My name is Faith Steelman. I’m 10 years old and I have Lyme disease. My mom has Lyme, too - and my dad died from Lyme disease on Christmas Eve, 2000. I used to cry a lot. But now I realize I can help other kids suffering from Lyme disease. I even wrote a poem about it called Lyme Slime. One day I hope to write a kid’s book about Lyme.
Some days our Lyme makes us feel green inside-I know that it’s hard for us who have Lyme disease, but we have to be kind to one another always. It can get hard, but we can pray, write to each other and become best friends!
Please email me at k.j.steelman@earthlink.net
There are a lot of days that we struggle in our bodies, our hearts and minds, but we can help each other through. I wish each of you the very best-God bless you all! Love, Faith
My mom got Lyme in 1995. Her bullseye rash appeared on her leg maybe a few days after she was bitten. She didn’t think anything of it at the time, other than it was odd the rash would not go away.
About a month after Mom was bitten, she got pregnant with me and became very sick. The doctors thought she had a bad case of the flu. She had high fevers, could barely walk and hurt all over. She pulled through her “flu” on her own and thought all was fine.
After delivering me, she started to have severe neurological symptoms – numbness and tingling up and down her legs and arms, her legs would burn, she had dizziness, headaches. The doctors sent her for an MRI thinking she had Multiple Sclerosis. She’d see many doctors who misdiagnosed her with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and many other things. She finally gave up seeing doctors and lived with the “Mystery Illness” that would make her sick for many years.
In 1999, after the birth of my little sister, Lisa, my dad was diagnosed with ALS. This made no sense to us as my dad had never been sick a day in his life other than being in the hospital once with a respiratory problem that would not go away. At the same time, I started getting sick as well, hurting in my knees, elbows, jaw, etc.
My mom started
researching day and night trying to find out what was wrong with all of us.
Sometimes she didn’t eat or sleep while trying to find an answer. She prayed
and said to God,
“God, I know there is truth to be found and you know what that truth is about what is making us sick. Please reveal to me what has forever changed our lives, taken my health, my husband’s health, my daughter’s health."
She came across a website that talked about ALS often being mistaken for Lyme disease. She met some wonderful people who told her to get my dad to a Lyme literate doctor (LLMD) right away. That’s when we found out my dad had Lyme disease. This doctor then saw my mom and told her she had Lyme disease and that I had it as well.
My dad became sick so quickly he had to stay in bed all the time. My mom couldn’t get treatment for her Lyme disease, because she had to take care of my dad, who was dying. My dad didn’t get help fast enough for his Lyme, because doctors who didn’t know anything about Lyme were fighting my mom all the way, as were the insurance companies. Our money was GONE so my mom tried to get Governor Engler involved (which he did), but by then it was too late. The Governor stepped in and had a company at our house in 24 hours, but my dad was too sick to take the herxing. He died at home on Christmas Eve, 2000.
My dad suffered greatly even though Hospice was brought in to help him. He struggled for every last breath.
After my dad died, my mom went to the doctor and told them to give her the most aggressive treatment they could without killing her. She took Bicillin shots for over 2 years. After she had been off them a year, her Lyme disease came back. She went back on the shots for another year.
During these years of treatment, she also took oral antibiotics. After six years of treatment, my mom is finally on the road to recovery. She will always have damage to her immune system, nervous system, lungs, etc., because her Lyme disease was in her body for years before getting treatment for it. She feels bad for giving the Lyme to me through her milk when I was a baby, after she had asked lots of doctors if Lyme could be passed to me that way. They told her “No, absolutely not.”
I have to admire my mom-dealing with the loss of my dad, a life that never had to be lost if doctors knew enough about Lyme disease.
My brother, Mike, and my sisters, Jean and Lisa, all have to be tested for Lyme now. Mike has an abnormal EKG and many health issues. Jean and Lisa were both born while my mom had the Lyme infection in her body. Lisa has been diagnosed with Epilepsy and Jean has eye blinking, stomach problems and new health problems arising daily. All of this could have been avoided if just ONE doctor had been educated about Lyme disease.
God has blessed me with two dads – one in Heaven, one here on Earth. They both help me through each day.
This is my dad, James Steelman. He married my mom knowing she had Lyme disease, and that she was very sick at the time. She also had four of us to take care of.
He is a gift to me, my mom and my brother and sisters. He is one of our heroes in this fight against Lyme disease.
My dad takes care of me and prays with me. He is so nice to me and has confidence in me. He believes that I can be healed of this disease and I believe it, too! He helps me through my sick days. He even left his job to take care of us when my mom got really sick with her Lyme disease.
He makes great macaroni and cheese! He does fun things with me, too, like baking in my Real Meal Oven. We make all kinds of things together. He also plays guitar and we sing together. He makes me laugh a lot and that makes me feel a lot better.
My dad is a good caregiver and is affected by Lyme disease, too. He says the hardest part is seeing the ones he loves in so much pain and not being able to take it away. Still, he learns all he can about Lyme disease and encourages others to do the same.
