No Man Is An Island

The 1960’s Folk singer, Joan Baez, sang in her musical lyrics, “No man is an island, No man stands alone,” and like Joan, I have discovered my own truth in those immortal words. The seven unsuspecting castaways on the humorous TV sitcom, “Gilligan's Island,” also discovered the reality of these words. Gilligan and the other six passengers aboard the S.S. Minnow on that 1960’s television show, assumed they were going on a relaxing three-hour cruise, never expecting to find themselves hopelessly shipwrecked on a uninhabited tropical island. I too, had high expectations for my long awaited Royal Caribbean Cruise, never suspecting how my adventure would change the course of my life into formerly uninhabited territory!

“It’s more than a vacation, it's a royal experience,” the promotional brochures promised us. Yes! We were going on a Royal Caribbean Cruise! It would be a vacation of pure rest and relaxation, daily pampering, gourmet food, entertaining shows, and interesting shore excursions. We looked forward to the lazy days and a week in the sun, with all our responsibilities momentarily left behind. On April 1, 1995, my husband and I embarked on the adventure of our lives. It was April Fool’s Day, but the trip was no practical joke. After giving birth to six children, ranging in ages from 3–21, and in addition, loving, nurturing, raising, and caring for their every need, we were taking a once in a lifetime Caribbean cruise! It was part of an incentive reward given to my husband’s top selling hardwood flooring distributors.

The cruise was indeed an incredible adventure. Never in our lives had we experienced such stress free rest and relaxation. We slept in late every morning, ate beautifully prepared gourmet meals, watched movies, attended entertaining variety shows, visited with interesting people, and relaxed in the sun. Throughout the trip, as the ship docked, we were able to tour the intriguing sites and ruins of the local villages in three different third world countries. We ended our dream vacation on a privately owned island in Haiti, where my husband went snorkeling with the “guys,” while I relaxed with the wives, or spouse equivalents, on the sunny beach. I swam in the beautiful, clear blue water and wiggled my toes in the snow white sand (never suspect of the invisible bugs and parasites that might have been lurking there). Little did I realize how soon my life would be completely turned upside down, as if shipwrecked.

One week later we arrived home, refreshed and rejuvenated and life returned to normal. Prior to this vacation I had been fairly healthy. I’d had a bout of childhood asthma and the normal childhood diseases of the 1950’s and 60’s, but I’d needed few antibiotics and my only real professional medical experiences were during pregnancy and childbirth. My gynecologist and our pediatrician were literally the only family doctors I knew well. I prided myself on my ability to keep my children in fairly good physical health with my limited knowledge of vitamins, herbs and what I considered nutritious eating.

I had lost weight prior to my cruise and bought some new clothes, so as I returned home I was determined to keep exercising and shed the last of my unwanted pounds. I had been speed walking two miles every morning and vowed to continue. But within a week after returning home, I developed a strange throbbing pain in one of my toes, preventing me from my daily walk. Within another week a toe in my other foot was in pain as well. I could no longer wear the new dressier shoes I’d purchased for the trip, although low healed and very comfortable. I’d had a minor foot problem the previous year, which had been resolved with foot massages recommended by my chiropractor. So I assumed I was now having a different kind of foot issue. However, when massage proved too painful to endure, on the advice of friends, I sought the help of a foot doctor.

The new foot doctor, chosen from a coupon book in the mail (uncharacteristically not like me) told me I had “neuromas” in my toes, a thickening or enlargement of nerve tissue generally occurring at the base of the third and fourth toes. Neuromas are usually the result of compression and irritation of the nerve, like when women wear high healed, pointed-toed shoes. I had been a sandal wearing, opened-toed kind of shoe girl my whole life, and even my new cruise shoes were conservative by any standards. Also my pain was between my second and third toes. But what did I know? He was the doctor and I needed to get out of pain and move on with life. So I took his anti-inflammatory medication and ordered the prescribed custom made shoe inserts that he assured me were medically proven to eliminate pain and discomfort. I quickly put the possible foot surgery recommended in the back of my mind. It wasn’t long before I discovered that while I was on the pain medication I could function, but without it I was riddled with throbbing, painful feet.

Three months later, while on a Fourth of July outing at our family cabin, we received early morning news that my beloved father-in-law had passed away. We needed to pack up and return home as soon as possible. But that morning I suddenly began experiencing a flu-like fever with no other apparent flu symptoms. As my strange symptoms progressed with no relief in site, I was desperate to be available for my husband and his family. So I medicated myself with a strong over the counter pain reliever (uncharacteristically not like me). My feet were more painful than ever and medication seemed to have little or no effect. To get through the funeral I wore running shoes with my dress, as any other shoes were too painful to tolerate. When people stared or jokingly commented on my fashionable attire, I responded with humor, blaming what I now considered the most painful neuromas ever! Following the funeral, anxious to rid myself of the unexplained pain and return to normal activities, I submitted to foot surgery without research, study or thought (uncharacteristically not like me). I, like most Americans, wanted a magic pill, an easy solution that would solve all my problems.

The surgery failed to cure me and I never really walked well again. Months later I was still wearing the foot surgery boots, hobbling around, unsteady on my feet. While I appeared as though still in recovery, the truth of it was, that my feet were now swollen and I was unable to fit into any of my shoes. I began wearing sandals with Velcro adjustable straps, with promises from the foot doctor that things would get better. They didn’t. My legs and ankles began aching intensely and the mysterious pain began rapidly spreading to my knees and hands as well. Within months, my legs that previously could have leapt up our staircase two steps at a time could barely crawl up a single stair! The pain in my toes developed into burning pain in my feet, that I can only describe as what it would probably feel like to walk on “hot coals.”

The foot doctor finally suggested that I should get blood tests and seek other medical advice. Scared, crying, and frightened, I hand carried my own papers to the hospital to have blood tests that day, something I had never experienced before. My only previous experience with my blood was giving blood twice in college and having my finger pricked at my gynecologist’s office. If only I’d know to check the box marked “Lyme” before submitting my papers.

My blood tests showed that there was no infection whatsoever in my body, and no explanation could be found for the now burning sore throat pain I was experiencing. I did have a slightly elevated RA factor, and further tests were recommended. I had no idea where to begin or who could help me. After all, with the exception of having difficulty walking, I looked fine! I felt horrible, not unlike what I imagined being run over with a truck and surviving might have felt like. But the worse feeling of all was the feeling of being all alone, stranded on my own tropical island, with no rescue in sight. Thus began our long and turbulent road with a succession of different kinds of doctors, with different kinds of degrees, recommending different protocols and therapies.

While the popular, comedic, American culture television icon of “Gilligan’s Island,” aired for three seasons on the CBS network, running a total of 98 episodes, and spawning three TV movie sequels, my little tropical island experience has not proved as popular. Among the estimated 30,000 people diagnosed with Lyme disease yearly, this disease is definitely not a crowd pleaser. The seven castaways on Gilligan’s Island found that although stranded on an uncharted isle, they were never alone as long as they had each other. I too have discovered who my true friends are and how important it is to have family and loved ones who support us. Without my disease and the lonely isle of uncertainty it brought, which has ultimately become a gift, I would never have recognized the unconditional love that I have always been given by my spouse and children. Each of our journeys are different and each road changeable. But those who bravely take the voyage with us are the ones who make it all worthwhile. No man is an island!

No man is an island,
No man stands alone,
Each man's joy is joy to me,
Each man's grief is my own.

No man is an island,
Way out in the blue,
We all look to the one above,
For our strength to renew.
~ Joan Baez, American Folk Singer

Note: Lyme Disease is prevalent across the United States and throughout the world. A tick doesn't see borders on the states and say, “Hey I am stepping off a deer from Wyoming and onto a deer from Utah.” Where you live doesn't effect your chances of getting it because everyone travels and everyone is susceptible to Lyme Disease whether you want to believe it or not!

Statistically speaking, fewer than 50% of patients with Lyme disease recall getting a tick bite (like me). Fewer than 50% of patients with Lyme disease recall getting any type of rash (like me). (www.lymewalk.org)

In 2007, 27,444 cases of Lyme disease were reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. However, the CDC has gone on record saying that they believe only 10-12% of Lyme disease cases are actually being reported to them. Many experts believe 200,000 people per year in the United States alone are being infected with this disease! (www.lymeresearch.org)