Needles and Pins

It's official! Bob had Lyme Disease! That means the only member of this household who hasn't had a tick-born illness if Maggie the Mexican Pony. (Don't get any ideas!) It's bad enough that I'm about half-way into a course of doxycycline but I'll now have company in my pill-ingesting regimen. Bob's knee had been swollen, hot and uncomfortable and he has suffered from regular headaches and like me, he's been tired. His doctor confirmed that his Lyme titer was "lit up like a Christmas tree". Happy holidays!
So we have his'n'hers antibiotics and I've been referred to a chronic Lyme Disease study and ain't life just great? It is pretty depressing to think that every trip outside is fraught with peril and plague. Listen: in addition to Lyme, there is also Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Powassan Virus (Lordy! A "new" one!) and that classic Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. (Fortunately, I don't think that's made it's way here yet!) Chose your poison...

I'm looking at the bottom of my pill container and counting the days until I'm through with this round of medication. Interestingly, some symptoms- no matter how arcane or non-specific!- manifest every time I contract Lyme Disease. F'rinstance, my oft-mentioned desire to lie on the floor, or my suspicion that "my thermostat is broken" to more typical signs like a general achiness and fatigue. Then there are always new and novel symptoms: like this go-round, my toes and fingers tingled intermittently (neuropathy). But these clusters of symptoms are pretty vague and mimic other serious diseases like MS and lupus. Oh joy! I am certain my current doctor was skeptical of my self-diagnosing, but after having Lyme Disease the number of times I have, I'm some kind of an expert...
Bob and I have shared stories of how devious and sophisticated the Lyme bacterium is. It has a real streak of self preservation that compels you to do weird things like not take your pills.(Part of that is how tired you become of simply taking meds.)
And one more fun fact: my ongoing (over two years) neck pain has diminished. I am thinking that either Lyme Disease had centered in my neck and the course of doxcycline has rooted it out, or the acupuncture that I've been getting is really working. I don't care which it is as I'm taking way less ibuprofen than I have and that's a good thing.
I'm looking forward to a stretch of 100% health!