Bless Katie's Healing From Lyme Disease
Hi: My name is Kendra, and I am blessed to be Katie's mom. We have felt lead to tell her story, to share our faith in God's unending mercy, grace and healing powers in today's hurting world, and to humbly ask for your financial support. Please take a moment to read her story! She is an amazing young lady, with a beautiful family, a desire to continue her work in veterinary medicine and to share her faith in Jesus. We need her to heal so that she can fully live out the gifts God has given her to impact a world in need. May God richly bless each one of you who is lead to help us - we will never stop praying for you, and we look forward to a time where we can give back!
43 And a woman who had [suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years [a][and had spent all her money on physicians], and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His outer robe, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” While they all were denying it, Peter [b][and those who were with him] said, “Master, the people are crowding and pushing against You!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, because I was aware that power [to heal] had gone out of Me.” 47 When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came up trembling and fell down before Him. She declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in Me] has made you well. Go in peace (untroubled, undisturbed well-being).” Luke 8:43-48
This is my frail attempt to put into words what the last 4 years have been like. When I received "The Word" to do this GoFundMe a few months ago, I knew it was meant to be about way more than the financial burden. It’s hard to ask people for money. It’s hard to get raw and real with people. Unfortunately, I have met countless others like me that also are searching for a miracle. This is more about community and about how my story can give someone else hope. If me bearing my soul helps even one person, it’s worth it. There just aren’t any words to describe the hell I’ve been in. Only a handful of people have had a front row seat to my suffering. But in the same breath I have to say, only a few people have been able to encounter the beauty that has been born out of my suffering. If you want to know the story, I’ve tried to lay it out on paper, or you can reach out to me. If you feel led, please sow into my healing. Kevin, my kids, my family, my friends, and I sincerely appreciate it. Your gift will not only impact my life, but it will continue to impact many, many others who are also afflicted.
Four years ago today I woke up feeling fine. I had worked at the animal emergency clinic the night before. I got my kids up for school. I got ready and drove to my final semester of classes before vet school. As I was standing in the hallway waiting to enter genetics class, I suddenly felt a very strange sensation. I felt faint, hot, weak, shaky, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t focus my eyes. It was a weird almost “out of body – like” experience. I made my way outside and called my mom in a bit of a panic. We brushed it off as stress and I tried to make it through the day. My head hurt. I couldn’t focus. I had a strange electric sensation pulsating through my body. Vertigo. Over the next few weeks and months the symptoms continued and grew worse, to the point that I couldn’t get out of bed, think, talk, walk. I had air hunger, heart palpitations, depersonalization. I literally had to lay in the dark and quiet or my body started attacking me. As the condition worsened, we went to the emergency room three times, including Christmas night, and every doctor and specialist we could think of. Primary care, ENT, neurology, rheumatology, immunology, optometry, naturopaths, chiropractors. They ran test after test and couldn’t find anything wrong. Some doctors didn’t believe me and said it was in my head while others saw the suffering but it left them scratching their heads. They prescribed Valium and Benzodiazepines (these just made the crazy feelings worse!) and told me to take a walk and de-stress.
My family and friends were scrambling to find answers and understand. I was met with a lot of love and compassion but also with judgement and blame. I went from fully functioning and excelling to barely being able to get myself to the bathroom.
After Christmas, my mom was praying when God told her I had “Lyme disease”. It made sense. I had been working on a horse farm all summer to get ready for vet school and was eaten up by mosquitoes. I never pulled a tick off of me, but Lyme disease can be spread by any vector. I did have a suspicious “bruise” on my calf a few weeks before the symptoms started. I was excited to finally have an answer. I had no idea how serious Lyme disease could be. Most doctors do not recognize it as a disease, especially “chronic late-stage neurological Lyme disease”. The testing by CDC standards can be as low as 29% accurate, meaning most tests are false negatives. People may be sick for years before it is detected, and accurate testing is only done through private labs that insurance will not cover. The theory is that if Lyme disease is caught at the time of the bite and treated with potent antibiotics, it can be eradicated before it can wreak havoc on the person. If not treated immediately or if the person has other immune issues, it gets into the tissues and brain and hides behind “biofilms” (created by the bacteria to protect itself) causing devastating damage to the body. Most people don’t even know they’ve been bitten and by the time they figure it out, the damage has been done. Lyme disease is called the “great imitator” because it mimics many other diseases in the body like CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), fibromyalgia, MS (multiple sclerosis), and Parkinson’s. The spirochetes get into the tissues and cause damage and inflammation to the joints, brain, heart, and other organs. The spirochetes give off an enzyme that tricks the immune system and causes systemic auto immune and hormone issues.
Since most doctors are not “Lyme literate”, the responsibility of figuring out what to do falls on the person and their family. This is a difficult task not only because you are too sick to function but because there is limited information about Lyme disease healing. The best source of information for navigating the disease is through others that have been affected. This is how I have survived most of this journey. People like me who have been abandoned by the doctors and have had to fight for someone to hear them in unimaginable suffering. The disease is awful, but the lack of support from our government and healthcare system is inhumane. I cannot tell you the number of times I have laid on my bathroom floor sobbing. It’s a terrifying feeling to not know what is happening to you and if you will die, or even worse to live stuck in hell. It’s a very lonely place to be, but GOD! I am so thankful for all the angels God has put in my path to speak life into me, lift the burden, and point me towards healing.
Lyme disease is not recognized by most doctors and insurance companies. This means ALL testing, treatments, and medications are the financial responsibility of the affected person. This becomes financially devastating very quickly.
My family and friends have helped me get this far. This is on overview of where I’ve been and what treatments I have done. Each step I have taken has been divinely guided. There have been angels sent to confirm and help me. I can’t possibly name them all, but I trust they each know how much they’ve impacted my journey. I hope my story helps others to see God always meets the need in the moment, even when it seems impossible.
• 2018: I went to California for a stem cell transplant and treatments to save my heart from damage and to remodulate my immune system to function.
• 2018/2019: I went to Texas for special IV rose Bengal & ozone treatments to kill the bugs.
• 2019: I went to Texas to see a naturopath and immunologist to help me understand what happened to my body and try new supplements and support to heal. He compared it to PANDAS in kids…I cannot imagine being a child and feeling all of this.
• 2019/2020: I tried to detox and treat on my own without any doctor’s support
• 2020/2021: Pregnant with Uncle Baby Shiloh and had to stop detox/supplements
• 2021: The Genesis Center for SOT and holistic therapies
All of these treatments over the last few years have helped me to get stronger and continue to fight for my health but none of them have completely healed me. My family has spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to help me get my life back. My parents have let me put about $10,000 on their credit card and given me about another $3000 that I need to pay back, they’ve taken money out of their retirement to help, taken countless days off work, and have given all they can. My brother and sister-in-law have helped me more times than I can count. The rest of my family and friends have given all they can too.
In 2020, I had settled in a place where I figured the damage was permanent and I had to find a new normal to survive. I say survive because that’s what I’ve been doing, surviving not living. God wasn’t opening any new doors and I had to surrender to Him and learn to see Him in everything, to see Him as good and evil. I had lost 2+ years with Kevin and my kids being stuck in bed. I would lay in the dark and cry, listening to them going on with life without me. This put so much strain on my marriage and family. As I was able to endure more, I tried to celebrate every small and simple task I was able to do. I was thankful for every moment with them. I wasn’t wasting anything. I would fight and force myself to be present even if it meant my neurological system would punish me later. I made it a point to take tons of pictures and document only happy things so they would have good memories. Then I found out I was pregnant with Uncle Baby Shiloh. I was so confused and excited. I knew God wouldn’t send me a baby if I was going to get sicker or remain sick, but how?? God was faithful and sent angels to carry me through the pregnancy with hope and affirmations. The pregnancy was tough to say the least, but Shiloh is perfect! He is not showing any signs of the disease. The doctor did recommend testing him at a year to make sure he is clear so we will do that. If he is positive, they can do the SOT on him, and he’ll never feel any of it. The doctor did this for her daughter. I later found out that the pregnancy actually “pushed” the bacteria out of hiding so that the clinic could find it and treat it! A true “miracle”.
After Shiloh was born, my body was a wreck. I could barely do anything again and it was devastating. I had this beautiful new baby that needed me, I had to get well! God heard our cries and sent another angel to my mom telling her about a clinic near us that was having amazing testimonies of healing from Lyme disease. I watched the testimonies, but I was so down. I did not want to go. I just couldn’t face “opening that hope” again just to be let down. I felt led to reach out to one of my angels that had been to this clinic for advice. She had been sick for 20+ years and for the most part is doing great. She calmed my fears and told me to trust them, she knew they could help me.
As soon as I walked into the place, the peace was overwhelming. I didn’t have to fight or explain...they just “understood” how I felt on every level. My doctor personally had been afflicted and healed. She told me I would heal. For the first time in my journey, I knew I could trust it. I believed her. I had finally found a place to rest and heal. I have been going to them for a few months and each time I am there I meet someone who shares their testimony of healing and hope with me. And I am getting better!!
This is where I need help. This is not easy. I “feel all the feels” asking for help. I feel naked. Transparent. Vulnerable. Exposed. But I know God’s voice. He told me this is bigger than me. He told me my story must be heard. People are suffering. He told me He needs my brokenness for His glory. I am His. We are one. We are a community.
I am so blessed to have a husband that has worked so hard and stood with me through all of it. I have 5 amazing kids and 2 beautiful grandkids that I want to be alive and healthy for!! God is a God of miracles, and we need one and are believing for it!!
These treatments are expensive. The bills are way out of our pay grade. I have not been able to work for 4 years. I still can’t drive, walk long distances, handle a lot of stimuli, and countless other things. We have exhausted our family, our savings, our 401k. Kevin works so hard and takes every side job he can between pressure washing, golf carts, and cars. He would do anything to heal me, but he can’t do it on his own.
This is a breakdown of what the money will be used for over the next year or so.
• $4000 each- I’ve had 2 SOTs (they tell you to prepare for 5) These are the big guns that are eradicating the pathogens. They draw my blood and send it to Greece where they change the DNA to healing mode! There are 18 known strains of Lyme they can treat and ONE BITE can transmit multiple organisms. Until they “peel the onion back” (multiple costly lab tests), they don’t know what to treat.
• $3300/set- NAD IVs to heal the damage done to my brain from the bacteria, causing many of the symptoms that keep me from fully functioning. I’m on the first round of 12. They recommend at least two. I can already tell a big difference in my cognitive function.
• $1000 Monthly prescriptions/supplements that support my hormone and immune function
• $800 out of pocket for Labs 6 weeks post SOT and as needed for symptoms (we are peeling an onion; this thing has had 4 years to fester)
• $500 for the initial Doctor visit and $200 for follow up visits about every 6 weeks
• Right after I delivered Shiloh, I went into gall bladder attack and required surgery. Now, I owe WellStar Hospital $5100 for my gallbladder surgery plus another $1000 for the labs, anesthesia, and specialists.
Thank you to everyone who has been with me on the journey in all the ways. I cannot thank all of you enough who have sown into us, as it has blessed me deeply. It has shown me how much we need one another and the treasures that we have for each other. I appreciate all the love, prayers, listening ears, cards, messages, texts, calls, and blessings. Especially when it comes to my kids. Thank you for surrounding them in so much love for me. This is the greatest gift you can give a mom.
It has been overwhelming to learn and see God in every moment. I am eternally grateful for all the people God sent to me to keep me looking for Him and not placing any blame or shame on me. The suffering has been immense, and I am ready for it to stop but I can honestly say I am thankful for all the ways it has brought my family closer and revealed Jesus to us. It’s hard to let go of all the things we have been taught to cover ourselves with to feel worthy in this world, but it is so freeing to realize your mortality and focus on eternal things. I was full of so much fear, doubt, and pride (still am but I trust He won’t stop cleansing me and bringing me on). I know that my suffering has not been in vain and each person that it touches will be better for it.
I have a whole well of love for people and I might have become a hugger! God doesn’t waste anything. He is continually using this experience to reveal to me who He really is and who I really am, almighty love! I am excited to get on the other side of it and live again. I keep dreaming of going on walks with my kids, driving them to Chick Fil A, soccer, shopping, all the simple things. Going back to work would be a dream come true! I seriously love my job. I know there will come a day where I wake up and can feel alive and not immediately be met with pain and the sensation that the floor is absent. I guarantee when you sow into me, it won’t stop with me. I have met so many people from different walks of life on this road of suffering and one of my daily prayers is for all of us who I have met along the way to heal. When I heal, I am bringing them with me.
Who knows, maybe God will help me set up a non-profit fund for other struggling Lymies. I am full of compassion, empathy, and love that can only be born in suffering. I plan to give it away freely everywhere I can. People need to know there is always hope, God is in control of everything, and He is real and faithful. Cling to the hem of His garment, get low and then get lower. He has met me in my agony and despair. He has changed me. He has healed me in spite of me. His love is the greatest power in the universe.
Sincerely, Katie
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.
These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassions, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
“The love of God is the magnetic north of truth by which we fix our position as we stumble lost in the wilderness of the world. To know that His love for us depends on Him and not on us is the beginning of the way out of our futile meaningless lives and religious despair.” – Malcom Smith
“We do not want you to be uninformed about the troubles we experienced. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9