Athena Brownson
speaker
330 appearances
8 recordings
1 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard May 2025
Athena Brownson’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
That tick was carrying Lyme disease along with two other co-infections that I am also fighting. And... Lyme is interesting as it lays dormant in your system until something weakens your immune system and it can come out and take over. For me, I ended up having neck surgery. I broke my neck skiing and my immune system took a hit from having neck surgery.
It was weekend, and that's when all of my symptoms started to act up with Lyme disease. And I was really fortunate that a doctor knew a lot about Lyme disease. It's something that is a little bit new in the medical field. There's not a ton of doctors that are very Lyme literate, I like to say. And I was very fortunate to be diagnosed immediately.
It's been seven and a half years, almost eight now of fighting Lyme disease.
I would love nothing more. And I was in the same boat. I had no idea what Lyme disease was before I was diagnosed with it. In fact, when my doctor suggested that we do testing for it, I laughed because I was so unaware of Lyme disease. And I also was very naive to how significant it is. So Lyme disease is interesting because it affects everyone differently.
So depending on what you're genetically predisposed to, whatever your genetic weaknesses are, Lyme attacks that. So for some people that can be myalgia or rheumatoid arthritis, a multitude of autoimmune diseases like I have. I have an autoimmune disease where my body attacks my nerves. So that's why I'm in pain all the time because my own body is attacking my nerves.
It can look like psychiatric issues for some people. It can range from such a variety of symptoms that that's what makes it difficult to diagnose. However, Lyme is the fastest growing epidemic in the United States right now. So the number of people that are contracting Lyme from a tick, like I said, You get it from being bit by a tick.
And if you are aware that you're bit by a tick immediately, you should go to the doctor. You'll usually see a red ring around the bite if it is carrying a disease. But I would say if you get bit by a tick, just go to the doctor because they can give you a short cycle of antibiotics and you'll never deal with it again.
It's cases like mine where you don't know that you were bit, so it lays dormant in your system. And then when you least expect it, no one ever expects all of a sudden to start having the horrific symptoms. My life has made a complete 180 from being a professional athlete to trying to get myself through each day. It's a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Now it's taught me more in life than I think anything ever could, but... People should be very aware that if you're in a heavily wooded area and there are ticks present, you should be aware of protecting yourself with long sleeves. They make tick repellent sprays.
And if you do get bit, to go to the doctor because chronic Lyme disease, which is what stays for a long time, is a very difficult disease. disease to navigate. So if you know that you got bit and you can take a couple weeks of antibiotics, then you'll never deal with it again. But unfortunately, that's usually not the case.
Most people, I believe 70% of people with Lyme disease have no idea when or where they were bit.
Challenge is the perfect word because it is the most challenging thing that I have ever been through. And it is something that when you break a bone or have a surgery, you can talk to the doctor and they say, if you do A, B, C, and D, you'll get better. With chronic Lyme disease, unfortunately, there's no, if you do A, B, C, and D, you'll get better. Different for everyone.
It's something that is just starting to be really understood and studied on a global scale. And because it's different for everyone, there really is, you almost feel like a lab rat with trying different therapies. But When I was diagnosed, I truly was naive because, like I said, I was at the top of my real estate game.
I felt a little bit invincible before that, having come from a professional skiing career, which I actually believe is what taught me the grit to get through each day and to get through this adversity and to keep pushing forward because I believe that...
When we're hit with life, with difficulties and challenges and horrific incidents, that unfortunately all of us have different adversity that we do face in life. And it's really difficult at that time to a moment and understand that the reality
Although these are the most challenging times of my life, and it's been seven and a half years, where I don't remember what it is like to not be in constant pain. I have waking up in the morning is, it feels like the most difficult task I've ever done. Every little thing thing that I do is so taxing on my body and exhausting on my body and painful. I spend a huge amount of time in hospitals.
Like I said, I get all of my plasma taken out once a month, which is a huge transfusion. It's really hard not to get stuck in the mud when you're dealing with something that is so challenging and so constant and chronic pain and chronic fatigue and All of the symptoms that come with Lyme disease are enough to make anyone want to stay in bed and not do anything. And I truly, a lot of people do.
And there's no right or wrong way of approaching life and its challenges. And that includes disease. Everyone has their own way to get through things. But what I personally have learned and what I hope to share with others is is we have to really dig deep and understand that when you look back in life,
nothing you don't learn your greatest lessons you don't grow when everything's going to plant we make the biggest strides we have the biggest periods of growth when we're going through difficulties and we figure out how we're going to get through them and we don't allow ourselves to gets stuck in the mud, so to speak.
And I believe that there is a time and a place for mourning or being very upset and depressed and sad and angry that your life has really been completely changed by a disease. That is is some it's not something that every once in a while you don't feel good. It's 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And you can't escape it. So within that, how do we pivot our mentality forward?
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