I feel my IQ Shrinking Part Two

Today I realized what use is it to do all these exercises with out a baseline of my brain function to begin with.  

   If I do and IQ test first then I should be able to see if there are any improvements along the way.  There are many options on the world wide web. 

   So, maybe I should take a few?  IQtest.com is one that seems to be popular, we shall see. IQ tests give us an idea how we process information, solve problems and use our critical thinking.  Having a high score does not necessarily make a person "smarter" than someone with a lower score. 

   I have met people with extremely high IQs that couldn't operate an electric can opener.  So, if you are following along in my journey and want to see how you do, keep in mind we aren't numbers ok?


Update:  Golly batman!!  I should have known LOL. I took the test at the one listed above.

Here's what it said before I started:
Welcome to IQTest.com, home of the original online IQ test.

Click here to take our free, private, and fun IQ test.

Our original IQ test is the most scientifically valid IQ test available on the web today. Previously offered only to corporations, schools, and in certified professional applications, it is now available to you. In addition to measuring your general IQ, our exclusive test assesses your performance in 13 different areas of intelligence, revealing your key cognizant strengths and weaknesses.

Developed by PhDs and statistically sound, our test reflects the best research available.

I feel my IQ shrinking

            Can it be possible? Can I really feel my brain shrinking!

     I've suffered from Lyme disease for many many years but it seems like as I get older the symptoms take over and don't recede like they used to.  Neurological Lyme for me is more unbearable than the joint and nerve pains it brings.   

     It seems that I'm having more days of not being able to think one foot in front of the other.  Really getting annoyed because I have projects want to be involved in but I've not been very reliable these days.  I get a good start it seems then I fizzle, mentally crash and that is getting more and more noticeable.  I volunteer to help with things and the tiniest of stress throws me out of whack and loose my momentum.  How is it that others seem to be able to overcome this?  

Well, I've decided to try some programs I saw online that claim to boost your brain power.  

Crossword puzzles used to be one of my favorite pastimes but I can't remember any answers nor can I comprehend what I'm reading to be able to answer them. So, it's off to look for "Brain Games" and see if I can slow the damage down or at least train other areas of my brain to compensate. 

     I went to Lumosity . The site has you answer some questions and sign up for a free account. After answering some questions they give you an exercise program. Only catch is, you only get 3 sessions free, then you would need to pay a membership to follow the rest of your program. I went ahead and did the first session and it kept me interested enough to go ahead and do the rest of my 'Freebie' program.  

    Do I look smarter yet?   

I will be adding to this post as I find more worthy sites to use to help exercise that grey matter.  

I want my brain back, I'm not done with it yet! 

US Postal Service Protected by Federal Law?

I should not be surprised or even the least bit upset because I knew there was a law about putting fliers and other stuff in someones mailbox.  I was not aware however, of just how all encompassing the law really is.  Even if the United States Postal Service (which is not a government agency) goes broke, can't keep it's business running and folds up like a withering flower on a hot day, you can still face a fine for using those mailboxes.  (Read more here)

This law also applies to any box attached to your home that the post office can deliver to.  The only loophole is the slot in your door.  This law was passed in the 1930s and passed again in the 1980s.

Are we missing something here in regards to personal freedom?  If I put a planter with a lid on it at my curb and someone puts their flyer in it, will that person be up for a possible 5,000 dollar fine, just because the postal service could also use it?  what about a breadbox attached to my house, would that also earn a fine?

As home owners we pay exorbitant fees and taxes to own our home,  repeat OWN our home.  Ownership should allow us the freedom to use boxes attached to our homes as we choose to see fit.  

I sure hope that if the postal service fails to float anymore that this law will be revoked.

Bear in your backyard?

   Top of the news today in NJ,  "Bear in backyard, (see video) children coming home on the bus"  Oh, my! What will we do?  Not to knock the fear people have of wildlife but it seems that we have forgotten just who's home we are in.  City dwellers are not immune to having wildlife, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, mountain lions and yes....Bears. 

   Of course this sighting was not by accident, the bear was baited to be there unknowingly by the owner of the house.  A small bit of information left out by the media, to make a more dramatic story.  Who in there right mind that lives in an area where the deer roam free in the forrests surrounding their home, would leave a bag of garbage outside?    Aren't we taught about nature and what lives out there and what could cause a dangerous situation if you're not careful about how you use your surroundings?

   While working at the Humane Society in Flagstaff Az. I recieved some unbelievable calls.

Fear Mongering Makes Financial Sense (If you sell vaccines)

UPDATE November 3, 2011

Watch the entire documentary 'The Greater Good' FREE until Nov. 5th.

THE GREATER GOOD from BNP Pictures on Vimeo.
Sorry, not allowed to embed.  Go to http://vimeo.com/31036452 to view it there. Only available for the next two days.

 I was listening to a debate this morning on HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccines being required for girls aged 11or 12. Required, meaning becoming a law that our children will be required to have this vaccine in order to attend public schools. 

 On February 2, 2007, Texas became the first state to enact a mandate-by executive order from the governor-that all females entering the sixth grade receive the vaccine, with some exceptions.  Legislators in Texas passed H.B. 1098 to override the executive order and the governor withheld his veto. (Read More)

What? It's more than ridiculous, sitting there and arguing about my rights as a parent and saying what a lousy and irresponsible parent I am if I do NOT agree with forced vaccination of our children.


‎The Government and drug manufacturers might as well be saying "I know what's best for your children so I'm going to pass a law so you have to do what I say is best" 
 Are we a bunch of backwards illiterate empty headed people living in this country that we need laws passed like this? Seat belt laws, Sugar tax, forced vaccinations and more are now on the books to keep you "safe".  


 With the FDA and drug manufactures track records of Recalling drugs and vaccines AFTER their approval makes me want to grab up my children and grand children and run for cover!


They use FEAR to sell their vaccines. Now people die from what used to be a simple case of measles, not just a few, Thousands of people. God help you if your child gets Chicken Pox. Whopping cough was a common childhood ailment when my parents were kids. Now it's guaranteed to be fatal.

Beautiful Words From a Beautiful Friend

Ripple of life, peace and love

by Carolyn Booth Thomas on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 10:35pm

In life I think we are influenced more than we realize by the world and people around us. Circumstances that at the time seem so unfair or difficult are all just a way of preparing us for the future. We are gently formed without realizing to face what lies ahead. Each simply a reflection of the ripple of what our futures may hold. A person that may have played a part in our life was a situation we would meet again, this time with greater understanding and caring that comes with age and experience.

I believe the strength I have, may have been a direct result of the many tears that fell. So I cannot have regrets. But now in the time of greatest need I have the strength to face lifes challenges, had life been a bed of roses.... would I be able to have lived through the thorns that tear through my body and soul on many days? I think not. Had I not seen the extent of human suffering so early would I have the empathy I now have? certainly not, or at the very least not known how best to deal with it.

I am told so many times I have the right words for certain situations a compliment for which I do not always deserve, had I not faced so many I would be speechless. So I have to say the rocky paths I have walked have helped shape who I am.
I do not claim to have lifes answers, many lifetimes would be necessary for that! We spend so much time fearing our parenting is not perfect...was mine? no.... was anyones perfect I am sure not so. I beat myself up daily on what I should have done differently today, but the realization hit me. I survived. Doing my best I cannot always protect my children from the challenges in life. Cannot live life for them. Will they listen to the advice nooooo. But in years to come the ripple effect will certainly come into play and hopefully the difficult times will have prepared them as I was prepared.
So tonight I go to bed with a clear concience for once! I am not perfect nor is the world. I am doing the best I can and it just has to be good enough for today.

Being as today is 9/11 I cannot say that such a tragedy could possibly be a necessary lesson. It is what it is a great tragedy. I can only hope and pray the survivors have found some healing and peace and that the rest of the world certainly has experienced the ripple of love, sadness and togetherness that comes from so many losses. That the world yearns more than ever for peace and that even the hardest heart is softened by the tears that have fallen. It is humbling even in our darkest hour to imagine the children that lost parents, parents that lost children, families that every year have a chair unfilled with someone that they loved. My heart truly goes out to all. Tonight the air is thick with the feeling of sadness but hopefully with the gentle whispers of prayers for those in pain. Let there be a united thunder in the night air to the world and all that reside within it for peace and love.

The Search is Over, The Journey Begins

*Steps up to podium*  *tapping on the microphone*  "Is this working?"  

"Hi, My name is Cheryl, of Cheryl's Lyme Page and I have Lyme Disease."

     Okay, in all seriousness, I have Lyme Disease, Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis. I also tested VERY positive for EBV. I was originally infected sometime in the early 70s in California. Re-infected in the late 80s in Northern Arizona.  And re-re-infected in the late 90s in Kansas.  


     So far in all these years and countless doctors, not a single one has taken a look at this list, nor have they tried to piece it all together.  Every complaint resulted in a separate test, separate diagnosis and different drugs for each symptom.

The symptoms I'm listing are not all on a daily basis but I will experience several daily. 

• Muscle Cramps
• Muscle Spasms and twitching (arms, left leg, face and back)
• Grinding bones in neck
• Weak bladder
• Deep Hip pain (left side, like nerve pain or deep muscle cramp)
• Low Vit. D
• Numbness and tingling on right side of face
• Sharp Pains in middle of back (between shoulder blades)
• Pain on my chest, same spot for years.
• Torn up tendons in elbows (surgery on one didn't take)
• Sharp stabbing pain in knees
• Swelling of one leg from knee down (one time left and another time right)
• Jaw pain rt. side
• Ringing in ears
• Heart flutters
• Rapid heart rate
• Sinus congestion ( always, had surgery to correct septum but infections continued)
• Black fuzzy looking floaters both eyes ( some days worse than others)
• Morning headaches
• Anxiety/panic attacks 
• Painful bottoms of feet (mostly in am. takes a little bit to get walking)
• Dizziness when moving my eyes to look up or down, with that I can hear a whoosh sound like I'm going to faint.
• Shortness of breath (feels like I'm not getting air, blood oxygen is fine though)
• Night sweats
• Swollen Lymph nodes. Groin area and under arms very painful.
• Sharp shooting pains.
• Tired, Tired, Tired.  (never enough sleep it seems) no insomnia though.
• All over body aches (feels like coming down with something but never quite happens)
• Prickly, itchy all over. (like little mites biting me, started ages ago in my scalp. now it hits everywhere)
• Suddenly I can't remember how to read or write, even the keyboard makes no sense. (lasts for about an hour or so)
• Constantly loosing words.  Simple everyday words.
• Forget where I was going in conversation or what was being talked about.

     I'm sure I'm forgetting something, as far as symptoms changing over the years, it seems that what I experienced was one symptom added on top of another. Each time I had a new symptom, the others were still there, so it just added to my list when I went to the Dr. Making me sound crazier as time went.

Making Progress

  Today I finally figured out how to add my links to my page. That is progress man! LOL, I feel like a snail trudging through the wilderness of the blogging world. Unless you have a bunch of followers and people willing to comment, you are pretty much on your own figuring stuff out.

 I'm pretty proud of myself today and everyday that I manage to make some small gain, whether here on a blog spot or just in my life. I did figure out that I do need pictures to post on here so the next bitty step in my progress will be incorporating pictures with my posts.

 I'm going to have to make some more videos for my 'Everything Food' page. That, I'm sure will be great to watch. Well, that would depend on the kinda day I'm having. I do tend to make a mess and drop stuff and forget what I was going to do next, sure makes following a recipe mighty interesting.

 Well Lordy Lordy, looky what I just figured out. LOL, sometimes I am convinced that having a certain amount of ADHD is a blessing.

Well that's the kitchen, now where the heck is that camera!

IDSA's choice of "Expert" in the case of Lyme Disease

First off, the ID doctor I talked with in Bethsda MD, told me he had a very low opinion of "these Rheumatologists that think they know how to treat Lyme Disease". Knowledge is power, so I looked into what type of "expert" would be the best to figure out how to treat Lyme and it's co-infections. The nearest I came up with is a Microbiologist. http://www.aboutbioscience.org/microbiologist.html

"MICROBIOLOGIST Microbiology is the study of living organisms that are invisible to the naked eye, such as bacteria and fungi. Though not living organisms, viruses also are studied by microbiologists. Though many people tend to group them together, there are many different types of microbiology. Medical microbiology is perhaps the most well-known because it deals with the roles that microbes have in human illness. Other types include veterinary microbiology, environmental microbiology, food microbiology and pharmaceutical microbiology. All these deal with the way microbes or microorganisms affect animals, the environment, the food supply and the health care industry. Career Opportunities Hospital/Clinical Laboratories : Microbiologists in this field typically work to identify disease-causing bacteria that may have affected a patient or potentially could affect the human body. This type of microbiologist can assist in preventing the spread of disease by containing and treating it."

Instead of a Microbiologist being quoted over and over in their guidelines we hear Allen Steere's studies and research. Dr Allen Steere is a.....Rheumatologist.

Where have all the people gone.......

Too many people have needlessly lost their battle with Lyme disease and other tick borne diseases.
Suicide is the number one cause of death because of the endless pain, debilitating and crippling damage that these diseases cause. And last but not least, the doctors that ignore the symptoms after a few weeks of antibiotics had been given.


Patients are told they have deep emotional/mental issues and are wrongly given anti-depressants and other drugs.


We as voters take full responsibility for the actions of agencies like the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the CDC.


We have sat back and ignored the fact that bills were passed, policies signed and money changed hands to take away our right to INFORMED CONSENT. Now it's the insurance companies deciding what your doctor can and cant do to treat you. The IDSA is also at the helm of your care and your Doctors are turning into messengers and not practitioners of medicine.


Let us be the change now! Show them we will no longer be silent, obeident sheep!
If you can write, then write letters of your experience with this disease. Make hundreds of copies and start sending to newspapers, congressmen/women, Senators.


Go to: http://www.facebook.com/groups/lettersforlyme/ to see what others have written in past letter campaigns and use the list of recipients that's there too. The sky is the limit as to what we can accomplish.


If you can March and carry a sign then check this out:




If you can talk on the phone, call your Representitives and Senators and tell them to support Patients rights to freedom of choice and informed consent and to support the Bills that have been introduced on the national level as well as State level.

We may be sick but by God we are not Victims. We choose to either sit back and let someone else decide our fate or we choose to do something, anything, however big or small.


Lets show those who would tread on our freedoms that we have NOT gone away!!

Watch the popular Documentary 'Under Our Skin'

Thank you Hulu for making this possible.





Check out This Youtube Channel. Please subscribe and share with others so we can continue to spread the word about Tick and Vector Borne illnesses.

Welcome to my Mind

This is the first of my blogs and hopefully I get this figured out well enough to continue to post.  Just to introduce you to my mind, let me start with a little background.
I suffer from Lyme Disease and have had it for more than 30 years.
I hate injustice, that means any group or subject.
I'm a mother of three children all grown up and on their own.
I'm a grandmother of 6 beautiful grandchildren.
I most definitely have an opinion on just about everything but I love a good discussion and do allow for a change of mind about the subject if you make a good enough point.
Music is my escape from reality.
I figure that this blog of mine will be a daily (hopefully) chat of what's on my mind at that moment. Hopefully this will be a positive experience for those reading this as well as for my self.  Right now my main focus is Lyme Disease and trying to get the word out to the ends of the earth.

Ciao for now everyone, Cheryl