Treatment

teragram said...
Just a suggestion: You might need to take a year off, and then resume school. Or maybe you could home school.

Heavy aerobics won't work for the most part, but sometimes exercise helps with herxing.

Margaret

myeezy24 said...
yes for some people, i had to stop going to work , i wouldnt be able to attend school if i was you esp after starting treatment, it really depends how bad your infection is and how long you have had it for id say

candleinthewind said...
When I read this yesterday, I thought, "good, she starting in the summer, so she'll know how her body responds to treatment".... My kids have been doing a natural treatment and going to school. One herxes, one doesn't.

My son has missed a total of 3 weeks of school total because of herxing. I never told the school they're in treatment... I knew they wouldn't understand...whatever. When he was home he was usually sleeping and had stomach stuff a lot. Everything passed pretty quickly though. There's a lot of psychological stuff too, I hope your parents understand that..

As far as sports go, maybe...you'll have to see. My daughter could have easily done sports while in treatment, so, like everyone said, just depends.

gkamom said...
Darian,

The questions are is it high school for yourself or homeschool for your self? Or something for someone else?

If it's for you and it's high school, the easiest thing to do is explain to them what is going on. There are kids in your school that you see everyday who have changes to what is required of them every day.

My daughter had ADHD and we found out because she had been having trouble learning to read. After a very short time, when we figured out that the problem was ADHD, she worked with a resource teacher and learned 2 years of reading in less that 10 months (which was actually less than one school year because we have year round schools).

They sat down with me (and in later years she was included) to determine what accommodations are required to allow you to be successful. The accommodations depend on your "disability" (medical or psychological condition). My daughter could have had the amount of homework she was given cut down, I chose NO. My rationale was that when she goes out in the world her boss was not going to say it was ok for her to do less work than everyone else. We spent a very long year (along with her teacher and resource the resource teacher) getting her back to grade level.

There are other accommodations that are available it just depends on what the situation is. I know that I had a sister who could not attend school and one of the teachers came to our house to tutor her. I have heard of someone who could not be in the physical school because she was immuncompramized. She had someone in the class video tape each class for her to watch the next day. She did all her classwork from home with a slight change in schedule. These days many, many teachers put their classes on the internet.

Since you can't predict when you will feel ill, you might have to try a combination. Maybe video lectures, homeworkload/Tests/quizzes adjusted around the periods you are well.

Many states now have virtual schools where students can take classes that are available in other parts of the state but not you school. Generally, this gives people the opportunity to take classes that otherwise would not be available to them.

Look into the following website http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.index.htm

It described the associated law. It IS a law and all my kids schools worked with me on it, some better than others. Read the information, know what your rights are and don't let anyone bully you or your parents.

If this is an adult I'm talking to, and this is college please talk to an advisor. Don't drop out of school. They will work with you. I know that I was working toward my Master's degree, I ended up have a semester which had started and then I had a medical situation that prevented me completing the classes. They withdrew me from the classes and refunded my tuition. My record showed that I had been able to continue for medical reasons. They didn't kick me out of my program. When the medical problem resolved it self, I started right back up again. When my daughter was in college a little while ago, she had friends with Chronic and at times life threatening medical issues that sometimes interfered with them completing their classes. For some they would take a semester off and then continue. Colleges do have to deal with all this before and will continue to do that as needed.

I would also expect that the Disabled Education law would also cover college as well but I haven't had that issue so I don't know. As I said for my Masters we did everything over the phone.

Whatever you do, DONT just drop off the face of the earth. Talk to people at the school involved and work it out. At least then your record will show why you had to TEMPORARILY stop classes. When you go to get a job and the employer wants to know why it took you X number of years to complete your schooling, the answer will be in your record. If you just drop it, they won't know why.

Lastly, another option for a high school is home schooling with or with a virtual public high school. People get scared off from homeschooling because they think the only people who do it is for religious reasons. That's no longer true. i am an example of that. I homeschool my son at home in what is considered a "private" school. Each state has different laws, but the information is very easy to find. There is a group called HSLDA that has a web site with information about homeschooling in all 50 states. They describe the laws and interpret them for you. All that information is available to nonmembers. A membership gives you access to additional homeschool related resources. As a member, if you were to have trouble with the school system they will also handle those issues including defending you in court (either themselves or through a local attorney) as long as you follow the laws in your state.

There are also lots of free teaching resources, through them and many other organizations. There is curriculum for sale many places, but it depends on who the publisher is. Some are more religious of nature. I bought a few things but am mostly using the free resources available to teachers themselves.

It's do able. You just have to persevere as we all to take it one day at a time.

If someone would like any info on homeschool resources. Email me and I can pass things on I think would be helpful.

teragram said...
gka mom,

I would think a dx of chronic lyme wouldn't go over very well with the school would it?

Margaret

mauihawaii said...
Hi Darian,

Just wanted to add that I agree with Gkamom: I worked in schools for years and by law, the school will have to accomodate your needs if you get a diagnosis. They won't worry abut the diagnosis of lyme--legally they have to service kids with much scarier diagnoses.

Don't worry about whether you have chronic lyme or not at this stage--just get some help first and then see how you respond to treatment. From what you've described it sounds like you've been dealing with it for less than a year? Hopefully, with being young, athletic, and so smart, your body will be able to fight it off as soon as you can support it with treatment. You'll have to watch what you eat and listen to your body for limits, but you're doing a great job so far pushing to get answers to help yourself. Hopefully, you can tolerate the treatment and continue somewhat normally.

I had lyme in high school but didn't know it and I was an athlete. You may be able to keep up, you just have to see what works. I ran long-distance and played high-impact basketball. My knees were shot from basketball and sometimes gave out during practice or games. Sometimes I fainted at practice. I sweated a ton and it had a really strong smell--gross and embarrassing. At times during cross-country races my feet would go numb but I I would just keep running. I wen to doctors for lots of joint pain and dizziness but they attributed it to high-impact activity. I didn't know what was wrong with me so I kept pushing because I loved sports. I was able to keep at it through high school and college.

As an adult on treatment I'm not nearly as active. There were many days where I couldn't get off the couch or out of bed because I was so wiped out from the antibiotics killing the bacteria and creating toxic die-off. Still, on the days I can go to the gym or even jog a light mile or two outdoors, I feel a million times better. I'm hoping you will be able to keep it up because you are young and your body is still quite strong. Best of luck, and please do let us know how you progress!

Maui