After another Skype consult with my USA doc, medications were altered and by the first week of June there was a definite improvement. Couldn't put my finger on it but everything just felt different. I went on to have almost 2 weeks of feeling the best I had in over a year - fantastic!
During these couple of weeks I managed to do normal fun stuff- see Ben Howard (no wheelchair required, yippee), have my lovely friend Gill to visit, do another Lyme awareness TV interview (ITV this time- http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2013-06-14/lyme-disease-threat/), and meet up with a couple of new friends AT A PUB (lime and soda's all round). Basically more than I'd done in months!
I also was so lucky to have Jenkins Dog Services arrange a sponsored dog walk for me (http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Sponsored-dog-walk-raises-1-000-vet-s-treatment/story-19376662-detail/story.html) - they raised a staggering total of £1400 - simply amazing! It was so good to be able to meet many people before the walk and thank them in person.
Add to that the continual donations from clients and friends from Toachim Vets, plus Emma McAnally from Merial adding to the pot - I am still overwhelmed and feel very privileged to have so much financial and emotional support.
Even though after all this I went on to have a pretty rough time, I bounced back after about 10 days - just in time to get married!!!
Nick had secretly proposed to me a little while ago and we decided to plan a surprise wedding while we were in Scotland with friends. We have obviously been through some rough times and saw no need to wait - life is there for living! So we shared our special day with our great friends who helped us with a last minute wildflower bouquet, photography and music. These wonderful friends did not mind that I was back in my pj's within two hours of getting married, needing a few hours sleep to recover from all the merriment. Our kind parents paid for our rings and our time away, my dress was £3.99 from eBay - note to anyone out there getting married - it can be special and unique without costing a fortune!
The week away was wonderful, my body coped well and we saw some amazing wildlife - perfect.
It does feel like I have turned a corner, I am having more time awake, less pain and less recovery time is needed if I do anything daring (eg do some housework, cook dinner or meet up with friends, so actually not that daring!!). Some recent blood tests are showing that despite the general improvement, my body is finding all the medications I am taking hard and I spent this morning having some scans and tests, but I hope this is just a blip.
This Sunday our family are joining us at Nick's church for our wedding to be blessed which will be wonderful.
Onwards and upwards my friends!
Love and thanks for all your support from the new Sarah Bignell-Howse
