Rosemeyris Estrella is personal trainer and health and nutrition coach from Pennsylvania. She grew up and spent most of her adult life residing in the urban New York City borough of The Bronx.

Recently, Ms. Estrella and husband decided to offer their 4 children the opportunity to trade city living for the freedom, fresh air, and open spaces offered in rural Pennsylvania. Shortly after moving to their new home, Ms. Estrella discovered she had suffered a bug bite on her left leg after spending time tending to her garden.

Shortly after the bite, she “got a bulls eye rash” at the bite site. Having “no idea about ticks or Lyme” disease, she did not plan to seek medical intervention until a neighbor told her “to go to the ER” where she was diagnosed with a skin infection. Two months later, she woke up with a swollen leg, radiating pain, and swollen lymph nodes causing her to return to the emergency room where she tested positive for Lyme disease.

Despite taking the prescribed 21 days of antibiotics, her health continued to decline kicking off a “journey of researching and learning… about [chronic illness and Lyme] disease”. Her research taught her that the joint stresses of an extreme fitness regimen and the move to a new community were immunosuppressive resulting in vulnerability and illness.

If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught a fitness and nutrition professional the importance of moderate exercise and stress relief for immune health, then tune in now!

093: The Stockdale Paradox