The past four years I have spent talking about how to live well with chronic disease.The mission of this blog was to talk about not only living with chronic disease, but living as well as you can with it.

Initially I thought I had RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis). I received a diagnosis in 2001 and I trusted the doctors.

I have learned a lot since then. A lot about myself, RA and Lyme disease.

In trusting the medical professionals more than myself, I spent 9 years being treated for a disease I never had. While other deadly diseases were wreaking havoc throughout my entire body. And to add insult to injury, the treatments that were supposed to help me actually made my body  the perfect host for these bacteria.

What I actually had (and still do) is Lyme disease (Borrelia Burgdorferi), Babesia and Protomyxzoa Rheumatica (AKA FL1953 or “The Fry Bug:)

That’s a mouthful for sure.

All three diseases are parasitic diseases that attack the joints, the central nervous system, the heart, eyes, lungs, stomach, intestines, liver, uterus and spleen just to name a few.

These are serious diseases that have been marginalized by the medical community for far too long. The result has been thousands of people suffering needlessly for years unable to get a correct diagnosis.

There are many reasons for the failings in the medical community most of which are discussed in the documentary Under Our Skin. I would strongly suggest that everyone, whether you are sick or not, watch this movie. It truly is an enlightening film.

So in honor of all my fellow Lyme Warriors and in memory of all those who fought so hard only to eventually succumb to this insidious disease, for Lyme disease awareness Month, LivingRheum.com is going green for the month of May. And I will try to share as much information about this and other vector-borne infectious diseases as I can.