Lyme, POTS, now Breast Cancer for Anne Gaucher.

People say things happen in threes right? In my case, I have been stricken with my third life-threatening illness as I was just diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

In 2010, I was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease and the following paragraphs are about that battle (Illness #1):

You see I was always the strong one, I took care of everyone else. I got great grades in school, was a competitive figure skater when I was younger, went to college all the way through to a Master's Degree as a Physician's Assistant. I worked for the volunteer fire department in my town as a paramedic on the ambulance and I loved every minute of it. My life was taking care of those who were sick and injured. I loved to compete in Ballroom Dancing and I played pool on a co-ed billiards team. My life was full and happy.

There was just one major problem, I kept getting sick and I mean REALLY sick but no one could tell me why. In 2003 I had unexplained fevers for 6-8 weeks every day that ran from 99.4-101.0, my abdomen was all bloated so they put me in the hospital thinking that my uterus was infected. In 2005, I had a sinus infection for 2 months that wouldn't go away after 3 courses of antibiotics and I ended up with meningitis (viral) diagnosed by spinal tap. In 2006, I had a skin rash called Pityriasis Rosea that looks like a Christmas tree pattern on your abdomen and it goes away on its own but I knew that my immune system wasn't working right. I still had headaches every day from the meningitis. I had another spinal tap in 2006 but it was negative this time. In 2007, I got the same brutal headache and stabbing pain between my shoulder blades so off for another spinal tap and it was positive for my second case of recurrent viral meningitis. I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong so I started seeing doctors and looking for answers as to why I was getting so sick. This time the meningitis really did a number on me. The fatigue was beyond explanation and I lost 35 pounds when I am a small person to begin with.
I saw a total of 14 doctors over the course of three years (2008-2011) and spent thousands of dollars mostly out of my own pocket before the diagnosis would be made of Chronic Lyme Disease.
I had been bitten by a tick back in the year 2000 and at the time, the doctor refused to treat me with antibiotics. Who was I to judge? I listened to the doctor. It was the worst mistake of my life. So here it was 2011 when I finally got my official diagnosis of Chronic Lyme Disease and everything in my body was a mess. All my vitamins and minerals were screwed up, my muscles and joints hurt all over with a pain like the worst flu you have ever had but ALL THE TIME, my head pounded, I was sensitive to light and had to wear sunglasses in the house, I was sensitive to noise, I had fatigue so badly that I could sleep for 24 hours straight without waking up, I had such memory loss that I couldn't remember things that were said to me only 15 seconds prior, I had confusion and lack of memory recall, I had swollen glands the size of a golfball in my neck that you could see when I turned my head sideways.  There was no question that I needed to be on some serious antibiotics and right quick.
Thankfully, I was still able to work for the next 8 months until I got too sick and then I COBRA planned my health insurance so I had good prescription coverage because some of the medications I was taking were $1500 a month. However, every visit to my Lyme doctor was never paid for by the insurance company. It all came out of my pocket. Every electrical stimulation treatment she gave me, IV bag of vitamins ($135 each), RIFE treatment, office visit ($140 each) monthly, all the supplements (sometimes I was on 4-6 bottles a day at $25-$75 per bottle estimation) were paid for out of my pocket, nevermind the co-pays at the pharmacy for the 10-15 other prescriptions I was on that my insurance was paying for. I would reach my deductible in February or March every year and the rest of the year my drugs were free! In the first year of treatment, I easily paid out at least $25,000-$30,000 in medical bills out of my own pocket just for Lyme treatment because the insurance company doesn't recognize Chronic Lyme Disease as a disease that can be coded and charged for. My entire retirement fund was spent trying to save my life from Chronic Lyme Disease.
Over 5 years of being bedridden, the Chronic Lyme stabilized but I had already lost my career which I had worked so hard for, lost my home, lost my ability to live alone anymore because I needed a caretaker, lost most of my friends and I became a complete recluse. I started a blog called LymeLens.com and that was a way for me to really communicate with others who shared my issues.

Just when I thought things were improving, along came illness #2: POTS - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.

POTS is a neurological condition that affects your central nervous system which controls your heart rate and blood pressure when you rise from a lying position to a standing position. It typically strikes you as a result of some form of trauma to your body like a surgery, an intense bacterial or viral illness (like Chronic Lyme Disease or Covid), a severe accident or even extensive emotional trauma.

Upon standing, my heart rate would skyrocket from 80bpm to 180bpm and I would pass out in a matter of minutes. It got so severe that I was passing out while still lying in my bed.

For another 5 years I remained bedridden, unable to shower, having to eat lying down, constantly battling elevations of heart rate with the slightest activity. I gave in and got a wheelchair figuring that life would never improve from the condition that I was in. I truly thought that this would be the death of me.

Then we found a miracle medication called Corlanor that managed to regulate my heart rate and it has allowed me to stand upright again! For years the cost was over $500 a month for this drug but I finally became so poor that I qualified for every government assistance plan in existence so my medicine was covered. Such a shame that I had to become destitute before anyone would help me.

So, here I am, 13 years after my initial diagnosis of Chronic Lyme...financially destitute, eating delivered meals from the government, driving a 20 yr old car, barely able to pay my bills, over $20,000 in debt and I went for my routine mammogram. SURPRISE! You have a mass. Biopsy, you have illness #3: metastatic breast cancer. How is this happening to me AGAIN?

So, the battle against breast cancer has begun. I have invasive ductal carcinoma with positive lymph nodes in my armpit. It is Stage 2, ER+, PR+, HER2+ so I will need chemo, surgery, radiation, then targeted chemo for a year. After that, I will be on pills for a minimum of 5 years. I am just now getting all of my scans done, having my port placed and chemo starts on 7/12/23.

So, I refresh this GoFundMe page with a new request for donations as I face my third life-threatening illness in the past 13 years. Maybe I was your PA one day and I was kind to you or someone that you loved and now you can't believe that I am sick and need your help. Maybe you worked with me and I taught you something or I was nice to you when someone else "above you" was talking down to you. Maybe your daughter is a figure skater or a ballroom dancer and you couldn't imagine this happening to her. Maybe you just hate Lyme Disease or POTS or Cancer and you want to help someone who is fighting the battle to live. Maybe you just can't believe that this could actually happen to someone in a single lifetime and you understand their simple need for help. Whatever your reason is for deciding to donate to my fund, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will be using your money to survive. Once I meet all of my basic need bills of rent, utilities, insurance, etc. there is nothing left for food or emergencies so your donations will be helping set aside some funds for emergencies because they always come and they inevitably end up on the credit card which is already in debt.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and listen to my plight. Everyone is bearing their own burdens around the world right now but you were kind enough to stop and take mine on for a while. That makes you a generous soul already. Bless you and those who love you.                                ~Anne