Lisa's Lyme Breakthru Fund

Hello friends and family

It’s Connie Bartley and I am reaching out to all of you in hopes that you will please help me with a very important fundraising effort for one of my best friends, Lisa Waldegrave. Lisa and I have been close friends for more than 25 years. Sadly, she fell through the cracks of the health care system in Canada, losing her health in the prime of her life to undiagnosed Lyme disease. 

Lisa went misdiagnosed for over 10 yrs and it wasn’t until she consulted with a top Lyme Expert in New York, USA in 2003 that she was finally diagnosed with active Lyme, babesia co-infection and a weakened immune system. She was prescribed numerous antibiotic protocols over the years, in conjunction with various holistic treatments and for the first time in years, her condition began improving. Unfortunately, this is a grim reality for more than 3,000 Canadians dealing with this debilitating disease who are forced to travel out of country to get appropriate diagnosis and treatment. This is a result of the flawed two tiered testing in Canada

Sadly in 2016, when Lisa switched to an aggressive herbal based treatment protocol and her antibiotics were reduced (combined with too much emotional stress), Lisa suffered a major relapse, resulting in a decline in her cognitive abilities and daily functioning.

In 2017, Lisa consulted with Dr. Raj Patel of California who specializes in treating patients with Complex Chronic Illnesses, such as chronic Lyme, Mold Illness / CIRS and Limbic System Injury to the brain.

Lisa learned she is also suffering with Mold Illness/ Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS)  caused from exposure to toxic mold in her past. Mold toxins have also negatively impacted her brain as a specialized brain MRI shows Lisa has inflammation in three areas of Lisa’s brain and shrinkage to two other areas.  In addition, her Limbic system has sustained injury, which keeps her brain in a state of 'fight or flight' mode which prevents her from healing. She requires daily brain rehabilitation exercises to heal this, using the Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS) 

Lisa is also suffering with significant immune deficiencies and has tried everything under the sun to help correct this. Her immune system is not able to fight the Lyme and other infections effectively. We hope and pray the Immunologist will approve her for Intravenous Immunoglobulin therapy once a month, to assist her immune system in fighting all the infections. This would turn her health and her life around.

How Complex Chronic Illness affects Lisa’s life

Lisa has been unable to be employed and live independently from her parents, drive a car and do basic household duties since the young age of 25. 

On many days even daily activities such as dinner preparation and laundry can be difficult for her due to chronic pain, muscle fatigue, weakness, dizziness and confusion. She uses a battery-operated scooter to go to the mall or for a walk in her neighbourhood.

Her mental processing issues have worsened and are the most impactful of all her symptoms. She has had more difficulty sustaining and processing conversations one-on-one, as her brain will start to shut down after a short time. This causes a great deal of frustration and social isolation for Lisa.  

 My Goal ~ My dearest wish is to raise $7, 0000.00 for my treasured friend Lisa, to assist her with these new treatments and additional expenditures, so she can continue to move forward to a full recovery. 

I would be so grateful to any of you who would consider a donation of any kind towards helping Lisa. Whatever amount you give is sincerely appreciated. As you consider this request, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

If you are uncomfortable donating on-line with your credit card, you may wish to donate by cash instead. In doing so, the  8% GoFundMe administration fee WILL  NOT be deducted from your donation.

Please contact me, Connie Bartley if you are interested in doing so.  Unfortunately, tax receipts are not available. 

Please educate yourself about Lyme and practice tick prevention. 

You can learn more about Lyme disease here and here       

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