Five years ago, I picked up a tiny little tick while bagging leaves. I recognize that as a major milestone in my life. That tick sent me to the hospital and started me on clearer path to recovery from an acute life-threatening symptom and decades of neglected treatment for tick borne diseases.
Anyway, around this time each year since, I take a look back at how things have gone with respect to my health and tick borne disease over the prior year. It’s my annual report basically. These reports help me in sharing my experience and progress with people right now and into the future. So...
This past year, I have had a lot of improvement in symptoms from my most recent tick bite, on Memorial Day 2019. After my symptoms improved, the intensity of my protocol decreased to “maintenance” without an increase in symptoms, so that was good. Recent lab results show that my innate immune system is fine and my adaptive immune system hovers between low and normal. Overall, that’s good, too. On the other hand, I still need to continue with a healthy lifestyle and my “maintenance” protocol. When I haven’t done a good job with all of that - insufficient sleep, insufficient exercise, excessive stress, poor diet, etc - my symptoms have returned. Typically, my symptoms have been fatigue, blurred vision, and headache - sometimes with scintillating scotoma, which is wild.
Also this past year, there’s been the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has killed over 260,000 individuals in my country alone in just the past nine months, left many with debilitating health problems, altered daily life for just about everybody, and caused severe financial and emotional hardship on millions, which undoubtedly contributed to countless protests and counter-protests and political turmoil in general. The virus is getting closer, too, as reported cases in my county are currently on a dramatic increase.
I recently asked my specialist for his take on what I should do with regard to the virus. He stated that my immune system is much better, but there is no way to know how severely the virus will impact me. He recommended an additional protocol - available to everyone, not specifically for me. That protocol includes zinc, vitamin-C, vitamin-D3, nattokinase, and querecetin. He also stated that hydroxychloroquine works.
A very close family member who also manages symptoms from tick borne diseases contracted coronavirus in the past year. He said that his symptoms were terrible, but he started feeling better within a day of taking hydroxychloroquine. He’s recovered without lingering symptoms. I’m glad for him that he’s recovered of course. I’m also encouraged somewhat for his family, including me, because coronavirus has devastated families, perhaps in part due to genetic susceptibility, so his recovery may be an indication of what may be possible for us.
I will end this annual report with this curiosity - I am in a period where the dates and days align with when my ordeal began. Five years ago this past Saturday was the Saturday when I raked and bagged leaves and picked up that little bug that changed so much. The dates and days will align for just a few months, through February 28, 2021.
