Since my early twenties, when I fell in love with solo white water canoeing and climbing mountains in winter, I have been committed to taking good care of my body. Now that I’m in my late 70s, I thought I’d be reaping the benefits. I expected to ski to my grave.

So was I shocked when, at age 74, an X-ray of my left hip indicated almost total lack of cartilage. For the previous ten years, I had been having a nondescript sensation in my hip,

a message that no doctor could decode. But now, there was pain. I was still walking an hour each day and actually felt better during and after my walks. My chiropractor told me I was a candidate for a hip replacement. Without thinking, I said, “I don’t do replacement parts. I’m going to work on rebuilding the cartilage.”

I needed to figure out why my hip cartilage disappeared. I had been following the on-line Lyme group lymedisease.organd reading stories of Lyme-infected people. No one story was the same. But what I learned is that the bacteria associated with Lyme enjoy consuming soft tissue: brain, heart, and of course, cartilage. Is this true? Is this true in my case? Who knows. The point is that this notion keeps me focused on healing.

In 1990 when I was bitten the first time, I was studying respiratory therapy, running a wilderness guide service, launching two teenage sons, and thinking I could do it all. Back then, my first inkling that I had been bitten was roving joint pain, from ankle one day to knee the next.. A one-week course of doxycycline erased all evidence of Lyme and I was fully functional. About that same time, my thyroid went into a slump. Three years of homeopathic remedies restored my ability to produce thyroid stimulating hormone, but left me with low body temperature.

My main issues have been gas and constipation. Decades ago, a poster in my dentist’s office claimed that health begins in the colon. I credit that idea with why I’m alive and active today. I focused on daily bowel movements and whatever it would take to achieve that goal: elimination diets, colonics, enemas, herbal parasite detox, epsom salt, or senna tea, as needed. You name it, I probably tried it. Now I believe that my life-long constipation issue is Lyme-related, with “the bugs” hidden deep in my gut. Although, I’m beginning to understand the important role of body temperature ( see sidebar).

In 2019, I was bitten again. Three months later, I noticed a huge circular red rash covering my entire chest. I used antibiotics for one month and experienced a horrific Herxheimer reaction. A naturopath guided my healing process with herbal remedies that seemed to restore my health. A few months later, that X-ray my chiropractor had recommended showed no cartilage in my hip. My knees began to feel arthritic. Initially I thought it was food related. Then I connected it to the Lyme progression. I continued walking an hour every day, including hills. But I gave up cross-country skiing. Snowshoeing became my winter activity, helping me maintain my sanity.