A Recovery Milestone

June 25, 2022

Today, my mom and I enjoyed a beautiful morning in Ohiopyle, PA! The last time I went there, I was newly 14, and I was just starting to become ill. I didn't realize then what the next 7 years would hold until I walked on those same paths and rocks in Ohiopyle. I didn't realize that when I was 17, I would be dying and that rolling over in bed would often take every bit of strength and willpower that I had. When I walked on those same trails today, I felt immense gratitude and joy and couldn't stop smiling. It's good to be alive!

Of course, I need to add the context that is not shown in the below photos. Every Sunday, atop the antimicrobials I swallow daily, I take a very strong anti-Babesial medication with a long half-life, and I am mostly nonfunctional and in bed except for meals until the weekend because the treatment causes herxing and makes me feel worse before better. Even now, I am in bed, feeling worn out from my morning, and yet I celebrate because in 2018, I'd mostly given up on the idea that what I did today would ever be possible again.

Tomorrow, I increase one of my anti-Babesial treatments, and I know I'll probably initially feel much sicker in the coming weeks as a result of the herxing that ensues from killing the Babesia. But I am getting better, and that is a wonderful thing! Praise the Lord!