read: Why Can't I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Illness

Why Can't I Get Better? by Richard I. Horowitz, M.D. is a must read for anyone suffering from a chronic autoimmune illness, or who knows someone who is. I ordered it through Amazon after listening to a Lyme Ninja podcast with Dr. Horowitz as a guest speaker. Full disclosure: I'm not finished with this book yet. I'm half way through and I've got it marked up and dog eared. I've got a long list of other things to research from this reading. Most importantly, though I have a much better understanding of the illness my two boys and I have. It's both encouraging and overwhelming to read this. Encouraging because I have discovered more information from this book in the past couple of weeks than ever before (remember I'm only half way through it, too). I have sought information that is meaningful and helpful for 13 years now, so that gives you an idea of what a gold mine this book is. Overwhelming because the complexity of chronic illness and understanding illness, treatment as it relates to me and mine makes my head spin. There's also this nagging reality that we may not ever fully recover, always being hunted by the clever little organisms within our bodies. They are able to remain dormant for years, waiting for your immune system to be vulnerable. Rest assured though, that if you have been suffering with Lyme, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or some other autoimmune issue you will find answers in this book. Answers like: the right questions to ask your physician, the right tests to get done and enough information so you can find the right physician for you. Knowledge you will gain from this book might just make the difference between hope and despair. So, order this book, be ready to write in the margins, take notes and get educated!

heal: The Lyme Diet, a book

Did you know that 70% of the cells that make up your immune system are in your gut? Now you do. Dr. Nicola McFadzean's book The Lyme Diet, Nutritional Strategies for Healing from Lyme Disease is a great guide for eating to support 70% of your immune system, and helping to heal from Lyme Disease, likely many other auto-immune disorders such as, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, MS, ALS, chronic headaches, including migraines, as well as anyone who just wants to improve their health through nutrition.

Dr. Nicola McFadzean is a Naturopathic doctor.  Her book is written clearly and is easy to understand. It isn't too much or too little information to get started on caring for yourself better. In the seemingly brief 216 pages she lays out very clearly what you need to know about nutrition as is related to health and healing from Lyme. In fact, even if you don't have Lyme or know anyone with it I think you could benefit from reading it. Methinks this book should just be called: The Healing Diet, or The Healthy Way To Eat Diet. We can all feel better when we eat well.

Healing Time

We've had an interesting year so far. It started out by getting stuck in Massachusetts in January. Not that I don't love having more time with my family. But we had timed our return so that we'd be home for the start of school. The snow made it impossible to go anywhere for a number of days and we got home a few days later than we had planned. Everyone (but me) was sick upon our return, though. By early February we had to get antibiotics for two sinus infections that just wouldn't go away. This started an interesting cycle for Coleman. He got sicker. And sicker.

I knew, at least suspected I knew what was happening to him because I'd gone through it myself a few months before. Finding a pediatric doctor who could actually help, that was a challenge. Five weeks after Coleman's appointment we got the news we were anticipating, with even more information than we expected. In addition, we got what we thought was a really good, carefully thought out treatment plan.

Coleman has been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, with a co-infection of Bartonella. There are a number of other complicating factors with his genetic makeup that make him susceptible to mold and viruses. To further complicate matters, it is difficult for his body to rid itself of toxins - I don't know if this is simply how he is or if this is temporary. This component in particular was likely what made him so very sick after being treated for a sinus infection. The skeptics among you will ask, how did he get it? Did he ever get a tick bite? A rash? I don't believe it. My answer is: I don't know if he had a tick bite. I never saw a bulls eye rash. But I know I had it while I was pregnant. I know I had it the entire time I nursed him. And there is evidence that either one of these conditions can cause infection. Indeed, I am being treated now for Lyme disease with a co-infection of Bartonella. It's possible he has had this his entire life. Believe it.

The big relief here is that we know what it is. We know also how to treat it. And finally we know Coleman will be a healthy young man again, soon. By soon I don't mean in a month or so. I mean a couple of years. He will still get to go to summer camp, hopefully play football (this remains a little up in the air - it's a highly strenuous sport, and they train hard) and in general be the goofball he is. We just need to keep it simple and mellow.

I'll be rolling out a series of posts about the "new" diet we'll be adhering to. It's an anti-inflammation diet and I've talked about it before: Gluten, dairy and sugar are all out. We've got a long way to get this one down. I, myself did it for years, but that is a trio of foodstuffs Coleman keeps near and dear to his little heart. So far, two days in and we're doing okay on the gluten part. Sugar seems the most challenging. We've used goat cheese which we got an okay from the doctor for.

This is going to be fun! Right?