Yolanda Hadid Shares She's No Longer in Remission From Chronic Lyme Disease

Chronic illness can come in waves. If we’re lucky, doctors may tell us we’re in remission, but it may not always last. Personality Yolanda Hadid knows the frustration and hurt that comes when you’re no longer in remission.

Speaking at the Global Lyme Alliance Gala on Thursday, Hadid said she found out her Lyme was active again after a “wonderful year in remission” and six years of consistent treatment.

 

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❤️Looking good feeling bad………. the invisible disability of chronic neurological Lyme disease…. After a wonderful year in remission I just found out that my Lyme is active again after 6 years of consistent treatment. I trust god doesn’t give me more then I can handle and that the higher purpose of this journey isn’t complete so I will continue to be a voice for those who can’t be heard. Unfortunately the CDC keeps denying that chronic Lyme exists, health insurances covers 2-4 weeks of doxycycline and then patients are left to fight for themselves which ultimately financially devastates them while struggling to stay alive. Although battling severe symptoms I came out last night to support the Global Lyme Alliance because the injustice of this disease keeps me awake at night. I continue this fight not only for 2 of my 3 children but all the children in the world affected by this devastating and debilitating disease. The world came together so beautifully to find a solutions for the AIDS epidemic which started a decade after the first case of Lyme disease was diagnosed in 1972. We all deserve equal treatment and a cure affordable for all so let’s fight together for a Lyme Free World. #LymeDiseaseAwareness #WeMustFindACure #AffordableForAll

A post shared by YOLANDA (@yolanda.hadid) on Oct 12, 2018 at 3:56pm PDT

Hadid said at the GLA Gala her illness wasn’t quite as bad as it had been, but she is no longer “feeling good.” She said she was “looking good but feeling bad” at the gala.

“[I’m] just wanting to crawl in a hole and wait for it all to pass,” she told the crowd. “I also understand the higher purpose of my journey is to continue to bring awareness to this awful disease until the change is made… Even today, I have been in treatment all day. I feel like s—t. I showed up because this has to change.”

Remission doesn’t mean someone’s cured. Contributor for The Mighty, Abigail Rasol, wrote how remission from Lyme disease created a “new normal,” which included adjusting to the fact that she would always be sick.

What remission means is that the intensive treatment that I have been undergoing for the last year is now stopping because this is the best I’ll ever be feeling (ironic, being that I feel like shit anyway). Once there is no improvement for a minimum of three months in intensive treatment, it is assumed that no further improvement will be seen. And with that, you’re introduced to your ‘new normal.’

It can be hard to realize you’re no longer in remission and your condition is worsening or acting up. If you want to curl up in bed or shut out the world for a bit, that’s OK. If you, like Hadid, prefer to use bad periods to raise awareness, that’s fine too. Whatever works for you. You can manage remission and relapses in a way that feels best for you.