I think that hope is a funny thing. It's not tangible, but yet we hold onto it as if it were. Hope keeps people going despite the most grim circumstances, even if they can't see it. Think about that for a moment.. Just the thought of something (not guaranteed) can drive a person to do or not do something. When it's broken down like that it sounds like such madness... But truth be told, hope is at the same time single-handedly the best thing we have in this world.
There isn't a magical promise from a fairy that tells me I will be okay one day... It's hope, and my belief in God that leads me to believe that. I have hope that I will be able to drive again without neurological issues, I have hope that one day I will have a normal functioning stomach that digests everything without pain, and I have hope that I can lead a normal life that doesn't include thinking about Lyme disease 24/7. If you don't have hope then what do you have? Sorrow?
It's a dangerous thing for us to lose hope. In the last year I have heard story after story of Lyme warriors who lost theirs and ultimately gave up the fight of constant pain. It baffles me how this disease can be SO debilitating but at the same time so largely ignored. It's hard to have hope when you need to see 100 doctors over the course of years before you get a proper diagnosis. It's hard to have hope when you do finally get your diagnosis and you find out there is no cure for it yet. It's hard to have hope when the pain gets to bad and your local ER sends you away or treats you like an addict, mocking your disease as inauthentic. This disease creates all the most hope sucking situations, until you don't even know what direction to go anymore. I've seen this scenario time after time.
Those of us who do fight this disease need to fight loudly until the right people listen, and change can happen. For 2014 I urge each of you to do 1 thing each month in terms of education or advocation. Just 1. It can be as simple as reaching out to someone you know is outdoorsy and equipping them with proper information about ticks & prevention. It doesn't have to be anything large scale. Together we can restore hope to those who have lost it or those who are slowly fighting a losing battle to keep fighting.
We are all in this together
Xoxo,
Christina
There isn't a magical promise from a fairy that tells me I will be okay one day... It's hope, and my belief in God that leads me to believe that. I have hope that I will be able to drive again without neurological issues, I have hope that one day I will have a normal functioning stomach that digests everything without pain, and I have hope that I can lead a normal life that doesn't include thinking about Lyme disease 24/7. If you don't have hope then what do you have? Sorrow?
It's a dangerous thing for us to lose hope. In the last year I have heard story after story of Lyme warriors who lost theirs and ultimately gave up the fight of constant pain. It baffles me how this disease can be SO debilitating but at the same time so largely ignored. It's hard to have hope when you need to see 100 doctors over the course of years before you get a proper diagnosis. It's hard to have hope when you do finally get your diagnosis and you find out there is no cure for it yet. It's hard to have hope when the pain gets to bad and your local ER sends you away or treats you like an addict, mocking your disease as inauthentic. This disease creates all the most hope sucking situations, until you don't even know what direction to go anymore. I've seen this scenario time after time.
Those of us who do fight this disease need to fight loudly until the right people listen, and change can happen. For 2014 I urge each of you to do 1 thing each month in terms of education or advocation. Just 1. It can be as simple as reaching out to someone you know is outdoorsy and equipping them with proper information about ticks & prevention. It doesn't have to be anything large scale. Together we can restore hope to those who have lost it or those who are slowly fighting a losing battle to keep fighting.
We are all in this together
Xoxo,
Christina
RSS Feed