Help us fight Lyme disease

We humbly ask for your help to raise money for essential medical treatment for our two sick children.

Just before Christmas 2016, our son (then 6 years old) became seriously ill.  The doctors took multiple blood tests but couldn’t find anything wrong except that his white blood cell count was a bit low. The family was told that it was likely to pass by itself, and that it was probably just a virus. The weeks went by and he only got worse. The family visited the doctor and the emergency room repeatedly, but no one could figure out what was wrong. Months went by and the symptoms worsened. The family has always been active outdoor enthusiasts, and they began to suspect that their son  was suffering from a tick-borne disease.

In December 2018, the family travelled to a clinic specializing in tick-borne diseases in Poland. Here he underwent several blood tests which showed to be positive for Borreliosis, Bartonella, Mycoplasma pneumonia and more. The blood results were taken back to the GP in Norway, where he was put on 2 courses of antibiotics for a total of 3 weeks. However, the doctors in Norway were unable to treat him further, despite the good response to the treatment, as they consider him to be fully treated for both mycoplasma and borrelia after a total of 3 weeks of antibiotics. The doctor’s conclusion to the Family was therefore that he must just learn to live with the symptoms, even if they worsen.

At the time that he received his first treatment for tick-borne diseases here in Norway, his brother also became ill. Without warning he became very tired and suffered severe pain in his legs. He went from swimming actively several times a week, to struggling to participate in training at all. His health has deteriorated abruptly and he contends with severe pain constantly in daily life and his symptoms frequently get so bad that he vomits.  He has developed increasing numbers of petechia on his face and body, without the Norwegian doctors finding the cause. In May 2019 he was finally tested for Borrelia in Norway and tested positive.

Treatment in Poland started and the family travelled to the clinic every 6 weeks to get new medicines and blood tests. All the consultations, blood tests, flights and accommodation were paid out of their own pocket. This became a costly business and the bills to date amount to over NOK 200,000 (22 000 US dollar).

The family has begun to explore the possibilities of treatment in other countries. For the past two weeks, one of the boys has been completely bedridden. He is in such pain that he is unable to walk. The United States is one of the countries in the world with a long history of treating chronic borrellia and related infections in children and adults. The family has therefore decided to seek treatment in United States so that the children can receive adequate and correct treatment to recover and regain their health.

This will of course be extremely expensive, and the family needs help and support in order to be able to provide the right treatment for the children. The first consultation alone will cost 2000 dollars.

Would you like to help our children regain their active and pain-free life back? All donations help – big or small!