Date with Doug

I met Doug at YaYa’s Wednesday afternoon for lunch. My parents accompanied me. We were connected through a friend of my sister’s husband’s sister’s brother. Did you get all that? Anyways, Doug is a competitive fisherman and an avid hunter. He said he’s likely had over 500 ticks in his life. He said he would have loved to have had the bulls-eye rash, as would I, but most Lyme patients never recall one. My nerves mimicked the nervousness I felt right before teaching my first Fusion class - holy anxiety! Where’s the Xanax? 

Doug found out he had Lyme Disease 4 years ago. He went to Washington, DC and saw Dr. Joseph G. Jemsek. Dr. Jemsek is an Infectious Disease Specialist in Lyme Borreliosis and Tick-Borne Infection. Doug’s treatment plan lasted 6 months. He had a port implanted and received all medicine through an IV. For maintenance, one week each month he takes a variety of antibiotics. 

I left lunch feeling optimistic about my situation. Doug knew everything about this horrendous world I’m in. He was full of information. He highly recommended Dr. Jemsek and suggested I schedule an appointment with him to get a second opinion. 

After lunch, we immediately got on our computers and scheduled an appointment with the doctor in DC. The earliest I could get an appointment was November 30th. That’s in 23 days… That seems like an eternity! 

During my visit with Doug, he stressed the importance of faith. He said it’s easy to turn your back to God when you’re going through a hardship. He said faith helped him heal. You must have absolute confidence in someone during the Lyme mayhem - and that’s God. Doug’s faith speech greatly impacted me. I’ve always joked that I need more Jesus in my life… And it’s true. “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” - Philippians 4:13. Thanks Doug!