Let Me Tell You a Secret - She Makes It

It was three years ago today that I came down with the summer flu. I had no idea that the journey I would find myself on would be the deepest, darkest, scariest road I could ever imagine.

When debilitating fatigue prevented me from getting off the couch, I watched Lyme documentaries.

When the TV became too much for my brain-on-fire to handle, I read Lyme memoirs.

Later, my eyes became too strained to read, but I could sit at my laptop and write.

Those lonely months led to my own memoir, written while the wound was still raw and no one knew the outcome.

I shared my journey on social media.

I bucked the narrative that we must go into hiding when we are sick. I thought maybe, just maybe, someone else needed to hear my story.

Maybe they would have answers for me.

Maybe I could share answers I had found. And maybe I would find a community.

All three prayers were answered.

And today, I am in remission.

My daughter created this website out of love and devotion for her mother who was suffering.

I will maintain this website out of love and devotion for all of the sufferers out there that do not have a voice, do not know where to turn, and sadly think they are alone.

You are not.

The memoir I started in 2021 (out of desperation to keep myself from falling too deeply into despair) is ready to publish.

I thought it was ready last year. But alas, I needed to relapse first.

Your first big relapse as a Lyme patient is terrifying. It is like drowning a second time.

When you come through it and again find wellness - and this time even vitality -

you realize the relapse is a part of the story that also needs to be shared. So now and only now can I fully tell my story. Where I am today, anyway.

There is no conclusion to Lyme Disease, after all.

The story of Lyme goes something like this:

First, you fall.

Then you drown.

Lovely people pull on you, begging you to fight.

You are so so tired though.

Things get worse.

Pain. Darkness.

One day you realize no one else can save you.

No one but you.

So you do the hard things.

You show up.

Every. Single. God. Damn. Day.

Later, many days later, the sun is brighter.

The fatigue is less.

Your hard work is paying off.

You climb, you fall again.

Still you dust yourself off.

Step by step you find yourself again.

Vitality drips back into your soul.

While you were down you found yourself.

Outside of the hectic, hurried world.

You now know what is important.

Who is important.

Everything is different.

It is less.

But it is more.

Please watch for the release of my memoir, Let Me Tell You a Secret, She Makes It.

It has been my therapy. It has been a labor of love.

Three years ago I did not know if this book would be a success story or a heartfelt good-bye.

Today, by God's grace, I know it is a gift.

xoxo

Kristi Hellenbrand, DC

Author of Let Me Tell You a Story - She Makes It, Today Is a Good Day for Marshmallows, GLA Mentor, Chiropractor, wife, mother, and horse farm owner.