bad brain fog and flares, but I have come a long way and I am not stopping.
What inspires you?
“Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.” -Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive
It’s something I whisper to myself every time things get tough.