Owls and Orchids

Midnight Margaritas from “Practical Magic”.                                                                          Image courtesy of  heathwitch-cottage,blogspot.com

April 21st

No need for second guessing,  I have Lyme dis-ease, along with 27 other little friends, all confirmed by the wonders of medical technology.  Now the fun begins but not with lime and coconuts, although a margarita might be good in a while.  Whilst I cannot say I’m surprised to be told I have Lyme, I was astonished to find the pesky blighter doesn’t, or rarely does, travel alone. What has been more difficult to accept is the refusal of the Government or the august members of our medical fraternity to accept or acknowledge that Lyme dis-ease exists in Australia.

There is this strange dance which has to be followed if you are ‘fortunate’ to find a doctor whose Hippocratic oath is solid enough to permit him/her to test for this dis-ease, if it is suspected.  That is, of course, if you are willing to pay for the testing which cannot be done in Australia since the dis-ease does not exist here! No, tests have to be sent overseas to be done and if the result is positive you either cannot get the ‘protocol’ followed in the US or UK where Lyme dis-ease is admitted to be, or if you find someone who can get it for you, it costs a small fortune.

Tick carrying the Borrelia burgdoferi disease Image courtesy of webmd.com

So, armed with my antibiotics, herbs, more requests for tests, CT and MRI scans, the slow waltz begins.  Nothing comes without cost and the medication to combat this has its own unpleasant surprises. I am nothing if not thorough and the list of likely side effects is enough to make even the strong quail.  Which is another reason why it has taken me so long to get back to my writing, it didn’t take long for some of the unpleasant side effects to kick in.

A daily dose of supplements, just add to antibiotics with water! Image from allnaturalme.com

I’m finding a really amusing side effect which I am sure has nothing to do with medication or herbs, perhaps the Lyme, who knows, but I find I’m substituting an ordinary phrase for a musical phrase – and I’m not musical!  Hence the title. I was thinking about my approach to this post and the song from Practical Magic wouldn’t go away. The song was sung by Harry Nilsson and perhaps there is a warped sense of humour at play…..

“She put the lime in the coconut, she drank them both up
She put the lime in the coconut, she called the doctor, woke him up,
And said, “Doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take,
I say, Doctor, to relieve this belly ache?
I say, Doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take,
I say, Doctor, to relieve this belly ache?” …………….. as I said, warped sense of humour!

This is not a belly ache! As you might guess, light sensitivity, ear ache and tinnitus, stiff neck and shoulder and that was before the pills had fully hit my tummy.  Teeth tightly clamped – just in case.

It’s not all doom and gloom and bad news. I was blessed to find a doctor who knows what he’s doing and not afraid to correctly diagnose. He’s also approachable and will answer my zillion plus questions with absolute patience. He even lets me have a star when I get the diagnosis for something related right. I guess I’m an involved patient. The last visit to see him we (Ray drove me of course, where would I be without my wonderful husband) spent over an hour and a half going over everything with him. That is some commitment to your patient!

I am eternally grateful to Nicole who pointed me towards this doctor. I’m relieved to finally have a diagnosis which explains all the anomalies I’ve been chasing down for a decade –

“Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City……You have no power over me!”  Jim Henson

David Bowie as the Goblin King in The Labyrinth image from http://www.kianleong.com

– which is how I feel about my ‘fight’ to find a diagnosis and I’m going to beat the beastie in the end.

I’m also endlessly grateful that I met and married the love of my life. He is by my side, holding my hand when I need it, driving me to appointments, giving me Reiki to ease the pain, and when I can handle it – cups of tea, cooking dinner and so much more. He is simply the rock I can lean on whenever and wherever we are. Without his support I am unsure how I would be handling this. I have truly been blessed to find such unconditional love.

Midnight Margaritas image from http://www.tumblr.com

….”she put the lime in the coconut and drank them all up”…………………whoooo whoooo!

“You have NO power over me!”   Let’s get them beasties!!!!