Monday, March 22, 2010

Can you help Sheena???

I saw this posted on Be Different...Act Normal and thought I should repost on my blog as well.


Ok friends.
I have a little story to tell. A story about me.
It's kind of a secret....unless you are in the family/friend category of my life.
I'm going to use visual aids....because I like those.
And at the end, they'll be a few questions--I'll need your help.......ok?
Here we go:
Hi. I'm Sheena.



This is me holding a lime.


Why am I holding a lime?



Wait! What is that on my arm?



Well, it's a PICC line, for antibiotics, of course.
*********************************
Let's start at the very beginning, story goes like this. (very, very, very short version.)

July 2008: legs go numb. then hands. then arms.
July 2008-Oct 2008: poked. prodded. tested. retested. scanned. pants dropped for strangers on multiple occasions.
Symptoms get worse. Neurological and joint pain.
Oct 2008: Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Oct 2008-Jan 2009. Begin, and continue treatment for MS.
Feb 2009 UNdiagnosed with MS (hooray!), diagnosed with Lyme disease. (oh, Lyme/lime, get it?) (to learn a little about Lyme, Click HERE, then to Lyme 101, then click the Lyme Disease Tab)
Feb 2009-Present day. Here I am, still battling Lyme Disease. I'm currently on month 4 of the antibiotics via PICC line.

My body is sooooooo over these crazy antibiotics. Not to mention my poor arm. We're pulling the line in a few weeks (hooray!!!)
But I'm still not better (not hooray).
Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection, carried by deer ticks. If caught early, it can usually be treated quickly with oral antibiotics, and there you have it. Unfortunately, we're coming up on two years for me....it's getting a bit trickier.
We need more options....and this is where YOU come in.
We love my doctor, and we are so thankful to finally find someone who is really trying to help us (we've bounced around alot) But.....big, stinky but......there aren't very many Lyme cases in Utah. While I know he is doing all he can, I sometimes wonder if there is someone else out there who has seen more people with Lyme, and knows some kind of magic trick to help me out.
I thought that maybe, just maybe, by posting a little something here for you all to read (all 20 of you), maybe YOU know someone with Lyme? Someone who's beat it? Do you? Can you help me? Spread the word?? I am quickly growing tired of this, and I'm pretty sure I'm ready to be done. Yep, I am.
So...please....if you or anyone you know is currently being treated for Lyme, or, ever better--CURED!!! YAY!! Please send them my way. I'd love to have a chat with them (no complainers please....I like to keep it positive around here, thanks:)
I have debated whether or not to post about this (it's going to be a struggle to hit "publish")....I like to keep it "happy fun" around here, and this is not so "happy fun", but I also know the powers of the www....and how happy AND fun would it be if we got these bugs out of my body! So I'm really crossing my fingers that this will work.
So there, now it's in YOUR hands. Good luck.
contact: sheenajibson(at)gmail(dot)com. thank you guys!!
and...if you really want to learn more about Lyme, be sure to check out the trailer for Under Our Skin, a documentary on Lyme Disease and the controversy of treatment.

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