A Push for Paulie
Donation protected
From a 94 MPH fastball, straight A's and college scholarships to sick, struggling, and hopeless.
Paul Cannarella was nearing the end of his long journey back from Tommy John surgery. He was a star pitcher in high school and had aspirations of playing college baseball and studying for a career in marketing. Paul spent countless hours in the gym to bring his fastball back up to 94 MPH. He had never felt more optimistic about his chances of fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing college ball and interest from college scouts was beginning to pick up. To boot, Paul was a straight "A" student and an engaging young gentleman with a smile that could light up a room. That's a quick snapshot of what life was like for Paul in 2017. Fast forward to January 2020: It’s now been well over a year since Paul has picked up a baseball or had the energy to attend classes with any sort of regularity. This once strong strapping young man is now relegated to a life of bed rest, managing the countless painful and debilitating symptoms from Lyme disease, Bebesia and Bartonella and reflecting what life "should have been". This is the story of Paul Cannarella.
While rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Paul began to notice some weird things occurring with his body. His legs would give out while pitching a baseball. He noticed a loss of muscle tone and he started to lose the hair on his left leg. Soon after that, his symptoms grew to include memory loss, neuropathy, skin discoloration, leg pain, night sweats, fatigue, and many others. What followed was a nightmare that continues to this very day.
Initially, Paul’s search for an answer led him to every type of doctor you could think of. His blood was tested by his General Practitioner, Cardiologists, Rheumatologists, Neurologists, Orthopedics, among many others, but none of them were able to come up with a diagnosis. After hitting dead end after dead end, Paul decided to make an appointment with a Lyme Specialist and ultimately tested positive for Lyme Disease and co-infections Bebesia and Bartonella. Finally!! Finally Paul can start a cycle of antibiotics and begin his road to recovery, right?? Unfortunately, it hasn’t been that easy. The typical protocol for treating Lyme disease consists of a 14 day cycle of highly potent antibiotics. After 9 months of antibiotic treatment, and experimenting with cutting edge trial medications, Paul’s symptoms have worsened. He is desperate to find help and is focusing his sights on nontraditional approaches to getting well.
Our family began to research alternative methods to help Paul get well. We’ve spent countless hours absorbing as much information that we could digest. We scoured the web, listened to podcasts, and met with other patients that had suffered in the same manner as Paul. That research has led us to some very promising therapies that have shown to improve the health and help manage the debilitating symptoms of Lyme and co-infections such as Bebesia and Bartonella. We are in the process of getting him set up with SOT (Supportive Oligonucleotide Technique) treatment in Atlanta, Georgia. SOT is a therapy that has helped many cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, and most importantly for Paul, Lyme patients. Most promising, is that SOT has shown to be successful with treating the co-infections associated with Lyme disease. Once Paul’s SOT treatment is complete, our plan is to move onto Stem Cell Therapy to help heal his body from the years of damage caused by this terrible sickness.
In today’s world, I’ll bet that you know someone who has been directly affected by Lyme disease. Yet somehow, Lyme is understudied and not treated with the urgency that you’d expect from the traditional medical community here in the USA. The FDA and Health Insurance companies barely recognize Lyme as a disease so the insurance coverage for treatment is poor at best. After almost 2.5 years searching for a diagnosis, hundreds of doctor’s visits, and dozens of medications, Paul’s journey taken a huge financial toll on our family, especially our parents. Almost all of Paul’s treatment is out of network and not covered by his insurance. The SOT and Stem Cell Therapy are both not covered under by Paul’s insurance either. With that, our family is asking for your help in raising the funds needed to alleviate the financial stress that this nightmare has caused and to help offset the continued costs of future treatments. If you are not in a position to help financially, the act of sharing this post would be just as helpful to our mission. Our goal for 2020 is to help Paul find relief and a reason to feel optimistic for the first time in several years. This can only be possible with your help. Thank you for reading!
*UPDATE* Hi all, I raised the goal amount. We got Paul's MRI results last night. Unfortunately, Paul has multiple lesions on his brain, as well as two areas of his brain that "the wires are no longer connected" (not working). There is a concern that he may have MS on top of his Lyme and co-infections. He is going to get more tests done: MRI of his spine as well as a Spinal Tap to determine if he also has MS. The Lyme and co-infections are bad enough, and now there is another concern on the table. We are so unbelievably thankful for everyone's generosity and willingness to help Paulie. He is so loved and we're doing everything we can to help him.
Paul Cannarella was nearing the end of his long journey back from Tommy John surgery. He was a star pitcher in high school and had aspirations of playing college baseball and studying for a career in marketing. Paul spent countless hours in the gym to bring his fastball back up to 94 MPH. He had never felt more optimistic about his chances of fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing college ball and interest from college scouts was beginning to pick up. To boot, Paul was a straight "A" student and an engaging young gentleman with a smile that could light up a room. That's a quick snapshot of what life was like for Paul in 2017. Fast forward to January 2020: It’s now been well over a year since Paul has picked up a baseball or had the energy to attend classes with any sort of regularity. This once strong strapping young man is now relegated to a life of bed rest, managing the countless painful and debilitating symptoms from Lyme disease, Bebesia and Bartonella and reflecting what life "should have been". This is the story of Paul Cannarella.
While rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Paul began to notice some weird things occurring with his body. His legs would give out while pitching a baseball. He noticed a loss of muscle tone and he started to lose the hair on his left leg. Soon after that, his symptoms grew to include memory loss, neuropathy, skin discoloration, leg pain, night sweats, fatigue, and many others. What followed was a nightmare that continues to this very day.
Initially, Paul’s search for an answer led him to every type of doctor you could think of. His blood was tested by his General Practitioner, Cardiologists, Rheumatologists, Neurologists, Orthopedics, among many others, but none of them were able to come up with a diagnosis. After hitting dead end after dead end, Paul decided to make an appointment with a Lyme Specialist and ultimately tested positive for Lyme Disease and co-infections Bebesia and Bartonella. Finally!! Finally Paul can start a cycle of antibiotics and begin his road to recovery, right?? Unfortunately, it hasn’t been that easy. The typical protocol for treating Lyme disease consists of a 14 day cycle of highly potent antibiotics. After 9 months of antibiotic treatment, and experimenting with cutting edge trial medications, Paul’s symptoms have worsened. He is desperate to find help and is focusing his sights on nontraditional approaches to getting well.
Our family began to research alternative methods to help Paul get well. We’ve spent countless hours absorbing as much information that we could digest. We scoured the web, listened to podcasts, and met with other patients that had suffered in the same manner as Paul. That research has led us to some very promising therapies that have shown to improve the health and help manage the debilitating symptoms of Lyme and co-infections such as Bebesia and Bartonella. We are in the process of getting him set up with SOT (Supportive Oligonucleotide Technique) treatment in Atlanta, Georgia. SOT is a therapy that has helped many cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, and most importantly for Paul, Lyme patients. Most promising, is that SOT has shown to be successful with treating the co-infections associated with Lyme disease. Once Paul’s SOT treatment is complete, our plan is to move onto Stem Cell Therapy to help heal his body from the years of damage caused by this terrible sickness.
In today’s world, I’ll bet that you know someone who has been directly affected by Lyme disease. Yet somehow, Lyme is understudied and not treated with the urgency that you’d expect from the traditional medical community here in the USA. The FDA and Health Insurance companies barely recognize Lyme as a disease so the insurance coverage for treatment is poor at best. After almost 2.5 years searching for a diagnosis, hundreds of doctor’s visits, and dozens of medications, Paul’s journey taken a huge financial toll on our family, especially our parents. Almost all of Paul’s treatment is out of network and not covered by his insurance. The SOT and Stem Cell Therapy are both not covered under by Paul’s insurance either. With that, our family is asking for your help in raising the funds needed to alleviate the financial stress that this nightmare has caused and to help offset the continued costs of future treatments. If you are not in a position to help financially, the act of sharing this post would be just as helpful to our mission. Our goal for 2020 is to help Paul find relief and a reason to feel optimistic for the first time in several years. This can only be possible with your help. Thank you for reading!
*UPDATE* Hi all, I raised the goal amount. We got Paul's MRI results last night. Unfortunately, Paul has multiple lesions on his brain, as well as two areas of his brain that "the wires are no longer connected" (not working). There is a concern that he may have MS on top of his Lyme and co-infections. He is going to get more tests done: MRI of his spine as well as a Spinal Tap to determine if he also has MS. The Lyme and co-infections are bad enough, and now there is another concern on the table. We are so unbelievably thankful for everyone's generosity and willingness to help Paulie. He is so loved and we're doing everything we can to help him.
Organizer
Lauren Yarmula
Organizer
Boonton, NJ
