pureholistic:

Who are you?
Who cares?
Do we really have to define ourselves?
Sell ourselves?
Everything and nothing, I just am.
I have likes, dislikes and interests but have learnt that this elusive identity isn’t even important for me anymore.
I just am who I am.
And I’m always changing.
I recognise my triggers and patterns and I heal.
I just keep following my energy and overcoming blocks and celebrating triumphs and loving myself unconditionally.
It’s magic.
I’m magic,
You’re magic
And magic can’t be defined

It’s just a belief and a belief can be changed

When Acorn Masts, Rodents, and Lyme Disease Collide

When Acorn Masts, Rodents, and Lyme Disease Collide

“‘Mast years’ is an old term used to describe years when beeches and oaks set seed. In these years of plenty, wild boar can triple their birth rate because they find enough to eat in the forestes over the winter… The year following a mast year, wild boar numbers usually crash because the beeches and oaks are taking a time-out and the forest floor is bare once again.” — The Hidden Life of Trees by…

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tra-lexa:

followthebluebell:

mamoru:

if you ever get a rash in the shape of the target logo, especially up to a month after going hiking, camping, a stroll in a park or forest, or being near plants with any skin exposed, you need immediate medical care. a bullseye rash is a sign you have been bitten by a tick that causes a progressive autoimmune disease called lyme. not all people who get bit develop rashes. rashes can take weeks to develop after being bitten.

the longer you wait for treatment, the more likely you are to have permanent damage, need a pacemaker, or die. if you find a tick attached to you, carefully remove it, place it in a plastic bag, and seek medical attention. early treatment is essential.

going off of the number of ticks i’ve pulled off of stray animals lately, this spring and summer are going to be Extremely Bad. 

• Keep your pets up to date on tick prevention meds
• Check your pets carefully after they come indoors.  Ticks tend to prefer the areas behind the ears, under the neck, around the nose, genitals, and anus. 
• Wear long pants with the cuffs tucked into your socks.  Basically, try to reduce the amount of skin that’s exposed while you’re walking in long grass.  
• Use bug repellent with DEET
• Check your body carefully when you get inside.  Ticks are especially fond of areas where your skin is very thin, but will bite whatever they can reach.  Pay particular attention to your legs, under your arms, back of your neck, scalp, and genital area.
• When removing a tick, DO NOT SQUEEZE IT.  This can cause the tick to just… spurt everything it’s consumed right back into you, which is Very Bad.  You can use tweezers, if you’re careful, but I prefer using a specific tool for it.  The tick twister works wonderfully and is very cheap.  It comes in a two pack, with two separate sizes for different ticks.  It’s very important that you remove the head of the tick.
• Lyme disease isn’t the only tick borne disease.  Hereis a list from the CDC, along with areas of concern.
• Once a tick is removed, the site will probably be pretty itchy.  Try not to scratch it.  You can use cortisone cream to reduce itching.
• For Lyme disease in particular, a tick has to be attached to you for at least 36 hours.  Other diseases can be transmitted more quickly.  
• Once you’ve removed the tick, take a clear photograph of it.  You can dispose of the tick in alcohol to drown it or place it in a plastic baggie.  It’s important to keep either the tick or the picture in case you develop symptoms. 

• Removing the tick can leave the head. Before physically attempting to remove the tick, drown the area in alcohol by soaking a paper towel or cotton ball to the point that it’s dripping and cover the tick with it. I’ve never actually had a tick attach itself to my skin, but based off of years of removing ticks from my dog and horses, at least 5/10 this will cause the tick to detach itself from your skin.
• If you’re in Europe, there’s a lyme disease vaccine, get it now if you plan on being out in the fields/woods. (us in the US aren’t as lucky because the anti-vaccine movement here got the lyme disease vaccine banned)

- Be aware that the exact strains of Lyme disease found in Europe vs. North America are different. Getting vaccinated in Europe does not mean you’re protected from the disease in North America.

- Be aware that some tick removal methods may cause the tick to regurgitate into your bloodstream as it detaches, increasing your risk for Lyme disease as well as the similar condition of anaplasmosis. I can’t vouch for the alcohol method listed above, but I’ve been advised not to try things like taking a lighter to the tick to make it detach for this reason. 

- Animals can also get Lyme disease and anaplasmosis. I know three horses that have had it, and luckily early treatment saved them before their neurological symptoms became permanent. Watch your animals for unexplained symptoms like lethargy and clumsiness. My dad’s horse, a life-long glutton, decided not to eat his grain one morning for the first time in his life, and that was enough for me to identify other symptoms (slight drag in one leg, low fever) and call the vet.

- I’ve had pretty good success with a simple pair of tweezers on all my animals, and luckily haven’t had one manage to attach to me fully yet. I usually shower in the evenings instead of in the mornings, mainly because I have a job that covers me in dirt sometimes, but also because it gives me an opportunity to check myself for ticks as I shower. I’ve found 3 ticks on myself this way. Use your bathroom mirror to check your back. Check your scalp with your fingers as you use shampoo, and run your fingers against your skin through any other hair on your body to check, too. I’d say about 80% of the ticks I find on animals, I find using my fingertips rather than my eyes.

- Permethrin-treated clothing is the only thing that I’ve found works consistently well to repel ticks in deep woods situations. Tea tree oil, other essential oils, and even DEET are all only moderate to low protection (ticks dislike these things, but a few ticks may decide they’re desperate enough to deal with them to get to you. Permethrin actually kills ticks). But if you have permethrin or permethrin-treated clothing, keep it away from cats, especially in liquid form - their nervous systems don’t metabolize it as well as humans and dogs do.

- Be aware that the bull’s eye rash only appears in something like 75% of Lyme disease cases, and is also less likely to be visible on darker skin tones. Don’t assume you don’t have Lyme disease just because you never noticed a rash.

We re-blog and like, but we don’t often create. Why? Because we are trained to believe we have nothing to say.

The heroes of our stories do things. Disabled heroes cannot do. How are we then to be the heroes of our own stories? How can we see our journey as our own? If our stories don’t feel like our own, then they don’t feel real. If they aren’t real, then there is no consequence. If no consequence, there is no investment. Is that also true of how we think about our lives?

It is a challenge to write the truth of being disabled and remain entertaining enough to engage a readership. There are few adventures. There are no pictures of exotic locations or exciting venues, no travel. There is no visible external growth. The difficulty comes with showing the internal growth one learns from being forced to—essentially—pause life. A series of snapshots of fear, and pills, and pain, repeated daily until it becomes a blur. It would be easy to paint this as stagnation. But this isn’t the full truth. I am not romanticizing chronic illness. The ill know it is not romantic. But I am admitting value—intrinsic, actual value—in the lives of those who are unable to participate in capitalism and all that comes with it. This may seem obvious, but it needs to be said. Our self-esteem has often been forgotten entirely.

There is a place for us. As thinkers and creators of our life experience, yes, but also as sovereign people—individual consciousness’s—that have value in existing. That have the right to exist as much as anyone else. We are whole, and we grow as anyone grows—at our own pace, based on our experience. I hope we are able to make our voices heard, not just as advocates, but as human beings.

You have value. Your thoughts and experiences matter. Youare the hero of your story; you arestill and always the agent of your life.

Never feel guilt in reclaiming that.

Hey, so I’ve been away. And I could make excuses. The honest truth is that people with Lyme Disease are the victims of a lot of doubt, and I’ve gotten madder and madder about it. My gifs just weren’t giving me the same catharsis. Then something happened last week that set me off, and now, I’m in fighting shape again. SO: This is a lot of text, but please, if you or someone you know have Lyme, take a minute to read it. It’s got a hell of a tirade for doubters of your diagnosis. It’ll have you like

It’s important that you join the fight. After this post, regular gifs are set to return, with the occasional post for justice for Lyme. Content after the break. <3

About a week ago, Forbes published an article on Lyme disease. Yes, Forbes. The financial journal. This article uses a single (flawed) study to “prove” that antibiotics (which, anecdotally, allowed me to walk again after my diagnosis) are useless to treat Lyme disease. This piece so full of misinformation the author even got the number of new yearly cases wrong—by nearly 270,000. When commentators with Lyme replied to his “article”, he condescended to them, essentially calling them stupid. You read that right.

Then THIS hero came along and posted a reply so brilliant I’ve reproduced it here, so you can use it if ever someone questions your illness. If you ARE this hero and would like attribution, please contact me so I can give it to you.

“Consider this scenario, because it is analogous to what you are describing:

You broke your foot. You go to a doctor and the doctor is concerned, runs all tests except an X-ray and tells you that you’re perfectly fine and your phantom foot pain is the result of anxiety. You know that’s wrong and say so. He dismisses you. You go to another doctor convinced you’ve been maligned. You tell your doctor about the pain, the incident that caused it, and you ask whether it may be broken. You ask for an X-ray. The doctor scoffs and condescendingly tells you not to read information from the Internet. He suggests you see a therapist. Your foot swells. You are in excruciating pain. It turns purple, you can’t walk on it. You go to the ER. They are very worried, run the tests they have and tell you you’re fine and to go home and not think about it. Eventually you find a doctor who believes your foot is injured. She tells you to move it: you can’t. She suspects it’s broken. She orders X-rays that your insurance will not pay for. You find out your foot is broken. The doctor puts a cast on your foot and monitors it carefully because of the complex bone damage caused by ignoring and waking on it for so long. Your foot begins to heal.

Meanwhile, a federal agency declares that feet rarely break. When they do, they heal on their own with no need for medical intervention. They endorse studies that support this story, and they call this story “fact.” They malign all other research and launch a national campaign to make the public aware of doctors who are unnecessarily placing casts on feet that are perfectly fine. Your foot is healing. This makes no sense to you.

A reporter from a national financial publication writes an authoritative sounding article that contains factual errors and which omits important recent scientific studies that suggest casts are important to the healing of a broken foot and that an untreated break will cause further complications down the line. When other people in toe position comment on the story, equipped not only with more relevant and nuanced information but with their own personal experiences, the author, who has never broken a bone, patronizingly tells all of these people that despite their lives experiences they are too stupid to understand their own bodies’ illnesses and what treatment has effectively improved their health. The author tells them it isn’t their fault they are stupid and know their bodies less well than he does, but that evil doctors trying to sell casts are preying upon their stupidity and desperation.

I can’t imagine that you have any concept of how utterly condescending and patronizing you are to people whose health complications you have no way to relate to, but I am curious about what makes you believe you know better than we do about the reality of our own experiences–both the decline from Lyme and improvement from treatment. It’s stunningly ignorant, and aggressively so. In time you will have to accept that you were wrong here. I hope you’re human enough to feel remorse for that because your misguided words have consequences, and in case you can’t tell from the comments of every single person who has reacted to your story, you are completely wrong in your assumptions and offensive in your tone.”

What did I tell you? Are you doing it? I know I am.

This is theFORBES piece. I’m only linking it so that you can leave your thoughts as well. Please don’t give them the clicks without leaving a piece of your mind behind.

This is a HUFFINGTON POST  piece that debunks the Forbes article, line by line. Please, read it and feel the nice, warm glow of justice. And please, show some love.

We still have voices. Lets DRAG THEM, puddinpops.

-xx bb

nah brah we got room

1) Salt.

2) Water.

    Repeat.

Went out today!

BUT WE DID IT. WE MADE IT DOWN THE SLIDE

                  Chronic Illness Community Uniform 2k15

I haven’t kept up with this blog in the way I want to because I have been very down about a lot of things regarding my illness. I’ve gotten a lot of mail about how the positivity of this blog has helped a lot of people, and that means the world to me. This is a positive blog for supporting each other–  mostly through humor. I want to keep it that way. I don’t want to post negative things here. This is a safe space, and I fully intend to keep posting the same types of content.

That being said, we all know there is a lotof darkness we need to– but often don’t– express beyond the confines of our head. It’s lonely that way, and it builds. I need an outlet for those dark thoughts. Maybe you do too.

So I made a secondary blog,Bartonella Bites, for poetry, random thoughts, images, etc, of stuff that doesn’t need to stay in the angry echochamber of my mind. Please visit if positivity just isn’t doing it for you today, or if you want to submit your own thoughts/art/poems/etc. Please understand that this secondary blog will likely be triggering. It’s a box to put our poison in. 

After this post, all of my posts on BartonellaBabe will be positive again.

I love you guys. You’ve gotten me through so much. You’re the best support community in the world.

xx - bb