Cayla‘s Lyme battle

My name is Cayla and I am fighting for my freedom to live and there is no chance of getting that without your help.


I’ve spent the past two years in and out of hospitals trying to find out what was wrong with me.  Six months ago I was finally diagnosed with Late Stage Neurological Lyme Disease. Right now being sick is my full time job and can’t afford the treatment I need to fight this disease.


On a daily basis I have to experience heart pain and palpitations, brain fog, losing the ability to speak, paralysis, loss of muscle control, muscle spasms, numbness, confusion, vomiting, cognitive impairment, extreme weakness, seizures, memory loss, headaches, sensory loss, sinus infections, joint pain, shaking, chronic strep throat, blurred vision… the list goes on and on. There are times where I can’t even get around my house, hold a glass a water, go to the bathroom by myself, or have sudden confusion because I don’t know where I am or what I was doing. Lyme Disease is the disease that brings everything to the battle line.


Lyme is a bacterial infection caused by the bacteria borrelia burgdorferi. It is a spiral shaped bacteria that drills holes in every part of the body, from tissue to bone - a full invasion of the central nervous system. Lyme bacteria creates a biofilm which allows it to stay safe from antibiotics which is why they are so difficult to kill. They reproduce so eliminating all of the bacteria for good is also a difficult task. It is often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, fibromyalgia, arthritis, Lupus, Alzheimer's, dementia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. In Late stage lyme, it feels like having all of those diseases at once.


I am at the stage where I am in need of full time care and treatment. I am unable to work and my health insurance is not assisting with the medical care that I need.


I have the doctors in place who are ready to give me the care I need. Their treatment would be rebuilding my immune system with supplements, IV treatments,  and eventually infusion stem cell replacement therapy to repair my central nervous system. This will be a six month to a year process and during that time there will be periods where I will be completely immobile, bed ridden, and will need a full time caregiver.


It is a lot to ask for support from friends, family, and strangers - but this is my only option. If I don’t get the financial assistance I need, my body and mind will slowly decline leading to being permanently disabled.


I will have to struggle with this illness for the rest of my life, but getting the treatment I need NOW will potentially push it into remission and would move from daily to yearly treatment.


I want to live again. I want to laugh without pain, walk without a irregular heartbeat, have the strength to be mobile, have an experience and be able to remember it, give back to my community, be with my friends, BE ALIVE.


I'm determined to make it through so I can tell everyone else suffering from this disease that there is a way out.


Thank you for your time, donations, and sharing. All the support I can get will help me continue my fight.