Kat’s journey with CHRONIC LYME DISEASE
Donation protected
For treatments for LYME DISEASE.
Hi there, my name is Kathryn, I am 31 yrs. old, from Hamilton Ontario, and I have CHRONIC Neurological LYME DISEASE, Borrelia Burgdorferi. It is a bacterial monster and it hides in my body. It’s been there for 13 years.
I have told my mom over the past year ...”mom, I know I am dying, my body is shutting down, I am slowly dying”. That was before I had found out I have Lyme. I found out in July 2019. I still feel like I’m dying.
I don’t remember being bit by a tick. I was one of those that did not get the bull’s-eye rash after being bitten. All I remember is my life “in hell” started at 18 yrs. of age.
If Lyme is treated properly while it’s acute it is curable. It’s when it moves into the chronic stage, like mine, that it becomes a life-long battle. Lyme is a very, very lonely disease. No one really knows what it’s like to fight this battle. I would do anything to be able to go camping, hike again, swim or even go on a long walk. To be able to have my mind back so I can go back to school, to have a conversation with someone finding the right words or thinking extra hard to comprehend what is being said. I was a very active outgoing person at one time. I never thought that one day I would have to rely on canes, walkers, and wheelchairs.
It feels like acid is in my blood. Someone is crushing my skull and bones. Someone is attacking me and stabbing me, over and over again. I have severe numerous migraines, muscle spasms, excruciating all over body pain, weakness and zero energy.
Lyme symptoms resemble various other diseases such as MS, FIBROMYALGIA, LUPUS, CFS. I was tested for all those. The Canadian medical community is unable to properly diagnose and treat chronic Lyme disease, therefore people like me are forced to go elsewhere for treatment.
My mom and step- dad, has been my support system and has taken me to so many various DRS, SPECIALISTS, HOMEOPATHS, NATURAL PATHS, CHINESE HERB SPECIALISTS, IRIDOLOGIST, ACUPUNCTURISTS, NEUROLOGISTS, RHEUMATOLOGISTS, IMMUNOLOGISTS, PHYCHIATRISTS, PAIN CLINICS, CARDIOLOGISTS, DERMATOLOGISTS and THERAPISTS over the last 13 years spending hundreds of thousands of $$ only to try and get an answer on what was wrong with me.
In 2012, I went to LOCKWOOD MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC CLINIC in Toronto. We were so excited to get an appointment, as there is always a long waiting list. I was there for 3 days of tests, until they diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I lived thinking I had Fibro.
They were wrong, I have LYME and I will die without treatment.
How did I find out I have Lyme? One day not long ago, a dear friend from the past texted me, and said hey Kathryn my mom does not have fibromyalgia she has Lyme disease, so go get checked out. Since we hung out in the same area as his mom, way back then, this could be a possibility. That text may have saved my life. I called my natural path, and asked if they do LYME testing. And she said they do, by getting blood withdrawn and sending it to ARMIN LAB in Germany. So we did.
Canada does not do the extensive, effective testing that ARMIN labs do. In 2 weeks, my results came back from Germany, POSITVE for the BORRELIA BURGDORFERI bacteria, LYME DISEASE. It is a monster, and is very smart, as it knows how to hide in your body, hides from your immune system, and that’s why it is difficult to treat and takes a long time when you are chronic.
Now that I have found out I have Chronic LYME disease, I am finding out that we do not have the support system in Canada to treat or pay for this devastating disease. It is extremely costly to get treatments.
Since I was diagnosed in July, I have been going to buffalo for treatments and we have already spent approximately $35,000. Just to give you an idea of the reality on how much we are facing. My treatment will take years. Everyone is different when it comes to LYME. All contributions are going to medical treatments.
Please be careful out there, TICKs are everywhere and not just in the woods.
TICKS have been seen be in our city backyards!!
Thanks for reading my story. Your help would be enormously appreciated.
Best regards and love always!!
This document is written by my friend and advocate, as I do not have the energy, thought process or hand motor skills to write it on my own.
Kathryn
Hi there, my name is Kathryn, I am 31 yrs. old, from Hamilton Ontario, and I have CHRONIC Neurological LYME DISEASE, Borrelia Burgdorferi. It is a bacterial monster and it hides in my body. It’s been there for 13 years.
I have told my mom over the past year ...”mom, I know I am dying, my body is shutting down, I am slowly dying”. That was before I had found out I have Lyme. I found out in July 2019. I still feel like I’m dying.
I don’t remember being bit by a tick. I was one of those that did not get the bull’s-eye rash after being bitten. All I remember is my life “in hell” started at 18 yrs. of age.
If Lyme is treated properly while it’s acute it is curable. It’s when it moves into the chronic stage, like mine, that it becomes a life-long battle. Lyme is a very, very lonely disease. No one really knows what it’s like to fight this battle. I would do anything to be able to go camping, hike again, swim or even go on a long walk. To be able to have my mind back so I can go back to school, to have a conversation with someone finding the right words or thinking extra hard to comprehend what is being said. I was a very active outgoing person at one time. I never thought that one day I would have to rely on canes, walkers, and wheelchairs.
It feels like acid is in my blood. Someone is crushing my skull and bones. Someone is attacking me and stabbing me, over and over again. I have severe numerous migraines, muscle spasms, excruciating all over body pain, weakness and zero energy.
Lyme symptoms resemble various other diseases such as MS, FIBROMYALGIA, LUPUS, CFS. I was tested for all those. The Canadian medical community is unable to properly diagnose and treat chronic Lyme disease, therefore people like me are forced to go elsewhere for treatment.
My mom and step- dad, has been my support system and has taken me to so many various DRS, SPECIALISTS, HOMEOPATHS, NATURAL PATHS, CHINESE HERB SPECIALISTS, IRIDOLOGIST, ACUPUNCTURISTS, NEUROLOGISTS, RHEUMATOLOGISTS, IMMUNOLOGISTS, PHYCHIATRISTS, PAIN CLINICS, CARDIOLOGISTS, DERMATOLOGISTS and THERAPISTS over the last 13 years spending hundreds of thousands of $$ only to try and get an answer on what was wrong with me.
In 2012, I went to LOCKWOOD MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC CLINIC in Toronto. We were so excited to get an appointment, as there is always a long waiting list. I was there for 3 days of tests, until they diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I lived thinking I had Fibro.
They were wrong, I have LYME and I will die without treatment.
How did I find out I have Lyme? One day not long ago, a dear friend from the past texted me, and said hey Kathryn my mom does not have fibromyalgia she has Lyme disease, so go get checked out. Since we hung out in the same area as his mom, way back then, this could be a possibility. That text may have saved my life. I called my natural path, and asked if they do LYME testing. And she said they do, by getting blood withdrawn and sending it to ARMIN LAB in Germany. So we did.
Canada does not do the extensive, effective testing that ARMIN labs do. In 2 weeks, my results came back from Germany, POSITVE for the BORRELIA BURGDORFERI bacteria, LYME DISEASE. It is a monster, and is very smart, as it knows how to hide in your body, hides from your immune system, and that’s why it is difficult to treat and takes a long time when you are chronic.
Now that I have found out I have Chronic LYME disease, I am finding out that we do not have the support system in Canada to treat or pay for this devastating disease. It is extremely costly to get treatments.
Since I was diagnosed in July, I have been going to buffalo for treatments and we have already spent approximately $35,000. Just to give you an idea of the reality on how much we are facing. My treatment will take years. Everyone is different when it comes to LYME. All contributions are going to medical treatments.
Please be careful out there, TICKs are everywhere and not just in the woods.
TICKS have been seen be in our city backyards!!
Thanks for reading my story. Your help would be enormously appreciated.
Best regards and love always!!
This document is written by my friend and advocate, as I do not have the energy, thought process or hand motor skills to write it on my own.
Kathryn
Organizer
Mary Kipp Gawrylash
Organizer
Hamilton, ON