CARROLLWOOD - Catch Cherie Callahan on a ``good brain day'' and she'll tell you the ugly side of her debilitating disease. 

The 51-year-old former pediatric nurse suffers from late- stage neurological lyme disease which causes loss of memory, joint pain and chronic fatigue. A portable intravenous pump sends antibiotics into her blood twice a day. 

She can be shopping at Publix and suddenly not remember where anything is. Or driving downtown and get lost. Or sitting down to type and forget how. 

``It's like having Alzheimer's, but knowing you don't remember and know something is wrong,'' said Callahan, a Tampa resident for more than 20 years. 

While it seems like she's losing her mind, Callahan came close to losing her Carrollwood Village home. 

The Carrollwood Village Homeowners Association filed a lawsuit in September to foreclose on a lien against her home to collect the annual $284 fee for 2003. With attorneys fees and court costs, Callahan owes the association $1,485, she said. 

The association filed lawsuits to foreclose on three other properties this year. 

If the lawsuit had proceeded, her home could be sold at a courthouse public auction. 

Callahan pleaded her hardship to the Carrollwood Village board of directors on Nov. 24. 

``I just think the whole system is flawed,'' she said. ``I don't feel like I was given proper notification at all.'' 

The board decided last week to drop Callahan's foreclosure case and amend its notification process. Callahan paid the dues, while the association's lawyer waived his fees. 

In future cases, a board member will make personal contact with the homeowner, in addition to certified letters, before a foreclosure is sought. 

``We felt that the procedures we had were certainly adequate, but that since we are a neighborhood, that it would be a fine idea to make that personal call. There's no down side,'' said association president Richard Woltmann. 

Property manager Dan Ruskiewicz declined to discuss Callahan's case, calling it ``privileged'' information. 

``All I can tell you is that she's in communication with the board of directors. She owes money to the association. She's received several letters from us and the attorney,'' he said. 

Callahan says she didn't have the money to pay her dues. She had to leave her corporate marketing manager job in April and is battling her insurance company over her long-term disability. 

The association's past-due reminders and certified letters from their attorneys were either forgotten or neglected due to her illness. 

For example, when she went to the post office to claim the certified letter, she couldn't find the substation. 

And after getting a delinquent notice, she called the Greenacre Properties management office to get an extension, but forgot to write the letter. 

She said she hates to use her lyme disease as an excuse, but that is what caused the dues to go unpaid. 

``You can't function in your day-to-day life,'' she said. ``It's almost like you need a caretaker. You just feel like life is falling down around you.'' 

Callahan started having symptoms about five years ago, but the disease went undiagnosed until a year ago. 

The disease hit hard, especially for someone who led an active life. Callahan was a pediatric nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital for seven years. She raised three children and served on the board of a local preschool. 

``I don't remember things well unless I write them down. If the doorbell rings, the dogs bark, and it literally leaves your brain. It's just very scary,'' she said. 

The irony is that Callahan almost lost her house over unpaid dues in 2000. 

She forgot about a foreclosure letter and happened to see it the day her house was to be sold at a public auction. She raced down to the court house and paid the outstanding dues. 

Callahan said if the foreclosure continued, the association would have taken away her only asset. She owns the 17-year-old home on Thornfield Court, which she bought for $153,700 in 1999. 

``My goal is not so much personal as it is just opening up people's eyes,'' she said. ``I think the whole thing is ridiculous.''