All hands on deck!! Members - please read!!!

Well said.

Ditto like above.

The most helpful comments are from those that have healed. This is the best learning tool. And it offers a nice sunrise on another gloomy lyme day.

Its awesome for the "healed ones" (or second round Lyme veterans) to hang out and answer some questions once in a while, while getting on with their lives.

I don't feel qualified to answer technical questions. But I will do my best to provide moral support!

Thank you all for being so understanding. The Mods all do our best, believe me, but none of us are super women!! We all have our own health issues going on as well as spending a lot of time off forum helping forum members.

I have been 'tagged' to lead the charge in getting Lyme recognized in my state (oh boy!! ) and will have to very soon start spending less time on the forum in order to make some progress for my own state that doesn't even recognize that a person can get Lyme here!

So we need your help!! And as Maire said - you don't have to know all about the protocols to be of help in this!! There are some very basic things that we all need - to know that we are not alone, to know that we are heard, to find some words of comfort when the world -or our world - quits making sense. I post a lot of times on thread where abx are being talked about - and I have no clue about them!!

As long as you are familiar with the rules of the forum, anyone can lend a helping hand. You can always feel free to copy and paste parts of my posts when I welcome new members in too! I don't mind! Just be sure that it actually applies to the person posting.

Again, thank you. The Mods don't make this forum what it is, it's the members all caring about each other enough to post to them as well and do what they can to share information.

Girlie,

You take the time you need. I am so very sorry about your father.

We will all still be when you come back! Lol!

Girlie,
You have express permission to be excluded on this (LOL!) - I know that you will be here to help all you can once your situation there settle back down.

You need time to deal with what has happened. Please take special care of yourself right now. You are under an impossible amount of stress.

And know that we are thinking of you!
((((((((hugs))))))))

I too am still learning so I don't feel qualified to answer posts about treatments and whatnot but I am making an effort to respond to newbies like myself who are also feeling scared, and also any posts that I can relate to in terms of symptoms and detoxing. This thread is a good reminder, thanks for the heads up!

Sorry to hear that Girlie! I hope all is as well as it could be right now.

I am just beginning my research into Lyme but I will do best to answer any questions that I am able to and to provide moral support where I can. We're all in this together you know!

I'm one of those scared 'newbies' and wanted to say that I really appreciate the info and support that is available here. I certainly am aware that you all have actual lives outside of answering question here and am so, so glad that you take the time to do so.

After over a year of being told you are crazy it is such a massive relief to find folks who actually understand what you are talking about.

I hope that in the future, when I have learned and am able to I can contribute to helping the newbies that follow me. We all need each other, after all.

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that this forum has been absolutely awesome for me, and if it weren't for the forum, I don't know what I would have done, or how I would have gotten through this.

This forum is great not only for advice, but also for emotional support, especially for those of us who feel lonely, or judged by our doctors and other people.

I have never seen an online community that was so supportive, and that means not only the members, but the moderators too--and I mean ALL of the moderators.

If I got on anyone's nerves, I'm really, really sorry. I was starting to see a lot of scared newbies, and I was trying to provide the same support that had been provided to me, but then I got in over my head.

There have been a lot of newbies, which attests to the spread of this very serious disease, I guess. So many people are still misinformed by their doctors; it's unreal! One doctor told her patient that even if she tested positive for Lyme, she probably didn't have the disease, or the CDC would have gotten back in touch with her after she reported it!

Of course I know that you have lives of your own, and that you're struggling like all of us.

Traveler, my opinion is that you should go ahead and take all the time you need for yourself, especially if you feel the need to help your state out. You have taken so many folks under wings, but you must know that many people are very grateful, I'm sure!

I have received really good support and info. from all the mods out there.

I was only trying to help, not get on anyone's nerves. So sorry.

Margaret

I huge thanks to all of the moderators as well as other members of the forum who share and offer support. Not everyone can—and will be able to advise but like Traveler and others are suggesting—there are many ways to respond to a post or question that are helpful and valuable.

I won't speak for Traveler and the moderators, but sometimes, the most important post is one that acknowledges a complaint or question or worry, provides comfort or a similar experience. I learned an immeasurable amount of information just reading the dialogue between posters—understanding other's symptoms and how they describe them, hearing stories of their journeys and what they tried. All this helped me figure out so much about my own situation and helped me articulate to my doctor what was going on with me.

I envy those posters who are so active and available every day—you are so valuable. I struggle tremendously with consistency. I am OK one day and the next day I've lost my ability to communicate at all.

I appreciate the reminder Traveler.

-p

We can only do what we can do, all I am asking is that we all do what we can.

As has been said many times now, even just a few words acknowledging a poster and their concerns can go a long way. No one here is 'required' to give technical information - heck I can't much of the time! But I can tell people that they are in a place that will listen and take them and their concerns seriously and that although they are scared, they have others now that will be here to support them.

Which is much of what brought each of us here to begin with.

Thank you to all who post. Helping others is part of this- sometimes all we have is each other - and all I ask is that we do what we can. Let's get those newbies welcomed and then we can help them get through this.