Lyme Disease Treatment Fund

Hello,
I want to start by saying I feel weird even asking for help. I have always been blessed with good solid medical care. But this is one battle I won't have it with.
If you are a friend of mine, you probably already know that I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. At first, upon hearing of this diagnosis, I was very relieved. I had suffered for years, most of my adult life, of many bizarre and chonic issues with no answers that seemed to fit.

Some of the issues I have dealt with, starting in my teen years, have been:

Mood swings
Depression that was poorly controlled with medication
Frequent infections
Body aches

As I got into my 20's I started having debilitating issues such as:

Bone pain
Vertigo requiring hospitalization
knee pain
migraine headaches
joint pain
Muscle spasms
Swelling (Edema) in ankles and feet
Bowel Issues
Sleep disturbances
Extreme Fatigue
Chest Pain
Paracarditis (inflamation around the heart)
Menegitis (infection in fluid that is in spinal chord and around brain)
Extreme nerve pain
Numbness in extremities

Many of these symptoms leave me in so much pain I can't even get around and do day to day things on my "bad days".

Untreated, Lyme Disease can cause:

Daily seizures
Vision loss
Hearing Loss
Innability to get around and wheelchair bound
Heart Damage
Brain damage
Spleen rupture
Death from complications


I had many blood tests, scans and x-rays over the years to try to find a disgnosis. Most of the time, my tests were clear. I was told over and over, "I don't know what to diagnose you with as your tests are all clear."

When I would become frustrated with this answer, they would "diagnose" me with everything from fibromyalgia, MS, ALS, to Lupus or they would simply say, "You are just depressed". Just in Januray of this year, I was in the ER with such bad vertigo I had fallen down numerous times and the ER dr was about to discharge me with no answers and I broke down in tears, begging him to listen to me.





It is now getting to the point where I am not having much of a social life, I worry about when I will have a bad day and try to fit in as much as I can on good days. Most of the time, I don't even tell people how much pain I am in because I don't want to be "that guy". Who wants a friend who just moans and groans?

When I was diagosed, to know that I have suffered for so long with something that a blood test could have uncovered, frusterated me greatly.

Now that I am on the road to trying to treat this, I am finding out that my treatment may not be covered by any insurance I currently have. This is due to a lot of reasons, but mostly because the costs can be astronomical and long term and Lyme's in it's later stages like this is complicated to treat and cannot be treated in the way the CDC recomendations state. The CDC recommendations for treating Lyme's say a 3 week course of oral medications is enough. This is only if the person is treated fairly quickly after being bitten, and I was bitten years ago, possibly as a child.

I can't really even give a ball park figure for what I may incure for costs. This is because I don't know exactly how many Drs I will need to go through before I get treatment. Some Drs not not "believe" in Lyme's even though blood tests proove otherwise. Some are afraid to treat it because of potential backlash from insurence companies.





(For more information on why there are so many barriers to care for Lyme disease patients, please watch this documentary, "Under Our Skin".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVzXsKvN2ck)

In the mean time, I am asking that if you feel led to, please donate to my Lyme Treatment Fund.

I will add info about my journey here and the funds will be used for:

Travel Expenses to Doctors
A Biomat for treatment
Lab Tests
Medications
Lost wages for my husband to travel with me so he can advocate and care for me (I am often in so much pain I can't even drive)
Dr visits
Any procedures I may need done (such as a port for medication)
Any medical equipment I may need

God Bless you! No amount is too small. It all helps. Prayers greatly appreciated.