Axel’s Story
Axel, MX Athlete
“Hello, fellow Lymies. My name is Axel, and I live in Belgium.
Since 2016 I felt "funny" after a motorcycle accident that broke my cervical vertebrae, they diagnosed me with 20 different things besides Lyme disease. I was in a dark place, looking for answers as to why I couldn't perform or train the way I was as an athlete before. My body and brain shut down week after week and I felt sicker by the day.
At one point, the doctors filled me with a lot of drugs to "keep functioning in life," so I went skiing with my girlfriend. After 1 day in the mountains, I completely broke down and this is where my big problems started. Coming home and not being able to get out of bed set off some major alarm bells.
Luckily I had a friend who had Lyme disease and called me when I asked for help on MY INSTAGRAM PAGE (TOO BAD WE SHOULD ASK OTHER PEOPLE, RATHER THAN DOCTORS, FOR HELP) and I went to see a specialist. Yes, I have Lyme, miyamotoi and chronic. A bummer.
But since then I’m happy ... I knew what was wrong with me! I bought myself some books, joined some fb groups, chatted with fellow Lymies. And here I was, hanging from my IV every day with a smile, "I can survive this because I now know what's going on."
This was of course a difficult period but mentally I felt much stronger. I have been in treatment for 1.5 years now and I am back to life. It's 2 steps forward, 1 step back, but we can deal with what we have.
This is it. This is Lyme. Continue to trust the process. Keep healing.”
Stories reflect the experiences and perspectives of the individuals featured and are not intended as medical advice.
