Lyme, Babesia, Not Walking

My husband started abx in July 08 and has just started walking again with assistance in the last 3 weeks. Before abx his walking was bad but after several very bad herxes he had swelling and very painful joints and could not stand or walk. During that time he developed weakness in his legs and has just started walking again. He is started to gain some of his strength back. He has been on IV Rocephin for about 7 weeks now previously on orals with no improvement just herxing. Because of delay in being diagnosed he lost the use of his hands and is now doing some exercises to try and gain some of that back. This will take longer I am sure but we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We purchased a cheap pedal device that he uses from his wheelchair that has helped strengthen his legs. My husband is 65 years old and I believe it make take him a little longer to recover than your daughter. She has youth on her side. I wish her the best of luck and you. I believe as the doctor said she will walk again and be well but it seems it is a very hard battle. Hang in there. Bev

Lisa, I agree with you being sixteen and going through this is just not right. This should be one of the best times in her life. I hope that in some way it will make her a better, stronger person.There has to be some benefit to this terrible disease and what it has robbed her of. Ed was on Zithromax and Flagyl for 90 days. Now IV Rocephin and Augmentim XL. His herxing is much milder and improvement much better. I believe the orals did cause a lot of die off but it was rough. This certainly has strengthened our faith. I am praying for you and your family. Bev

Keeping the faith - I can only assume what your daughter is going through having this disease at age 16. The bright spot (is there ever a bright spot?) is that she IS 16 and hopefully her youth and prior good health will help enable her to have a full recovery within 6 to 12 mos.

I got LD at age 35 and am now 44.... and I thought the "prime" of my life had been taken away. But over the years, it's the kids, the teenagers, the college students that really get to me... they should NOT have to go through this. It is an OUTRAGE that more is not being done about this disease... ESPECIALLY for the younger ones... ESPECIALLY for the children, teenagers, young people.

In my LLDr's office, I saw a man in his 40's or 50's, he walked slowly and his knee caps were bright red, but him and his wife were so happy because he was finally out of his wheelchair, slowly but surely, and with physical therapy. They excitedly told me about "going out to dinner" 2-3 times in the past month.... they hadn't been out to eat together in over 4 years.

In my very non-medical opinion, I would try 1 to 3 different oral antibiotic combinations for a period of 4 to 8 weeks each. If no improvement is seen, I would go for the IV's.... but that's just me. I'm sure the parents with sick children will chime in with a better perspective on this than I have.

Recovery does come... sometimes very slowly (refer to me - haha) but it does come.

All the best.

Lisa, I believe Ed has Babesia however we live in Ohio where doctors say there is no Lyme. We have one doctor that the Ohio Lyme Chapter recommended but he is the first to tell you this is new to him and he is still learning. He does not test for co-infections. Our next choice was to travel to Pa or NY but Ed was too sick to do so. He also had the severe headaches, crying and even extreme laughing which are now diminishing. He never sleeps well at night even the sleep meds don't help. We hope to travel to PA in the spring when he can walk better. I am a 6 year cancer survivor and don't have the strength to get him in the car by myself now. (I lost a lot of muscle in my arms). But we are seeing good improvement now. No there is hope! Bev