Meet Candice, Our New LymeBites Writer

I’m Candice. I’m a 21 year old girl who loves words, board games, and a good episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Pretty typical, right? Well, “typical” left the building when Lyme Disease and all of its friends walked in. I went from being an aspiring UC Davis English major, to being a full time listless lump on the couch. In high school, I held a starter position on my school’s soccer team, and ran up and down the field like it was a breeze. Now, just venturing from the couch to the kitchen feels like an epic 10K. Days that were once filled with books, boys and big football games are now filled with pills, pain and persistent struggle.

I can’t pinpoint for certain when I contracted the disease, but it seemed to begin to rear its ugly head when I turned 16 years old. I returned from a camp in the Santa Cruz mountains here in California, where I could have possibly been bit, and it was all downhill from there. It started with inexplicable symptoms that I could function through, like digestive issues and fatigue, but by the time I turned 17, the symptoms were too intense to ignore. Before I knew it, I was 17 years old, 5 foot 7, weighed 87 pounds, and I was laying in a hospital bed. My blood pressure and heart rate were alarmingly low, while my liver enzymes sailed shockingly high. Yet, once I was released from the hospital, without any answers in hand, I still was able to pick up the pieces and get myself in good enough shape to go off to college.

College was a nightmare as my symptom list grew and my body’s ability to fight off the disease diminished. I lasted 2 whole quarters before I woke up nearly completely paralyzed. For 45 whole minutes, I couldn’t move. Pain seared through my entire body, and locked me into place. When I was finally able to rise from my bed, I found that my heart rate sky rocketed, and my spleen had decided to swell to such a size that it pushed the left side of my ribcage about two inches further out from the right. I tried to hang in there for a few more days, as different organs in my body continued to go, when I finally decided that it was time to throw in the towel. I left Davis, and haven’t been back since.

Upon arriving home, I received my diagnosis of Late Stage Lyme Disease, but unfortunately continued to decline for 2 more years, until I found a doctor that could handle my case. Throughout those two years, I acquired Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and Dysautonomia, and became completely unable to leave my house, and often times unable to even rise from the couch. I went through horrific experiences involving botched surgeries, terrifying heart episodes, and anaphalaxis. As it is the case for most lyme patients, it hasn’t been an easy road.

I am delighted to report that I have found an amazing doctor, who has shown me that my body can indeed improve. I went from thinking that this disease will surely take my life, to being able to find an unrelenting sense of optimism and confidence that I will one day be well and thrive. I may not be able to leave my house just yet, and functioning may still be a daily battle, but I’m getting there. The combination of my absolutely amazing doctor, my willpower to carry out his plan, and the optimism he has shown me that I possess will get me well. It is my purpose to share this new found hope with others, and to assure them that they are not alone in their struggle.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope it finds you doing well.