Getting the Diagnosis
I was about to get a crash course in the kind of pathogens that science class never prepares you for - the ones that know how to wreak real havoc in your life.
Ok, did y’all know this crazy bacteria that causes Lyme disease is a stealth bacteria? It can change shape, put a protective shield around itself, and hide out in the body. It forms a corkscrew shape so it can burrow into tissues and spread to the joints, heart, and nervous system. It evades the immune system by altering its surface proteins, hiding inside cells, and forming biofilms - basically little shields that help protect it from being destroyed. To make things even worse, it can even go dormant or shape-shift again when needed, which is why it can persist even after treatments.
So for any folks out there less informed about chronic Lyme disease - when you have had this bacteria for years, or even decades, you can't just take a round of antibiotics and be cured. That pretty much only works if you realize you got bit right away and go straight to the doctor before the bacteria drills into your organs, cells, nervous system, brain, and heart and posts up camp there. Learning this made it a lot easier to start connecting the dots and understand what had been happening in my body.
