For most of our lives, our mom has enjoyed being active - playing tennis, taking long walks on the beach with our dad, and playing with our family dog. We share many memories filled with smiles and laughter. In 2015, her life changed. A torn tendon in her hip resulted in a painful surgery. Following this surgery, her physical and mental health steadily deteriorated. We saw less and less of the active, happy-go-lucky mom we knew. No more tennis, no more long walks, and less laughter.

Following the surgery, she saw six different orthopedic doctors searching for answers - an explanation for her pain. She heard many variations of the same thing - "we do not see anything wrong," "you need to exercise and just get on with life," and "cope with your stress better” - no answers that resulted in a reason, let alone a solution for the pain. Over the last seven years, our mom sought out different types of therapy and other alternative methods looking to stop her pain. Nothing worked. Her symptoms continued to get worse - constant dizziness, growing pain in her whole right side, body trembling and tingling, persistent nausea, and severe anxiety. As her symptoms worsened, it became more and more difficult for her to do the things she used to - attend social events, go grocery shopping, and drive comfortably. Our mom's pain was growing, and her world was getting smaller.

Recently, a friend mentioned that many of our mom's symptoms mirrored those of her daughter battling Chronic Lyme Disease. As our family began researching the symptoms of Chronic Lyme Disease, we realized how similar they were to what our mom had been fighting for years. Chronic Lyme Disease is very difficult to diagnose and treat but feeling confident that this could finally be an answer, our parents flew to Arizona to visit Envita Medical Center. Envita specializes in the treatment of late-stage

Lyme. Our

mom underwent several tests while at the facility, and then we awaited the results.

On August 10, the lab results confirmed that our mom had Lyme Disease and three other tick-borne infections. These infections have been wreaking havoc on her body for years, causing her all this pain. With this diagnosis came a huge sigh of relief - we finally found out what was wrong, an explanation for all her pain. Not only do we now have the diagnosis, we also have a medical center with doctors who understand the disease and how to treat it. However, with this relief came a great deal of financial worry. Though it is a disease that affects many, there is much ignorance about Chronic Lyme; therefore, the treatment regimen that our mom needs is not covered by insurance.

The treatment includes at least eight weeks (now it looks like it will be 10) of daily IV antibiotics, dozens of daily supplements, and a number of prescribed additional treatments, all designed to detox her body and build her immune system back to fight infection. The cost of this treatment, which will help our mom get her life back, is staggering, in the range of $11,000 a week! Our mom has been at Envita since August 21, fighting to stay positive, even when the pain has actually increased as her body is dealing with toxins released as the infections die off.

Our mom and dad have been so grateful for how God’s provision has materialized- she has been able to stay with a friend for the first four weeks of treatment and was loaned a car by a coworker's mom! A steady stream of prayers and encouragement from friends and family has helped sustain hope!

As her treatment continues and her immune system grows stronger, the amount of medical bills grows larger. We created this GoFundMe page in hopes of alleviating some of the financial burden this necessary treatment will put on our parents. They have nearly drained their savings and have been helped by loans from family. Our hope is that they do not have to drain their retirement savings and can look forward with hope to whatever their future holds!