Lyme Life- Let’s Get Together

Let’s get together. Lyme Disease is rough. The symptoms so variable, no one can keep track, the fatigue so debilitating, no one can rely on plans, and the isolation so intense, no healthy people can relate.

Head

Lyme Disease has taken so much from so many. Every week I see the obituaries of people who have succumb, either by the Lyme Disease directly or the despair it brings.

In my copious reading for a Friday post, I realized that I had been focused on Lyme Disease’s ability to steal, kill and destroy, rather than it’s ability to motivate me to live well, or at least to the best ability that I can.

While researching what factors impede or promote addictive behavior patterns, it occurred to me that many Lymies are very isolated. While we may be online frequently and engaged in interactive tech, it’s not the same as human touch and holding a real live conversation. We all need connection with other people. People need to bond and trust and share care. So, let’s get together.

Lyme Disease has a very damaging effect on our ability to communicate, to articulate, to rightly discern our own impact and perceptions. Neurological Lyme or Lyme that has evidence of infiltrating the brain is common with unrecognized or untreated Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in people. My MRI showed it in 2015.

With a lot of very dedicated work, I have been rerouting thought patterns. I’ve also used specific movements to decrease the tremors. Although, if I am tired they show up anyway. My gate has improved too. The word-finding problems are slightly less of an issue. I attribute that to the supplements that I take consistently. Diet is also very important. The most important factors in my ability to cope have been my faith in God and strong bonds with people I trust.

Heart

If you are suffering, try to reach out. Rejection might happen, but we need to keep trying. Even by telephone, holding real conversations and not virtual ones is vital to connecting. True friends can certainly connect by writing, but if they are people with whom you have a two-dimensional relationship it might not fully meet the need to connect and bond.

A weekly card game or a telephone chat or a face to face visit can make a world of difference in a person’s life. The distraction from the pain is a small part of it. The major elevating factor is the connection with others. So, whether you are the one who is ill or a caregiver or even an acquaintance, please consider how important human bonding is to our lives.

Connection is so important that God showed us in visual form by coming into the earth realm as a man, bonding with people for 33 years and then He went to the cross. The picture of the cross is that of a vertical beam, which significantly points from earth to heaven, from us to the Father in heaven, and horizontally. With His arms outstretched, the concept of reaching out for one another is clearly visualized.

Get together

You don’t have to be a believer to connect with people. Nor do you need to do anything spectacular. We are all just people needing people. When you feel like you are at death’s door, there are no prerequisites. Let’s get together and just love one another.