A Lyme Disease Blog Sharing Support & Awareness

Secret Santa & Card Exchange!

11/24/2013

Hey there everyone! A friend of mine has put together a Secret Santa exchange for all chronic illness warriors. No matter your illness, everyone is welcome! $15 maximum! It's called Spoonie Secret Santa

There are many different options to get involved & join in on the fun.
1. You can provide your address to get your secret Santa gift mailed directly to you
2. If you prefer not to give out your address then you can provide your email. Many gift cards can be delivered via email too!
3. If you don't want to participate in the gift exchange there is also a Card Exchange you can join. That will only require sending a Christmas card to your fellow fighter.
4. And lastly if you just need some holiday cheer but don't have the energy to participate then that's no problem! Just head over to the website below & let them know. You will have a Christmas card sent to you to give you some cheer.

For those of you who have read "The Spoon Theory" you understand the term "Spoonie." Basically it's a cute little nickname for those of us with chronic illnesses, often invisible ones. That's why this Secret Santa is called Spoonie Santa.

The deadline to send in your info & get involved is TOMORROW.

If you can't get it in by then please contact @Spoonie_Santa on twitter to discuss late additions etc.

Now the fun part! Starting Nov 26th if you have a twitter then join in on the fun by using the hash tag #dearspooniesanta to give your Secret Santa hints on what you like. Also, you can use that hashtag for ideas on what to get your Spoonie!

You don't need to have a twitter to participate, but it's helpful if you want to get involved with the hashtags and such :)

Follow the link below for all the detailed info on this event! I hope that a bunch of you can get involved, it should be fun!

Spoonie Secret Santa Info This is all made possible by @ChrnclyThrilled, @SJM_CookiesMom, and artwork by @DavidSkidmore5

xoxo,
Christina

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Nomination for WEGO Health Awards!

11/17/2013

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Oh my GOSH! I have exciting news to share! I don't know who it was, but someone nominated Lady of Lyme for a WEGO Health Activist Award, in the category of "Best Kept Secret." Thank you, thank you! I was so honored and absolutely thrilled to get the email this morning saying I was a Nominee!

WEGO Health is a large online health community that helps to empower Health advocacy. They are wonderful, and this is wonderful!

xoxo,
Christina

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New Family Additions...

11/11/2013

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My parents are amazing people. I don't talk much about my personal life on here because I don't feel that it's pertinent information, and also well, it's.. personal. Although I made some improvements in my health, these last few months have been especially tough on my family for many reasons. The saying "when it rains, it pours" could not be more accurate. Some days I am just too overwhelmed to even begin to process things. Life just seemed to hand me heartache after heartache, and the icing on the cake was losing our sweet beloved dog of 17 years. Lucky was another family member to me, and his disappearance was sudden and hard to process. The weeks following his disappearance were the hardest though. We would get phone calls that he was seen places and by the time we got there he was nowhere to be seen. This up and down roller coaster continued every single day. It got worst when we got calls of an "elderly dog, very thin, limping, digging through trash." Having to imagine your dog out there in that condition, but not being able to get to him basically ripped my heart out every time. I received prank calls of people saying they had Lucky, but were just cruel people looking to get a rise out of us. I am exhausted. At some point mentally you are just drained, and I hit that point.

Other than Lucky's disappearance there were many other tough things going on. I think my parents must have seen the pain in my eyes because this weekend they agreed to rescue 3 dogs from our local shelter. To say that these dogs have brought me a wealth of joy is an understatement. We rescued a 13 year old Peek-A-Poo who was abandoned by her owner and needing quite a bit of medical attention. It was not in the plan to get her, it was a complete in the moment decision, but my parents could not leave her there. They both have giant hearts, and graciously rescued this little cutie pie from the tough conditions she was in. She needs lots of medical care still, but boy has she already stolen our hearts. Her name is Dixie (name given at birth), and she is such a precious little ball of fur.

We also got 2 other dogs who are just as amazingly cute and lovable. When Lucky went missing he left our dog Hilton all alone. We knew that Hilton needed companionship so the original plan was to rescue one dog as a new playmate. Well, somehow I managed to sweet talk my parents into turning that into 2 dogs (they must have realllllly felt sorry for me). My parents went to the shelter and they immediately bonded with two mixed beagle pups. These dogs just looked into their hearts and my parents instantly became putty in their hands (or paws). One is a little girl (Gracie), and one is a little boy (Chase). Gracie is very shy, sweet, meek, and fragile, her name fits her perfectly. Chase is a ball of fire, so hyper and active, his name also fits him perfectly! They are both about a year old and full of puppy spirit. They are quirky, mischievous, and as ornery as can be.

At my very core I am an animal lover. I can not possibly be any happier with the new additions to our family. These puppies bring a kind of joy and energy into my heart that was missing for a long time. They can never replace the void of Lucky, but they did lift my heart up off the floor and began repair to heal it. Loss of any kind is hard, be it an animal, a person, or the loss of someones friendship. They all hurt just the same. Sometimes you need something to remind you of the good in the world, and the joy in the world. These dogs remind me to just be happy. No matter how much life is beating me down, there is so much simple joy to be had and so many things to be thankful for.

I am most thankful for my parents for agreeing to take this challenge on. Adopting a dog (especially an elderly dog) is time consuming, it's expensive, and it's a huge life investment. Now take the 1 dog and multiply it by 3. There is something to be said for parents who would do anything to make their children happy. I'm sure their lives would be much less complicated without all these animals, but they didn't do this for themselves, they did it for myself & my brother. They did it so that we wouldn't be sad that Hilton was all alone, they did to bring us joy, they did it to help save those dogs lives. It's such unconditional love that they both give me, I can't believe how blessed I am. While I'm not giving up hope that Lucky will return, I know that regardless we have a new fresh beginning for our family.

Having a chronic illness and finding happiness can be hard sometimes. I know what it's like to be beaten down physically and then have that much of a harder time handling any emotional hurdles too. Sometimes it doesn't seem like there is any good left in the world. I wrestle with that a lot, with trying to find the good in people, with holding out hope that there is still goodness left out there. But one thing that I found to be true is that life doesn't ever stay bad. At some point it has to come back around, things have to get better. Although I am still actively struggling through things, I know they won't be this way forever. I have faith that God will heal my heart and make me whole again. This moment in my life is so small in comparison to the big picture. I think you have to remind yourself of that, that bad times are just a blip in the road. Whether its physical pain, emotional pain, or both, it will always get better.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.

xoxo,
Christina

Sweet little Dixie. Poor pup has cataracts but she is just a loveable as can be.

Top to bottom: Chase, Gracie, Dixie. Whole gang!

Hilton (left) has new 2 new playmates :)

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A Time To Give Thanks

11/7/2013

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I can't believe the Holidays are almost upon us. Mostly Thanksgiving is in a few short weeks. Time flies. I thought with the spirit of giving thanks that now would be a good time to reflect up on the differences in my life over the course of this year.

Last year the Holidays were a nightmare. I typically love the Holidays, they were my happiest times. I had wonderful memories as a child and being with my family, so I was always into the cheesy stuff like the Christmas lights, and the festive decorations. Something about Thanksgiving and Christmas just felt safe and warm. Last year though, I was too sick to even begin to enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas. In fact the day of Thanksgiving I was locked in a dark room too nauseous and in pain to move. We celebrated it a day late and I think I had two bites of all the delicious food because it's all I could stomach. Christmas was its own awful day, I had to have my parents carry me into a chair to open gifts with my family, I was faint all day, and again I didn't eat a bite of dinner. It all felt like a blur. I wanted so badly to be thankful and happy, but my heart just couldn't rally. I couldn't get into the spirit with the amount of pain I was in. By the end of December I was just so happy to close out 2012 and all its struggles.

When 2013 started I had my toughest 6 months of 2013 with my C. Difficile battle, but thats a whole other story! Fast forward to now, and I can access where I am and realize I have such an unbelievable amount of things to be thankful for this year.

I can say I hit my healthy goal weight which feels AMAZING. The fact that clothes are too small/tight is the greatest feeling ever. Coming from 86lbs in 2012 its been a slow and painful climb, but I made it. My stomach, which has been a source of constant issue, has changed its tune in some ways and has cooperated. It's not 100%, and it used to have 500 things wrong with it, so the fact that even half or some improved at all is unbelievable. I can't even explain what it feels like to eat more than 1 meal a day... I never thought I would see the day.

There are a lot of other small things that are slowly improving. Most days are still tough, they are still full of hurdles. But, compared to last years hurdles they are better. And that's what matters. The fact that I can enjoy my days somewhat, and that I have hope to participate in the holidays is the greatest blessing.

I know that with this disease no improvement is set in stone. In fact I had set backs in all my improvements and days when I felt like everything did a 180 and went back to being absolutely horrible. But then thank God it bounced back. So it's a roller coster and I know it will be a roller coaster until I am completely out of the woods. Some days I am smiling other days I am crying. It takes a lot of wheel power to just take the day hour by hour and keep going forward. I know that eventually the improvements will be permanent, and seeing that my body can even HAVE improvements mean that its possible. And that tiny but of hope is what keeps me carrying on.

Although 2013 has been a tough year with emotional/personal events, I still feel very thankful. God is good, he always delivers.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

xoxo,
Christina

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Secret Santa & Card Exchange!

Nomination for WEGO Health Awards!

New Family Additions...

A Time To Give Thanks

Follow Lady Of Lyme (@ladyoflyme)

Categories

Archives

Secret Santa & Card Exchange!

Nomination for WEGO Health Awards!

New Family Additions...

A Time To Give Thanks

Follow Lady Of Lyme (@ladyoflyme)

Categories

﻿Archives﻿

Archives