Huge Tree, Huge Crash

Note: I found this in my Drafts folder... the past month has passed by in a blurry mess and this was how it all started.

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The huge tree needed to come down -- the city had been by and finally decided that even though it was a "legacy tree" (aka huge, hundred-year-old Oak tree), the potential for disaster if it fell into the creek behind the house was too heinous to risk so... they offered to pay for its emergency removal before we had our first big rain.

They came out today at 8:30am with chain saws and 4 guys... and they were amazing. By 12:30 the tree was gone and a huge pile of trunk and limbs were all that was left.

But the chain saws were going for 4 hours ... and then? For the next 2 hours, the wood chipper crashed and sawed.

For someone with neurological Lyme, this is the absolute worst possible situation. I wore earplugs... which helped quite a bit and I wore sunglasses. Both of these things help reduce the amount of information that pounds into the brain... Lyme people cannot handle multiple inputs of info at high volumes into the brain. Plus all the movement of the branches and leaves. I tried to protect myself while I took some pictures but... it was still awful. I had to be here. And there was no place I could go to escape the noise. I had to just get through it.

It was when the wood chipper, in front of the house, roared into life that I crashed. That pushed me over the edge because the noise was relentless and piercing. And I was surrounded because they were also using the chain saw in the back yard. I knew it was bad when I found myself huddled in a closet, shaking, tears running down my face.

That response is what happens when the brain has had enough and is done. I stayed there in the closet... it was the only place in the entire house where the sound was a teeny bit less. Eventually they finished and used the leaf blower to clean up.

I just wanted them to leave.

Don't get me wrong -- these guys were amazing at how they dropped that huge tree exactly where they planned to. They were unbelievably good and just doing what had to be done. So this story is no reflection on them ... it's just a story about how Lyme crashes can be really horrible even when you try your best to help yourself.

They eventually left after doing a fantastic job and cleaning up after themselves. I crawled out of the closet and slowly made my way up stairs to lay down. My legs were shaking so badly... my hands felt "furry" and all my limbs were sore and prickly. Vision in my right eye was blurry and super sensitive in spots. My feet and legs had "burning cold spots" all over them. When I tried to lay down and tried to sleep, my legs would shake every few minutes, keeping me awake. My mind was foggy and I could not get to any clear thoughts.

And worst of all, the tears still came.