May Is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

May is Lyme Disease Awareness month and those of us who have Lyme Disease will be continuing to help bring greater awareness to this serious, debilitating illness during this time. Hopefully, Dr. Phil's show on Chronic Lyme, which aired last month, helped open the door to start dialoging about this more openly and began the much needed process of better education and awareness; even in the medical community.

Chronic Lyme Disease not only affects the person who has it, but their entire family as well. It takes a toil physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, relationally and financially. Lyme Disease knows no boundary. Many people are suffering from it's effects, including children.

If you don't have Lyme, perhaps you know or love somebody who does. I encourage you to acknowledge or support them in some way this month. Please share this link. Or you might consider right clicking on the photo above and saving it to post on your own blog, Facebook timeline or Twitter page. You can let others know who you are posting it for and/or that you want to help make people better aware of this disease. I so appreciate those in my life who support and encourage me; it means a great deal.

Ticks are everywhere and many entomologists are saying Lyme Disease cases may be much more prevalent this summer because of the unusually widespread warm winter we've had, which is the weather ticks are most active in. So it would benefit everyone to take the time to better inform themselves about the prevention of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases as well as the proper method of tick removal. I've listed some resource links below.

I invite you to go Lyme green in honor of Lyme Disease Awareness this month. Any support is greatly appreciated. It all makes a difference.

Thanks for reading. I'll be posting more on both my blogs throughout this month.

Blessings to you and yours.

Tick-Borne Disease Alliance

International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society

Lyme Disease.org

Lyme Aware

Lyme Disease: The Perfect Storm Is Headed Our Way (Huffington Post Article by Dr. Leo Galland, M.D.)

Lyme Disease Awareness Spot Running On Jumbotron At Super Bowl

Those of us who are living with (and have been for many years) Lyme Disease know first hand how devastating and debilitating it is. It is also very misunderstood. So I was elated to see that ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, will be running a public service campaign next Sunday at the Super Bowl on a Jumbotron outside Lucas Oil Stadium to bring greater and much needed awareness to the misdiagnosis of Lyme Disease.

Go to the following link to find out more about the campaign: International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society/Jumbo Tron Campaign

According to Dr. Leo J. Shea III, Ph.D., President of the non-profit ILADS, "Lyme Disease is a silent epidemic in America. We want to alert and educate consumers about this disease, which is often misdiagnosed. Left untreated, it will become chronic and debilitating. Tick-borne illnesses compromise your immune system and the diagnosis, which is largely based on symptoms, can be illusive unless a physician is Lyme-literate."

Another fantastic thing that ILADS is doing is the LymeWall. Check it out; these are the true faces of Lyme Disease. And sadly, some of these precious faces belong to children. If you're reading this and didn't know that children can get Lyme Disease too, I will tell you that it can and has been passed transplacentally during pregnancy to babies. I have a friend whose youngest child contracted Lyme from her during her pregnancy. She didn't know she had it at the time. He's been a sick little fella. If that isn't a stout eye-opener; I don't know what is.

It is my desire to help bring the much due and needed awareness to this disease. I was misdiagnosed for years with MS (Multiple Sclerosis), Transverse Myelitis (likely true secondary to Lyme and/or viruses), Post-viral Demyelinating Syndrome (also likely true), CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome; which is perhaps secondary) and Chronic Mono (which is true but isn't the root; its secondary) among a few others. We found out in 2010 that I really have Chronic Lyme Disease; the true root of this illness of 18 years.

I've written before that I have wondered many times what my life would be like had we found this out sooner. But, after much contemplation and prayer, I know it is a futile pursuit that I must, and do, yield to my faith in Christ. I still have hope for healing for all of us. I still have hope for a better future.

I plan on writing more this year to bring greater awareness and understanding to Chronic Lyme Disease and it's co-infections and how profoundly it affects ones life. It's time.

So what about it my Lyme friends? Should we add our pics to the mix on the LymeWall? Maybe some of you already have. I'm contemplating it. Nevertheless, I think it's great that ILADS, Open Eye Pictures and Burgess Communications are stepping up to the plate like they are. Kudos to them! And kudos to us who keep fighting this Lyme fight daily with integrity, perseverance and guts!

Love to you all.

Copyright © 2012 Michelle Holderman