Emotions of Lupus

The Day After My Lyme Disease Follow-Up

Dear Diary,

I had my follow-up appointment with the Lyme disease doctor yesterday. Waking up that morning, I tried so hard to push the nervousness aside. I had plenty of time to meditate about it since Hubby was driving the two-hour commute from Reno to the doctor’s office in California.

Once we arrived, they did as the doctor promised during the first visit and took lots of blood for the Borrelia Burgdorferi (Bb) culture test. The purpose of that very specific test is to see if the Bb are active and to see exactly which strain I have. It thus gives the doctor a baseline to measure the success or failure of a particular treatment.

The nurse who drew my blood had mad skills! Unlike most of the inexperienced phlebotomists I’ve recently dealt with, she found the juiciest, very best vein on the outside of my forearm (where no one’s ever thought of going before). She got it ALL in one shot. Thank God.

Once she ushered us back to the waiting room to be called in to see Dr. M, the nerves I tried so hard to calm down began to surge. I wanted so much for him to tell me that the tests for co-infections were negative. Unfortunately, once he called us back to his office, I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn’t good news.

He said that out of the five co-infections he tested me for, two of them were positive. One positive test was for Babesia duncani, and the other positive test was for Bartonella. According to the lab reports, both co-infections were active, meaning they’re working on my system as I write this and have been for some time.

From what I read in the Lyme disease book, Babesia is the one co-infection that requires immediate treatment—even before the Lyme disease itself. Not treating Babesia guarantees failure in the treatment of Lyme or the other co-infections. As we reviewed the documented results, I couldn’t even focus. And, for some reason, I became Mrs. Motor Mouth—speculating as to when and why this was happening to me. Then, my mind went to the horrible possibility that all the drugs that I currently take might not react well with the treatment, especially the Coumadin. The Plaquenil that I take for Lupus is strangely okay and in fact is even used as part of the treatment protocols for Lyme disease. (This could be why I have had some relief with that drug.)

The drugs Dr. M proposes to use to treat Babesia are Mepron and Zithromax. He said that the combination of these two very strong drugs is our best chance of killing Babesia, while causing the least amount of side effects. I read this in the book, too.

Once I’m established with treating the Babesia, Dr. M will stagger in another drug and herbs to treat the Bb and the Bartonella. Each phase of his treatment plan will be balanced or offset with natural detoxifying medications, herbs, and supplements to help my body rid itself of the toxins from the drugs and the dying off bacteria.

Before we begin, though, he’s asking for clearance from my internist and my hematologist to be sure there’s nothing they consider problematic with the treatment plan. He said my hematologist may want me to go on Heparin shots versus Coumadin to avoid any interactions that may happen.

As I wound down my motor mouth of questions and references to the past, he handed me a prescription for Mepron and Zithromax. I shook his hand and said, “Here we go!” (Meaning, the ride of my life is about to begin.) He smiled. I’m sure he’s never had a patient like me before….

Love,

Olivia

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