I was diagnosed with a bacterial infection called Bartonella.
Bartonella is an advanced stealth-like organism that can evade the immune system and invade your red blood cells. Once inside the red blood cell, the bartonella devours the nutrients of the red blood cell then breeds and replicate millions of additional bartonella bacteria. They continue to latch on to other healthy red blood cells, proliferate, and repeat the process. In short, I was being eaten alive from the inside out by this bacteria.
Anemia occurs from Bartonella scavenging the nutrients from my red blood cells and has caused neurological symptoms including poor balance, decreased cognition, memory impairment, insomnia, and restlessness. My physical symptoms include constant and severe pain in my joints, muscles, bone, and organs. I lost a lot of weight and muscle wasting due to the lack of mobility.
Right now I’m in treatment for a severe, progressive, and chronic form of this disease. It has been a bit more challenging because I am also immunocompromised with a secondary autoimmune disease called rheumatoid arthritis. So I am currently working on healing both. I spend a lot of time in bed, and I am often in a wheelchair if I have to go long distances. But I am more grateful than ever in my life right now, because I know that there is a way out of this darkness even if I have to explore a different way of living right now.
My treatment for Bartonella began on October 1 2020 in which I stopped to working to give myself 6 weeks to organize my life in such a way that I could to include continuing to work even while I am undergoing medical treatment.
Without therapy, the infection spreads systemically and can involve virtually any organ, and the outcome is sometimes fatal.