Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls posted this photo on her blog to shout out to fan about her battle with Lyme Disease. (Photo: Amanda Palmer)
Palmer, 39, was hospitalized at Miles Memorial Hospital, in Damariscotta, MA, on July 18.
She was treated for the debilitating affliction, which is carried and transmitted by the bite of deer ticks.
Early symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a signature skin rash called “erythema migrans,” according to the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
If left untreated, the infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system and cause permanent damage.
whoa nasty !!!!!! RT @StuartForbes1 To show solidarity with @amandapalmer here's my Lyme disease rash from last year. pic.twitter.com/15NsYF6Cd9
— Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer) July 24, 2015
Treatment in early stages of the disease involves an aggressive regimen of antibiotics and usually results in complete recovery, according to the CDC. In a small percentage of cases, these symptoms can last for more than six months.
Palmer’s situation was complicated because she is seven months pregnant. Fortunately, her baby is unharmed, she said. She’s married to British author Neil Gaiman.
“on friday night (July 17), i sweated through the sheets and moaned and groaned with a chill so bad I had to ask neil to wrap my feet, which were like ice blocks, in a hot washcloth.
“then my icy feet would turn to burning logs, and I had to ask neil to put a cold washcloth on them to cool them down. i was delirious,” she added.
She was discharged from the hospital July 21, still suffering lingering effects from the disease.
Writing on her blog, she called the performance the “gig of a lifetime,” and said she was “pretty fucking sad” about canceling it.
She wrote:
“i was really, really, really, REALLY looking forward to opening for morrissey. the gig of a lifetime, basically, and if you know me, you know why… i made the call yesterday. i can’t do the gig. it’d be ridiculous. i can barely get out of bed, i don’t know how i’d get on a plane… so i am doing the Totally Adult Thing. i’m canceling the morrissey gig, i’m staying in bed, and while i’m pretty f**king sad about it, it’s also a no-brainer.”
She also revealed that Morrissey had sent her get-well wishes.
Palmer, who sings lead vocals and plays piano, harmonica and ukulele, formed the Dresden Dolls in 2000 with Brian Viglione, who sings and plays drums, percussion, guitar and bass guitar.
The duo was instrumental in launching “dark cabaret,” as a music genre.
The performance art draws on the decadent, risqué German Weimar-era cabarets of the 1930s for inspiration. It mixes burlesque and vaudeville with post-1970s goth and punk music, according to one popular history.
Palmer and Viglione have described their music as “Brechtian punk cabaret,” by shy away from the term “goth.” Bertolt Brecht was an early 20th century German poet, playwright, and theater director.
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