Lyme Disease Treatment at Infusio
Donation protected
Russell’s News interview with WVTM
Russell’s interview with ABC
This is my son, Russell. Four years ago he was happy, healthy and ready to take on the world. He was in school at UAB and set to play football for the 2014 season. He is now 24 years old and has been practically bedridden with Chronic Lyme Disease for these past four years.
At the beginning of Russell’s decline in health, we visited our primary physician who didn’t find anything wrong. He thought Russell might’ve been experiencing the residual effects of a concussion, sustained around January of 2014. After several months of treatment for a concussion, his condition severely worsened as he started experiencing severe brain fog, insomnia, heart palpitations, debilitating fatigue, vision problems, light and noise sensitivity, loss of coordination, panic attacks, depression, and anxiety.
The doctors began to look for other factors that could be causing his condition. After running several tests ranging from MRI’s to basic blood work, nothing appeared abnormal besides a highly elevated heartrate and a few lab results that were out of range. Still unable to find a satisfactory diagnosis, a sleep study was ordered around November of 2014, which discovered that he had sleep apnea. Treatment for that brought some mild improvement to his symptoms, but nothing substantial. The doctors suggested we visit the Mayo Clinic in MN to find a more legitimate diagnosis and treatment plan that could explain his condition.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In March of 2015, after an extensive look at Russell’s condition, the Mayo Clinic gave him a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (which basically means “we have no idea what's wrong with you, but here's a trivial term to describe your condition.”) Their treatment protocol consisted of cognitive behavioral therapy, and medications such as stimulants and antidepressants. After following their recommendations for an entire year with minimal improvement, we began to do our own research.
At this point, Russell was still bed ridden for the majority of the day and suffering unspeakably. There would be a few days out of each month that he was able to partake in light activities, but anything remotely strenuous would exacerbate his symptoms to the point of incapacity. We eventually found a doctor that specializes in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and scheduled an appointment for August of 2016. The CFS specialist reviewed Russell’s medical history and ordered a blood test through a specific lab called Igenex, which provides an exhaustive analysis of a patients bloodwork. As the doctor suspected, the blood test found Lyme Disease and multiple other co-infections in Russell's system. Thankfully, we finally had some objective data that substantiated the way Russell was feeling. Lyme disease is a horrible condition that we wouldn’t wish upon anyone, but after years of searching for a definitive answer that could explain his symptoms, and infuriatingly having some people suggest that he’s simply being lazy, crazy, or malingering, It was such a relief to finally have a conclusive diagnosis.
Conventional medicine uses a very basic test for Lyme Disease, which results in many false negatives. This is why the previously mentioned visit to the Mayo Clinic didn’t find Lyme disease. Admittedly, Lyme disease is often referred to as the great imitator, as it can mimic many other medical conditions ranging from neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and mental illness. There are endless ways in which Lyme disease can affect the brain and body, and it tends to get worse the longer it is left untreated.
Nonetheless, The CFS specialist referred us to a doctor in Georgia who treats Lyme Disease. Russell was immediately prescribed several months of antibiotics, supplements, and dietary changes that provided much improvement to his condition. A year later, Russell is now off the antibiotics, since prolonged use can have detrimental side effects, and he is currently feeling much better in comparison to the past four years. He is able to drive occasionally and help me with a few deliveries for my business. However, he is still unable to live a functional or normal life for a 24 year old.
The majority of his days are still spent mostly in bed. Although he can still take care of himself, and somedays are better than others, he doesn’t have the sustained mental or physical capacity to keep a job, much less be out of the house for more than a few hours. There are somedays he can do a lot and he is always pushing himself as hard as he can to do as much as he can, but it always results in a severe worsening of his symptoms, and subsequent incapacity that takes him several weeks to recover from.
At the advisory of our current Doctors, we have decided to undergo treatment at the Infusio Clinic located in Beverly Hills, CA. Infusio is a state of the art treatment facility that specializes in the advanced treatment of Lyme disease. They use oxidative therapies instead of antibiotics to kill the Lyme bacteria as well as many other advanced modalities, including Stem Cell therapy and ACT therapy, which modulate the immune system, and repair any existing neurological damage the bacteria may have caused. This is an invasive and comprehensive treatment program that unfortunately, insurance doesn’t cover. However, we have exhausted all other treatment options to improve Russell’s condition and he has even sold practically all his belongings to help pay for the treatment cost. We’ve managed to save around $5000 so far, which should cover the two weeks of hotel and travel expenses. The cost of the Infusio treatment program is $25,000. Fortunately, Infusio is offering a $5,000 discount for the month of May in appreciation of Lyme disease Awareness month. That being said, we desperately need your help if we are to schedule treatment by the end of May, and help him get his Life back again. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We tried as best we could to condense the past 4 years of hardship into a few paragraphs.
We realize this is a monumental cost, but at the end of the day your health is all that matters, and after exhausting every treatment option, as well as our finances over these past 4 years with so many doctor bills that insurance will not cover, medicine, supplements, and the care needed for him on a daily basis, we are left with no choice but to ask you for help. We have even applied for a medical loan, but unfortunately didn’t qualify. We have researched the Infusio program extensively, and it has an overwhelming success rate. We are doing everything in our power to obtain the funds for this treatment program.
Lyme Disease is vastly becoming one of the most infectious diseases to spread with over 300,000 cases annually just here in the US.
More needs to be done in our medical community to help combat the fight against Tick Bourne Illnesses. Help us so that we can help others suffering from Lyme disease by spreading awareness amongst the general population and medical community so we can put an end to this devastating
disease. We understand not everyone can donate but please consider sharing this page to get the message out.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any and all help you can offer.
Forever Grateful,
Dianna Strickland & Russell Brown
Here is a link to the Infusio website if you’d like to learn more about their treatment program: https://www.infusio.org
Russell’s interview with ABC
This is my son, Russell. Four years ago he was happy, healthy and ready to take on the world. He was in school at UAB and set to play football for the 2014 season. He is now 24 years old and has been practically bedridden with Chronic Lyme Disease for these past four years.
At the beginning of Russell’s decline in health, we visited our primary physician who didn’t find anything wrong. He thought Russell might’ve been experiencing the residual effects of a concussion, sustained around January of 2014. After several months of treatment for a concussion, his condition severely worsened as he started experiencing severe brain fog, insomnia, heart palpitations, debilitating fatigue, vision problems, light and noise sensitivity, loss of coordination, panic attacks, depression, and anxiety.
The doctors began to look for other factors that could be causing his condition. After running several tests ranging from MRI’s to basic blood work, nothing appeared abnormal besides a highly elevated heartrate and a few lab results that were out of range. Still unable to find a satisfactory diagnosis, a sleep study was ordered around November of 2014, which discovered that he had sleep apnea. Treatment for that brought some mild improvement to his symptoms, but nothing substantial. The doctors suggested we visit the Mayo Clinic in MN to find a more legitimate diagnosis and treatment plan that could explain his condition.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In March of 2015, after an extensive look at Russell’s condition, the Mayo Clinic gave him a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (which basically means “we have no idea what's wrong with you, but here's a trivial term to describe your condition.”) Their treatment protocol consisted of cognitive behavioral therapy, and medications such as stimulants and antidepressants. After following their recommendations for an entire year with minimal improvement, we began to do our own research.
At this point, Russell was still bed ridden for the majority of the day and suffering unspeakably. There would be a few days out of each month that he was able to partake in light activities, but anything remotely strenuous would exacerbate his symptoms to the point of incapacity. We eventually found a doctor that specializes in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and scheduled an appointment for August of 2016. The CFS specialist reviewed Russell’s medical history and ordered a blood test through a specific lab called Igenex, which provides an exhaustive analysis of a patients bloodwork. As the doctor suspected, the blood test found Lyme Disease and multiple other co-infections in Russell's system. Thankfully, we finally had some objective data that substantiated the way Russell was feeling. Lyme disease is a horrible condition that we wouldn’t wish upon anyone, but after years of searching for a definitive answer that could explain his symptoms, and infuriatingly having some people suggest that he’s simply being lazy, crazy, or malingering, It was such a relief to finally have a conclusive diagnosis.
Conventional medicine uses a very basic test for Lyme Disease, which results in many false negatives. This is why the previously mentioned visit to the Mayo Clinic didn’t find Lyme disease. Admittedly, Lyme disease is often referred to as the great imitator, as it can mimic many other medical conditions ranging from neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and mental illness. There are endless ways in which Lyme disease can affect the brain and body, and it tends to get worse the longer it is left untreated.
Nonetheless, The CFS specialist referred us to a doctor in Georgia who treats Lyme Disease. Russell was immediately prescribed several months of antibiotics, supplements, and dietary changes that provided much improvement to his condition. A year later, Russell is now off the antibiotics, since prolonged use can have detrimental side effects, and he is currently feeling much better in comparison to the past four years. He is able to drive occasionally and help me with a few deliveries for my business. However, he is still unable to live a functional or normal life for a 24 year old.
The majority of his days are still spent mostly in bed. Although he can still take care of himself, and somedays are better than others, he doesn’t have the sustained mental or physical capacity to keep a job, much less be out of the house for more than a few hours. There are somedays he can do a lot and he is always pushing himself as hard as he can to do as much as he can, but it always results in a severe worsening of his symptoms, and subsequent incapacity that takes him several weeks to recover from.
At the advisory of our current Doctors, we have decided to undergo treatment at the Infusio Clinic located in Beverly Hills, CA. Infusio is a state of the art treatment facility that specializes in the advanced treatment of Lyme disease. They use oxidative therapies instead of antibiotics to kill the Lyme bacteria as well as many other advanced modalities, including Stem Cell therapy and ACT therapy, which modulate the immune system, and repair any existing neurological damage the bacteria may have caused. This is an invasive and comprehensive treatment program that unfortunately, insurance doesn’t cover. However, we have exhausted all other treatment options to improve Russell’s condition and he has even sold practically all his belongings to help pay for the treatment cost. We’ve managed to save around $5000 so far, which should cover the two weeks of hotel and travel expenses. The cost of the Infusio treatment program is $25,000. Fortunately, Infusio is offering a $5,000 discount for the month of May in appreciation of Lyme disease Awareness month. That being said, we desperately need your help if we are to schedule treatment by the end of May, and help him get his Life back again. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We tried as best we could to condense the past 4 years of hardship into a few paragraphs.
We realize this is a monumental cost, but at the end of the day your health is all that matters, and after exhausting every treatment option, as well as our finances over these past 4 years with so many doctor bills that insurance will not cover, medicine, supplements, and the care needed for him on a daily basis, we are left with no choice but to ask you for help. We have even applied for a medical loan, but unfortunately didn’t qualify. We have researched the Infusio program extensively, and it has an overwhelming success rate. We are doing everything in our power to obtain the funds for this treatment program.
Lyme Disease is vastly becoming one of the most infectious diseases to spread with over 300,000 cases annually just here in the US.
More needs to be done in our medical community to help combat the fight against Tick Bourne Illnesses. Help us so that we can help others suffering from Lyme disease by spreading awareness amongst the general population and medical community so we can put an end to this devastating
disease. We understand not everyone can donate but please consider sharing this page to get the message out.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any and all help you can offer.
Forever Grateful,
Dianna Strickland & Russell Brown
Here is a link to the Infusio website if you’d like to learn more about their treatment program: https://www.infusio.org
Organizer and beneficiary
Dianna Sisk Strickland
Organizer
Helena, AL
Russell Brown
Beneficiary
