By Tera Banks

I became sick with Lyme in 2012. I was bitten by a mosquito in Melrose Park, Illinois, and shortly afterwards came down with what the doctors here told me was the summer flu or virus.

I started to experience neck pain and horrible fatigue. After three days of this illness, when I stood up, I fell back down, because my legs could not support me.

I also began to have seizures. My primary care doctor tested me for West Nile virus and Lyme disease. I tested positive for Lyme.

Perhaps I’ve had Lyme my whole life. I do not know.

After the positive Lyme test, I was given three weeks of oral antibiotics. I did not get better. Once the three weeks were up, I could no longer get any help for my Lyme here in Illinois. The doctors started telling me I had something else: MS, fibro, lupus, even possibly ALS, but not Lyme.

One doctor wrote up a letter stating that I needed mental help. Another took my husband to another room and told him if I really wanted to, I could stop all of this, meaning the seizures.

Without treatment, I was put into a wheelchair and bedridden for nine months. I had to self-treat to get myself out of the wheelchair. I wrote this book to tell my story and make sure others did not go through six years of what I had to.

Lyme cost me my job, my house, my ability to walk, and some days my ability to talk. No one should have to suffer like I did, seizing over twenty times a day, to have a doctor say I could stop this if I really wanted to. I begged over 45 doctors to help me. Soon I had to learn to treat myself or I wasn’t going to survive.

I watched every Lyme summit there is online and took notes. I learned how to detox my body and open my pathways up. I learned how to detox my brain and get the toxins out. I became my own advocate, my own voice.

This disease will bring you to your knees, and you will have to look deep within yourself to find the strength to fight. So many times, I wanted to give up, but I couldn’t.

The disease caused anxiety, depression, and hallucinations. Once, I thought I was roller skating. I couldn’t even walk at the time! I learned that I could not control the outburst or Lyme rage, so I had to learn to control the way I reacted to it. This has helped me through my self-treatment.

I wanted to share my story to let people know just because you’re bedridden or in a wheelchair right now, it won’t always be this way. You just need to find out what works for you. Research the different Lyme protocols and keep going until you find something that works for you. Hugs and prayers to anyone going through this disease.

Tera Banks has written a book called From Wheelchair to Walking, One Person’s Lyme Story in Illinois.