Cathy Parbst-Accurso, Physical Therapist

My Lyme journey probably started years ago without even knowing I was on it. I had previously experienced only crashes in my health that occurred every 4-5 years. Each one was getting a little worse than the previous one. It wasn’t until one of these “crashes” in October 2018 set my stress levels on overdrive and kicked off a downward spiral of not sleeping, extreme anxiety, and deep depression (which I thought was because of the lack of sleep) I knew something was amiss. I felt like I was going crazy. I cried all the time, shook, prayed, and had to close my physical therapy office. I only had enough energy to do one thing a day.

After two months of suffering beyond belief, I began looking for answers instead of putting on bandaids to cover up my symptoms. I saw a neurologist who said I probably had Lyme, but he didn’t have any effective treatments or tests for me. I prayed that I would find the people who would help me heal. After going from one doctor to the next, I found a functional medicine doctor who was also a Lyme specialist. I started on an herbal protocol and hyperbaric chamber treatments to heal my brain and kill the Lyme virus. Hyperbaric was the one thing that restored my sleep, which seems to be one of the biggest problems in many Lyme patients. Once I started to sleep, I felt my brain fog lift.

I also do biweekly cleanses and keep a clean diet without dairy, wheat, gluten, and low sugar. It seems alcohol is not worth the cheating for me, but pizza is!!! We always cheat a little now and then, and usually, I end up paying for it.

I have not healed completely, but I feel like a natural person again. I was able to go for a run and felt ok the next day. Even though only running one mile was heartbreaking for me since I had been a runner and a former professional athlete, I’m learning not to be so hard on myself and others.

Life is too short. Take one day at a time, and don’t try to do too much. Most people are addicted to “getting stuff done” checking off that list. Enjoy the people around you. Engage with your family. Find things to be grateful for every day. Life is worth living when you let yourself enjoy it.

I hope my story gives hope to all the people who have Lyme. Anyone suffering from this should know that it is possible to heal. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but slow and steady wins the race.

Blessings!

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