I was able to get all this information about Lyme Disease from a site. The link it sat the bottom of the page. It was decided that my mother had Lymes Disease even before I was born, so with that, every child in our family has it. Most Lyme Disease is not diagnosed because of the fact it has so many symptoms. It is never the same between two people. There are five in my family and none of us are the same, but we all share this disease. Below are most symptoms and misdiagnoses.

Early symptoms soon after exposure by tick bite:
Skin rash around tick bite - about 75% of cases have this rash; often hot to the touch but not painful; may have bullseye shape.
Erythema migrans (EM) - the official name for the tick bite skin rash
Mild illness
Flu-like symptoms
Fever
Chills
Malaise
Swollen lymph nodes
Headaches
Stiff neck
Fatigue
Muscle aches
Body aches
Neck aches
Arthritis
Joint pain
Knee arthritis
Neurological symptoms - often occurring some time after exposure, from weeks to years later.
Numbness
Limb pain
Limb weakness
Radiculitis (numbness, tingling, burning)
Bell's palsy
Visual disturbances
Poor motor coordination
Encephalopathy
Memory loss
Difficulty with concentration
Change in mood
Changed sleeping habits
Thinking difficulties
Nerve damage - in the arms and legs
Encephalomyelitis - including its various symptoms Encephalomyelitis of such as:
Limb weakness
Motor coordination problems
Muscle weakness
Meningitis symptoms
Fever
Stiff neck
Severe headache
Heart abnormalities - less than 10% of Lyme patients get heart problems
Irregular heartbeat
Dizziness
Shortness of breath
Eye inflammation
Conjunctivitis
Hepatitis
Severe fatigue
Chronic skin disorders
Joint problems
Arthritis
Chronic arthritis
Knee arthritis

It can also cause these complications:

Arthritis - often occurs several months after the tick bite.
Chronic arthritis
Permanent joint damage
Meningitis
Aseptic meningitis
Bell's palsy
Radiculitis
Encephalopathy
Heart abnormalities

Heart inflammation
Heart enlargement
Eye inflammation
Conjunctivitis
Hepatitis
Severe fatigue
Encephalomyelitis
Heart damage - rare if Lyme is treated.
Muscle aches
Memory problems
Concentration problems
Persistent fatigue Prenatal infection - the unborn child can get Lyme disease from a pregnant woman
Miscarriage
Stillbirth

For a diagnosis of Lyme disease, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Lyme disease:
Babesiosis
Ehrlichiosis - may be similar to early Lyme disease.
Multiple sclerosis
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Depression
Fibromyalgia
Mononucleosis
Epstein Barr virus
ADHD
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Mesothelioma (type of Lung conditions)
Urticaria
Reaction to arthropod bite
Cellulitis
Erythema multiforme
Granuloma annulare
Rocky mountain spotted fever
HIV
Fibromylagia
Gonococcal arthritis (type of Infectious arthritis)
Rheumatic fever
Still's disease
Parvovirus
Sarcoidosis
SLE
Viral meningitis
Bell's palsy
Lyme disease
Lupus
Influenza
Infectious mononucleosis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Alzheimer's disease
Heart disease
Migraine headache
Human monocyte ehrlichiosis infection (transmitted by Lone Star tick)
Tick-borne relapsing fever (type of Relapsing fever)
Leptospirosis infection
Babesiosis infection
Human granulocytic anaplasmosis infection
Insect bite
Spider bite
Reiter syndrome
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Parkinson's disease
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
Neuritis
Psychiatric illness
Schizophrenia
Heart failure
Angina
Irregular heart rhythm
Dermatitis
Attention deficit disorder
Chronic pain disorder (type of Pain Disorder)
Inflammatory eye reaction
Lou Gehrig's disease
Brain tumor
Gout/hyeruricemia
Trigeminal neuralgia

The other diseases for which Lyme disease is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:
Acute rheumatic fever
Arthritis
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Cold & Flu
Depression
Dysthymia/seasonal depression disorder, PND
Ehrlichiosis
Encephalitis
Fibromyalgia
Flu
Infectious arthritis
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
Lupus
Lyme disease
Mosquito-borne diseases
Multiple Sclerosis
Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
STARI

All the information above was found at http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/l/lyme_disease/intro.htm

If you feel that you have many of these symptoms or have been diagnosed with several of these things, then please be tested for Lyme Disease!

Lyme Disease

Today it was decided that my Mom, my sister Mickey, and my brothers Dakota and Holden have Lyme Disease. This Disease is something that for my family is a blessing and a curse. It is the answer we have been waiting for all theses years to my family's medical problems. Since they have have been sick all these years with different symptoms and no real cure, especially my mom, this all adds up to this disease. It is treatable disease, but highly expensive. It can be contracted from a tick. I have some information from the Iowa Lyme Disease Association.
First off I would like to list the symptoms they have that I am familiar with. I know there is more that they have, that I have no listed. Also as it states on the site for Iowa Lyme Disease Association, having the following symptoms does not ensure you have Lyme Disease, and there is no one test to find if you do think you have it. The exact type of Lyme Disease my family has, has not been decided yet.
Early Symptoms Include:
Fatigue(My mom always wears out so easily and the older the kids get the easier they do)
Muscle and Joint pain(We thought my mom had Fibro myalgia, which was caused by this)
Headache(My mom has had migraines forever)
Fever, chills(constant colds, and flu's for the next few symptoms)
Swollen glands
Migratory pain
Sore throat
Stiff neck
Rash - bulls eye, or other shape, or multiple rashes
Then Later on Symptoms:
Body
Migratory pain
Continual flu-like symptoms'
Low-grade temperatures
Muscle weakness and pain(My mom was told by her doctor she can only work 3 hours a day)
Numbness
Stiff, crunchy neck
Sore throat, swollen glands
Stomach pain
Diarrhea
Nausea, vomiting
Abdominal cramps
Anorexia
Unexplained, weight gain
or weight loss
Neurological
Migraines
Balance problems(my mom has fallen several times and broken bones and dislocated parts because of this)
Dizziness
Poor coordination
Paralysis
Meningitis
Loss of reflexes
Tingling in the extremities
Seizures
Motor dysfunction
Bell's Palsy
Tremors
Tourettes(thank god none of this YET)
Neuropsychiatric:
Mood swings(Sorry mom, your very moody)
Irritability
Poor concentration(my brother can read to you for an hour straight, but you have him doing an activity with you and he will walk away in the middle because he will forget what he is doing)
Cognitive/Memory Loss
Mental deterioration
Depression(my mom and my brother Dakota, both have had to deal with this a lot)
Difficulty making decisions
Difficulty organizing(umm the kids rooms are a mess, and they can't seem to get in a system)
Heart
Irregular Heart Beat
Myocarditis
Pericarditis
Palpitations
Heart Block
Enlarged Heart
Chest Pain
Pregnancy
Miscarriage
Premature birth
Birth defects
(My mom lost both my sisters before birth, Dakota was born deaf, and the kids have all had various birth defects)

Treatments
When to comes to treatment, it can get pretty technical. To keep it short and simple, my family will be on medication for the rest of their life, and have to go to the doctor for treatment for the rest of their lives. These treatments are extremely expensive and are not covered by insurance. The medication will be, but the treatments won't. Many people and families go into extreme debt because of this disease. If it goes untreated, it will eventually kill you.
My family has decided to start a Phoneraiser to raise money to help pay for medical expenses. Basically all I am asking is for your old cell phones, and old ink cartridges. We mail them to a company that recycles them and then they pay us, which will be put toward medical bills. Mickey is only seven and Holden is only ten, and they have been sick most of their childhood. I hope this has been informational and as I learn more I will be putting more up.

A night at my house

Jeremy brought over his new xbox 360, Holden and Koty took turns playing on it with him.

Holden watching Koty and Jeremy play Halo.

Mickey playing games on the laptop.

WOW, today was so long. But I did it! I managed to get tons of great deals on Christmas presents and work a full eight hour shift full of crazy shoppers, and do it all on three hours sleep. I got gifts for Jeremy, Justin, Mickey, Holden and Koty. Plus I picked up a cordless drill for my mom. Then I also got some new pretty bath towels. I got pink and purple ones. I love that Justin is so laid back, they could have been all hot pink and he would have been ok with that. I love him so much! Today went really well. I got just about everything wrapped up too. I have a few of Jeremy's gifts yet to wrap. I have the tree up in the living room, but I have not decorated it yet. I need to still get Holden a few more things, but other then that I am basically done. Justin wants to pick up a few more things tomorrow. So that's a update for me!

I haven't written in a while, not really sure why. I still love to write. I have been doing a lot of swap-bot stuff lately. I am having to cut it short for a while because of the shortage on money. But Justin is supposed to start his second job on Monday or Tuesday. I am pretty excited about that. I think he will like it. We talked about it, and I was worried about him working two full time jobs. I felt really guilty with me only working one part time. But he told me he would rather me not work at all. I don't know if I could ever do that without going crazy, but I told him I don't want to work a ton of hours either, so we settled on things. Everyday he amazes me a little more. I had to come home early from work yesterday, and it was really weird. I got kinda sick, but it came on really fast. Like I was fine one minute and then the next I was ready to hit the floor literally. My manager let me go home, and that was a interesting drive. But I stopped by my moms house on the way and had my dad test my blood sugar. It was oddly high in comparison to what I had eaten that day. My mom has a condition where her blood sugar is too high, which I cannot spell for the life of me. Then being diabetic is when you don't produce enough. I am hoping I don't have the same thing as her, but I already eat healthy.

Justin, Jeremy, and I all went out to Prairie City a couple of days ago and picked up a special needs chihuahua. My mom has been talking about her old dog rusty(who died like years and years ago) and I could tell she could use another dog. Dogs and pets are very comforting and reassuring to people who have mental illness and depression, like me and my mom. I love Coco so much because I can come home to her everyday and know she loves me and needs me unconditionally. My mom has Gretchen, but she has slowly become Koty's dog. Koty leaves and she freaks out. So I got her a this sweet little boy, he has the right side of his face a little under developed. You can't tell except he has one ear smaller then the other. He is adorable and really sweet. He lets the kids hold him and sits in their laps, and he loves to kiss and cuddle. My mom was so happy when I surprised her with him. She had seen the ad too and had emailed the lady. I called her up and asked if I could come out that very night. I didn't want to miss out on this opportunity. My mom is the kind of person that would adopt the one-eyed, three legged dog from the pound. So I knew this little guy would be perfect for her. She has been having troubles of her own and I knew she needed some sort of pick me up. Every time I talk to her now she always mentions him.

The house is looking good, the only thing that doesn't stay kept up is the laundry. Me and Justin tend to slack on that from time to time. But other then that, things stay clean and happy. I can tell Jeremy wants to move back in, but I can't handle that stress. I hope maybe in the future he can mature some and then I can consider it. Until then I am really happy with it just being me and Justin. You know, and four dogs and two cats. I don't know if I wrote about it or not, but I did find spooky a good home. It is a really nice house, way out in the country. I think she will be really happy there. I am still looking for affordable ways to get my dogs and cats fixed.

I am doing really good on my Christmas shopping. I have already got gifts for Mom, Mickey, Holden, and Jeremy. I haven't gotten anything for Justin yet. But he is so hard to shop for. Most of the gifts I have so far are wrapped. Then I have turned the second bedroom into a craft room kind of. I needed a place to spread out my supplies, where the dogs would not eat them. I want to get Justin's dog Skeeter and big dog pillow for Christmas. Last night he was sleeping with one of Asia's little doggy pillows and it was cute and sad. So I wanna get one just for him.

New pictures

I have tons and tons of new pictures, I haven't posted them in a long time. I am going tomorrow to print off a bunch of digital prints at the HyVee drug store. So I am very excited about that.

These pictures are of me and justin today.

~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~ These are of me and justin wrestling around on the bed. I trust him not to hurt me.

This is Koty's new punk/emo look. He did his hair for the Bullet for My Valentine Concert. Then mom bought him that damn pink hat. I think he can be a little weird.

I dyed his hair and he was sitting on the porch letting it process. I thought he looked cool.

These are the new pictures I put up in my kitchen. It was hard to pick a color, but I chose to go with a lighter green.

Then there is little Asia sleeping funny.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Thanks to Asias body harness the boys call her suit case and have started to call Garth and Coco Suit Case Daddy and Suit Case Momma.

I AM THE BARGAIN QUEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got back from shopping, and I happen to catch this huge sale at this place in Newton that is going out of business. I only spent $11.50. I added up all the tags with the orginal prices and there were a few without tags I didn't count, but the total came up to $641.65 without tax! Most of the stuff was from Target too. I am sooo happy! I got six brand new pairs of shoes for me, two new pairs for Mickey, two shirts and a pair of shorts for Holden, a shirt for Koty, a shirt for Chris, a bra, six belts, two doggie dresses, four pairs of pants, four skirts, seven shirts, and three dresses!
I am so set!! I think this is my best haul ever! Coco is in my lap giving me kisses, I can't wait to dress her up in her new clothes! Yay!

I got balloons last night from work, it was a long hard day. But I got the balloons for the kids, I thought they would really like them. Mickey and Holden were so excited when I gave them to them. I had them stashed in my trunk. I love to bring home surprises like that for them. I know my Mamaw is never around to treat them like grand kids so I want them to feel that anyway. I want them to be able to say they had a good childhood. I am very lucky to have such great brothers and sisters. Koty can be pain in my ass, but I still like him. We grew up together and honestly is some one messed with him I would fuck them up!
Lately I have been watching the first season of Heroes. I really like it. I have been watching it with Chris mostly, he got me hooked on it. I went and picked up some free books and magazines from Nevada, Iowa today. I like to travel. I hope someday I can go to Disney land or world, I am not sure which one I want to go to for sure. The city filled the pot hole in the road in front of my house and I am so glad to have that fixed.
Coco is laying here sleeping beside me, she is so funny. She makes these cute sucking noises when she dreams some times. It is like a baby on a bottle. I am so happy to have such a awesome dog in my life, and she is one pet that my great grand-kids will know about. I love all her excitement.
I posted a bunch more books on paper back book swap. I already have a request for one, and now I have another. Mom has been mailing them out like crazy. Oh, mom doesn't know it yet but I picked up two pairs or snow pants and a nice jacket that Koty can have for free too. So I think I did pretty good today. I was in a lot of pain from work so I couldn't go to the gym, but I am going tomorrow.
Work really sucked a lot! But I need the exercise and the money. We had this huge party that only got bigger! We had to go out in the middle of the party and put out more tables because the host under counted. It was one wild night, with lots of rude people and a few under age drinkers who thought they were smooth. I ended up not getting out until nearly 2 am!

I think I am up just way to early. But now we are down to one car and I had to drive Jeremy home from work, so I can go pick up Chris in justa little bit. Plus since I am up and about, I am taking the kids to school this morning as well. I have a ton of stuff to do today. With Michael leaving, it has just made realize I need to focus and work hard on my goals. I have been talking to my Mom about college and I have decided to go for it. I am going to enroll today. I don't need some one holding me back. I went and peeked in the windows of this house I want to buy and I am totally in Love. But there is one very similar two houses over and my mom says it is less and she and I would have a back yard divided by a fence. That would make me so happy, because thent he kids could come and go as they please. Even my eldest younger brother, Koty, comes down here to disapear from mom, so we would be right there. Plus I feel it is pretty safe, it is on the same street as the fire/police station.
Today I have to go to the salvation army, more then once, probably pick up the kids, go over to my moms, and go to the high school. SO I have a ton of errands I am running. Going over to my moms is not unusal though. I go over there almost everyday, and we talk on the phone at least ten times a day. It is really nice to have a supportive mom. With out her I think Michael would have hurt me more, because he was dragging things out and making me feel like crap. Plus the weird thing was when he was here I was having all these weird nightmares, but now that he is gone I haven't had any more. Being with him has made me realize I don't want to be him. I don't want to have no goals or career. So thats why I am going to get my assoc. degree in business and marketing. I want to get on as a event coordinator, or some thing similar at Prairie Meadows. I think I would really enjoy it. Plus the pay is really awesome.

Wow, I don't know what is with me and not blogging as much as I used to. But I am gonna write a bit now before I go ad pick up Mickey and Holden from school. My mom and I are talking again and that is awesome. I was over at her house for a long time last night even. Garth's fur is growing back very nicely. It looks very cute now with his cut. I took Garth to the vet finally because of his fleas. I was very worried. But they gave me this awesome flea medicine and he also got his first shots. He is doing so much better now. I am so proud of him. He is much more active now that he isn't itching all the time too. Koty spent the night last night. Him and Jeremy rented a movie and two video games from family video. Then he stayed up all night and worked on the computer. He is going to definitely be some thing. he completely fixed the computer. We even have desk top icons now!! I am so happy. I think he killed my favorites. But hey, with it now running fast and everything it is kinda worth it.
I get my first check from Prairie Meadows on Friday! I am very excited. It should be pretty good. I only work two days this week, but I might get called in. When Jeremy gets home today I am going to help him fill out his application for Prairie Meadows, because he is taking a year off before he goes to college. He needs a decent paying job. Plus I think he is beginning not to like McDonalds anymore.
I think Koty is coming back over later to watch the movie with us. He went home this morning while I was on the phone to mom. She is going out to Prairie Meadows now, because she went and tried on her uniform and it was all messed up. So she is hoping they can fix it before Friday, because that is her first day. She had her orientation Monday and Tuesday. I am excited for her. This is the first real job she will have had for years! She has been doing Passion Parties, but you work for yourself. Then before that she did mystery shops and stuff like that. The last job I remember her having is when she worked out at Hansen Directory. Which now the Newton Clinic as bought out and it is a physical rehab center for sports injuries. A lot has changed since I was a kid. Like the mall is almost completely gone now, because they are tearing it all down for the new Hy-Vee parking lot. But I guess life is change.

I guess I had a pretty good day. I worked form 11:30 to 5:30. I hung bedding mostly. I was able to hang over $400 worth of bedding!! So I am pretty happy with myself. I hope this impresses my manager, but it probably won't. I went over to my moms after work. She came into GoodWill today. She got a bunch of clothes for the kids and some for Koty and stuff. She went and bought Christmas presents for the kids today. I am going shopping with her tomorrow. I have to get the check book balanced. I have been putting it off. I got three pairs of pants hemmed up for Mickey last night, but forgot to take them to her house. So I am going to take them over there tomorrow. I have to be at moms at 9am. She has some doctor appointments she has to go to in the morning. Then we are heading out to DesMoines together. Chris fell down the stairs last night. I was really worried about him. I think he is going to be okay though. I think he might have broke his wrist. But he says it is ok. He said he should be abck to normal tomorrow. I think he should just rest until it is entirely better. He played my pokemon game on the DS. Which is so much easier because of the pen pad.I got some puzzles today and I am going to start one soon.

The Worst Day Ever

The title of this post says it all. I wanted to get on here and rant and rave about how bad my day was yester day. Because it was really bad. I had a bad day at work, and was in a lot of physical pain. Then I was so excited to see Todd, and we get in a fight on the way to DesMoines and he basically tells me what a worhtless piece of shit I am. Then leaves me at a gas station. Which I sat on the ground in the cold and cried for an hour. Because he made me feel like I was the one who was screwed up. But this morning I realized, I have life so much better then him. I got three awesome guys in my life who love me, and were completely there for me last night. I have great parents, and a great life all together. I don't need that kind of person, who feels they have a right to hurt others.
Mom got me up at eight this morning and we took the kids to church. We went to Wal-Mart and got Mickey some of her Christmas presents. Mom had some coupons for toys. Money is really tight, so she if trying to find ways to get them good presents.
My brother, Koty, and his friend spent the night last night. They were all playing Halo with Jeremy and Zack. I am glad they all get along. Koty's birthday is in a few days.
I am going to work in hemming Mickey's pants now.

Money and Bills

I think about the weirdest things before I go to sleep at night. I was thinking about how difficult it has been lately for me to keep track of the bills and such through the move. I have a hard time remembering if I paid it or if I just paid some of it. So I decided I was going to keep a detailed report in a not book. I takes a lot to write it all out. Because I am also writing out side notes for every transaction, describing what and why. This way if I look back in a months time I can figure out how much I spent when and where. I think I am getting too loose with the money and I need to tighten up a bit with it. I want to keep more detailed track of what I do, even cash and such. This way I have a better idea of were the money is flowing. If I can get that I can figure out ways to save more money. Which will be good, because with me dating Todd I have a feeling I will be spending a lot more gas money, so I can see him. I could only go back about 6 days when I started the notebook this morning. Before that I really don't remember all the details of the transactions.
Mom is having me and Koty go in and resign our advertiser routes. Mom told me that Koty and Jeremy are tired of doing them. Which is fine with me. So I have to go do that in a just a little bit. I also have to stop by the bank and deposit my GoodWill pay check. I got paid late. But it is ok, it is just nice to have a regular paycheck again. Mom is trying to get on at Prairie Meadows with Butch. If she gets on there, when my birthday rolls around they are going to try to get me hired on there too. Which would be really awesome because they pay like $10 starting for a lot of the positions. Plus they awesome benefits and right now I have none.
I had this nightmare last night that I got in a fight with my manager at GoodWill and like clocked out and left in the middle of my shift. And I was at home freaking out and my heart was racing and I kept saying I need to get back to work right now, but I kept finding ways to stall going back. So I don't know whats up with that.