Help Angela Fight Her Battle With Lyme Disease

For the last 10 years, I’ve been witnessing my best friend, Angela Lerro, fearlessly fight for her life. It started back in December, 2011, when I received a call from her one night that she felt like she was having a stroke but when she got to the emergency room the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong and sent her on her way. Ever since that day, her health continued to gradually decline and she continued to develop more and more mysterious symptoms but doctors kept turning her away as all of her labs looked normal. Then, in May 2013, at only 28 years old, Angela was diagnosed with breast cancer. Some of her symptoms that preceded this diagnosis were joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, mood swings, numbness, tingling, heart palpitations, weight loss, digestive issues and severe food allergies. Once the cancer was found her doctor considered these "mysterious symptoms" as part of her body's lowered immune response due to the cancer cells. After treating the cancer and undergoing a mastectomy and three reconstruction surgeries, we thought these “mysterious symptoms" would have subsided. However, Angela’s symptoms progressively got worse. Once again, her doctors continued to blame her body’s immune system for being compromised and from the stress of all of her treatments but expected them to pass overtime. Sadly that did not happen.

For several years following her breast cancer journey, she experienced intense pain in her left shoulder that prevented her from being able to use her arm. After five years of ongoing tests and CT scans she was then diagnosed with neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. In April 2019, in hopes that this would be an answer to her "mysterious symptoms", she underwent another major surgery. This time it was to remove her top left rib that was compressing against her brachial plexus. Unexpectedly, this surgery lead to major complications and Angela had to fight for her life yet again. During the surgery her left lung was punctured but doctors thought the hole would close up on its own. Since Angela never actually looked "sick" the doctors disregarded her complaints until the next day when she couldn't breathe and her oxygen levels plummeted. She then learned that her lung was completely deflated and she was quickly filling up with fluid. After been given only 30 minutes to live, the doctors inserted an immediate chest tube and thankfully saved her life . While visiting her in the critical care unit at the hospital, we thought this was the last of her struggles to overcome, but when she got back home we quickly learned it was only the beginning.

After Angela was finally discharged from the hospital, her neurological issues progressed significantly and new "mysterious symptoms" developed. Now she couldn’t stand up longer than five minutes before fainting or getting dizzy, she couldn’t turn her head without losing her vision, she couldn’t walk without assistance so she trained her German shepherd/husky to help her. Worst of all she was unable to process and digest her food without having any type of allergic reaction and would often go into anaphylactic shock shortly after consuming a meal. After going to countless doctors, her cardiologist and neurologist diagnosed her with vagus nerve damage and autonomic dysfunction that was a result from the surgery. After even more tests coming back normal, her doctors told her there was nothing more they could do, so they took her drivers license for over a year and told her to make some lifestyle changes to create a new normal.

At the beginning of 2021, despite what Angela was going through and being an only child, she left her home in Los Angeles and went to Pennsylvania to care for her mother as she underwent a knee replacement surgery.  While taking care of her mother her health continued to get worse but she was determined to find answers to these mysterious health issues. Being back in her hometown where Lyme disease is highly common, it was suggested by a friend that she get tested. She was skeptical but desperate but after all these years, it was the only thing her doctors in Los Angeles never checked her for.  After having a series of blood tests and working with the right specialists, all of her labs came back positive and she finally received a diagnosis of Late Stage Neurological Lyme disease, along with coinfections Babesia and Bartonella and tested positive for having Mold toxicity as well. She also learned that the lyme and coinfections have been lying dormant in her system since childhood and was activated by the onset of her breast cancer diagnosis back in 2013. She also learned that other stressful events such as medical traumas like surgeries and/or complications, mold exposure, and emotional traumas can give this disease an opportunity to thrive on its host and attack the nervous system. This is what happened to Angela throughout the years and as a result the infections have now aggressively taken over her body.

Angela’s body is now severely compromised and treatments have not been successful. She suffers daily from chronic low blood pressure, hair loss, weight loss, mood swings, rage, joint pain, memory loss, brain fog, fatigue, severe night sweats, temperature dysregulation, adrenal fatigue, gut dysbiosis, impaired gut motility and microbiome, insomnia and is now on a very limited diet of just red meat since she has lost the ability to eat all poultry, seafood, fruit and vegetables. After further investigating other ways to treat her illness, she recently was referred to a biological dentist back in Los Angeles who specializes in lyme and mold toxicity. During her first appointment, she learned that her body has been fighting an additional chronic bacterial infection called a cavitation. A cavitation is a hole in the jawbone underneath the gum line where a tooth was extracted and potentially becomes a host for lyme, mold, parasites and other bacteria. Angela learned she has 5 of these cavitations and they have been gradually destroying her immune system and disabling her body from being able to fight this disease. Since none of the doctors, lab work or treatments have been covered by insurance, Angela has already spent over $7,000 in medical bills just this year. Sadly, this surgery is not covered by insurance either and is going to cost $30,000, on top of all of her other medical expenses from this disease.

I’ve watched Angela tirelessly and relentlessly fight for her life with patience and resilience year after year without complaining or much support. Currently, her body is gradually deteriorating, as she now weighs only 89 pounds. Even though Angela always keeps a positive and optimistic attitude, she is barely able to keep up with daily tasks or work full time doing what she loves as a Reiki Healer. She has helped so many people heal, including myself, and has never once asked for help in return. It is truly heartbreaking for her loved ones to watch her vibrant soul, that’s always had a huge lust for life, start to fade away. In good faith and gratitude, I’m asking for Angela’s family, friends and community to come together to help support her in this fight and to help bring healing into her life. We have been praying for miracles and my only wish is to see her get well after a decade of struggle. Please help my best friend beat this disease by donating and/or sharing her story; anything you feel comfortable sending her way is truly appreciated and will be going towards all of her medical expenses.

If you do not feel comfortable using this platform, you may also donate to her by using Venmo, @Angela-Lerro

Sending you all good health and gratitude,

Elizabeth Alvarado