Support Gabe on his Chronic Lyme Disease Journey

Karen Perras is organizing this fundraiser.

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As many of you know the absolute love of my life - Gabriel Raven has lyme disease. It started over 16 years ago with a tick bite while we were living on Cortes Island. Through misdiagnosis, lack of informed medical care, and an under equipped health care system it took 1.5 years to receive a proper diagnosis. Here we are all these years later still trying everything we can to support this beautiful being to get back to a place of health & wellness.

The story is a long one full of many ups and downs. We are happy to share the details of our experience - as it is important. We will post updates and share more as time goes on.

Gabe is an incredibly loving person and has left me perpetually in awe of his strength and determination. He is a lover of life and makes the most of what he has, while striving to be the best that he can at all times. Gabe and our family have felt the burden and stress that is created by having to navigate the care and costly treatments needed.

Currently our focus is on Gabe's moving forward and being able to afford the help and medical support required. The majority of the treatments are not covered by our local BC health care system. We have spent hundreds & hundreds of thousands of dollars on his care over the years.

Because of Gabe's long term and complex chronic case, he is needing to explore new treatments. It is almost impossible to say how much treatment will be needed to achieve functionality, or the total financial help that will be required. We have been on this journey long enough to know that it is just that - a journey. It has been full of celebrations of progress; believing he has done it and is able to walk away from this debilitating condition, to the many, many heartaches and heartbreaks of watching him slip back into the complex myriad of symptoms this disease carries.

It is very likely that Gabe will need to revisit treatment as set backs occur further on down the road. We feel this amount covers immediate needs as well as providing a safety net for ongoing care and future treatments.

Chronic Lyme disease is complicated & tricky. There is no one treatment that will work for everyone. Each and every time Gabe gets to a place of stability our family hopes, prays & wishes with all of our fingers crossed that it lasts. My heart has had to bear the weight of watching him slip away so many times that I need to be real with myself and everyone else to remember that it may last a long time, or it may be just a short while when he is feeling better. Whichever it is we will keep on trying to find the help and support needed for Gabe to live the best quality of life that he can.

Our family is so incredibly grateful for all of the love and support that we have received. Our hearts feel the love. Thank you to each and everyone of you❤️

If you cannot help financially and would still like to support Gabe and our family, please share this as much as you can and in as many places that you can.

Another way to support is to learn about Chronic Lyme Disease and help inform others about this complex and deeply misunderstood disease.

Many of the mainstream websites such as the CDC & Mayo share a misleading picture of Lyme Disease. Below is a list of resources & documentaries about Lyme disease & Chronic Lyme Disease.

Books:

Suffering the Silence: Chronic Lyme Disease in an Age of Denial, by Allie Cashel https://www.sufferingthesilence.com

Why Can’t I Get Better?: Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease By Dr. Richard Horowitz

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing of Lyme Borreliosis and the Coinfections Chlamydia and Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, 2nd Edition (2015), By Stephen Buhner

Websites:

Project Lyme: https://projectlyme.org

LymeDisease.org: https://www.lymedisease.org/

Lyme Warrior: https://lymewarrior.us/

Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation: https://canlyme.com/

Documentaries:

Trust Me, I’m Sick: A short docuseries about life with chronic illness

https://www.sufferingthesilence.com/trust-me-im-sick

Under Our Skin 1 & 2 https://underourskin.com

I’m Not Crazy, I’m Sick https://imnotcrazyimsick.com/

The Quiet Epidemic https://www.thequietepidemic.com

The Monster Inside Me https://www.themonsterinsideme.com