Happy New Year

The Holidays are over.  Time to rejoice.  I always lament the coming of Holiday season because it is too busy.  I cannot come to terms with the time obligations invloved in this season.  We pack all of the shopping, cooking, eating, giving, visiting into a one month period.  It is a pleasure to see those we haven't seen for a year, and fun to give and receive gifts.  But I think it would be more enjoyable if we could spread it through out the year.  Call me Scrooge.

My father recently celebrated his 73rd birthday.  He is incredibly healthy and serves as my home remodeling consultant.  I called him for his birthday and he told me about a visit to his house from a neighbor couple.  The wife had recently experienced a significant and unexplained weight loss.  She had no explanation for it.

My father told her that my wife had suffered a significant weight loss preceded by a Lyme diagnosis.  She confessed that she had experienced a recent tick attachment which was followed by a red ring around the bite site. 

I am a news junkie.  When I was in college, living in campus housing, I had the newspaper delivered to my door daily.  I had a class that required me to subscribe to the Christian Science Monitor and I thought that was cool.  When I moved off campus I continued to subscribe to Columbia State newspaper. I currently subscribe to the weekly small town newspaper here in Clemmons where we live.  I also subscribe to the daily paper from the nearest city, Winston-Salem.  If I am sitting at a computer I have probably checked msnbc.com to see what the latest news is.  When I am in the car I'm listening to NPR or local talk radio.  I have an insatiable curiosity about the world.  It is somewhat fulfilled by all of these media sources.

I have known for years that Lyme disease is associated with a bullseye rash and arthritic symptoms.  I had no idea about the havoc that this disease could wreak on your immune system and the neuroligcal effects it could have.  Before Lynette became ill she had never heard of a bullseye rash. It is so apparent that there needs to be more awareness.

We have our next appointment with Dr. J which will be towards the end of January.  My dad's house is on the way, so we look forward to being able to visit with him.  We are also hoping to be able to spend a "tourist" day in DC the day before the appointment.

I have made a tradition of making a "mix tape" CD every year and giving it to friends and family for Christmas.  This years disc was called Can Ya Dig It.  It was a compilation of '70s Soul music.  This is the music I grew up listening to in the car with my mom.  Artists like The Spinners, Aretha Franklin, The Jackson 5, and Mavin Gaye.  My favorite song on this year's CD is Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips.  There's a line in the song (gender inaccuracy excused) that describes my life lately.  She sings:

"I'd rather be in his world, than be without him in mine."

So I'll be in her world.  Lynette didn't have a choice. I did. It's OK.

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve one tends to look back on the previous year.  Generally it has either been a good year or a bad one.  For our family 2009 will be remembered for very dark and trying times which will scar our memories for years to come.  We look forward to continued progress back to a normal life.  This one will be better.