"What does it do to you?"

I've found myself in quite a few situations lately where I've been talking to people who don't know a whole lot about Lyme. And, don't get me wrong, that's awesome! Obviously that's my goal here--to educate people about it. But they always seem to ask me the same question: "so what does it do to you?" and I have to stop and think for a second. 

What does it do to me? 

I've been sick for 11ish years now. I've only been alive for 26. So for almost half of my years I've been sick. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between what is Lyme and what isn't at this point. 

There are some things that are really obvious, of course. Things that I know aren't normal. But then there are some things that I have been feeling for so many days that I sometimes wonder if maybe that's how everyone feels.

I always find a way to answer their question. I give them a short list of the biggest symptoms I have. I generally give them the ones that are the things that they would notice if they had it. And I tell them that it has affected me neurologically, because that's the one that gets them to take it seriously for themselves. Because no one wants that to happen to them. 

But when I really think about it, when I really think about what Lyme does to me--what it has done to me--there's only one answer. 

It has completely turned my life upside down.