#7: patience
The Lyme life is a waiting game. Always a waiting game.
First you wait for a diagnosis. You know something is wrong. You may even know that it's Lyme. But you have to wait to find a doctor who will believe you. And then you have to wait for a positive test, which could take days, weeks, months, or even years.
In my case it took years. 5ish years to find a doctor who told me I wasn't crazy and that he would help me. Then another 3 years for a diagnosis.
After a diagnosis you start treatment. You wait to figure out if insurance is going to help you with any of it. Then when you find out that insurance won't help you (chances are they aren't going to help, by the way.) Then once you get to start treatment, you wait for the meds to do their thing. Whether it's side effects or positive effects. You wait to feel like something is happening.
And treatment is long. Sometimes months long, sometimes even over a year long. So you keep waiting. You keep waiting for the day that you wake up and feel better. You keep waiting to have your life back. You keep waiting to feel human again.
And sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes the medicine isn't the right one. Sometimes the side effects outweigh the positive effects. Sometimes you have to start over with a new treatment regimen.
Patience is key. You have to know that things aren't going to happen immediately, but you have to keep trying anyway. You have to keep pushing forward no matter how long it's taking.
You have to be hopeful and you have to be patient.
Because honestly, sometimes waiting is the only thing you have to look forward to. And sometimes that's better than nothing.
<3
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