Lyme disease is a complicated and challenging illness that Stephen has been fighting to overcome for the past 6 years. He was diagnosed in 2019 after he had a major health crash, but likely had been sick for many years before that with a variety mild and manageable symptoms. Treatment of Lyme disease is not straightforward in a chronic case that has reached the nervous system, so it has been a wild roller coaster ride with many ups and downs. We are currently in the midst of the most intense part of treatment that he has experienced, but it is also the most promising approach for getting Stephen into remission and living a full and healthy life!

Stephen started out Lyme treatment by taking a variety of oral antibiotics combined with supplements to boost his immune system and herbals to address coinfections common with Lyme disease. While he did make some major gains the first two years of treatment with many symptoms resolving, he also had some significant setbacks when life stressors impacted his fragile immune system’s ability to stay on top of the disease. He had a major decline again in December 2024 and then, this past summer, Stephen’s new doctor recommended trying a more intensive approach to address his remaining neurological symptoms: IV antibiotics.

Stephen had a PICC line placed in July 2025 and his wife Sarah learned all of the ins and outs of managing the line at home for Stephen’s care. IV antibiotics are more aggressive than oral antibiotics because they are able to really get at the infection hiding out in the nervous system by crossing the blood brain barrier. Lyme treatment is known for making you feel worse before better in what is called a Herxheimer reaction as the body responds to the bacteria being killed with inflammation, headaches, fatigue, and flared up symptoms. Additionally the IV medications have some challenging side effects of nausea and sleep disruption making the treatment extra difficult. Stephen has been unable to work since August and is now focused solely on getting through the intense treatment which will likely wrap up in January 2026 if all goes well.

With the loss of income, the high cost of IV treatment, and the lack of coverage by insurance we’re finding ourselves in a position where we need a little extra help from our amazing community. We estimate that the remaining two months of IV treatment will cost approximately $12,000. Every little bit of support from you all makes a difference! We thank you so much for partnering with us as we fight to get Stephen’s life back and overcome Lyme disease. We are believing that 2026 is going to be the year where Stephen begins to be able to:

1) Play with his son Isaiah without limitations or feeling exhausted afterwards.

2) Work full time with ease to provide for his family, regaining creativity, mental clarity, and focus.

3) Relieve Sarah of many household responsibilities and get back into cooking delicious meals.

4) Get together with friends much more often and even host some large gatherings without having social anxiety.

5) Go to concerts, restaurants, and other noisy environments without significant sound sensitivity or discomfort.

6) Return to being physically active through volleyball, skiing, or even a new sport.

7) Play music on the piano, banjo, and bass again, and maybe even start to gig a little.

8) Travel for an actual vacation and to visit family, not only for medical appointments.

9) Feel good!!!

Thank you again for all of the love, prayers, financial support, and encouragement! We can’t do this alone and we are beyond grateful to know you all are cheering us on every step of the way. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!

Love,

Stephen, Sarah, & Isaiah