Love for the Lyme Warriors

I have worked hard my whole life. I raised my oldest son, Tristin as a single mom and put myself through nursing school. I have continued to work hard and ended up working as a registered nurse. I later met my husband, Ron and we had two beautiful children together, Kaiya and Jameson. We were happy and proud to have created a home that thrived from our hard work and perseverance. Little did I know that my body was fighting to keep up with what life demanded. At the age of 36 my body started to give out, I felt like I was dying. My heart could not function properly, which made me faint frequently. I was in and out of the hospital for pain and fainting. I ended up going to a naturopath and that is where I found my answer. I had Lyme disease along with co-infections. The Lyme was eating away at my nervous system, muscles, joints, endocrine system, and gastrointestinal tract. I was happy to have a diagnosis and anxious to start treatment. What I did not know at the time was that treatment would create a whole new set of problems. Each time I take my medication to kill the Lyme and co-infections it creates a large amount of bio toxins or die off in my body. This causes a herxheimer reaction which makes my body go into an acidic state and exacerbates all of my symptoms. Most days I am not able to leave my house from the pain in my back, head, and joints, the fatigue is unbearable, my eyes burn from the lights, my legs feel heavy and it is difficult to walk from my bed to the couch, it hurts to wash dishes, do the laundry, or hold my children. My body is at war and this is a battle I intend to win. Due to the debilitating symptoms of Lyme I am unable to work. I have had to go on disability. It has been humbling and hard at times to accept that pieces of my life have been taken away from a disease.

This has been a challenge because the cost of Lyme is very expensive. Insurance does not cover doctor’s visits, medication, IV treatments, or lab tests. There is also a special diet that is required. Any foods that cause inflammation have to be eliminated. I eat a strict diet that has no gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy, or corn. Most foods need to be organic and can be costly at times.

The more I have researched Lyme the more I have learned that it can be transferred to your partner and to your children while in utero. My husband, daughter, and youngest son Jameson were showing signs of fatigue, muscle pain, headaches, abdominal pain, and memory loss. We had my husband and children tested for Lyme. This is a horrible debilitating disease and I wouldn’t wish this horrific pain on anyone. Unfortunately my husband and 2 children were not so lucky. All 3 of them tested positive for Lyme. It completely breaks my heart to know that they have been suffering and are now in a battle to save their lives. The Lyme test alone costs $256. We plan on testing my oldest son, Tristin as soon as we can afford it. It is with a humble heart that I ask for your help in the treatment for my family. My treatment alone costs $3,000/mo. It takes an average of 2 years for treatment. I ask that you please open your heart and help donate so that we can fight this disease and have our life back. Please be a warrior with us, fight Lyme disease, and help save my family.




* To learn more about Lyme disease please visit these websites:  tiredoflyme.com  ilads.org 

* To be apart of a bigger change please visit 8 Things You Can Do to Advocate for Lyme Awareness Month www.lymedisease.org/8-things-lyme-awareness/ 

* To see the full impact of Lyme on your body, families, and see what treatment looks like please check out "Under Our Skin", a documentary that can be watched for free on Amazon Prime.