I am 30 years old and was diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically invasive ductal carcinoma. Before my diagnosis, I didn't even know what that meant. Now I have been forced into a reality where I not only know what it means but my doctors appointments and daily thoughts are filled with other previously unfamiliar words like neoadjuvant therapy, metastases, HER2 and triple negative.

I started this blog in hopes that some of the information I share may be helpful to other young women in a similar situation. Rather than posting my day to day experiences, feelings and progress, I plan to share some of the things I have learned along the way. Being dealt this hand in life at 30 years old brings with it some unique issues and questions. Will I ever have kids? How will this affect my relationships with my husband and friends? What is my long term prognosis?

Through this site you may find that my way of dealing with things is a bit different. I want to be educated about my disease and take an active role in my treatment and recovery. I want to understand every part of my pathology report, what it means, and feel confident that my doctors are recommending the best course of action. At each stage in my journey, I have experienced challenges with finding answers to my questions and ensuring that the medical professionals treating me really understand who I am and why my way of dealing with this disease may be unlike other women. My hope is that people will be able to relate to my experiences, learn from them and find some comfort that they are not alone.

Monday, 13 March 2017

Lyme Disease...Are You Kidding Me?

I shared in my last post that autonomic response testing ended up being helpful to me in other ways than what I had originally anticipated. I did the autonomic response testing to determine food sensitivities, guide my food choices and narrow down the list of supplements I was taking.

I ended up finding out I had lyme disease.

During the autonomic response testing, I asked the doctor to test me for parasites or other viruses as it is common for people that have been through chemotherapy to pick up things like this when their immune system is compromised. In addition, he decided to include babesia and bartonella which are the most common co-infections with lyme disease. To both of our surprises, I had them. He tested again just to be sure...same result as the first time.

My immediate reaction was "how is this possible, I have no symptoms!"

I do not recall being bit by a tick, I have no joint pain or stiffness, no neurologic issues. Out of this entire list of symptoms, I have a few but they could apply to anyone. Who doesn't feel like they are loosing their mind every once in a while, especially after everything I have been through? That is actually listed as a symptom. 

At first, because I am less inclined to trust anything that is not definitive (for example, a blood test), I did not believe it. I debated whether I wanted to investigate this any further. On one hand, I felt the need to confirm the diagnosis and treat it, after all, what was the point in spending time and money on  this testing if I was not going to do anything about it? On the other hand, I had just finished 8 rounds of chemotherapy, 2 surgeries, radiation, immunotherapies in Germany and I didn't want to deal with it. It would have been easier to ignore the test or discount the doctor as some "quack" but if I did that and developed symptoms later on or my cancer recurred, I would never forgive myself. 

Instead of taking the easy way out, I called Igenex, a lab based in California that is a leader in lyme disease testing. I asked them to send me a test kit so I could take it to my doctor, get a blood sample, send it in and figure out what the hell was going on in my body. 

1 comment:

  1. My name is hoover, my 18 years old daughter, Tricia was diagnosed of herpes 3 years ago. ever since then,we have been going from one hospital to the other. We tried all sorts of pills but all efforts to get rid of the virus was futile. The blisters kept on reappearing after some months. My daughter was making use of Acyclovir tablets 200mg. 2 tablets every 6hours and fusitin cream 15grams. and H5 POT. Permanganate with water to be applied 2x a day but all still show no result. So I was on the internet some months back, to sought for any other means of saving my only child. just then, i came across a comment on dr imoloa herbal treatment and decided to give it a try. i contacted the him and he prepared some herbs and sent it to me together with guidelines on how to use the herbs through DHL courier service. my daughter used it as directed dr imoloa and in less than 14days, my daughter regained her health.. You should contact Dr imoloa today directly on his email address for any kind of health challenge; lupus disease,  mouth ulcer,  mouth cancer, body pain, fever, hepatitis A.B.C.,   syphilis,  diarrhea,  HIV/AIDS,  Huntington's Disease,   back acne,  Chronic renal failure,   addison disease,  Chronic Pain,   Crohn's Disease,   Cystic Fibrosis,  Fibromyalgia,   Inflammatory Bowel Disease,  fungal nail disease, Lyme Disease, Celia disease, Lymphoma, Major Depression,  Malignant Melanoma,   Mania,  Melorheostosis,   Meniere's Disease,  Mucopolysaccharidosis , Multiple Sclerosis,  Muscular Dystrophy,  Rheumatoid Arthritis, Alzheimer's Disease, parkison disease, vaginal cancer, epilepsy,  Anxiety Disorders, Autoimmune Disease,   Back Pain,  Back Sprain,   Bipolar Disorder,  Brain Tumour,  Malignant,   Bruxism, Bulimia,  Cervical Disk Disease, cardiovascular disease, Neoplasms, chronic respiratory disease,  mental and behavioural disorder,     Cystic Fibrosis,   Hypertension, Diabetes, asthma,  Inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis.  chronic kidney disease, inflammatory joint disease,  impotence,  feta alcohol spectrum,  Dysthymic Disorder,   Eczema, tuberculosis,  Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease.  and many more; contact him on email- drimolaherbalmademedicine@gmail.com./ also on  whatssap-+2347081986098.

    ReplyDelete