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Treating Karyn Devinney's Lyme Disease!

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My sister Karyn has always been my hero and my best friend. I always looked up at her with wide eyes taking in everything she did, and using her to mold who I wanted to be. The last time I remember ever seeing my sister healthy was my sophomore year of high school. We were playing doubles tennis at the school and everything was perfect. The very next morning my mom woke me up crying telling me that something was wrong with Karyn and they were taking her to the hospital. When I asked her if my sister was going to be okay, she told me she didn't know and some how I knew this was going to be a long struggle. It turned out Karyn had a severe case of vertigo. At this point in time the doctors at Duke hospitals diagnosed her with vertigo and nothing else, but really this was the first time Lyme's Disease launched a severe attack on her body. It wasn't long after this that Lyme's Disease first came to our attention. We sent off the blood work to be tested for Lyme and it came back negative. Because of that test we never looked back at the idea of Lyme, instead we kept hunting for answers of why Karyn was so sick.
In the months and years that followed Karyn continually got sicker. She visited some of the best medical facilities in the country, including both Mayo Clinics and John Hopkins. Doctor's told her it was just vertigo or Lupus or Ehler's Danlos Syndrome; but none of the diagnoses ever matched her symptoms completely. Karyn was getting alarmingly sicker and eventually our parents had to move so that they were closer to her and could help take care of her. From there on out the escalation of the disease was alarming and all of her family began to really fear what was going to happen next.
A year ago, in October, I was visiting my sister and we were getting things ready for our annual Halloween party. That night after we went to bed my sister woke me up clinching her chest telling me that I needed to call Mom, because she needed to go to the hospital. One ambulance trip later and many hours in the hospital she was sent home again with no answers of what was happening to her. She had been to so many doctors so often that the doctors she visited just came to believe that everything she felt was psychosomatic.

It wasn't until this year that Lyme's Disease was brought to our attention again. We learned that the test she took all those years ago was inaccurate. We went to a Lyme specialist who claimed that Karyn was a very classic case of Lyme's Disease. From this point on things seemed to move so quickly. Karyn was quickly diagnosed with Lyme's Disease and put on antibiotics. At this point Karyn is on IV antibiotics about seven hours a day six days a week. Because Lyme's Disease is not recognized in North Carolina, insurance is refusing to pay for anything involving Lyme. Just the antibiotics themselves are around $3500 a month, and this is not including doctor's appointments, the home nurse or physical therapy. This is why we are calling on the community's help. We have not had any hope of Karyn getting better since she got sick all those years ago. This treatment can save her life in more than one way; it can keep her alive and re-gift her the right to do anything she wants with her life. Thank you so much for taking the time to read her story, and please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.


The Treatment is Working!

UPDATE 11/18/2013: Karyn is getting less migraines and can officially read large print books


UPDATE 11/21/2013:Karyn was actually able to make cookies yesterday for the first time in a while! But the medicine she is taking is making it hard to sleep so please keep her in your thoughts.
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Donations 

  • David Misenheimer
    • $88 
    • 10 yrs
  • Community Against Lyme Fundraiser
    • $3,835 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
  • Susan Mayer
    • $40 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
  • Frank Cole
    • $50 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
  • New Salem Church Women of the Church
    • $500 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
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Organizer

Jennifer Devinney
Organizer
Siler City, NC

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