“The complaints started when I was two years old. I suffered from sweat attacks and a severe fever. Over the years, many more things have been added, such as joint pains, migraines, nerve pains, inflammations, you name it. I also weighed only 26 kilos for three years. Showering was too much and even brushing my teeth was impossible, I was physically exhausted. When I was twelve in the second grade of high school, I also got Mental complaints Very often people do not see the connection, but it is quite logical that you will get mental complaints if you have had physical complaints for so long.
For ten years I’ve actually had a kind of lonely struggle. When I couldn’t live anymore due to the mental complaints, my parents started looking even harder for a solution. That’s how we found out through an alternative therapist that I have Lyme disease. In mainstream medicine, I have visited several doctors, but never received a Lyme diagnosis. I have also been tested for it, but it is very difficult to find the bacteria in your blood.
I was out of school for a large part of my second year of high school. I eventually moved on to the third year by doing self-study at home. I was so determined to pass, it was out of the question for me to stay put. That’s why I put everything on everything. So you see: if you really want something, you will succeed. In the third grade I finally started my bioresonance treatments. Because of all the toxins that are released, you actually get sicker in the beginning. As a result, I could hardly go to school. In the end I went to pre-university education and I am in the fifth year.
Last week my former classmates graduated from high school. I am very happy for them. Yet it was also confronting, because I am like: I would have obtained my diploma if I had been healthy. Although it was a long and complicated process, I have come to accept my situation. If everything is going against you for so long because of your illness and you see that everything is getting more and more difficult for you, then you just have to accept that. There is no point in experiencing unnecessary worry and stress. I have therefore consciously chosen to live my life with as little stress as possible, because stress simply works against my recovery from chronic Lyme.
I am now at a school where my illness is taken into account much more. That is very nice. That was not the case at my old school. Many things are not taken into account in our society and you always have to keep going and perform. There are very few practical solutions for young people like me with a chronic illness. You therefore try to meet the standards that peers do meet. When that stopped working for me, I became more aware of the basic things in life and that you should be grateful for the things you have. That is why not being able to meet the expectations of our demanding society no longer affects me.
I once started my Lymiez clothing line to fund my own healing with the slogan ‘Overcome & Improve’. That slogan is also my life motto and now the name of my current company† I hope to inspire people to make something of life, despite the challenges they face. For the future I hope to continue to be completely healthy and to obtain my VWO diploma. Who knows, it might turn out to be impossible in the end and I’ll never succeed, but I see it as a challenge and experiment. In addition, if I am ever successful, I want to be able to mean something to people who are chronically ill or who are not well off. I think that’s extremely important. That’s why it’s one of my dreams and goals.”
– Naim (17)
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