disabled mom of 2 raising money for late stage lyme disease treatment

**MY GOAL IS SET AT $11,017.07 ONLY BECAUSE I AM UNSURE OF 
AN EXACT AMOUNT MY TREATMENT WILL COST AND HOW MANY YEARS
IT WILL TAKE SO I CHOSE MY WEDDING DATE, 11/17/07 <3 MY 
FAVORITE DATE EVER, FOR THE GOAL AMOUNT**
My name is Tara Gerencser. I am a 31 year old mother of two boys. Anthony 7 and 
Trey 12. I have an amazing husband, Eric, I've been married to for almost five 
years. We've been together for close to a decade. I suffer from chronic Lyme 
disease. I am officially diagnosed with Stage III Lyme disease, the final stage 
of a parasitic invasion of the brain and central nervous system. The effects and 
treatment of the disease"”both controversial and invasive"”render patients nearly 
immobile due to pain and side-effects.  In November of 2007 (27 years old) I 
became violently ill with what I thought was the flu. Weeks went by. I never got 
better, I just got worse. It seemed my whole body was being effected and 
shutting down. I visited my family dr. She had no idea what was wrong with me. 
So the tests started... Blood tests (I'm talking veils and veils of blood), cat 
scans, xrays, MRI of my brain... Then I was referred to specialists. From a 
neurologist to a cardiologist to an ear nose and throat doctor. They were 
looking for ANY answer as to why I was so sick. During the first THREE years of 
being sick I spent all my time bed ridden or confined to the couch. I was only 
27 yet unable to bathe and go to the bathroom without my husbands assistance. He 
struggled with work, taking care of our young children and watching the one he 
loves slowly dying with no answer as to why.
At the time of getting sick I had no medical coverage. The er visits, dr visits, 
tests and medication bills were piled up. We decided to quickly get married so I 
could have medical coverage. I couldn't physically do a thing. My wedding dress 
was a cheap dress my mother picked up for me at a local mall. My wedding band 
was a $20 Walmart ring that now has tarnished and turns my finger green. My 
priest was amazing and agreed to marry us with three days notice. We only 
allowed a few close family members to attend. Standing at the alter in front of 
my soulmate was a task. I couldn't wait to say I do and be carried back to my 
bed. Speaking of this now makes me want to break down. I've dreamed of my 
wedding day since I was a little girl. I've been engaged to Eric for four years 
insisting I wanted to wait so I could plan the perfect wedding day. And here I 
was quickly saying I do to the man I love so I could have medical insurance. We 
didn't even have a honeymoon. I was barely able to walk and talk let alone 
travel. 
As the years went by I became sicker and sicker. The illness that had started as 
what I thought was the flu has now taken over my body. My organs are now seeming 
to be effected. Including my heart and my brain. I spent hours in drs offices 
and thousands of dollars with still no answer. Two months on heart monitors at 
home. Finally one of the neurologists I was seeing  diagnosed me with what he 
thought was Ms. I went a year with the Ms diagnosis before demanding another 
Lyme test done. This would be my fifth Lyme test. The others came back negative. 
This blood test was sent away to Igenex labs. A lab that specializes in Lyme 
testing. Their tests are always accurate. The results came back a few weeks 
later and I had my answer... I am positive for Lyme disease. Keep in mind a year 
had gone by undiagnosed. Giving the Lyme time to attack my whole body.  Where do 
I go from here? I spent a few months seeing an infectious disease dr with no 
relief at all. He basically said I was "crazy". So these heart palpitations I'm 
experiencing and the muscles moving in my legs on their own is me being crazy? 
I decided to roam the Internet. I came across a lyme support group in a nearby 
town. I called the founder of the support group for help. She mentioned the dr 
who treated her and was amazing. His name was dr bach in hamburg pa. I made an 
appointment. It was nearly a months wait to be seen. The drive to his office  
was over an hour away. Seeing him was an all day affair. I'd nearly wait five 
hours AFTER my appointment time to be seen. He had patients travel from Canada 
to see him. He also was a presidential medical advisor. He found I started with 
signs of bells palsy in my face, that I was months away from being in a wheel 
chair, I had MANY other tick borne diseases NOT just Lyme, I had heart 
complications... The list goes on and on. Dr. Bach gave me antibiotic injections 
in my butt, oral antibiotics and shots in the back of my head to relieve 
constant all day migraines. He did not take medical insurance. Most llmd's don't 
in fear of losing their lisence. This is why we keep llmds names confidential  
to prevent this from happening. If you'd like my drs info I would be more than 
happy to share it with you. Each one of his visits cost me $1,000 and up plus 
prescriptions to be filled. I could only afford to see him for three months. 
Financially I could not afford it. We had lost two cars, house was on 
foreclosure and could barely afford to feed my family. I had to borrow $50 a 
week from my grandmother to buy food to feed my family of four. 
It's been a year or so since I've seen dr Bach. I now just sit here praying for 
a miracle. Everyday I cry. Everyday I suffer. Everyday my body dies a little 
more. 
I fought for years for disability. Finally after two "no"'s and an appeal my 
lawyer got me a court date and I am officially disabled by the state of Pa. 
It has been a VERY hard five years. Each day I come closer to giving up. How 
fair is it to my husband to have a disabled wife? How fair is it for my children 
to have a mother like me? 
I just want to be able to see an llmd and get healthy again. There are a few 
llmd's all over an hour away and ALL who do not take insurance. I was thinking 
of throwing a fundraiser for myself  to help get medical treatment I have no 
clue where to begin, how to do it or if I'm even able to physically do it being 
I'm disabled and most days unable to do much of anything. Writing this now as I 
lay on my couch, I know it's possible. I just need help. 
I can deal with the constant migrating pain, the rashes, lumps, and hair loss. I 
can deal with the profound fatigue, arthritis and myalgia, the weakness and the 
heart palpitations. I can handle the speech difficulties and cognitive dullness, 
the memory lapses and the hallucinations. I can handle the depression and 
anxiety, the fever and chills. I'm used to the shaking, the swaying, the 
difficulty walking and standing, the dizziness, the head pressure. I'm used to 
taking 30 pills a day, staying away from gluten and sugar, and knowing that this 
disease is not fully curable... But it's heart breaking to know there is relief 
but I just can't "afford" it. 
As I said before the Lyme effected my brain so I'm sorry for rambling, 
misspelling and possibly not making sense. This actually took me an hour to 
write...
Lyme disease is an epidemic larger than aids. People like myself are dying. I am 
so scared and have nowhere else to turn for help. My body and my mind are 
starting to give up. I can't leave my husband without a wife and my children 
with no mother but it's been years with no treatment and I'm losing hope...

Thank you so very much for taking time out of your day to read this and possibly 
giving me the help I so desperately need. God bless you!
If you or know of someone who can help me medically/financially or even someone 
I can speak with about Lyme disease please contact me or pass on my contact 
information. I don't know where to turn. I need help. 
 
  
Taragerencser@aol.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/tarastackhousegerencser