(I originally wrote this in 2010…and shortly after was a guest on a local radio show about Lyme disease and Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and the person doing the show was really impressed with this post and how anyone could “love” anything about this nightmare…but I truly believe there are silver linings in every cloud, and so many wonderful things would not have happened the last 3 years if I had not gotten sick. Would I choose to do it again? I can’t say I would…but I can’t imagine my life now without many of the people that Lyme brought into it, as well the life lessons I’ve learned along the way. Been 2 years so I wanted to repost this and give others an opportunity to think about things that they love about Lyme disease. (Okay…maybe just things you like or are grateful for, but what things came into your life because of this disease that you now count as a blessing? Those are things we wouldn’t have if we weren’t given the opportunity to get sick and through that to grow and learn and become a better person from the experience.) So read what I said 2 years ago about things that could make me love being sick, think about your own journey and share with us what you’re learned to love since getting sick (or if you have a loved one who is sick, what you’ve learned to love as you’ve gone through the journey with your loved one). I hope everyone can find a way to find happiness in everything, in all that is good and bad. This disease is BAD. But there are still some truly amazing things that have happened. I’m working on an update to this post, 2 years later we’ll see what I still love about Lyme disease!) *Also please note, my milkshakes eventually turned into daily functional food shakes as I went off sugar, yeast, dairy, gluten and pretty much everything else…but in the beginning I didn’t realize what an important role diet plays in your recovery
One of the top 5 reasons I hate Lyme disease is because I have heart attack symptoms every day. If I ever actually have a heart attack I won’t know the difference. Now I’m wondering what the other top 4 reasons are that I hate it for. But then I decided there are more than enough reasons to hate Lyme disease, and thousands of places a day that are devoted to the reasons to hate it.
So how about something different?
Can you think of 5 reaons why you LOVE Lyme disease? Okay, okay…stop laughing, I’m serious! I know we’ve all been affected either as a victim of Lyme, or the loved one of someone with it. But the old saying that every cloud has a silver lining is true, so if you really think about it, what about Lyme disease can you find that you LOVE?
For me it’s pretty easy to come up with 5 things:
1. As much as I hate being out of work because I am so sick, it has been kinda nice having the majority of the last year off. Granted at least half that time I was too sick to even be able to enjoy the smallest part of a day, but as I slowly get better there’s more and more I can enjoy about the day while I am still out of work.
2. I have become so much closer with my family and my friends. There are always casualties in the relationship department when chronic illness strikes, but I seem to be blessed with such amazing friends the losses have been limited. However the ones who have stuck by my side have been amazing blessings to me and in supporting me to keep fighting to get better.
3. I have an excuse to always say ‘no’ when people ask me to help them do physical labor. I am 6’4″ and over 250 lbs, most peopl expect a strong man to help them carry things, lift things or move things. Between Lyme disease and my PICC line I always have an excuse to sit back and sip a lemonade while someone else does all the hard work.
4. I love the Lyme disease community. If I had some other awful disease, I think I’d try to sneak over to the Lyme disease side of the party because it is quite an amazingly talented, compassionate and loving group of people. I can’t think of any other group of people I’d want behind me in this struggle then the community with which Lymies have to turn to.
5. Milkshakes. I have had more reasons than ever in the last year to have milkshakes, and to have them without guilt. (Of course this is backfiring at the moment while I’m completely sugar free right now, but it treated me well for a good 11 months or so.) And the truth is, I love milkshakes. So if I’m gonna have to suffer with something like Lyme disease, then I’m glad it’s reason enough to have good milkshakes on a regular basis. (Anyone can have bad milkshakes on a regular basis.)
See how easy that is? So I want to know…what 5 things can you come up with that you love about having Lyme disease? (If you can only come up with 3 or 4 I will not be grading you on this, so that’s okay too.)
The original post can be found here: 5 Things I Love About Lyme Disease April 2010 Post