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April of 2024, I had my consultation with Dr. Offutt. She took her time and wanted to know everything about me. After seeing 11 other doctors in less than a year, you can imagine all the paperwork/lab work I had. I brought everything with me so she could have a comprehensive view of what all I had experienced during this time. She combed through everything and we discussed many things but most importantly my history, my lifestyle, my symptoms and where all we had traveled. She gave us a detailed explanation of what Lyme disease is, what kind of tick carries borrelia and the damage it can do especially when it goes undiagnosed for so long. She told us, I was "text book" Lyme disease in her professional opinion and wanted to do an evaluation on me before she discussed testing options. She then asked me a bunch of questions, evaluating me and my symptoms while scoring me on a validated screening form. On this screening form, a score over 46 means highly likely a tick-borne disease. I scored a 103, so it was looking like I for sure had a tick-borne illness. After that, she discussed testing options with us because it was clear, we needed confirmation of what exactly we were dealing with and how to move forward.
She gave us two different testing options to choose from, IGeneX or T-Labs. For my specific case, she recommended T-Labs, which included a vibrant report as well as actual blood smears. We went with her recommendation because we wanted to see what was in my blood. Along with her testing recommendation, it was recommended I begin a pre-treatment plan until we have confirmation. That is how confident she was in my case, so I said yes and therefore began a treatment plan. Sure enough, 6 weeks later the results came back and I received the official diagnosis of Lyme disease (I have two different strains of borrelia) along with a coinfection of Bartonella (a common co-infection of Lyme). My biggest problem is that it took so long to get a diagnosis, the bacteria crossed the blood-brain barrier into my central nervous system wrecking havoc on my health.
In June 2024, my family and I were in Colorado for our oldest son's baseball tournament when I received the news of a positive Lyme diagnosis. We were headed to dinner with another family when the call came from my doctor. Talk about a punch to the gut and not having time to process the news, all the while having to put on a smile, push forward in the moment and just get through dinner. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. There were so many things going through my mind, trying to process the news and what it meant for our lives going forward as well as trying to be completely present in the moment with my family and other families while on this trip. My mentality was to live life to the fullest, enjoy this trip with our baseball family and we will worry about my diagnosis when we get back home. Of course that is easier said than done but the trip was a good distraction.
When we got back home, I was able to process the news of my diagnosis and I experienced many emotions. The tears started flowing becoming sad and upset knowing my life would never be the same. At the same time, I was relieved I finally had answers and knew I was in good hands with my doctor. The bacteria is visible up against my red blood cells in the blood smears, which is fascinating when you think about what modern technology can do. However, as a patient, I was frustrated because I should have been diagnosed back in November 2023 with my neurologist. With Lyme, time is of the essence for treatment and my case like so many others go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. All I ever wanted was someone to tell me what was wrong so I could face it head on. I finally have my answers and even though it's not an answer any of us wanted, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
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