Doctor appointments

Dakota had a check-up with his doctor on Friday. He is now 5'2” and 136 lbs! And he's only 10! He just keeps growing like crazy. Because of his growth spurt, his doctor is increasing his medicine. He has been kind of moody, and at school he gets upset very easily. His teacher is concerned that when Dakota gets upset and cries at school, he can't get past it and get his work done the rest of the day. The doctor thinks the increase in his medicine will help. The doctor also mentioned that Dakota's moodiness at home might be because of going through puberty. I didn't even think of that. It seems like he's way too young to be getting so big and going through all that. Also, he will be starting counseling on Friday.

My appointment with the Lyme doctor in Columbia is in a couple of weeks. I'm so nervous. I have waited a year for this appointment. I was supposed to go in September, but when the appointment came up we didn't have the money and the next available appointment wasn't until March. That worked out fine, because we needed to use our tax return to pay for this anyway. We have to pay everything out of pocket. The appointment itself is almost $500. Then I have to pay for each individual test done, so I'm sure it will be over $1000 total. I have to be there at 6:00 a.m., so we are going down the day before. I want to get down there while it's still daylight so I can see where to drive from the hotel to the clinic. John and the kids are just going to stay at the hotel that day because it sounds like the appointment will last a long time. I don't even know what all to expect. I just hope I can get a diagnosis so I can start treatment. I'm so ready to feel better. I know the test can have false negatives though. I have a copy of my lyme screening test that shows lyme antibodies in my blood, so that should help. I've been working on filling out tons of paperwork on all my symptoms – I have a lot. One of the things that affects me the most is the fatigue. I sleep all the time. I can sleep 12 hours, and still have a hard time getting out of bed. It doesn't matter how much sleep I get, I'm always exhausted. Also, I never not have pain. My body hurts 100% of the time. It doesn't just come and go. My hands and feet also tingle constantly. Something that is worrying me a lot lately is my loss of memory. I can't remember my kids being babies, or even toddlers – and that scares the hell out of me. The only long term memories I really have are ones that caused some sort of reaction in me. For example, I remember taking Dakota to the ER a couple of times when he was little but it's just a flash of memory. I don't remember him exactly, just the situation. If that makes any sense... Anyway, I've read that lyme can be transferred to babies in the womb. I've been told that it's not uncommon for a mother with lyme to have a child with Autism, so it's been suggested to me that I have my kids checked for lyme as well. Symptoms can stay dormant for years.