One Month Home

Monday this week marked four weeks being home already. That time seems to have flown by! Overall I am doing well. I have my ups and downs throughout the days but there are changes that indicate healing is definitely taking place. For this we are very thankful because for some who have done the same treatment in Edmonton as I did, the improvements and healing did not begin taking place until several months later.

My energy and pain levels are slowly improving and with pacing myself and adequate rest I am able to do a lot more in a day than I have in a long time. I am cooking supper for my family most nights, eating at the table with them (rather than needing to recline on the couch), helping most nights with the kids bedtime routine, taking the kids to the park after school some days for an hour, going for walks, doing a chore around the house or baking something, and keeping up with my home treatment program! I am also consistently sleeping really well without needing to take anything to help with that. One surprising thing I'm finding is that when I hit the fatigue wall and I rest, it renews my energy again and I can continue on with my day. Before it wouldn't matter if I slept 12 hours followed by two long naps, nothing would let up the life-sucking fatigue. The improvements have been steady for a month now and I only drop when I push too far.

One thing that has been said a lot since returning home is: "Nadine is back". I'm told I just look like me again. I really am feeling this way too and it is a wonderful feeling! I have a long ways to go and am not even close to being 'out of the woods' but the improvements are encouraging.

On a daily walk through our beautiful neighbourhood.

Last week we also adopted a 5 month already house trained little dog whom we named Jack. This little companion has brought me so much joy already! I was advised to get a little dog by many in the chronic illness community for so long but it never felt like the right time or like the right dog was available. We adopted him from an older couple who need to move because of sudden health reasons and cannot take the dog with them to the care home. This dog seems to be exactly what we had in mind, as he is so unbelievably calm and cuddly for me when the kids are at school and has energy to play fetch with the kids after school.

Watching Sunday's live feed church service with me. :)

We are asked a lot if the Lyme is gone or if I am in remission. The answer is we don't know. There is no test to determine if the all the Lyme bacteria are completely gone, so remission is determined by testing for active infection and the health of my immune system about 3 months after treatment. I am two months away from that.

Recently God has also been opening doors for what is needed to begin healing from the complex trauma that has resulted from the past four years. I'm thankful for the resources available and the professionals to guide me in this. I also started a program called DNRS for healing the brain from trauma in the limbic system and the effects of chronic pain. This particular program was recommended to me by a sister in Christ who also had Lyme disease and did very well on this program during her recovery. 

We thank you all so very much for your prayers and your ongoing love, support, and care for us in this time!