Now I’m not about to turn this into a blog about Lyme Disease (LD) and will get back to trail riding shortly.  However, you may have noticed a large part of nothingness for a while on here, followed by a flurry of activity  -and that probably needs an explanation.

I used to be an incredibly organised person, everything had its place, I could juggle lots of things at the same time and nothing got forgotten or overlooked.  Then came LD!  The physical symptoms were obvious (to me anyway), but the cognitive effects crept on in a more subtle way.  I could no longer think in an organised and logical way.  My computer filing system became a mess (my paper filing system became a huge pile) and I struggled to find anything.  Working through any IT problems became impossible as I’d forget what I’d tried / done.

At my worst I couldn’t: listen to music, watch a film, read a book, make simple decisions, concentrate on any conversation, look at a computer screen / phone for more than 5minutes, fill in a form -well you get the idea.  It is only since having the last round of treatment August 2018 that I feel I have regained my clarity of thinking!  I’ve finally sorted out my computer talking to my camera and phone again and have spent about a month downloading and sorting.  I have an organised filing system again, thus I have now been able to share the backlog of adventure stories.

Not all the cognitive effects have gone -I still struggle with sensory overload -such as busy / noisy places, scanning supermarket shelves, listening to music (I used to love music) and I do find working at a computer extremely exhausting.  The most embarrassing problem (or amusing depending on your outlook on life) however is a complete lack of facial recognition.

Yes everyone says they struggle with this as they get older…  meeting that person you know you know, but can’t remember their name…  That might happen with someone you don’t know so well, but when it happens with a colleague or good friend you’ve known for a long time, and you draw a complete blank as to who they are and how you know them, well then that’s a little more worrying and can get you in a whole lot of trouble as the conversation evolves lol!

I still have wavering energy levels too -sometimes I’m full of beans and sometimes I’m flat on my back, but I do appreciate how lucky I am to have got out of this mess in such a good state.  Many people (and I mean THOUSANDS) that I converse with through LD support groups, are nowhere near as well as I am.  They are left to suffer and rot by health care systems who seem disinterested in a disease that is so incredibly sneaky, debilitating and devastating.  It is also very much on the increase world wide.  I wonder when the world is going to sit up and notice?