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Hello everyone! I wanted to pop on and invite everyone to check out a conversation I had on the Dr. Vibe Show about Lyme Disease recently. I talked about my personal battle with this disease and took questions from the listeners/watchers.

Wait a minute and pause, you may not know what Lyme Disease is. Here is a quick explanation:

According to Wikepedia this is what they say, “(Lyme borreliosis) is an infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria called Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and is the main cause of Lyme disease in North America passed on by infected ticks biting people or animals.

Whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most European cases. The disease is named after the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme, Connecticut, US, where a number of cases were identified in 1975. Although it was known that Lyme disease was a tick-borne disease as far back as 1978, the cause of the disease remained a mystery until 1981, when B. Burgdorferi was identified by Willy Burgdorfer. Borrelia is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks.

Long story short, Lyme Disease can be transmitted through an infected tick that carries a very nasty bacteria. Then there are co-infections of Lyme that we will talk about another day.

Early symptoms may include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic circular skin rash called erythema migraines (EM). Left untreated, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system. In some cases, the infection and its symptoms are eliminated by antibiotics, especially if the illness is treated early. Delayed or inadequate treatment can lead to more serious symptoms, which can be disabling and difficult to treat.

There were some very dark days when I battled Lyme Disease and I was poorly misdiagnosed several times as you will hear on the Dr. Vibe chat. I will continue to share with everyone my battle with Lyme Disease. It impacted my mind, body and spirit in so many ways. I learned who my true family and friends were/are, who were not and throughout the battle once I got over the mountain and started getting better, I got stronger in every aspect of my life and became an advocate for Lyme Disease research, survivors and their families. Lyme Disease is very personal. There is not a magical pill or protocol that everyone can take and they are cured! Everyone’s body handles Lyme differently because of how the bacteria manifests in our bodies. Between Lyme Disease, watching my mother battle Ovarian Cancer and passing away and a couple of other health struggles with loved ones is what lead me to becoming a Health and Wellness Coach.

Stay tuned for more blogs as I will talk about my journey with Lyme. There is hope and if you have Lyme Disease please don’t feel as if you are alone. I am here for you as well as thousands of survivors. You can make it through this journey!

Welcome to my first official blog for my coaching and health and wellness programs. You’ve probably read a little bit about me but just in case my name is Serena Wills and I am a health and wellness coach. I received my Master of Arts in Health and Wellness Coaching from the Maryland University of Integrative Health. I have 20 years of nonprofit experience which covers everywhere from after school programming, Arts education, literacy, training programs for adults and the list goes on. I have served my communities well in that aspect. I learned a lot about the health field from my mother who is no longer with me due to losing her battle with ovarian cancer. She was an adoptive parent to two of my sisters; one had severe brain damage and lots of medical issues because her biological mother having and dying from AIDS and my youngest sister has moderate to severe autism due to being born to a crack-addicted mother. I learned about their conditions, how to be an advocate for your loved ones, neurological disorders and the list goes on through my mother. She learned because she cared greatly about my sister’s and had not one stitch of background and the medical field. When we lost my sister Ayana who was 24 years old we grieved but we also celebrated her life because the doctors did not think she would make it past the age of 1. Due to my mother’s care and not giving up on my sister she lived 24 years on this planet.

When my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer we had wished that we knew more about integrative health, holistic healing, nutrition, herbalism, etc and my mother didn’t have the best diet, she was very stressed and she did not get regular check-ups from the doctor. She poured so much into her children that she left her own health behind. Between chemo drugs and chemotherapy it ripped my mother apart and my mother had only wished that she knew more about natural healing.

I became an advocate for ovarian cancer and GYN cancers after losing my mother but then my own personal health battle struck when I was bitten by a tick and a few months later was diagnosed with Lyme disease after having numerous misdiagnoses from various doctors. I was diagnosed with everything from asthma to multiple sclerosis before the Lyme diagnosis. I tried the antibiotic route but it did not help me whatsoever. I was guided to an Integrative Health doctor in Washington DC, from there I met the neurologist I have now after a former neurologist didn’t know about Lyme disease. Even my current neurologist believes a lot in holistic and Integrative Health and I formulated a medical team of naturopaths, nutritionist, herbalist, chiropractor, acupuncturist and I learned so much of what I wish I would have known when my mom was sick.

My nutritionist and herbalist was at the time Tai Sophia Institute which is now Maryland University of Integrative Health. I was fascinated with the people, the building and the love and care I got from the staff because I walked in as a patient not knowing that years later I would walk out as a graduate with a graduate degree. The more I learned the more intrigued I was to go back to school because I wanted to help people in such a way where I wasn’t telling them what to do and giving them blatant advice but to be their guide on the side and the school had an excellent health and wellness coaching program.

Not only have I learned how to help others by being a health and wellness coach but I learned to help myself and become a better person not only for me but for my son, family and loved ones.

Everyone’s path is different and in my particular case I was led to becoming a health and wellness coach after experiencing so much pain and loss and I wanted to turn that around for the greater good to help people out.

You can read more about the services I offer in the About Me section of my website. I’m going to share more about my story here on this blog and also you will see some health and wellness articles and we’ll talk about detoxification, healthy eating, mindfully eating and mindfulness overall. I want to share a lot of what I learned through my blog and hoping that between my blog and of course coaching I will be able to help a lot of people out there in this world who might feel alone, who don’t think they’ll ever heal, in the midst of transition and most importantly want an accountability partner, a guide on the side and someone who not only will help them with their goals but believe that they can make their goals manifest into something greater and to be there for them when they cross that finish line.

To learn more about health and wellness coaching and if it is right for you, please contact me here and schedule your 30 minute complimentary pre-discovery session.

Stay tuned for more blogs and information and thank you again for taking time to read my blog.

Sincerely,

Serena

Lyme Life

My Coaching Journey