Help Jenna fight Lyme Disease
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Jenna is suffering from chronic Lyme Disease and bacterial and viral co-infections.
Jenna is the daughter of Lyle and Janet Sittler of North Battleford. She is married to Justin Fairhead and lives in Saskatoon with their baby Dexter and dog Lucy. Jenna’s medical journey started twelve years ago when she began having unexplained widespread pain that would come and go periodically. Her condition remained stable until three years ago when Jenna fell very ill and could no longer continue to work. Attempts at receiving long-term disability and Canada Disability Pension were repeatedly denied so she was left unable to work and without any financial compensation. During this time, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and GERD. This led to many trials of different medications and therapies to deal with the anxiety and pain; all of which were unsuccessful. Jenna then turned to paramedical help such as physio and massage therapy, dry needling, acupuncture, chiropractic and naturopathy to try and ease her pain. The paramedical treatments were marginally better however only a small portion of these were covered under Justin's benefit plan.
In February 2016 Jenna had a baby boy (Dexter) who was born nine weeks early and at the time the doctors were unsure as to why he came premature. Dexter spent one month in the neonatal intensive care unit until he passed all of his release requirements. Dexter continued to grow and thrive but his mother’s condition continued to worsen. Jenna’s condition deteriorated to the point that she could no longer provide proper care of Dexter, so in July a full time nanny was hired to take care of Dexter and assist Jenna around the house. This was a huge turning point for everyone in our family and we knew we needed to take more extreme measures to help Jenna find out what was wrong with her.
Jenna's aunt had mentioned Lyme Disease to the family back in March of this year. She explained that Canadian testing is not reliable and it is difficult to find a doctor who recognizes and treats this disease. By August, we got the name of a respected lyme literate naturopathic doctor working in Vancouver, BC, Dr. Eric Chan, and Jenna and Justin flew there 3 weeks later to consult with him. Jenna's blood work went to Germany and United States and two weeks later he called her to say that she tested positive for Lyme Disease and co-infections (ticks don’t just carry lyme!) and due to the length of time going undiagnosed, it is now considered chronic and difficult to treat. For those who are not familiar with Lyme and Tick-Borne illnesses, a diseased tick bites a person and transmits harmful bacteria and disease that affect a person systemically; meaning over time the bacteria will penetrate the muscles, tissues, organs, nervous system and brain and leave the person experiencing a multitude of symptoms. Three days after she was diagnosed, her new treatment plan was couriered to her from Vancouver. Dr. Chan also indicated that the Lyme diagnosis may explain why Dexter was born prematurely and that there is a chance that Dexter may have Congenital Lyme Disease. To determine if Dexter has Lyme, Justin and Jenna will need to take him to Dr. Chan for blood testing as soon as possible, again at their own expense.
In order for Jenna to get better she will first have to get a lot sicker. This is called Herxheimer reaction or die off of the lyme and co-infections. She will be quite sick for many months with no guarantee of complete recovery, as well she could relapse in the future as some bacteria can evade antibiotics. In other words there is no end in sight for out of pocket expenses such as: prescription medication ($600-$800 per month), supplements to ease die off ($300 per month), Dr. Chan consultations at $150-$300 per appointment, travel back and forth to Vancouver to have in-person follow ups and diagnostic testing for Dexter ($thousands), child care, and numerous other treatment protocols (colonics, dry needling, massage, etc). Only the prescription medication is covered (up to six months at 80%) and the maximums are reached very quickly for physio, massage, naturopathy, etc. Along with the physical hardship the Fairhead family has endured, the financial hardship is now becoming a close second.
I urge you to help ease Jenna and Justin’s financial strain so that they can focus more on the treatment, their baby, and the long road ahead. You can follow Jenna’s journey through her Facebook page as well as through the updates we will provide on GoFundMe. Originally, we thought about holding a fundraising event but due to how sick Jenna is this would not be feasible. Any contribution would be greatly appreciated and well used to help her get better.
Thank you!
Video from Jenna's Doctor Eric Chan:
Dr Eric Chan -Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease
Jenna is the daughter of Lyle and Janet Sittler of North Battleford. She is married to Justin Fairhead and lives in Saskatoon with their baby Dexter and dog Lucy. Jenna’s medical journey started twelve years ago when she began having unexplained widespread pain that would come and go periodically. Her condition remained stable until three years ago when Jenna fell very ill and could no longer continue to work. Attempts at receiving long-term disability and Canada Disability Pension were repeatedly denied so she was left unable to work and without any financial compensation. During this time, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and GERD. This led to many trials of different medications and therapies to deal with the anxiety and pain; all of which were unsuccessful. Jenna then turned to paramedical help such as physio and massage therapy, dry needling, acupuncture, chiropractic and naturopathy to try and ease her pain. The paramedical treatments were marginally better however only a small portion of these were covered under Justin's benefit plan.
In February 2016 Jenna had a baby boy (Dexter) who was born nine weeks early and at the time the doctors were unsure as to why he came premature. Dexter spent one month in the neonatal intensive care unit until he passed all of his release requirements. Dexter continued to grow and thrive but his mother’s condition continued to worsen. Jenna’s condition deteriorated to the point that she could no longer provide proper care of Dexter, so in July a full time nanny was hired to take care of Dexter and assist Jenna around the house. This was a huge turning point for everyone in our family and we knew we needed to take more extreme measures to help Jenna find out what was wrong with her.
Jenna's aunt had mentioned Lyme Disease to the family back in March of this year. She explained that Canadian testing is not reliable and it is difficult to find a doctor who recognizes and treats this disease. By August, we got the name of a respected lyme literate naturopathic doctor working in Vancouver, BC, Dr. Eric Chan, and Jenna and Justin flew there 3 weeks later to consult with him. Jenna's blood work went to Germany and United States and two weeks later he called her to say that she tested positive for Lyme Disease and co-infections (ticks don’t just carry lyme!) and due to the length of time going undiagnosed, it is now considered chronic and difficult to treat. For those who are not familiar with Lyme and Tick-Borne illnesses, a diseased tick bites a person and transmits harmful bacteria and disease that affect a person systemically; meaning over time the bacteria will penetrate the muscles, tissues, organs, nervous system and brain and leave the person experiencing a multitude of symptoms. Three days after she was diagnosed, her new treatment plan was couriered to her from Vancouver. Dr. Chan also indicated that the Lyme diagnosis may explain why Dexter was born prematurely and that there is a chance that Dexter may have Congenital Lyme Disease. To determine if Dexter has Lyme, Justin and Jenna will need to take him to Dr. Chan for blood testing as soon as possible, again at their own expense.
In order for Jenna to get better she will first have to get a lot sicker. This is called Herxheimer reaction or die off of the lyme and co-infections. She will be quite sick for many months with no guarantee of complete recovery, as well she could relapse in the future as some bacteria can evade antibiotics. In other words there is no end in sight for out of pocket expenses such as: prescription medication ($600-$800 per month), supplements to ease die off ($300 per month), Dr. Chan consultations at $150-$300 per appointment, travel back and forth to Vancouver to have in-person follow ups and diagnostic testing for Dexter ($thousands), child care, and numerous other treatment protocols (colonics, dry needling, massage, etc). Only the prescription medication is covered (up to six months at 80%) and the maximums are reached very quickly for physio, massage, naturopathy, etc. Along with the physical hardship the Fairhead family has endured, the financial hardship is now becoming a close second.
I urge you to help ease Jenna and Justin’s financial strain so that they can focus more on the treatment, their baby, and the long road ahead. You can follow Jenna’s journey through her Facebook page as well as through the updates we will provide on GoFundMe. Originally, we thought about holding a fundraising event but due to how sick Jenna is this would not be feasible. Any contribution would be greatly appreciated and well used to help her get better.
Thank you!
Video from Jenna's Doctor Eric Chan:
Dr Eric Chan -Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease
Organizer
Jenita Mae
Organizer
North Battleford, SK
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