Support Jeremiah's Battle Against Lyme Disease

Hi, my name is Jeremiah Calderwood. I’m 26 years old and have grown up in Southern California. During my childhood, I was very carefree and happy. I loved to skateboard, surf, ride my bike and spend time with my family and friends. I spent a lot of time at the beach because I was involved with junior lifeguards which fosterd an aptitude for discovering and exploring new things. My parents have always been very supportive and taught me a lot about commitment, so since childhood I have been very determined and like to finish what I start. I have also had numerous mentors and teachers in my life that have pushed me to be my very best self and I am so thankful for everything they have poured into me. It has been instrumental in helping me through this difficult season.

While in high school, I unaccountably began dealing with debilitating anxiety, unexplained emotions, anger, and manic behavior. I sought help from a psychiatrist and tried a combination of many medications to ease the symptoms, which only put a bandaid on the situation. Upon graduation, I enrolled at Musicians Institute in Hollywood to study drum performance. In college, I had numerous neurological symptoms that affected my brain resulting in the inability to concentrate and retain information (I would often fall asleep after class because I was so exhausted when I got home). I sat there wondering why I couldn't understand simple concepts, and wrap my head around things that I dearly cared about. I did manage to graduate, however in May 2021 I began having unexplainable symptoms that prevented me from being able to use my skills.

I remember the night of my 23rd birthday eating dinner when my arm felt like it fell asleep almost immediately and I didnt have the strength to lift my arm and eat my food. I initially thought I had a pinched nerve in my left shoulder, neck, and arm. As numbness and tingling set in, I went to the ER. Doctors initially diagnosed mild arthritis and tendonitis from “overuse” because I was drumming for 4-5 hours a day. I had my arm in a sling for a month hoping it would go away.

These diagnoses did not account for the extent of the neurological and neuropathy symptoms I was facing. So I sought a neurologist and underwent multiple MRIs and conductive nerve studies (NCS or NCV) Thoracic Outlet Syndrome was suspected, which is when your rib presses on the brachial plexus, affecting the bundle of nerves in the shoulder/neck. This led me to meet with a surgeon for a rib resection. Around this time the numbness and tingling began to travel down my leg, so I knew this wasn’t the root cause.

Seeking a second opinion, I embarked on a journey to find the cause of my symptoms, mainly consulting neurologists. The numbness persisted and eventually spread to my entire left side, I lost neuromuscular control, had difficulty walking, and had no strength. In my second or third hospitalization, I was diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), an autoimmune disorder. This is when your immune system attacks the myelin sheath of your nerves. While treatment with IVIG in the hospital initially showed improvement, unfortunately, the symptoms returned a week later. I was prescribed steroids for neuropathy and still after multiple rounds of IVIG and consultations with various neurologists, I had no clear diagnosis and no steady improvement.

I sought more specialists, including a top neurologist at Cedars Sinai who suggested that what I was dealing with was purely psychological. I started to get more and more symptoms; I was experiencing increased nerve pain, cognitive dysfunction, motor dysfunction, and issues with seemingly every system in my body. I began meeting with doctors at UCLA and UCSF, running more tests, biopsies, etc., still to no conclusion. I flew to Arizona and was treated by a Nucca specialist, a specified neck chiropractor, as a lot of my symptoms were located in my neck and head. However, my undiagnosed condition precluded any progress.

Throughout the next 6-9 months, I experienced extreme fatigue, inability to sleep, nerve pain, blurry spots /double vision, hearing loss with motion sickness and vertigo, digestion issues, unexplained emotions and behaviors including suicidal ideation. Feelings of hopelessness set in, and most days I couldn’t even get out of bed and couldn't take care of myself, even being too weak to drink water. I seemingly lost everything I loved and I didnt want to keep carrying on. I sent my case to the Mayo Clinic but it was denied because of an insufficient diagnosis.

In June of 2022, in a last-ditch effort to get a SPECT scan of my brain at the Amen Clinic, I consulted with Dr. Brush, a naturopathic doctor, who ordered more bloodwork. In July of 2022, during my fourth or fifth hospitalization this time for debilitating headaches, very little motor function, and loss of vision in my left eye, she called me on a Friday at 8pm and let me know that the blood test showed I was positive for Lyme disease.

With no straightforward medicine for Lyme, I began an intensive regimen of 30 to 40 supplements a day, alongside various tinctures to combat the disease. This showed almost no promise, but I remained disciplined with my lifestyle, which helped with my mental state. I tried many naturopathic remedies, even flying to Idaho for therapy with magnets, and daily sessions in the sauna including LED Light therapy, hyperbaric oxygen, and SOT infusions, but again I was left with continued worsening symptoms.

I visited a Mexican clinic where I learned of additional treatments not usually done in the US because the FDA does not approve them. I found a community of patients with very similar issues, making me realize I am not losing my mind, that what I am dealing with is not just in my head, and that I am struggling with a very real, debilitating disease.

In Mexico at the end of 2022, I began different treatments like Exosome IV infusions, ozone therapy, and high-dose vitamin C. This is when things started to become immensely expensive because of the unconventional treatments required. These treatments helped minimize symptoms and repair parts of my body but were not enough to rid my body of the bacteria, leading to severe neuromuscular decline and diminished communication within the systems in my body.

Upon returning to the US, I continued ozone, vitamin C treatments, and peptides through a San Diego doctor, but they were still insufficient. I would improve, but shortly later it would cease. I figured I needed something stronger, so I sought treatment at another clinic in Mexico for 8 weeks from July to September of 2023 to eradicate Lyme and its co-infections. There, I tried more invasive treatments like strong antibiotics and hyperthermia (heating the body to induce immune strengthening while administering antibiotics to increase their effectiveness) and Plasmapheresis, Ozone therapy, and numerous IV infusions.

Although invasive, these treatments had me feeling more like myself than I have since I began experiencing symptoms, which I now realize has been over 10 years, although I didn't know I had Lyme until I was left with debilitating symptoms a full eight years into this ordeal. At the end of 2023, I was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, (inflammation or swelling of bone tissue that is the result of infection.) This occurred because at the height of my Lyme symptoms in 2022, I had oral surgery to remove my wisdom teeth, and the Lyme bacteria embedded into the bone in my jaw, causing a significant abscess.

I had an additional surgery after I found this out to clear the abscess and remove parts of infected bone from my jaw. But I was still left with much pain in my jaw and teeth. I then got a second opinion from a nationally recognized homeopathic dentist who did a Cone Beam CT scan and told me that during the wisdom teeth extraction, parts of my teeth were left in the cavitation which will require additional surgery to get those remaining teeth removed. This explains why the symptoms in my head and neck region have been so severe and why the detox efforts so far have not fully eradicated the bacteria - because the bone cannot fully heal with pieces of teeth left in the cavitation sites.

My Lyme doctor and I are working with that dental specialist, who will be able to fix this surgically. It's likely this has been what caused me to have continuing neurological symptoms, as the teeth are directly connected to the brain and central nervous system. After this procedure, future efforts towards eradicating the bacteria are expected to be completely successful resulting in complete remission.

The financial toll of this whole ordeal has been immense, with over $300,000 spent on hospital visits, out-of-pocket MRI scans, IVIG medicine, naturopathic medication, doctor visits, surgical procedures, even traveling out-of-state and country to fight this disease, with almost all of the successful treatments not covered by insurance because of the unrecognized and understudied persistence of Lyme disease.

I have made progress in the right direction for the first time in this entire journey through regenerative treatments that have slowly been moving things in the right direction. I need this third oral surgery (that isn’t covered by insurance) and more treatments out of the country. I also need an ongoing at-home protocol that requires financial support until I am able to work again.

Despite the challenges I have encountered over the past decade, I am finally hopeful for remission and for regaining strength through the next steps I can take, though I do not have the funds to finish the needed treatments to get me there. I want to return to normal activities soon, spending time with family, learning new things, and cultivating relationships through music and other things I am passionate about. I hope to reclaim the life I love, which I had at one point thought was lost to me. I aspire to create more awareness about Lyme Disease and help others navigate a more straightforward path to health and healing. But now, I have hope and joy, realizing this is possible, and that I can achieve remission by finishing the treatments I have started.

I have a deep and sincere belief that God has a purpose for my life, and while seeking my higher power daily, I have experienced His help and encouragement to not give up in this last leg of the race in the battle against Lyme disease.

I have an itemized list below for what I need help with financially in this next year. Thank you for considering my journey and your support and prayers.

Sincerely, Jeremiah Calderwood

$13,150 Oral Surgery to remove abscess and repair infected bone

$12,750 Oral Surgery to remove teeth particles in cavitation

$1,880 Ozone conversion device

$16,600 IV Infusions, peptides and supplements for the next year

$35,650 Airfare, lodging, treatment in Mexico (hyperthermia, plasmapheresis, antibiotics)

$3500 Physical Therapy (for suregery recovery), Lymphatic massage

$83, 530 Fundraising Goal