Chronic Lyme Disease Treatment
Donation protected
There is nothing stronger than a mother’s love…and the love I feel for my son is no different. My son is suffering. I did not want to write this very painful and personal story, but my son is very sick. I finally realized that NOT reaching out for assistance might actually seal my son’s fate as well as change the outcome of my family’s future. As a mother, I am appealing to you because I am out of resources and have exhausted every avenue looking for financial help.
My son has Chronic Lyme Disease, which is caused by a tick bite. It’s an insidious disease that continues to spread its bacteria throughout the body - especially the organs.
To be clear, most people bitten NEVER develop any symptoms, such as the much talked about “bullseye”. Most don’t have a clue that they’re carrying the bacteria until it has an irreversible foothold in the body. By the time a diagnosis is made, you’re already very sick. It mimics many diseases, such as Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis, causing confusion for the patient and making a diagnosis very difficult. To make matters worse, the bacteria morphs, causing ever-changing symptoms in different parts of an already battle-weary body.
In addition to doing countless hours of research on the Internet, we have traveled to Atlanta, Pennsylvania, Charlotte and Charleston looking for answers and help. After exhausting family funds, we’ve found there is NO insurance assisted scientific protocol in place to effectively treat Chronic Lyme Disease. “Traditional” doctors are still arguing about a standard treatment for a disease that has no standard laundry list of symptoms. There is no standardized testing to measure what treatment is or is not working. The only relief my son has had was through treatment from non-traditional Lyme literate doctors. Here’s the clincher; he has private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, but due to “medical guidelines”, the doctors who can actually help him are refused by all of the medical insurance providers – leaving my son and all other Lyme victims to pay out of pocket for their treatment. This works for a little while until the money runs out. At this writing, our family is officially out of money.
During my research journey, I’ve heard numerous heartbreaking stories from families who have lost everything trying to save their own loved one’s lives. One of the most invaluable resources for explaining the controversy of treating this illness and shedding light on the refusal of insurance companies to assist in the funding of effective and groundbreaking treatments is www.Jemsekspecialty.com. It is the informational website of Dr. Joseph Jemsek, an Infectious Disease Specialist. His practice, located in Washington, D.C. specializes in the clinical research of Lyme Borreliosis. To learn more, please google “Under Our Skin –Lyme Disease” to find a very informative and enlightening video. It underscores the fact that there are a lot of doctors who have treatments that work. But their efforts are futile since insurance companies won’t help patients pay for these much-needed treatments.
At this point, our pockets are empty and our hearts are troubled. I have worked since I was 15 and have always paid my way and my children’s way. It has been crushing to learn private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid will not help. They will not cover non-traditional treatments that DO help, but they WILL cover traditional treatments that do absolutely nothing.
I have seen my son’s weight plummet to 120 pounds, then skyrocket to 210 pounds -mostly fluid. I watched as he sought help from doctor after doctor- only to be dismissed. My son has prayed for death. He doesn’t want others to witness his suffering. After being diagnosed, his biggest fear was that it would travel to his brain. He was terrified that he would be remembered as a mad man. The horrible truth is that it HAS moved to his brain and is slowly stripping him of his dignity. He has lost his driver’s license, rarely leaves the house, can’t remember where he is, at times and generally lives in a world of fear and confusion. During episodes when he is weak, rolled up in a ball moaning in pain or unable to speak, he doesn’t want his children to see him. He’s fearful that his illness will scare them and he doesn’t want them to remember him that way. His children, my grandchildren, just want their father back.
After extensive research, I’ve located a treatment center that might be able to save him from the toxins and biofilm accumulating in his brain. The facility is the first to utilize a PET scan to monitor brain activity. During treatment, patients are monitored on a daily basis. Results and progress are measured. If there is no improvement, the treatment method is adjusted. Because the treatments are deemed “non-traditional” even though they have chronicled great results, no insurance will cover the cost of treatment.
As a Mom, of course I want to do everything I can to give my son a chance to have quality of life. I need to find a way to alleviate his chronic pain and give him a reason to HOPE. As I said earlier, this is bigger than me and I am pleading for your financial support so that we can get him into treatment.
If I can get him to this facility, I will update his progress and post results in order to give others hope. If permanent damage has already resulted due to our inability to fund “controversial” treatments that were effective before our money was depleted, at least I will know I did my very best to help him. Either way, I will make it my mission to become proactive in telling our story in the hope that regulations will be changed, forcing insurance companies to cover a broader range of treatment alternatives for Chronic Lyme Disease.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your consideration. I pray that anyone reading this will never have to write a letter like this one. To write such a letter, you have already realized you’ve run out of options. Many, many thanks for reading this and for any help you can provide.
My son has Chronic Lyme Disease, which is caused by a tick bite. It’s an insidious disease that continues to spread its bacteria throughout the body - especially the organs.
To be clear, most people bitten NEVER develop any symptoms, such as the much talked about “bullseye”. Most don’t have a clue that they’re carrying the bacteria until it has an irreversible foothold in the body. By the time a diagnosis is made, you’re already very sick. It mimics many diseases, such as Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis, causing confusion for the patient and making a diagnosis very difficult. To make matters worse, the bacteria morphs, causing ever-changing symptoms in different parts of an already battle-weary body.
In addition to doing countless hours of research on the Internet, we have traveled to Atlanta, Pennsylvania, Charlotte and Charleston looking for answers and help. After exhausting family funds, we’ve found there is NO insurance assisted scientific protocol in place to effectively treat Chronic Lyme Disease. “Traditional” doctors are still arguing about a standard treatment for a disease that has no standard laundry list of symptoms. There is no standardized testing to measure what treatment is or is not working. The only relief my son has had was through treatment from non-traditional Lyme literate doctors. Here’s the clincher; he has private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, but due to “medical guidelines”, the doctors who can actually help him are refused by all of the medical insurance providers – leaving my son and all other Lyme victims to pay out of pocket for their treatment. This works for a little while until the money runs out. At this writing, our family is officially out of money.
During my research journey, I’ve heard numerous heartbreaking stories from families who have lost everything trying to save their own loved one’s lives. One of the most invaluable resources for explaining the controversy of treating this illness and shedding light on the refusal of insurance companies to assist in the funding of effective and groundbreaking treatments is www.Jemsekspecialty.com. It is the informational website of Dr. Joseph Jemsek, an Infectious Disease Specialist. His practice, located in Washington, D.C. specializes in the clinical research of Lyme Borreliosis. To learn more, please google “Under Our Skin –Lyme Disease” to find a very informative and enlightening video. It underscores the fact that there are a lot of doctors who have treatments that work. But their efforts are futile since insurance companies won’t help patients pay for these much-needed treatments.
At this point, our pockets are empty and our hearts are troubled. I have worked since I was 15 and have always paid my way and my children’s way. It has been crushing to learn private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid will not help. They will not cover non-traditional treatments that DO help, but they WILL cover traditional treatments that do absolutely nothing.
I have seen my son’s weight plummet to 120 pounds, then skyrocket to 210 pounds -mostly fluid. I watched as he sought help from doctor after doctor- only to be dismissed. My son has prayed for death. He doesn’t want others to witness his suffering. After being diagnosed, his biggest fear was that it would travel to his brain. He was terrified that he would be remembered as a mad man. The horrible truth is that it HAS moved to his brain and is slowly stripping him of his dignity. He has lost his driver’s license, rarely leaves the house, can’t remember where he is, at times and generally lives in a world of fear and confusion. During episodes when he is weak, rolled up in a ball moaning in pain or unable to speak, he doesn’t want his children to see him. He’s fearful that his illness will scare them and he doesn’t want them to remember him that way. His children, my grandchildren, just want their father back.
After extensive research, I’ve located a treatment center that might be able to save him from the toxins and biofilm accumulating in his brain. The facility is the first to utilize a PET scan to monitor brain activity. During treatment, patients are monitored on a daily basis. Results and progress are measured. If there is no improvement, the treatment method is adjusted. Because the treatments are deemed “non-traditional” even though they have chronicled great results, no insurance will cover the cost of treatment.
As a Mom, of course I want to do everything I can to give my son a chance to have quality of life. I need to find a way to alleviate his chronic pain and give him a reason to HOPE. As I said earlier, this is bigger than me and I am pleading for your financial support so that we can get him into treatment.
If I can get him to this facility, I will update his progress and post results in order to give others hope. If permanent damage has already resulted due to our inability to fund “controversial” treatments that were effective before our money was depleted, at least I will know I did my very best to help him. Either way, I will make it my mission to become proactive in telling our story in the hope that regulations will be changed, forcing insurance companies to cover a broader range of treatment alternatives for Chronic Lyme Disease.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your consideration. I pray that anyone reading this will never have to write a letter like this one. To write such a letter, you have already realized you’ve run out of options. Many, many thanks for reading this and for any help you can provide.
Organizer
Gail Carpenter Abernathy
Organizer
Belmont, NC
