Help Cat Beat Lyme
Donation protected
I love being outside. It makes me make this happy face. 
Unfortunately, outside got into me, in the form of Lyme Disease, and now my joints ache and I'm fatigued all the time. It started getting really bad in February, but it took several months to find out what was going on. Because we didn't catch it early, it'll also take longer to treat.
My work is really physical, and because of the pain and fatigue, I have barely been able to work over the last few months--both massage therapy and running my solo practice take more body and energy than I've got right now. And self-employment offers flexibility, but not paid time off or really any sort of backup plan. I've been so sick that I am closing my business. It was once a thriving business, but it hasn't come close to paying for itself in months, let alone my expenses.
My rent alone is $900/month (and this place is under market pricing), and some months my healthcare bills have been more than that. I do have health insurance through the connector, but the Lyme-literate doctor I have is not covered, nor are many of the treatments we're using. In addition to antibiotics, I'm taking several kinds of probiotics and antifungals to balance my microbiome while we try and wipe out the Lyme. Lyme is hard to kill--you have to attack it from four separate directions, and that means at least four different medications, some of which are more effective with supplements as support. And then there's pain medication, which also isn't completely covered by my insurance. Basically, I take a full handful of pills four times a day, and a few more a fifth, and all those pills and doctor visits are expensive. We're hoping we will actually beat the Lyme--some people never do, but my doctor has worked with Lyme doctors in other countries and is working with a promising protocol.
Because I'm self employed and don't have any documentation of my income other than my annual tax returns, I don't qualify for any public assistance programs. I am hoping to get a part-time job doing something much, much less physical than my current work, but I can't work full-time right now. Even if I had the energy, I am going to at least one doctor's appointment a week, and sometimes many more. I'm living off credit cards right now, and it's getting ugly.
As many of you know, I'm fiercely independent. Asking for help is really challenging, and I wish I didn't need to. This money will help me pay past-due medical bills, pay my rent, eat decent food to support my body while I heal (the antibiotics make me nauseous and I have food allergies, so I have to be really careful about food), and pay for the treatments I need to beat this thing. It will allow me to focus on healing instead of stressing about how I'm going to pay for my care and keep my apartment.
Unfortunately, outside got into me, in the form of Lyme Disease, and now my joints ache and I'm fatigued all the time. It started getting really bad in February, but it took several months to find out what was going on. Because we didn't catch it early, it'll also take longer to treat.
My work is really physical, and because of the pain and fatigue, I have barely been able to work over the last few months--both massage therapy and running my solo practice take more body and energy than I've got right now. And self-employment offers flexibility, but not paid time off or really any sort of backup plan. I've been so sick that I am closing my business. It was once a thriving business, but it hasn't come close to paying for itself in months, let alone my expenses.
My rent alone is $900/month (and this place is under market pricing), and some months my healthcare bills have been more than that. I do have health insurance through the connector, but the Lyme-literate doctor I have is not covered, nor are many of the treatments we're using. In addition to antibiotics, I'm taking several kinds of probiotics and antifungals to balance my microbiome while we try and wipe out the Lyme. Lyme is hard to kill--you have to attack it from four separate directions, and that means at least four different medications, some of which are more effective with supplements as support. And then there's pain medication, which also isn't completely covered by my insurance. Basically, I take a full handful of pills four times a day, and a few more a fifth, and all those pills and doctor visits are expensive. We're hoping we will actually beat the Lyme--some people never do, but my doctor has worked with Lyme doctors in other countries and is working with a promising protocol.
Because I'm self employed and don't have any documentation of my income other than my annual tax returns, I don't qualify for any public assistance programs. I am hoping to get a part-time job doing something much, much less physical than my current work, but I can't work full-time right now. Even if I had the energy, I am going to at least one doctor's appointment a week, and sometimes many more. I'm living off credit cards right now, and it's getting ugly.
As many of you know, I'm fiercely independent. Asking for help is really challenging, and I wish I didn't need to. This money will help me pay past-due medical bills, pay my rent, eat decent food to support my body while I heal (the antibiotics make me nauseous and I have food allergies, so I have to be really careful about food), and pay for the treatments I need to beat this thing. It will allow me to focus on healing instead of stressing about how I'm going to pay for my care and keep my apartment.
Organizer
Cat Stolz
Organizer
Somerville, MA
