Hidden in the Leaves -  Page 1

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, specialist or doctor of medicine trained in Lyme disease, but I have conducted a vast amount of research on the disease. This is my story...

Hidden in the Leaves is dedicated to thousands of God's children who have Lyme disease and/or are co-infected with either Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever of another type of chronic disease. Please, if you are here reading this, you are here for a reason and one of those reasons should be to educate yourself, but most importantly trust in God to guide your way and lead you through this journey. I have conducted a vast amount of research on this topic; however, by no means do I claim to be an expert, a doctor of medicine - I'm just an educator - one who wishes to bring awareness to this illness so others will not have to endure what I have endured thus far. 

God chose me to be His messenger in this journey. My job is to warn people about this disease, to educate people as much as I can, and to love myself even though I feel horrible. I still praise God on my worst days. Through God and with God "ALL" things are possible.  
 

June 2014

The beginning... During the months of April - October  2014 - in all of my years of living in Georgia, I have never seen so many ticks during the months listed above, and we have never had so many ticks come into our home from being on us and from being on our precious animals. 

Our former neighbors were leasing their home from a home leasing company. The man who lived in this house cut down a huge number of trees and left them in his backyard in two monstrous piles. Those piles of trees, along with leaves, and what was becoming a decomposing soggy, moistened filled pile of logs was a welcoming home, a breeding ground, a tick habitation, and an infestation for ticks as there are many deer in this area as well as mice and squirrels who also carry ticks and diseases.

I could not approach those neighbors and ask them to please remove those piles of logs for fear of retaliation. All of the neighbors seemed to be afraid of the man who lived there; afraid he would retaliate in some sort of fashion. This man was not a typical, traditional and wonderful neighbor. He was loud, he drank a lot and he was rowdy! His friends were loud and they loved to stay up late playing loud music and thinking nothing of it. They did not respect their neighbors, so for me to go over there and ask him politely to please do away with all those logs would have been like trying to pull a thorn out of a lion's foot.

Just to give you an idea to the type of person the man was who use to live in our neighborhood - when he was inebriated, all the neighbors braced themselves. We would be kept up until all hours of the night hearing racing engines, loud car radio music from where the man pulled his car into the backyard to just do donuts in the grass and blast the radio. We would finally get enough and one of us would decide to call the police so we could finally have some peace and sleep. This rowdy man and his family finally moved and now we are so happy. We prayed for this family non stop and hope they are doing well. Thankfully our nice and quiet neighborhood is back to normal. Thank you, Jesus!! 

Nevertheless, once I discovered I had been tested positive for both Lyme disease, (LD), and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, (RMSF), I called the leasing company after October 17, 2014 to ask them to PLEASE have both piles removed from the yard. The manager with whom I spoke with said she would get in touch with the right person who oversaw the leasing of that house and make arrangements to have those piles removed. (I remember the date of October 17, 2014, because that is the date my test results came back and that is the date where both LD and RMSF were  conclusively positive - straight from a lab here in Atlanta, Georgia. )The lab work is dated October 10, 2014).

The leasing company apparently hired a team of two young men and yet those two men only removed one log pile and left the other pile to rot. Life slipped on by and that other pile stayed there until May 10, 2016. I was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 from having Bell's Palsy and my blood pressure being sky high. I got out of the hospital on May 9, 2016 and earlier on this date I called the CDC to find out more about the types of blood tests I would need to determine if I still had LD and RMSF and I also called the same home leasing company to beg them to get those logs removed! (More about the admission and discharge from the hospital is forthcoming).

In late October 2014, my sweet neighbor, Donna even tried to get the leasing company to remove the other pile and when she spoke to a specific man at this leasing company, he bit her head off, told her he was not going to have those logs removed, and to stop calling him. She stopped calling him. The other pile of logs sat there for almost 2 more years.

​Going back to the day my doctor told me I was positive for both LD and RMSF, my family doctor called me at work to give me the devastating news.

"Mrs. Hinkle, this is Dr. _______________. I need to speak with you about your test results."

"Ok. Great! The results came back and I'm negative, right?"

"No. Unfortunately, you have both Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever."

"Ok. What happens next?"

"I am going to have my nurse call you in a 28 day supply of Doxycycline. Take every pill. This is the only medication that we are aware of that will kill the virus." (Please note here: I later found out that the 28 day supply of Doxy will not kill this disease if someone has been infected for over 30 days). 

"Ok. Great. I'm leaving work right now to pick up the medication. Please have Tiffany call in an urgent supply of it, so it will be ready by the time I arrive at the pharmacy." My doctor did this for me.

​Prior to leaving the school and after I found out the results of the tests from my family doctor, I contacted the counselor to have her cover my class. I went into her cozy classroom and immediately called my husband at work and said to him, "Leave work now, go home and pick up Tammy and you both go to the doctor to get tested for both LD and RMSF. Both of my test results came back positive."

My husband and I both cried and he said, "You are going to be ok. What else did the doctor say?"

I said, "He said the nurse was going to call in some Doxycycline and I should finish the entire bottle."

"Ok, then you will do that and everything will be ok," my husband said.

My husband left work immediately, went home, picked up his sister-in -law, Tammy, (who was living with us at the time because she had recently had a stroke), and they were both tested and both of their results thankfully came back negative. 

​As I walked to my SUV, climbed in and started the engine, I sat in my seat for a moment thinking to myself, why am I not worried about all of this? I think I initially I did have some worry, but not like I use to, not like before Christ saved my soul. I know I will beat this! I know God will lead me down the right paths to obtain the help I need. I know He will heal me.

I took every pill of Doxycycline over the course of almost a month - praying the pills would knock this disease out of my body, praying this would be the first and the last part of this disease and I would be fine, praying I would not have any residual effects from either disease.

I initially had an allergic reaction and the doctor's nurse told me to stop taking it.

I said, "Please, Dr. _______________ has already told me that this medication is the only medication that will clear this up. I am willing to take a chance and continue taking it even though I had an allergic reaction."

She begged me not to take it any longer, but I had a bigger plan. My plan was to pray to God I would not have another reaction. I got off the phone with her, dropped to my knees and begged God to help me not have another reaction so I could finish taking this medication. The next day, I prayed more, took the medication, and I did not have another reaction. God is so good!!!!

Donna, our sweet neighbor, had our yard sprayed for us because she knew we could not afford it. We did need to pay well over $400 to have our dogs treated with sprays and collars. We now use Seresto. Having four beloved Alaskan Klee Kai who go outside and needing to buy four collars at a time is not cheap. The chemical in the collars only lasts about 8 months, but the price is worth its weight in gold for less worry for our sweet babies.

Once I completed taking the Doxycycline, I began to notice strange feelings in my elbows, feelings I had never had before. It hurt like crazy to stretch my arms at my elbows and this pain got worse over the course of time. The pain was so horrible on some days that I could barely make the bed. I often thought to myself that because I was getting older, it must be normal to have joint pain in both of my elbows, neck and knee pain, massive lower back pain, hip pain, heart palpitations, fatigue, memory loss, foggy thoughts, etc. so I just allowed all these symptoms to encapsulate my existence and wear me down.

I took Aleve for all the massive pain, tried to get more rest to possibly help eliminate the heart palpitations and fatigue, and tried to concentrate harder to also abolish my memory loss and foggy thoughts. Good days do visit me, but then so do bad days. I love the good days. I also love the bad days, because I the bad helps me appreciate the good so much more and I am alive and I am able to worship my Father, but I just do not feel like myself.

Fast forward to May 3, 2016.

May 3, 2016

During dinner around 6:50 p.m. I noticed I could not move my upper lip very well. I finished dinner, cleaned the kitchen, sent one of the pastors of my church a detailed text message about a yard sale Jeffrey and I thought the church should have this summer, typed up a document pertaining to the yard sale and emailed it to the pastor.

I tried to relax earlier and Jeffrey said, "Do you need to go to the doctor?"

I said, "The doctor's office is closed. Why are you asking me if I need to go to the doctor's office?" I was so confused and it did not click with me that what he was actually saying is, "Do you need to go to the hospital to be seen by a doctor?"

I showered, and laid down for the night to sleep. I prayed to God to allow me to wake up in the morning because I had no idea what in the world was going on with my mouth. Bell's Palsy did cross my mind, but when I had Bell's Palsy back in the early '90's, it was instantaneous regarding the paralysis.

May 4, 2016

I woke up the next morning to get dressed for work and even though a few hours had already passed, I could still speak clearly, and because my husband had already left for work, I began saying to my AKK, Abby, 'something is not right.' Abby, 'what is going on?' Of course she could not answer me, 

I drove to work; praying the entire way which is only about 10-12 minutes from our home, and all I could think about is what in the world is happening to me? I was in a daze and I was a tad bit confused while I drove to work and even thought to myself once, "Am I driving the right road to get to work?"

I went on about my morning and could not take it any longer. I went to our sweet, precious nurse by the name of Kim at HCE and asked her to close the clinic door because I needed to speak with her in private. She closed one door, but students are so use to coming into the clinic and not knocking, so a few waltzed right in.

Finally, we were alone and I said, "Please look at my face and tell me if you notice anything different."

​Kim said, "Well, I guess it looks different. How do you feel?"

I said, "I feel fine. I'm just worried about my face."

​Kim said, "Let me take your blood pressure." She did and it was 124/92. I was diagnosed with having high blood pressure as a teenager and this was one thing that prohibited me from being awarded to be on the basketball team in school since I was on medication. 

Kim said, "You need to go the doctor."

​I said, "I will go just as soon as I get Tracy to notarize this document." I went into the café to find Tracy, found her and we proceeded to her office after I told her I was going to the doctor because something was wrong with my face. I broke down in tears and sobbed like a baby when she said, "It is probably just Bell's Palsy and you are going to be just fine. God is going to take care of you. Don't you worry about anything."

At this moment, I was petrified. I had allowed the devil to scare me. I fought to rid myself of the fear and just trust in God. At the very moment of thinking that to myself, Tracy said, "Awww baby don't cry. Can I pray for you?"

​I said, "Of course you can."

​Tracy got up from her desk, walked over to me, and we put our arms around each other and she began her prayer by saying, "Dear Father, wrap your arms around your daughter, bring her comfort and peace. Protect her Father and the rest of her precious prayer I cannot remember, but I know it was a great prayer because God held me and I instantly felt peace.

I went into the bathroom and Kim almost came in there with me saying, "C'mon, Mrs. Hinkle. Get your things together. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

Kim and I raced to her van, she drove me to Rockdale Hospital and we jumped out in front of the emergency room doors. Kim went inside with me and said to the folks at the front desk, "This is MaryAnne Hinkle and she is having some facial paralysis." (Please note here: I discovered that 'facial paralysis' is one of the many symptoms of Lyme disease).

​The gentleman behind the desk asked me to touch my thumb to each finger tip and I did it twice. I knew I was not having a stroke, but I think they thought I was.

​Kim called my husband and he asked if I wanted to him to get off work and come to the hospital and I told him yes. He said, "I'll be there in 30 minutes."

Later, I was admitted for my face becoming paralyzed. (One doctor said I have Bell's Palsy, yet another said its worse than BP - which is it!!? And what is worse than Bell's Palsy at this point?).

I am still praising God for Kim being persistent in getting me to the hospital. Also I am thanking God for Tracy at HCE with her insatiable zest for the Word of God to be prayed over me at the best time ever!

I plan to go see a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor - LLMD. Arrangements take time, so in the interim, I need to know what I can do or what I should do. Should I insist that the doctors have more tests conducted on my spinal fluid? If you have any suggestions after reading this because you have true experience on issues that have worked for you, please write to me.