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Emma's vital medical expenses

Hi  there,

My name is Gareth and the lady above is my beautiful wife Emma. This is a baffling story so please bear with me. Without going into too much detail, this is what has happened so far...

Just over a year ago Emma suddenly started collapsing regularly which lead to regular hospital visits. The GPs and consultants knew there was something wrong but could not  pinpoint the problem. In the space of just a few months she was completely bedbound. Confused, weak and in considerable pain, unable to walk for more than a few steps, requiring  a wheelchair for anything more.  After a very frustrating year liasing with countless people in the medical profession we finally discovered that Emma had late stage Lyme Disease. Late stage because we believe that this has been an underlying problem for ten years now which was initially diagnosed as M.E.

After our initial excitement of finally receiving a diagnosis as something to work with, we were then stumped again with the discovery that the U.K. have a programme that is insufficient in regards to researching and treating patients with Chronic Lyme Disease. Emma was offered ten days of antibiotics which did nothing aside from making her violently ill. We were then informed by these same people that their hands were tied and they could not give Emma anymore antibiotics, offering not a solution or cure but a management plan for her pain. This was not good enough, band aid solutions never are.

Emma’s immune system, digestive and central nervous system are under constant attack. Her autonomic nervous system does not function properly which makes it virtually impossible for Emma to sit or stand for long at all as it causes dysautonomia.  She has been reduced to living a horizontal life lying in bed for twenty three hours a day as it is all she can do to get some relief.

After a lot of research done on our own time, initiative and necessity, it is clear that we need to urgently get Emma onto some 'IV' antibiotics. This can only happen if we go to a clinic overseas. Due to the severity of her condition we need to go for a six to twelve month period of intensive treatment which includes consultations, fitted IV line, injections, constant blood tests, IV nutrients and possible infection control due to her chronically suppressed immune system. We have looked at all the doctors worldwide and found that Washington DC is our number one choice as the clinic there fits her requirements best, though she is unfit to fly at present,  so a second option is a clinic in Germany.

We want to get Emma started as soon as possible but the soonest we can get to Washington is in April. In the time being we are having expensive IV treatment privately with a GP but this will only last so long as he is only allowed to perform so many.

We will be taking Emma to see Dr. Jemsek in Washington who has achieved fantastic results with late stage Lyme patients so we remain hopeful.

I cannot say much more other than we all want our  beautiful Emma back. It is frustrating being batted around constantly on the NHS, getting nowhere when it is clear to see she has Lyme. It breaks my heart to see this kind, bubbly person fighting to just exist day to day, denied all quality of life. It is serious now.

So this is the position we find ourselves in - asking people for money. It is not like us to do this as we are fiercely independant but on this occasion, for Emma, it could be a life saver. If you could donate something however small, we would be immensely grateful for your empathy and support.

Lets do this for Emma as she and her family have been through the mill more than once.

Thank you sincerely x

For more information on Lyme Disease please visit:
http://www.ilads.org/

Organizer

Emma Dolan Horlock
Organizer

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