Moving into the Yurt later this week

The yurt looks so cosy from the outside. You just wait 'till I fill it with rugs and bedding and yarn and stuff. I think it's going to be quite comfortable. It certainly is roomier than I expected.

It's 12' across with the wall about 5' high and the centre 8'. Plenty of room for a bed, some furniture, maybe a little table.

The question was Why am I moving into a yurt in the first place?

It's a good question, and to be completely frank, on I've been avoiding talking about. It's not because I don't want you to know. I avoid it because it reminds me of how bad things are in my life at times. I try very, very hard to keep this blog on a positive note (thus the long periods of silence when I can no longer think of anything good to say). I don't think it adds anything to the Internet if I just complain all the time.

Over the last few years, I've had very serious health issues. After a year of tests and uncertainty, it was discovered that I have Lyme - what's more, I've had it for over 20 years. It could have easily been treated if my doctors had taken me seriously when I was a child, but as the infection had been left unchecked in my body for 20+ years, it's done rather a lot of damage.

Lyme has been around for ages (BBC said the other day that the Ice Man from the Alps had Lyme in his system) but over the last 10 years or so, it has become more a political hot bed. The number of (confirmed) cases are increasing rapidly every year. Yet there is no procedure in place in BC that allows doctors to treat the long term cases.

The methods for testing the body for Lyme are inaccurate and it needs to be a diagnosis of exclusion and symptoms (aka, a clinical diagnosis). So no only are people going undiagnosed, but there is no accurate way to study the bacteria in the body, because there is no clear cut he has it, she doesn't.

It's way more complicated than that.

What it means for me is that I was no longer able to follow my career, finish university, work a normal job, and many more of those little life expectations we take for granted gone. The strain that having an unchecked infection for so long in my body has triggered several other illnesses. Most of which are simply pain full and make me grumpy. Even now that the Lyme infection is sort of in hibernation and not having a direct effect on me, these secondary problems appear to be permanent.

The problem that effects me the most is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

The symptoms are very strong - basically vegus nerve thing with the restricted blood flow to brain, shut down of non-essential systems, fainting, confusion. It takes only a small amount of chemicals to set it off.

Off the bat, I'm not sensitive to smells or dust particles, but rather fumes. These cannot be captured by filters or masks. I'm not sure exactly what it is that causes my symptoms, but it is derived from petro-chemicals. So many plastics, all perfumes, most detergents and soaps, anything scented, and PAINT.

Guess what they are doing to the house this week. Painting.

Guess who just arrived while I was writing this. Looks like tonight is my first night in the yurt. Better go get it ready.

I'll be out there until the fumes dissipated enough for me to move back into the house. Might be a few days, might be a few weeks. I promise to keep an eye on the internet but I won't be online as often as usual until this clears up.

More about my experiences with Lyme here - although I don't write there very much these days. It reminds me how much in the shit my life is (sorry for the bad language, but there really isn't a better word to express it).

I really hate having to write such sad things, but I think you deserve to know why. With any luck I can keep my spirits up with the pure excitement of yurt. Yurts are totally cool, and with an extension cord and a heater, I think yurt is going to be quite comfortable too.