Help Chris and her kids fight Lyme
Donation protected
This fundraiser is a 3 1/2 year project with a total fundraising goal of $100,000. Chronic Lyme cannot be put into remission in a few months. This will be ongoing to raise the funds as they are needed to treat and care for Chris, Ava and Zoe over their entire treatment period to get Lyme into remission. These are our funding goals:
2018 $20,000
2019 $30,000
2020 $30,000
2021 $20,000
Thank you for taking the time to read this story, watch the videos and being an awesome part of helping to heal these wonderful people through your donations and prayers.
Meet Chris,
When Chris was growing up she was athletic, artistic and a good student. She was a girl scout, played softball and played the clarinet in her school band.
As a teenager she became a drummer, a weight lifter and a long-distance runner.
After completing high school she joined the Marine Corps and served on active duty for six years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. After a successful enlistment, she reenlisted to make the Marine Corps her career.
While stationed at Camp Lejeune she was working and training in a heavily tick infested environment, particularly the deer and lone star tick. Whenever she returned from training she had discovered that many ticks had bitten and remained attached, dead, to her body. What she didn't realize was that these ticks carry Lyme disease and infected her repeatedly. That's when EVERYTHING changed.
Now, when Chris reported for duty she developed migraine headaches daily. She started losing muscle mass and the ability to keep up with her fellow Marines during training. The pain and fatigue became so debilitating that Chris would eventually lose the ability to report for duty at all. Since she had just earned a promotion to Sergeant her superiors in command accused her of malingering, (faking illness to get out of duty) and she was subsequently facing trial by court martial for being sick with what we now know was undiagnosed Lyme disease. More often than not, Lyme disease involves multiple infections, known as coinfections. It wasn't until 2017 when Chris tested positive for coinfections Bartonella, Babesia (which is in the Malaria family), and parasitic infections. She prayed for months while awaiting trial knowing that she could lose her rank, pay and serve time in the brig. One day God answered her prayers when a commanding officer called her into his office and said that based on her award of two good conduct medals, he would drop all charges and give her a medical discharge of 10% disability for migraine headaches. After that, in 2003, she flew back home to California and met her husband Keith.
By now Chris was 26 and her health continued to decline at a steady pace. Shortly after their engagement she developed symptoms called depersonalization and derealization. She would intermittently lose the ability to know who or where she was. When she reported her symptoms to the VA she was diagnosed with military PTSD and placed on various antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, narcotic pain relievers and muscle relaxers. By misdiagnosing her at this point, after she had Lyme for almost a decade, the medications covered the symptoms while they were progressing under the surface.
Thinking she was under proper care and fully trusting her VA doctors, she was convinced that she was getting better and she decided to get married and have children.
After the birth of her second child Chris’ health continued to decline at a more rapid pace than before.
She was misdiagnosed with severe postpartum depression, fibromyalgia, a bladder condition called interstitial cystitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. She was placed back on a lot of the same medications as before in such doses and combinations that have become lethal for many celebrities. She dropped down to 100lbs and developed stage 2 kidney disease.
By this point Chris felt convinced she was dying and she reached out to an organization outside the VA to help her get off all medications. She succeeded in tapering and thought she was past the worst of it. Then the mystery seizures started. ER visits, Christmas in the hospital, slurred speech, insomnia, food aversions to things she used to love and incredible pain. She again had to go outside the VA for Lyme testing and these are the results of that test.
Little did she know the disease was just getting started.
As Chris’ Lyme disease was rapidly progressing her symptoms became more like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease than fibromyalgia. She started having seizures and tremors daily, and still does. She has lost the ability to speak clearly on more days than not.
Chris can no longer prepare a meal for herself and sometimes she must be fed as her hands do not work all the time. Because of the insomnia, which has been going on for over a decade, her mind and body won't allow her to sleep until around midnight and then the night tremors and terrors start. This makes the rest inadequate while she fights to stay asleep. She gets up around 1:30pm and is in a huge amount of pain and cannot walk well or speak clearly. She needs to have someone by her side at most times of the day because she is so scared (with dementia like symptoms). Her husband has become an almost full-time caregiver for her but with two special needs kids and having to work the load is getting too much. She is now to the point where she needs a caregiver at the house to be with her throughout the day. This is to help with taking her to the doctor and other basic needs when her husband is working.
Chris is now on Low Dose Immunotherapy, LDI, and there is hope since this method has been successful for others by putting the Lyme into remission. This is the best case scenario because there is no known cure for chronic Lyme. Unfortunately, Lyme gets much worse while it is dying off. She will never be healed completely but just to be able to live a life outside her bedroom would be a miracle.
Chris needs a regular physical therapist as she is experiencing a lot of muscle atrophy from being chair ridden. She needs to continue the expensive but hopeful treatment of LDI for at least the next few years just to see some results but in reality this probably a life long treatment. Almost everything to do with chronic Lyme is NOT covered by insurance companies. Chris needs to have a caretaker at the house for her 5 days a week until she can feed herself. She will need to continue her very extensive supplement routine which is several hundred a month. She needs to see a therapist for extreme depression as the Lyme has made her consider taking her own life to end the misery. She also needs massive amounts of prayers. Her faith has remained strong through this whole thing, even if at times there are doubts, she knows the Lord is there for her.
In addition to Chris' treatment both of her daughters have tested positive for Lyme as well. They were both born with it. Their treatment needs to start soon so the children have a better chance of putting Lyme remission. Although both girls were born with multiple co infections of the Lyme disease, Ava was born with the Babesia coinfection as the dominate strain and this has manifest itself as autism. Zoe was born with Bartonella and Babesia, and she has severe ADHD and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). They are both in special needs classes and are showing outward signs of Lyme. The girls need to get on the LDI treatments and the supporting supplements as soon as possible.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to listen to our story. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers! We firmly believe that God is here with us every day, guiding our steps and providing wisdom, and we feel so blessed for any prayers and donations made.
This is how your generous donations will be used:
Physical therapy for Chris. She has experience major muscle atrophy during this time and needs to stay as strong as possible. This is a cost of $125 an hour and she needs 1 hours 3x a week.
Home care nurse to care for Chris when the family is at school and work. She needs help being feed her first meal by her caretaker most days and needs all her meals prepared for her. $28/hr for 6 hours a day 5 days a week.
LDI treatments and doctors visits for Chris, $400/hr ongoing for Dr consultation for symptoms/medicine adjustments and $150 a month for the LDI doses. The phone/email visits are about an hour per month.
LDI treatments for the girls, initial visit $800 each and $400/hr for ongoing symptoms and medicine consultation and $150 a month each for LDI doses. Ava and Zoe have not yet started treatment so they will have to both have the initial visit then start the treatment.
Infrared sauna for organ detoxification. Especially important during treatment. More affordable to have in-home unit rather than at a clinic. $4000
IV Treatments (ozone and chelation)
Portable Oxygen Concentrator. $2300
Therapy for all three to deal with the extreme challenges they are facing with this disease. The depression is very hard for Chris to handle and she has started some EMDR therapy to help her deal with the trauma this disease has taken on her mind and body. Ava and Zoe both have some very negative behavior issues that will need to be addressed in therapy as they start treatment. They both basically need to re learn how to act in certain situations without Lyme affecting their thinking and actions as they both have had Lyme their entire lives. Overreaction is a huge problem for them both and that left them with habitual behavior that needs redirecting. Ava was diagnosed with autism at age 2.
Supplements $300 a month just for Chris. When the girls start treatment and need the supplement support they too will average $200-$300 each.
Please share with your friends and family!
2018 $20,000
2019 $30,000
2020 $30,000
2021 $20,000
Thank you for taking the time to read this story, watch the videos and being an awesome part of helping to heal these wonderful people through your donations and prayers.
Meet Chris,
When Chris was growing up she was athletic, artistic and a good student. She was a girl scout, played softball and played the clarinet in her school band.
As a teenager she became a drummer, a weight lifter and a long-distance runner.
After completing high school she joined the Marine Corps and served on active duty for six years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. After a successful enlistment, she reenlisted to make the Marine Corps her career.
While stationed at Camp Lejeune she was working and training in a heavily tick infested environment, particularly the deer and lone star tick. Whenever she returned from training she had discovered that many ticks had bitten and remained attached, dead, to her body. What she didn't realize was that these ticks carry Lyme disease and infected her repeatedly. That's when EVERYTHING changed.
Now, when Chris reported for duty she developed migraine headaches daily. She started losing muscle mass and the ability to keep up with her fellow Marines during training. The pain and fatigue became so debilitating that Chris would eventually lose the ability to report for duty at all. Since she had just earned a promotion to Sergeant her superiors in command accused her of malingering, (faking illness to get out of duty) and she was subsequently facing trial by court martial for being sick with what we now know was undiagnosed Lyme disease. More often than not, Lyme disease involves multiple infections, known as coinfections. It wasn't until 2017 when Chris tested positive for coinfections Bartonella, Babesia (which is in the Malaria family), and parasitic infections. She prayed for months while awaiting trial knowing that she could lose her rank, pay and serve time in the brig. One day God answered her prayers when a commanding officer called her into his office and said that based on her award of two good conduct medals, he would drop all charges and give her a medical discharge of 10% disability for migraine headaches. After that, in 2003, she flew back home to California and met her husband Keith.
By now Chris was 26 and her health continued to decline at a steady pace. Shortly after their engagement she developed symptoms called depersonalization and derealization. She would intermittently lose the ability to know who or where she was. When she reported her symptoms to the VA she was diagnosed with military PTSD and placed on various antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, narcotic pain relievers and muscle relaxers. By misdiagnosing her at this point, after she had Lyme for almost a decade, the medications covered the symptoms while they were progressing under the surface.
Thinking she was under proper care and fully trusting her VA doctors, she was convinced that she was getting better and she decided to get married and have children.
After the birth of her second child Chris’ health continued to decline at a more rapid pace than before.
She was misdiagnosed with severe postpartum depression, fibromyalgia, a bladder condition called interstitial cystitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. She was placed back on a lot of the same medications as before in such doses and combinations that have become lethal for many celebrities. She dropped down to 100lbs and developed stage 2 kidney disease.
By this point Chris felt convinced she was dying and she reached out to an organization outside the VA to help her get off all medications. She succeeded in tapering and thought she was past the worst of it. Then the mystery seizures started. ER visits, Christmas in the hospital, slurred speech, insomnia, food aversions to things she used to love and incredible pain. She again had to go outside the VA for Lyme testing and these are the results of that test.
Little did she know the disease was just getting started.
As Chris’ Lyme disease was rapidly progressing her symptoms became more like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease than fibromyalgia. She started having seizures and tremors daily, and still does. She has lost the ability to speak clearly on more days than not.
Chris can no longer prepare a meal for herself and sometimes she must be fed as her hands do not work all the time. Because of the insomnia, which has been going on for over a decade, her mind and body won't allow her to sleep until around midnight and then the night tremors and terrors start. This makes the rest inadequate while she fights to stay asleep. She gets up around 1:30pm and is in a huge amount of pain and cannot walk well or speak clearly. She needs to have someone by her side at most times of the day because she is so scared (with dementia like symptoms). Her husband has become an almost full-time caregiver for her but with two special needs kids and having to work the load is getting too much. She is now to the point where she needs a caregiver at the house to be with her throughout the day. This is to help with taking her to the doctor and other basic needs when her husband is working.
Chris is now on Low Dose Immunotherapy, LDI, and there is hope since this method has been successful for others by putting the Lyme into remission. This is the best case scenario because there is no known cure for chronic Lyme. Unfortunately, Lyme gets much worse while it is dying off. She will never be healed completely but just to be able to live a life outside her bedroom would be a miracle.
Chris needs a regular physical therapist as she is experiencing a lot of muscle atrophy from being chair ridden. She needs to continue the expensive but hopeful treatment of LDI for at least the next few years just to see some results but in reality this probably a life long treatment. Almost everything to do with chronic Lyme is NOT covered by insurance companies. Chris needs to have a caretaker at the house for her 5 days a week until she can feed herself. She will need to continue her very extensive supplement routine which is several hundred a month. She needs to see a therapist for extreme depression as the Lyme has made her consider taking her own life to end the misery. She also needs massive amounts of prayers. Her faith has remained strong through this whole thing, even if at times there are doubts, she knows the Lord is there for her.
In addition to Chris' treatment both of her daughters have tested positive for Lyme as well. They were both born with it. Their treatment needs to start soon so the children have a better chance of putting Lyme remission. Although both girls were born with multiple co infections of the Lyme disease, Ava was born with the Babesia coinfection as the dominate strain and this has manifest itself as autism. Zoe was born with Bartonella and Babesia, and she has severe ADHD and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). They are both in special needs classes and are showing outward signs of Lyme. The girls need to get on the LDI treatments and the supporting supplements as soon as possible.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to listen to our story. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers! We firmly believe that God is here with us every day, guiding our steps and providing wisdom, and we feel so blessed for any prayers and donations made.
This is how your generous donations will be used:
Physical therapy for Chris. She has experience major muscle atrophy during this time and needs to stay as strong as possible. This is a cost of $125 an hour and she needs 1 hours 3x a week.
Home care nurse to care for Chris when the family is at school and work. She needs help being feed her first meal by her caretaker most days and needs all her meals prepared for her. $28/hr for 6 hours a day 5 days a week.
LDI treatments and doctors visits for Chris, $400/hr ongoing for Dr consultation for symptoms/medicine adjustments and $150 a month for the LDI doses. The phone/email visits are about an hour per month.
LDI treatments for the girls, initial visit $800 each and $400/hr for ongoing symptoms and medicine consultation and $150 a month each for LDI doses. Ava and Zoe have not yet started treatment so they will have to both have the initial visit then start the treatment.
Infrared sauna for organ detoxification. Especially important during treatment. More affordable to have in-home unit rather than at a clinic. $4000
IV Treatments (ozone and chelation)
Portable Oxygen Concentrator. $2300
Therapy for all three to deal with the extreme challenges they are facing with this disease. The depression is very hard for Chris to handle and she has started some EMDR therapy to help her deal with the trauma this disease has taken on her mind and body. Ava and Zoe both have some very negative behavior issues that will need to be addressed in therapy as they start treatment. They both basically need to re learn how to act in certain situations without Lyme affecting their thinking and actions as they both have had Lyme their entire lives. Overreaction is a huge problem for them both and that left them with habitual behavior that needs redirecting. Ava was diagnosed with autism at age 2.
Supplements $300 a month just for Chris. When the girls start treatment and need the supplement support they too will average $200-$300 each.
Please share with your friends and family!
Organizer
Keith Fuller
Organizer
Ventura, CA
