I was a young, healthy athlete when I first developed mysterious and often serious health problems. I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease after more than a decade of getting a host of diagnoses without any real answers. A few months later, I was diagnosed with babesiosis (often referred to as babesia). The War on Lyme is my way of sharing my story. I do not intend it in any way to be advice, medical or otherwise. The writing here is simply a reflection of my experience and a way to share where I’ve been and where I hope to go.
I’ve been a writer since I could first hold a pencil. I’m the author of Hurting Like Hell, Living with Gusto: My Battle with Chronic Pain. Ironically, the book was published before I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and babesiosis (babesia), but it’s a solid lead-up to the eventual diagnoses. It was never meant to be a search for answers, but in a way, that’s what it became.
Hurting Like Hell, Living with Gusto won gold in the Florida Authors and Publishers’ Association’s President’s Book Award contest. Fox5 Atlanta, PBS for the Gulf Coast, the northwest Florida NPR affiliate, Out Magazine’s website, and several other media outlets featured me, a dream come true. But another irony of the book process was, I believe the stress of it is what pushed me into the final downslide that led to getting a diagnosis for all of my symptoms. And not just a diagnosis– but, finally, a diagnosis that made sense, albeit terrible, scary sense. Lyme disease and babesia.