As many of you know, our lives have been flipped upside down since the fall due to our daughter’s health. She has been having unexplained back pain, chest pain, headaches, and now lower leg pain. This has led to her screaming for hours, which has ripped our hearts out. She has seen multiple specialists with the words, “I know you are frustrated, but we just don’t know what is wrong or even where to send you. We see the videos; she is in a lot of pain. We are sorry we can’t help.” Which, as a parent, is the most heartbreaking thing you can hear.

This little girl has been through it all, from multiple tests and imaging to being placed on IV morphine to control the pain. She has lost her ability to be an 8 year old, resulting in mostly laying down watching videos. If she does go to the park, school, or dance, she is down for at least one day, having to take muscle relaxers. She has been pulled from school for the rest of the year due to the amount of pain.

After spending 5 days at John Hopkins in St. Pete, where they could only offer us pain medication, we decided to look into a naturopathic doctor. This doctor is the only one that has come up with a plan and diagnosis, which is Lyme disease with co-infections. Unfortunately, it is going to require $8000 for testing and 6 weeks of treatment. The treatments will require one parent to take her 3 hours north 2x a week for the next 6 weeks. Richard is completely behind with his self-employed business, and I am completely out of PTO. We are asking for any help to cover the medical cost, traveling, and time off of work for the next 6 weeks to allow our little girl to heal and be the amazing 8-year-old she was.

As she has put it, “I’m not a medical mystery; I am legendary.”