As a U.S. citizen, I have no idea how I even got care at that hospital. Maybe we paid cash. Maybe travel insurance kicked in. I can’t remember.

What I do remember is the “preexisting conditions” question on the form. I wrote: Lyme, ehrlichiosis, and babesiosis.

The young blonde ER doc struggled to read two out of three aloud from her clipboard.

*Fuck me,* I thought.

There is something about feeling like you might die that can really push you to start living…

This is where the story changes voice.

Because this horse girl isn’t the same one who leaned her forehead against those iron bars.

I’m older now. I’ve had time to look back and see things a little more clearly, and I’m still sorting through what it all means.

And I have a few things I want to say—straight to you.

Vertigo, relentless rain, and saying good-bye.

Derek Lynch circles back into my life...Just in time.

Jennifer's farm and my new found family.

Freshly sick with Lyme and two other, tick-borne illnesses, babesiosis and ehrlichiosis, it was the end of May 2000. 

Why I ended up in New York.

Until I was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2000, I didn't know much about chronic illness.

Welcome to season eight of Horses & Humans with Cait Lynch.

Think of this season as a memoir in progress. I am sharing about my life with horses that taught me everything, the dogs who kept me sane, the humans who became family, and navigating a Lyme disease diagnosis that changed it all.