Olympian discloses she has Lyme hours after her event.

[ScottTriGuy]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJVyA5FjdZd/

It's crazy to think that my love of the forest is what's caused me so much harm! While it is widely known that I have been suffering from illness the last 2 seasons, a clear diagnosis was yet to be made beyond bits and pieces. After much testing we were finally able to reach a diagnosis from a test done after our final Olympic selection event in Yokohama this year.

I've kept quiet because I didn't want it to define my Games experience in anyone else's eyes, or my own. We now know that I have late stage Lyme disease. I'm so proud to have made it this far under such circumstances and couldn't have done so without the amazing doctors I was able to work with thanks to my title sponsor and moral support from those closest to me.

Now, after a little fun of course, I will return home to start proper treatment and start trekking that road back to a strong, healthy Kiki! I'm not accepting this as a sentence, just another setback. And we all know I'm good at those I hope that in the future I can be an example for those with Lyme disease that it doesn't have to define you or stop you from living your best life and reaching your goals!

Thanks again everyone for the tremendous support and congrats to all of the Olympians from around the world!! What a special experience!! Now for the fun!

 

[Groggy Doggy]

@ScottTriGuy

Still not letting you off the hook...how about 2025 for our Ironman Tri finish!!
US vs Canada (geriatric style that is)

(Am growing tired of reading about what we can't do; would rather read about what we will do, post-ME)

 

[ScottTriGuy]

how about 2025 for our Ironman Tri finish

I'm in!

I'd even be in for a try-a-tri in 2017. That would be awesome.

 

[Thinktank]

I know lyme disease affects everyone differently, but sometimes i can't help to think if all those celebrities might have received a wrong diagnosis? They lead a lifestyle that even a normal healthy person couldn't cope with, let alone the olympics... I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe.

 

[Groggy Doggy]

I know lyme disease affects everyone differently, but sometimes i can't help to think if all those celebrities might have received a wrong diagnosis? They lead a lifestyle that even a normal healthy person couldn't cope with, let alone the olympics... I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe.

It's hard to know what to think without more specific details. Venus Williams kept playing tennis before finally getting the diagnosis of Sjögren’s syndrome. Naomi Judd toured with Hep C. If you have access to top doctors and can afford to pay for cutting edge treatments it's a lot different than the health care system the average person engages with.

 

[sarah darwins]

If you have access to top doctors and can afford to pay for cutting edge treatments it's a lot different than the health care system the average person engages with.

Ain't that the truth. You see things like the achievements of Venus W and it makes you realise that we could all be doing so much more if we had the same standard of care.

I doubt Venus' doctors ever said to her "Have you tried meditation?" (I've lost count of the number of times GPs have said that to me).

 

[taniaaust1]

I know lyme disease affects everyone differently, but sometimes i can't help to think if all those celebrities might have received a wrong diagnosis? They lead a lifestyle that even a normal healthy person couldn't cope with, let alone the olympics... I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe.

Illnesses affect people differently so lets not judge those who get lucky and still are able to do things which others with the same illnesses cant.

eg I was stuck in bed for 10 weeks after getting glandular fever, in fevers so high I was passing out. Many people catch this and dont get very sick. It doesnt mean that they didnt catch it. We dont all react the same to things, genetics come into play.

 

[taniaaust1]

I doubt Venus' doctors ever said to her "Have you tried meditation?" (I've lost count of the number of times GPs have said that to me).

I bet many famous people cop crap from drs too. The only difference is they have money to fly around the world to access the best doctors and keep trying doctors till they get a good one.

 

[justy]

wow she's a Triathlete? not easy when you are sick. I know quite a lot of people with Lyme who are nowhere as sick as me, or many of us on here. Most of those people have been sick for less than one or two years and so remain more functional. I think it is some of us who have had Lyme for 10, 20, or even 30 years who are the sickest as the M.E rot sets in.

I often read their posts on FB groups and think 'whoah, I thought you had lyme and were sick' I forget their sick is not the same as mine.

 

[rwac]

I know lyme disease affects everyone differently, but sometimes i can't help to think if all those celebrities might have received a wrong diagnosis? They lead a lifestyle that even a normal healthy person couldn't cope with, let alone the olympics... I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe.

Its possible that athletes are extra vulnerable to certain ailments. Athletes have a higher rate of asthma, long distance runners have more heart disease. Boxers and football players have more chances of dementia, gymnasts have joint problems. Pushing yourself to the limit is not without its costs, including potentially immune suppression.

 

[Chocolove]

@ScottTriGuy

Still not letting you off the hook...how about 2025 for our Ironman Tri finish!!
US vs Canada (geriatric style that is)

(Am growing tired of reading about what we can't do; would rather read about what we will do, post-ME)

They're adding surfing and skateboarding in 2020, how about sleeping? We could be major contenders!

 

[Groggy Doggy]

I think we come in contact with some kind of trigger that causes our health to go in a downward spiral. Our bodies (cells that are millions of years old) can not adapt to the trigger, and our electrical system starts to shut down (in the confusion, our cells stop talk to each other). With lab tests, we look for things that are wrong (lyme, epstein barr, etc) , but those may have been there all along. We try to correct the abnormalities that we see in the lab results, and this may help to gain improvement, or it may not. When we try and correct the abnomalities, this may be a trigger for other health issues to start. So we try to fix as much as possible without breaking anything else. We are all unique, and what may be a trigger for me, will not be for someone else. The treatments that work for me, may not work for someone else (or treatments may not work as well). Treatments can cause things to change in the body, so we may experience an unexpected positive outcome(s).

If we find treatments that work, then we don't fully understand how long they will work for (do we need to take them for life?). Since we don't fully understand the triggers, we may come across the original one or a new one and go into a relapse.

We really need to be looking at our earlier adaptive system that seems to having a hard time in our modern society (we have so many chronically ill people). At one time, we used to get hungry, grab our spear and go hunting. We would cook the food and calm down to digest our food. Then we would sleep (and to ensure that we were hidden from predators).

And, we need to look further back. We used to live in the water which is another modified version of adapting (reptilian).

In the high tech age, its most likely hard to comprehend how old some of the cells are in our body. Over time, our bodies keep having to adapt to the changes. But now our changes are in a hyper acceleration mode.

But we will have to wait and see, how or if, humans can 'crack the code' on illness and disease.

 

[Groggy Doggy]

They're adding surfing and skateboarding in 2020, how about sleeping? We could be major contenders!

Practicing Surf Sleeping for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics