Bite Me : How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me

Ally was at a breaking point when she woke up in a psych ward at the age of eighteen. She couldn't put a sentence together, let alone take a shower, eat a meal, or pick up a phone. What had gone wrong? In recent years, she had produced a feature film, a popular reality show for a major network, and had acted in an off-Broadway play. But now, Ally was pushed to a psychotic break after struggling since she was seven years old with physical symptoms that no doctor could explain; everything from joint pain, to night sweats, memory loss, nausea, and brain fog. A doctor in the psych ward was finally able to give her the answers her and her family had desperately been searching for, and the diagnosis that all the previous doctors had missed. She learned that she had Lyme disease-and finally had a breakthrough. What she didn't know was that this diagnosis would lead her down some of the most excruciating years of her life before beginning her journey to recovery from eleven years of misdiagnosis and physical pain. She would need to find her courage to heal physically, mentally, and emotionally, and become the survivor she is today. Set against the backdrop of the fast-paced fashion and entertainment industries, Bite Me shares the heartbreaking and hilarious stories that moved Ally forward on her journey from sickness to health. Its themes will be familiar to more than 300,000 Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, many of whom, like Ally, wondered for years what was wrong with them. Bite Me offers readers hope and ideas for how one can transition from victim to survivor, and shares the spiritual principles and actions that have contributed to her wholeness as a human, mother, and international spokesperson against Lyme disease. Ally Hilfiger, daughter of designer Tommy Hilfiger, shares her story of battling, and eventually recovering from, Lyme disease. Ally was seven years old when she was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease, but she didn't know it for eleven years. For the next decade, she suffered from constant physical pain in her muscles and joints, strep throat, and recurrent flu. Eventually worn out from the mysterious maladies plaguing her body, tired of her own forms of self medication—pot, alcohol—and drained from the notoriety she gained by producing and starring on her own reality show, Rich Girls, Ally ended up in a psych ward where she began her journey to diagnosis and recovery. BITE ME is Ally's story, but its themes will be familiar to the 300,000 Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, many of whom, like Ally, wondered for years what was wrong with them. Ally also offers readers hope and ideas for how they can transition from victim... Biography & Autobiography / Medical, Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs The daughter of designer Tommy Hilfiger shares her battle with Lyme disease, an illness that left her with a collection of painful symptoms doctors misdiagnosed for eleven years.-- Source other than Library of Congress