Hi everyone! I haven’t posted in a while. My last post was right before Christmas when I was feeling so good physically and mentally. I was off all meds and feeling like myself. Then, I got laid flat. Last October, I was bit by yet another tick. It was in my back for days before I found it. I had the tick tested and the results came back negative, so I did not worry about going back on meds as a precaution. Turns out those tests on the actual ticks are not totally reliable either. On January 6th, while on vacation in Florida, I became very ill. Classic Lyme for me with the migraines, incredible fatigue, joint pains and more that you all know about. There was a different quality to this bout though in that the mental exhaustion and sadness were awful. Basically, it was a new case which had reactivated my old infections including Babesia and Bartonella. I have basically been very sick up until about a week ago.
As many of you know, Lyme Disease compromises your immune system. It decimated mine to the point that I need weekly infusions that I do at home to “borrow” other people’s IGG. I could talk a lot about how wonderful t would be if all the scientists would concentrate on curing chronic Lyme disease next, but that would require them to recognize its existence and learn how badly it impacts the nation’s health and economy. I am interested in the fact that the immune system going on overdrive is responsible for a lot of the severe symptoms with Coronavirus as it is with Lyme Disease. Maybe Lyme is actually doing us a favor by lowering our immune responses now-dunno.
Anyway, I really want to focus on us Lymies as moms and dads right now. I, myself, have been hibernating in my house for 3 weeks now. I miss my kids like crazy. My fellow Lymie and daughter Jessica has active Lyme as we… She is also expecting my first grandchild so she is hibernating to avoid this plague as well. My amazing son is a firefighter and EMT who is working on the front lines and has been exposed to the virus. So, I am sitting home, alone, and missing them. But at least I am starting to feel better.
I can not imagine being a mom or dad with Lyme Disease now and having all my kids suddenly home all day as well. In the past 3 months, I had to crash on the couch for hours on end, barely able to think or move. Now that Coronavirus has met Lyme Disease, parents are being asked to deal with job concerns, financial burdens, health concerns, social distancing and homeschooling their children. My heart goes out to all of you who are trying to navigate this new abnormal when you can barely function under normal circumstamces. I am SO SORRY you are going through this.
As I am feeling better, I wanted to think of a way that I could help parents and children during this crisis. As you may recall, I am actually Dr. Robin Desrochers in my other non-Lymie world. So, I decided to use all my education and experience teaching children to create a website that is dedicated to keeping kids engaged and having fun. Most of the activities are set up that the kids can do them on their own so that parents can get some work done. I read stories, do physical activities with the kids, challenge them to be creative, teach them games and activities to do on their own and help them cope with feelings. I am creating the site from my house and all activities can be done while staying home. There are also some activities that relate to staying safe during the pandemic as well.
I decided to share this news of my sites with all of you today, as I think you may need it the most! Your kids can go to my sites and do the fun activities and you can rest-a little at least. I could use your help in getting the word out as well so that I can help more parents and children now. I have spent so much time on this that I really want the kids to benefit from my work. I will share the link with you here. I have a video on YouTube (Mrs. Robin’s Neighborhood), an Instagram site (mrs._robins_neighborhood) where I just did a live game of Simon Says-to 1 viewer…sigh, a Facebook page (Mrs. Robin’s Neighborhood) and a Twitter feed for the kids (@NeighborhoodMrs). The site has a parent blog, downloadable activities and contests, stories the kids can choose and more. I hope this site helps you Lymies to get some rest and smile a little during these scary times. I appreciate any LIKES, COMMENTS and SHARING you can help with! Thanks in advance for helping me get the word out. http://mrsrobinsneighborhood.com
Be well, Robin 🙂
Madlymies.com 