I've been struggling with neurological Lyme for years. The disease stopped my life in its tracks for most of my 20s and because of that I missed out on those years. During a time in which I would have been out in the world building a professional (and personal) life for myself I was living at home in my parents' house spending most of my time in bed. There are periods lasting months of which I have no recollection. The illness also altered my perception of reality to the point where I had a kind of neurological blind-sight - I lost the sensation of seeing. I was able to finally emerge from this delirium-like state and become functional again, but it is still extremely difficult to focus and think. While I am working, I still struggle a lot at work to be productive.

This is a very serious illness, not least of all because it is difficult to detect along with its symptoms. It seems the scientific establishment has a lot more rigorous work to do before they fully understand the extent of the severity.

Edit: I'll add that, unfortunately, it might take more cases like this - where medical professionals tell their stories about their personal struggle with the illness - before the full medical establishment accepts that they don't yet understand this disease. As of right now, the standard of care is to continue to insist that 15 - 30 days of antibiotics will cure it and that there is no such thing as persistent infection, which is fucking laughable. The worst is that supposedly respectable physicians are continuing to promote this myth, despite not having proved in the slightest that the infection is eliminated after 15 - 30 days of antibiotics.