Nicole Bell - What Lurks in the Woods: Struggle and Hope in the Midst of Chronic Illness

Nicole Bells book, What Lurks in the Woods, is a personal journey; raw, real, and heartfelt. If we all knew what Nicole describes in her book, Alzheimers could be a much less common disease. For anyone with a family member with cognitive decline or risk for decline, this book provides a kindred spirit of support and knowledge. I recommend it highly.

Dr. Dale Bredesen, MD, Professor,
Author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Alzheimers

This book is a private window into the pain and destruction caused by chronic illness. Nicole Bells passion for finding the root cause of her husbands illness is awe-inspiring, and those suffering from medical mysteries will learn much from her journey. What Lurks in the Woods is a powerful story that will reframe your view of modern medicine.

Dana Parish, co-author of the best-selling book, Chronic,
Sony Music singer/songwriter

What Lurks in the Woods is a raw and wrenching memoir that will jolt you out of the fairy tale that doctors have it all figured out. Spoiler alertwe dont. But real answers start with the right questions, and Nicole Bell asks them in abundance. May her tragic journey of discovery help others to find their way.

Dr. Steven Phillips, MD,
Co-author of the best-selling book, Chronic

In this courageous memoir, Nicole Bell describes her beloved husbands descent into early dementia and the cruel realization that his disease was fueled by a mix of undiagnosed tick-borne diseases. This riveting narrative is a must-read for caregivers of mentally ill loved ones who are searching for answers in the face of a medical system unwilling to seriously explore the links between microbes and mental illness.

Kris Newby, science writer,
Author of BITTEN: The Secret History of
Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons

What Lurks in the Woods is a powerful example of a real-life hardship caused by the trials and travels of tick-borne illness. Nicole Bell artfully captures the painful emotions, confusion, and heartache that permeate patients and their families. The story is captivating, and the vivid detail brought me into the room through every twist and turn. Bell also highlights the incompleteness of traditional medical treatment and encourages those on a similar journey to reject the typical rhetoric that there is no hope. Anyone dealing with chronic illness will connect with this book.

Dr. Chris Turnpaugh, MD,
President and Founder of Turnpaugh Health and Wellness Center

What Lurks in the Woods is a captivating story of one familys struggle to make sense of a heart-breaking diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimers disease and the potential role that subclinical infections could have played in the irreversible damage caused over more than a decade. It is a must-read for those investigating the role of infection in chronic disease, including researchers and advocates in the Alzheimers disease and tickborne disease communities. I couldnt put it down!

Dr. Amanda Elam,
CEO and Co-founder of Galaxy Diagnostics, Inc.

This is a heart-wrenching love story and intimate memoir of profound loss at the cruel hands of Alzheimers Disease. Impeccably detailed, this is a wifes journey navigating a complex medical landscape, leveraging her brilliant scientific mind to unveil the origin of her husbands Alzheimers. What Lurks in the Woods calls attention to decades of research suggesting that infectious, immune, and lifestyle factors are all important in the development of this horrific disease. It is a poignant call-to-action for the medical and research communities to develop precise, early strategies for assessing and treating Alzheimers patients.

Nikki Shultek,
Principal and Founder of Intracell Research Group

What Lurks
in the Woods

Struggle and Hope in the
Midst of Chronic Illness
A Memoir

Nicole Bell

Stonebrook Publishing
Saint Louis, Missouri

A STONEBROOK PUBLISHING BOOK

Copyright 2021 Nicole Bell

This book was guided in development and edited by Nancy L. Erickson, The Book Professor
TheBookProfessor.com

What Lurks in the Woods is a work of nonfiction.
Some names and identifying details have been changed.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Stonebrook Publishing, a division of Stonebrook Enterprises, LLC, Saint Louis, Missouri. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without written permission from the author.

Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials
in violation of the authors rights.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021910937

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-955711-01-2

eBook ISBN: 978-1-955711-02-9

www.stonebrookpublishing.net

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

For Ryan and Hailey

Contents

Introduction

Ive always enjoyed writing. Even as a little girl, I overanalyzed the world around me. Conversations and events lingered and looped in my brain as if one more spin would unlock a hidden pattern. Life never provided the order and rules that I sought, but writing helped me discern which truths to hold on to and which to discard.

My high school English teacher once told me that I had a knack for creative fiction. It was a passing conversation more years ago than I care to admit, but it stuck with me because I knew he was wrong. Most of my writing wasnt fiction. The stories that received a coveted 8 on a scale of 15 came from actual events that my eager, pubescent mind struggled to digest. I changed some of the names and took minor liberties along the way, but it was pretty much life as it happened. The quirks and reflections of a middle-class, high school kid with a bit of my snark mixed in. Not Pulitzer Prize-winning, but heartfelt and real.

Eventually, the order and rules that I craved pulled me away from writing and toward engineering. Science and math had formulas and laws that described the world around me. One lecture unlocked the answers to thousands of problems, leaving an exponential impact. I was fascinated. After high school, MIT accepted me into their undergraduate program, and my life as an engineer began.

Years later, my slice of the world seemed perfect. My career thrived in a fast-paced, growing med-tech company, the smartest man Id ever met was my best friend and husband, and I was a mom to two tiny humans who learned new things and amazed me every day. But piece by piece, that perfection crumbled, unearthing a harsh reality. My husband was sick. I followed the rules and paths laid out for me, but they led to more confusion. Root causes were a doctrine in engineering but were elusive in medicine. Without them, my husband sank deeper into his chronic illness.

Once again, thoughts circled, but this time the loops seemed infinite. They hovered over me throughout the night, preventing the rest that made sense of even a simple day. I wish I could say that I returned to writing as a thoughtful decision, but the reality was more desperate. One morning, the pounding treadmill in my head drowned out other rational thoughts. I opened my laptop to see if the loop preferred to run on the page. As it turned out, it did. Day after day, I typed, scribbled, and recorded audio when the words were too hard to face in print. Frantic journal entries poured out of me and helped me cope with the chaos.