New York City, one of my favorite places on earth. The people amuse me, the city is gorgeous, the food is fantastic and it’s the city that never sleeps.
I found the Second Opinion program at Columbia University with Dr. Brian Fallon overseeing it. They promote a program that looks at the cognitive impairment due to Lyme and run more specific, sensitive Lyme tests. After thinking hard about if it was a good step to take, I called expecting to leave a voicemail (as the website warns), but to my surprise I get a doctor that answers the phone! After talking with Dr. Corbera it seemed like the right next step, so I proceeded to schedule. She told me the date available in July, 15th and 16th and then chuckled. I asked why it was funny and she said because I would be seeing Dr. Fallon himself!
A trip to NYC is not extremely easy for many people, but for me it just takes phone calls. One of my best friends from elementary school lives in Manhattan so I always have a place to stay, JetBlue airline miles am my flight $2.50, and to top it all off four of my amazing friends in Austin came too!
Even though the purpose of the trip was medically centered, that didn’t stop us from having an amazing time. We danced, ate, sailed and ate some more. AMAZING!!
Don’t get me wrong, I am in more pain than I have been in months. Walking up and down subway platforms, running to trains, eating out a lot, drinking, very little air conditioning, lots of sun….all things I’m supposed to avoid. It was worth it. There is a cost benefit analysis that has to be thought about every time you make a decision and people with illness have to do this much more often and about seemingly much smaller things than healthy people. I thought long and hard about what my purpose and limits would be for the weekend and decided it was worth it to me to enjoy my favorite city the way I wanted to enjoy it even though there would be massive ramifications. I haven’t been able to eat in days without anti-nausea medicine, my muscles and joints are in pain, my headache won’t go away and still I wouldn’t do it differently.
It was a perfect weekend away to enjoy life before it all gets too crazy….
