Andrea Still Smiles- Help Her Fight Lyme Disease
Donation protected
I’ll tell you this story the way it came to me, with lots of ups and downs and intensity. I am grateful that I am functional enough to share a little about my experience with you now. A part of me wants to be seen and heard, and a part of me wants to just pretend this isn’t happening. But now it seems I’ve run out of options, and there’s no time like the present. So here’s to facing my fears. I’ll start by saying to you with all the sincerity I have: I am suffering and I need help.
I have Lyme disease, but some days it definitely has me. I was bit by a tick while living in Portland, Oregon in 2015. Living in the Bay Area has reminded me of what my life was like before the bite. I graduated from UCSC in Art and Community Studies. I lived a super active lifestyle and I got to be of service working in the nonprofit sector. I got to do all the things I love like ride my bike, hike, learn, make things with my hands, cook. I satisfied my wanderlust through travel and backpacking in the vastness of the outdoors, my life was free spirited and nomadic. Things were simple. I am in love with nature, and at times getting mysterious bites comes with the territory. This bite was no different, I thought. Because of the severity and unpredictable nature of my symptoms, I have been unable to work and live a normal life since 2017. Now, it seems like I’m living my life in quotations. Like so many other people with Lyme I was misdiagnosed. I spent almost 3 years being sent from one specialist to another, and endured countless ER visits and the fear of the unknown. The gnarliest point being when all 79 pounds of me wondered if I had a disease that would end my life at 27 years old.
In 2018 after making it through what felt like another lifetime, I found my way to a functional medicine MD. There I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease, Mold Toxicity, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and a whole slew of related complications. All of which seemed to have stemmed from this giant disease tree that grew in my body. Just when I think I got it figured out, I get my ass kicked. Hard. On bad days I am rendered incapacitated, since the disease affects the central nervous system and heart among many other things. So I get these episodes… Where I lose the ability to speak, walk, breathe fully, swallow normally, and lose some of my cognitive functions. My extremities cramp up like they’ve been starved of oxygen. I get uncontrollable spasms, heart palpitations, Bell’s palsy, nausea, the works… It’s like, if you can imagine sitting on a hillside watching a massive power outage- grid by grid, things go dark. Memory Lane has been a bumpy one these past few years. From me getting hauled away on a stretcher while having one of these episodes (a great way to meet all my new neighbors). Or that one time getting medievally tortured by the neurologist to check for nerve damage. If I get to leave the house, every single time I wonder if a particular tsunami of symptoms is going to wash me away. Is it gonna happen when I’m driving? Or eating? Or trying to buy groceries? Or maybe it wont happen today…
I have good days too- unfortunately I deal with a range of symptoms everyday, but a good day will leave the super scary ones out. Where there are enough things working right in my body, so I can push through the things that aren’t. On good days colors are brighter, the air just feels sweeter. The tiniest things bring me immense joy. It had been such a privilege to live in a body where an infinite amount of things work right everyday. This I took for granted, but what I’ve learned is that our bodies carry an innate intelligence to heal and that medicine takes so many different forms.
There is no magic bullet with Lyme, but I was lucky enough to find a treatment called Ozone Therapy. Basically a form of dialysis, it kills off the disease while serving as an immune modulator so that my body begins to fight things off too. I remember beginning treatment that same day I was diagnosed, and feeling relief for the first time in years. But here’s the catch: I can no longer afford it. Without getting regular treatment I am having more severe episodes again and seeing a real decline in the progress that I’ve made.
Trying to come up with a dollar amount for this seemed like an impossible task. When I was getting ozone regularly on average I would spend $1,100 per week. Not including the cost of alternative therapies and the 22 different supplements I am on. None of which is covered by insurance. Nothing. Not even the doctor’s office visits. This isn’t sustainable. I’m grateful to my parents for hanging in there for as long as they have, and for family members who have reached out to put a safe roof over my head. It pains me to say that even with this support, that it isn’t enough to cover the cost of living with Lyme. All I can do now is ask for help with projected costs for the foreseeable future, and 3 years was as far as I got.
With your contribution I can afford:
-Ozone therapy: $64,800
-Doctors visits and labs: $19,650
-Alternative and detox therapies: $27,360
-Hiring a caregiver: $32,256
-Supplements and an in-home ozone machine: $10,830
-Living expenses for one year: $18,000
With help, there is hope. I don’t know how long it will take for me to get better. The closest thing I got to a prognosis was “Years, its gonna take years for you to get better” and “everyone is different”. This illness has been my greatest teacher and these lessons have been humbling. I am humbled. Anything will help at this point even if your contribution is helping me get the word out. I am profoundly grateful for your contribution, sending me good vibes, your energy in getting this out there, or for just reading. I have a feeling everything’s gonna be alright. Love, light, and health to you.
With Gratitude,
Andrea
I have Lyme disease, but some days it definitely has me. I was bit by a tick while living in Portland, Oregon in 2015. Living in the Bay Area has reminded me of what my life was like before the bite. I graduated from UCSC in Art and Community Studies. I lived a super active lifestyle and I got to be of service working in the nonprofit sector. I got to do all the things I love like ride my bike, hike, learn, make things with my hands, cook. I satisfied my wanderlust through travel and backpacking in the vastness of the outdoors, my life was free spirited and nomadic. Things were simple. I am in love with nature, and at times getting mysterious bites comes with the territory. This bite was no different, I thought. Because of the severity and unpredictable nature of my symptoms, I have been unable to work and live a normal life since 2017. Now, it seems like I’m living my life in quotations. Like so many other people with Lyme I was misdiagnosed. I spent almost 3 years being sent from one specialist to another, and endured countless ER visits and the fear of the unknown. The gnarliest point being when all 79 pounds of me wondered if I had a disease that would end my life at 27 years old.
In 2018 after making it through what felt like another lifetime, I found my way to a functional medicine MD. There I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease, Mold Toxicity, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and a whole slew of related complications. All of which seemed to have stemmed from this giant disease tree that grew in my body. Just when I think I got it figured out, I get my ass kicked. Hard. On bad days I am rendered incapacitated, since the disease affects the central nervous system and heart among many other things. So I get these episodes… Where I lose the ability to speak, walk, breathe fully, swallow normally, and lose some of my cognitive functions. My extremities cramp up like they’ve been starved of oxygen. I get uncontrollable spasms, heart palpitations, Bell’s palsy, nausea, the works… It’s like, if you can imagine sitting on a hillside watching a massive power outage- grid by grid, things go dark. Memory Lane has been a bumpy one these past few years. From me getting hauled away on a stretcher while having one of these episodes (a great way to meet all my new neighbors). Or that one time getting medievally tortured by the neurologist to check for nerve damage. If I get to leave the house, every single time I wonder if a particular tsunami of symptoms is going to wash me away. Is it gonna happen when I’m driving? Or eating? Or trying to buy groceries? Or maybe it wont happen today…
I have good days too- unfortunately I deal with a range of symptoms everyday, but a good day will leave the super scary ones out. Where there are enough things working right in my body, so I can push through the things that aren’t. On good days colors are brighter, the air just feels sweeter. The tiniest things bring me immense joy. It had been such a privilege to live in a body where an infinite amount of things work right everyday. This I took for granted, but what I’ve learned is that our bodies carry an innate intelligence to heal and that medicine takes so many different forms.
There is no magic bullet with Lyme, but I was lucky enough to find a treatment called Ozone Therapy. Basically a form of dialysis, it kills off the disease while serving as an immune modulator so that my body begins to fight things off too. I remember beginning treatment that same day I was diagnosed, and feeling relief for the first time in years. But here’s the catch: I can no longer afford it. Without getting regular treatment I am having more severe episodes again and seeing a real decline in the progress that I’ve made.
Trying to come up with a dollar amount for this seemed like an impossible task. When I was getting ozone regularly on average I would spend $1,100 per week. Not including the cost of alternative therapies and the 22 different supplements I am on. None of which is covered by insurance. Nothing. Not even the doctor’s office visits. This isn’t sustainable. I’m grateful to my parents for hanging in there for as long as they have, and for family members who have reached out to put a safe roof over my head. It pains me to say that even with this support, that it isn’t enough to cover the cost of living with Lyme. All I can do now is ask for help with projected costs for the foreseeable future, and 3 years was as far as I got.
With your contribution I can afford:
-Ozone therapy: $64,800
-Doctors visits and labs: $19,650
-Alternative and detox therapies: $27,360
-Hiring a caregiver: $32,256
-Supplements and an in-home ozone machine: $10,830
-Living expenses for one year: $18,000
With help, there is hope. I don’t know how long it will take for me to get better. The closest thing I got to a prognosis was “Years, its gonna take years for you to get better” and “everyone is different”. This illness has been my greatest teacher and these lessons have been humbling. I am humbled. Anything will help at this point even if your contribution is helping me get the word out. I am profoundly grateful for your contribution, sending me good vibes, your energy in getting this out there, or for just reading. I have a feeling everything’s gonna be alright. Love, light, and health to you.
With Gratitude,
Andrea
Fundraising team (8)
Andrea Baiz-Escobedo
Organizer
San Jose, CA
Sylvia Baiz
Team member
Sarah Frolich
Team member
Yvette Cabrera
Team member
Edo Escobedo
Team member
