From Lisa, living with Lyme Disease
My good friend Lisa (for whom I’m knitting the sweater that probably won’t fit her…), has been living with Chronic Lyme Disease for… geez, around a year, now. It might be more, but my memory stinks, as you all know.
I asked her to write a brief statement about Lyme disease to better understand what she’s dealing with. Here’s what she had to say:
“Lyme disease not only attacks sufferers in a number of ways physically, but it attacks them mentally as well. It frequently causes memory problems, cognitive dysfunction, anxiety attacks, and debilitating depression. If not treated soon after infection, and sometimes even with proper treatment, Lyme disease can easily turn into a chronic infection. According to the Lyme Disease Association, the typical chronic Lyme disease patient suffers the same level of debilitation as a patient with congestive heart failure.
Most patients go years without a diagnosis because of vague and conflicting diagnostic criteria, as well as the common myth that Lyme disease is only endemic to the East Coast. The disease affects people of all ages, disabling men, women, and children in different areas all across the country, disguising itself as MS, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, mental illness, and fibromyalgia. People need to be aware of the fact that Lyme disease goes grossly underreported – and that the public has been, and continues to be, grossly undereducated about this insidious widespread disease.”
Lisa has become agoraphobic due to the symptoms of chronic Lyme Disease. She cannot leave the house– even to let the cats outside. Her life has come to revolve around something that could have been treated, had a doctor taken the time. She saw many doctors, but because of the ISDA guidelines, was never treated properly.
I will be selling the scarves I make online, with all profits going to the Lyme Disease Association.
Lyme Disease, Stitching for Lyme
