Dearest Family, Friends and Kind Strangers,


Thank you for taking interest in our pursuit to raise funds for our bright, beautiful, kind, hardworking daughter/sister/mother/friend, Carley Dorscheid. She has been struggling with severe chronic illness, which has become quite disabling the past few years, and finally received a diagnosis of Lyme Disease and associated co-infections and illnesses. Though this is very scary for us, as it is an incredibly serious medical condition with many potential complications, we are also optimistic that remission is a possibility for her and filled with hope and the passion to help get her there!

Ask anyone and they will tell you, Carley is an intelligent, caring, hilarious, adventurous, dedicated, and undoubtedly courageous human being, who would go out of her way to help anyone in need - friend or foe alike. She ran a very busy and successful dayhome.  Doing this consistantly for years despite her symptoms at times with up to 10 children. As well as taking on various part-time roles at different jobs along the way. She has had to drop down to caring for 1-2 children extremely part-time and been forced to cease all part-time work endeavor as they are unsustainable, making her much sicker and even landing her in the hospital multiple times. At one point in the past few years, she even attempted a return to school, but began to notice her extreme cognitive issues beginning in the form of decreased concentration, reading and writing issues, memory issues and more, thus dashing her dreams of completing a degree for the moment. She and a friend also had launched a personal planting business just last year and were in the process of growing their business and taking on new projects, until the beginning of this year, when they had to put the brakes on their business and focus on personal health due to new and advanced symptoms developing.

Carley is an incredible mother to two amazing children,Sylas (7) and Brooklyn (5), who love their mom endlessly and have been really brave through this whole thing, but are struggling to watch their mother decline. It is heartbreaking for all of us to have to watch her sit in doctor’s offices at the age of 27 and be told that her quality of life is that of a sick elderly patient, rather than that of a vibrant, happy young mother in the prime of her life, working to build a future and make a life for herself and her children.

This disease has stolen her independence, home (she now must live with a supportive friend who helps her with many of her daily activities), career, dreams, savings, ability to work, ability to thrive, and the one that hurts most: the ability to be active with her kids. She has lost almost everything, but she absolutely refuses to give in - her tenacity, resilience and fierce determination to heal inspires all of us.

Day after day, month after month, year after year, she has been a prisoner in her own body, trapped by overwhelming symptoms that are extremely compromising. All we want to do is help her find freedom from this crushing and debilitating disease once and for all, and we need your help to do it!!!

As her treatment will be out of country, it is not covered, and will therefore have to be paid out of pocket. As a single mother trying to raise two children, being unable to work due to these illnesses and having no income to deal with her day-to-day, let alone extra incurred medical expenses & upcoming treatment costs, is putting a tremendous stress on her.  Estimates are placing costs around $50 000 for 2 months of continuous treatment at a clinic in Mexico (more details below), and this is just a first step in her treatment of these serious diseases. Please read on about Carley`s case below and help us send her for the treatment that she desperately needs!

SYMPTOMS, MEDICAL HISTORY, DIAGNOSIS

Carley’s life at 27 years old is very different than she expected it to be due to her health issues. Symptoms are a daily battle from which there is no escape for her. They include (but are certainly not limited to) severe pain in her joints, muscles, bones, limbs and chest;  gastro issues including daily vomitting; breathing difficulties; dizziness, brain fog, memory loss, confusion, unexplained anxiety and mood changes, loss of words (has begun to affect her speech), tremors, and other neurological symptoms; a huge drop in weight (over 90 lbs - size 16 to a size 0-00 to date); and extremely debilitating fatigue. There are days she needs assistance simply getting out of bed, getting to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting dressed - basic things so many of us take for granted and do not even think about as we are doing them. There are many days she cannot drive, cook or clean. Her symptoms wax and wane, spiking in severity, which gives her some “good days” where she is able to push through the plague of symptoms and leave the house or try to catch up on what she has fallen behind on, despite still not feeling well. But on bad days she cannot even leave her bed and is left helpless and in immense amounts of pain and discomfort.

This has been a lifelong struggle that has gotten increasing worse for Carley as time has gone on. She recalls feeling symptoms since age 7, but always excused them away and pushed through it - she is such a tough cookie that way! Her symptoms increased in severity and amount after the birth of her children in her early 20s. Since then, things have declined progressively, to the point of her needing to lessen her workload dramatically and make lifestyle changes this last four years.

Within the last two years she has been desperately seeking answers as to why her condition has continued to deteriorate. She has seen a multitude of doctors and has had numerous tests; the suspected issues she was tested for included alopecia, ulcers, acid reflux, fibromyalgia, lupus, arthritis, thyroid issues, chronic migraines, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, depression and more. She has tried working with dieticians, sought physical therapies including acupuncture, dry needling, chiropractic, exercise therapy, has tried herbal and functional medicines and detox therapies, counselling and several other modalities of healing. She has spent thousands on different medications, on tests needed to be sent to labs globally (including US and Germany), and for trips to Calgary and Edmonton for medical appointments.

For a long time, the answer seemed to elude us. It was not until a few doctors in Calgary probed deeper into her medical history at the beginning of this year and ran extensive out-of-pocket testing that a diagnosis was finally obtained. Late Stage/Stage IV Neurological Lyme Disease was named to be a primary culprit in her medical case, and Carley’s fight began!


LYME DISEASE & MORE

So what is Lyme Disease exactly? For those of you who don’t know, it is an infectious disease often caused by a tick or other insect bite that is degenerative and harder to cure the longer you have it. It causes over 100 different symptoms among its patients that range to all different areas of the body, and affects each patient differently. It is often migratory (meaning it moves around and attacks different parts of the body at different times), complicating diagnosis further. It is known as the “great imitator” as it imitates a range of other serious diseases including Parkinson’s, MS, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Dementia, ALS, and many others. There is currently no cure for Lyme Disease, though many reach remission, usually after several years of intensive treatment and total lifestyle changes.

Not only has Carley’s system been bombarded by Lyme, but she is also stricken with over 14 other co-infections that we are aware of so far, including EBV, CMV, Babesia, Rickettsia and more. All of these complicate her case, making treating her Lyme Disease more difficult and thus requiring advanced, multi-faceted treatment approaches, many of which are unavailable in our country due to outdated treatment and diagnostic guidelines based off of the CDC in the US. *more info and links at bottom of pg if you are interested*

Along the lines of her research she has also discovered that some of the bacteria affecting Carley currently have a high possibility (CMV being over a 75% chance) of having been passed to her children. It is imperative that she can recover her health as soon as possible so she can begin walking the medical path with her children to diagnose and treat any health issues they have before they get to a critical point.

To date, we have been struggling to access medical help for her here in Canada, and it is seeming like going out of country is our only solution to her receiving adequate and aggressive treatment that gives her a real hope of remission. Her health is deteriorating quickly as these illnesses have reached the point of affecting her neurologically, as well as her other internal organs and potentially her heart. Chronic Lyme patients can develop fatal cardiac infections, brain damage, have increased risk for cancers, and are severely immunocompromised, making simple illnesses like pneumonia potentially lethal to her. As we were unable to catch this before it reached the latest stage it could get to with Lyme Disease, treatment is now paramount and urgent before her cognitive and physical state and abilities slip any further, especially as she is at risk for such serious health complications. If she does not receive adequate treatment at this stage, she is at risk for permanent, irreversible and life-threatening damage.


TREATMENT

After countless hours of research and speaking to other lyme patients who have treated both in and out-of-country, she has made an informed decision on choosing the Lyme Mexico Clinic in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In her findings, Mexico has put the most people with medical cases similar to hers in remission and the clinic is host to a globally recognized specialist on tick-based infections, specifically Lyme Disease, Dr. Omar Morales.

Dr Morales is a boardmember of ILADS (International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society)  and doing front line and experimental treatments in his clinic which include multiple approaches that we will get into below. Many credit him with saving the lives of their loved ones. Links to an article on the Dr as well as testimonials by his patients can be found here:
https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-mexico-plasmapheresis/
http://lymemexico.com/testimonials/

The suggested treatment plan involves travelling to PV and staying 8 weeks. During this time, days will be spent at the clinic will be from 9am-8pm with a brief 1-3 hour break in the afternoon. She can expect round the clock IVs through a PICC Line, chest port and/or  cardiac catheter that will need to be inserted. The treatments are very thorough as the clinic believes in a multi-strike hit-it-with-all-you’ve-got type approach. Intensive Hyperthermia (induces an extremely high fever to help body fight bacteria and get the medication further into small blood vessels and organs including the brain, where bacteria like to hide), multiple IV antibiotic treatments and vitamin/other detox therapies, herbal supplements, plasmapheresis (blood cleaning), cyst and biofilm eradication medications and therapies, neuro-regenerative and nerve repairing therapies (to help reverse some of the neuro damage and affects) are just a few of many aspects of her treatment plan. When the amount and types of treatment are considered, the price for the clinic is actually very good - similar therapies and treatment to this in other countries is estimated to be around $300k and many of the therapies performed to actually eradicate the bacteria and achieve remission aren’t available in Canada, such as the long term high does IV abx and hyperthermia.

Since these treatments are outside of Canada, all costs must be paid out of pocket; none are covered by insurance. We have spoken with the Lyme Mexico clinic and estimated costs for medicine and treatments combined with accommodations, flights, food and supplies will be over $50,000. We are aiming for her to go to the clinic October 1st-Nov 30th alongside her dear friend Heather, who has also been struggling with Late Stage Neurological Lyme Disease and Bartonella, so that they can support each other along the way and cut costs on accommodations. These two ladies are also working hard with the help of family and friends to put on several fundraising campaigns throughout the summer and fall, including a massive garage sale, Loonies For Lyme Ribbons initiative, a carnival and several other large events! If you are unable to donate financially but would like to donate your time to volunteer and make these events a success, please reach out to us - we will take all the help we can get!

This treatment in Mexico is just the first step in a long recovery ahead of Carley. It is likely she will have many more medical expenses ahead of her and a long recovery time after the treatments, as they can be very hard on the body (just like chemo for cancer, as a comparison). There will also be follow up treatments advised for at home, in Canada afterward (will likely need to be purchased before coming home, costs and follow up unknown at this point). This will be the case even if she reaches remission, as there is still lots of detox and repair to do after the illness has been cleared from the body.


CLOSING; LOOKING FORWARD; THANK YOU


Carley has said that being diagnosed with this has opened her eyes to a whole different side of Canada’s healthcare and the people who are being misdiagnosed and mistreated within our medical system. There are so many who have had difficulty navigating the politics of being sick and many who are never able to access treatment, especially for Lyme Disease, but for all chronic illnesses.

Her goal as she approaches remission is to further her education and use her experience to increase awareness, and advocate for those not only with Lyme, but with all chronic disabilities that are being overlooked.

Some of the things she looks most forward to about feeling well are having the energy to be that bright, young, vibrant person that she really is, and being able to be play, hug, laugh and enjoy life with her children again. 



Even though Carley has a large mountain to climb ahead of her and has been through so much, she has the utmost faith that she will overcome this disease, be able to raise her kids, pursue her dreams, and be healthy once again - and we know without a doubt she will get there!

We’ve exhausted our limited savings just getting to this point with the various diagnostic tests and treatments paid out of pocket, so we are hoping and praying for your support to help us take this first step forward towards getting Carley her life back! Any contribution you can make is extremely helpful at this time - prayers and well-wishes included. They all mean so much to Carley, her children, and the rest of her family and friends rooting for her.


We so appreciate you taking the time to read this story about Carley’s journey; please share with others to help us raise awareness of the effects of this horrible disease <3


Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your time, your love, your support and generosity!


-Carley's Crew 

LINKS

http://lymemexico.com/

http://lymemexico.com/treatments/ 

https://www.ilads.org/about/ 

https://canlyme.com/category/lyme-in-alberta/

Lyme disease - www.ILADS.org 

Chronic Lyme, Coinfections - www.LymeDisease.org  

"Lyme: The Infectious Disease Equivalent of Cancer, Says Top Duke Oncologist" - Huffington Post

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lyme-the-infectious-disea_b_9243460 

https://www.the-influential.com/2019/07/these-celebrities-have-been-battling.html?m=1 




**Lyme is a very controversial topic and to go into detail on the details of why proper treatment is basically impossible to obtain in Canada would take pages to explain. If you would like to learn more about it, these are some great links to get started, including an interview by one of the leading medical internists in the country, Dr Ralph Hawkins, a prominent voice for lyme patients.

Controversy in lyme: https://canlyme.com/category/lyme-controversy/ 
Doctor Ralph Hawkins Interview that explains difficulty in accessing treatment: https://canlyme.com/2019/05/23/14280/