Give for Natalie's Lyme Recovery
Donation protected
Natalie Goodpaster is a beautiful daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and Chronic Neurologic Lyme Disease warrior who has battled disabling illness since 2009.
Early in her illness, she received multiple diagnoses (including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Dysautonomia, CNS Vasculitis, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Mold Toxicity and Anxiety) before finally being diagnosed with Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease and co-infections in June of 2017.
Upon receiving her Lyme diagnosis, Natalie commenced a Lyme-specific herbal treatment plan and began to see improvements. She held conversations again, and, after being inside for nearly two years, enjoyed visiting her apartment’s patio using a wheelchair. In 2018, her original GoFundMe campaign was launched, and the nearly $27,000 in gifts raised (included in the total showing for this campaign) has been used to pay three years of rent, general bills, and the high costs that accompany treating this severe infection.
In 2019, Natalie moved from Kansas City to Arkansas to be near her family, and hope was on the horizon. She gained the strength for increased independence, including some meal preparation, light cleaning, knitting, and walks outside. These tasks many take for granted brought her great joy and a sense of independence.
Her progress was sidelined by a back injury in 2021 and complications with a subsequent MRI. As a result, Natalie finds herself once again in a disheartening health crisis, now battling Lyme and its coinfections through the fog of severe brain inflammation. Coupled with the impact of COVID in the United States and the loss of her furry companion Sadie, this setback has made the past couple of years tremendously lonely and difficult.
This is where you come in.
Natalie is in dire need of friends to help her move forward financially.
Her new treatments are expected to last one to two years, with maintenance therapies and costs extending beyond this period.
Donors can make a one-time gift or choose to give on an ongoing basis. If you cannot give, you can help raise awareness of the campaign by sharing on your social media channels and even simply interacting (with a "like" or comment) on social media posts.
Natalie also needs continued prayers and positive thoughts for daily strength and healing to get through this immediate trial and regain her hope for the future.
To learn more about Natalie’s current health outlook and medical needs, including where she would use financial support, please see her message below.
A note from Natalie:
I once heard that healing a long, complicated, and often misunderstood illness is like climbing a flight of stairs while underwater. With each new treatment, whether it be through a medication, device, practitioner, or supplement, I climb a step. I often can’t see the physical changes being made because I’m still underwater, my eyes are closed, and I have no idea how many more steps are before me.
Sometimes, though, I react negatively to a treatment and the infections adapt and cause worsening symptoms, or an underwater current caused by other “life factors” hits and knocks me off my staircase that I've worked so hard to climb. I've had moments where I feel I've finally climbed that one step that raises my head above the waterline. However, I now feel underwater again.
I hit my largest setback in three years on January 18, 2021. After months of extraordinary progress, I was finally rehabbing my body (that had mostly been in bed for years) in a way that had me miraculously cleaning and walking around my neighborhood! I was also managing all of my appointments, communications, finances, knitting orders, and enjoying visits with friends and family. I was on the (rocky) road to independence. However, I severely injured my back while mopping and after two months of near-constant pain went for an MRI.
During the MRI, I was given a “safe” injection of a gadolinium-based contrast agent; however, gadolinium is a heavy metal and hasn’t been largely studied for safety in immunocompromised individuals. I reacted to the gadolinium immediately afterward and the week following, with severe and worsening brain inflammation that left me unable to communicate and manage basic physical and cognitive tasks.
I struggled to open a pill bottle, feed myself, or process someone in my environment, and I could not tolerate light, movement, or sound. My precious knitting and crochet (which give me a long-missed sense of purpose, along with small financial gains), has since been put on hold. I had to ask friends and family to stop texting and emailing me, as trying to interpret the meaning of a notification on my phone or a simple emoji was too much effort for my brain.
In short, I entered a proverbial hell again, this time with no furry Sadie to keep me company.
Close friends and my Mom once again donned their superhero capes and dove in to help pull me out this very dark spot. The gadolinium poisoning has been confirmed with a urine test that shows I have more than 138 times the amount of gadolinium in my body compared to a “normal” person. According to medical literature and pharmaceutical safety profiles, NO gadolinium should be retained by the body following 48 hours after an MRI.
The silver lining (because there almost always is one) to getting gadolinium poisoning, is that it forced me to finally see a proper Lyme and chronic illness specialist in Kansas City. I have been forced to avoid Lyme-literate doctors and specialists because insurance does not cover them or most of their prescribed treatments. Instead, for the past few years, I’ve been largely treating on my own with the guidance of Medicare providers who only know small bits about Lyme and how to successfully treat a case like mine.
Since my initial appointment with that Lyme specialist in March 2021, I have completed medical testing confirming I still have positive, active infections of Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, two chronic viruses, a fungal infection in my gut causing IBS, heavy metal poisoning, no detectable iron in lab samples, and a few other issues.
I’ve used several tools to help detox the gadolinium from my brain and body — hundreds of dollars in glutathione supplements, binders, red light therapy, and daily infrared saunas. As of this writing, I’ve seen some mild progress from my efforts, but my brain is still largely damaged from the injection, my immune system is struggling to fight Lyme & Co, and my intentions of returning to physical and financial independence have been delayed.
Unfortunately, I have to strengthen my body, decrease my infection load, and repair my gut before my specialist will put me through the toxic and expensive chelation therapies (often thousands of dollars) that will remove the gadolinium from my brain and other stored tissues. In early June, she plans to add antibiotic and antiviral prescriptions to my regimen (treatment courses I’ve long been avoiding, but now need to entertain since my herbs and two mild medications alone aren’t providing me sustained progress).
The costs of the medications, herbs, and supplements my new specialist has prescribed exceed $1,000/month, which isn’t an unusual amount when treating severe Neuro-Lyme and coinfections. When my brain and body allow, I compare prices online, experiment with lower doses, and eliminate some things entirely, but I almost always regress when I take out one of my meds, herbs, or supplements.
MONTHLY TREATMENT COSTS APPROXIMATING $1,000 (as of May 2021)
- Prescriptions: $87.77/month
- Supplements: $500/month (covers 40% of suggested supplements)
$800/month (would cover 100% of suggested supplements)
- Lyme & Chronic Illness Specialist Appointments: $250/every six weeks
- Lyme and Coinfection Herbs: $250/month
- Pending Expense – Antibiotics/Antivirals (beginning June 2021): $200/month after Medicare Part D insurance
OTHER EXPENSES
In addition to treatment costs, I need financial help to pay rent for my small, 1-bedroom apartment, my handful of bills and insurance premiums, and a meal service that follows my dietary restrictions. I am currently on a list for an income-based apartment nearby, but there is no guarantee I will get one this year, nor am I in good condition to move again.
For someone on disability income who has already spent their entire 401k and savings on twelve years of illness, these costs are impossible to face without help. In addition to this GoFundMe, I am also applying for grants specific to Lyme and chronic illness patients, but receiving them is no guarantee due to high demand.
I write this with abundant gratitude from the bottom of my heart. It is not easy to ask for help. I deeply long for the days when I’m caring for myself, financially independent again, and following my passions in life. With your help, I truly believe I can get there. I know that my purpose in life is not to be chronically ill; there is more for me in this life than handfuls of pills, pain, and excessive rest.
With love and sincere thanks,
Natalie
A note from Natalie’s Mother, Shona Palmer:
In 2008, after earning her PhD in Economics from Duke, my daughter was a healthy, vibrant, hard-working young woman who loved traveling, learning, and sharing adventures with her friends and her sweet pup, Sadie. That year she became increasingly ill and, by the end of 2009, could no longer work or function independently.
At 29 years old, Natalie's life was irrevocably changed. She was incapacitated by the disease, which was to go eight years undiagnosed by hundreds of tests and over 45 different doctors. She had to stop working, move from Boston to live with me, and use all her strength and all of our family’s resources to stay alive.
Natalie's thirties were a nightmare of confusing neurological and physical symptoms that stumped her physicians and confined her to bed. In her hardest days, she has required around-the-clock in-home care and myriad treatments that have exhausted her savings and all her financial resources.
Natalie has no more money. I have no more money to give her. With medical bills, care costs, treatment costs, and daily living expenses, Natalie faces mounting debt, with no real solution for dissolving it until she is well enough. You may be able to imagine how terrifying and anxiety-filled the prospect of mountainous debt is for Natalie's economically-savvy, albeit maximally-taxed mind.
It is overwhelming for us both—we wonder all the time how a person can be allowed to fall through cracks in so many ways. Lyme is frightfully cruel, misunderstood, and underdiagnosed, and the healthcare system is broken and inadequate to assist the neediest chronically ill and disabled patients like Natalie.
Natalie has overcome so much on her way toward this diagnosis and recovery, and now she’s asking for your help to pay for the care that will allow her to continue to heal. She’s bravely, stubbornly, fighting for all these things now; she is fighting every day for her life. Natalie is motivated to enter into her next phase of healing in which abundance sustains her and allows her to return, in abundance, her gifts.
With much gratitude,
Shona Palmer (Natalie's mother)
Early in her illness, she received multiple diagnoses (including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Dysautonomia, CNS Vasculitis, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Mold Toxicity and Anxiety) before finally being diagnosed with Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease and co-infections in June of 2017.
Upon receiving her Lyme diagnosis, Natalie commenced a Lyme-specific herbal treatment plan and began to see improvements. She held conversations again, and, after being inside for nearly two years, enjoyed visiting her apartment’s patio using a wheelchair. In 2018, her original GoFundMe campaign was launched, and the nearly $27,000 in gifts raised (included in the total showing for this campaign) has been used to pay three years of rent, general bills, and the high costs that accompany treating this severe infection.
In 2019, Natalie moved from Kansas City to Arkansas to be near her family, and hope was on the horizon. She gained the strength for increased independence, including some meal preparation, light cleaning, knitting, and walks outside. These tasks many take for granted brought her great joy and a sense of independence.
Her progress was sidelined by a back injury in 2021 and complications with a subsequent MRI. As a result, Natalie finds herself once again in a disheartening health crisis, now battling Lyme and its coinfections through the fog of severe brain inflammation. Coupled with the impact of COVID in the United States and the loss of her furry companion Sadie, this setback has made the past couple of years tremendously lonely and difficult.
This is where you come in.
Natalie is in dire need of friends to help her move forward financially.
Her new treatments are expected to last one to two years, with maintenance therapies and costs extending beyond this period.
Donors can make a one-time gift or choose to give on an ongoing basis. If you cannot give, you can help raise awareness of the campaign by sharing on your social media channels and even simply interacting (with a "like" or comment) on social media posts.
Natalie also needs continued prayers and positive thoughts for daily strength and healing to get through this immediate trial and regain her hope for the future.
To learn more about Natalie’s current health outlook and medical needs, including where she would use financial support, please see her message below.
A note from Natalie:
I once heard that healing a long, complicated, and often misunderstood illness is like climbing a flight of stairs while underwater. With each new treatment, whether it be through a medication, device, practitioner, or supplement, I climb a step. I often can’t see the physical changes being made because I’m still underwater, my eyes are closed, and I have no idea how many more steps are before me.
Sometimes, though, I react negatively to a treatment and the infections adapt and cause worsening symptoms, or an underwater current caused by other “life factors” hits and knocks me off my staircase that I've worked so hard to climb. I've had moments where I feel I've finally climbed that one step that raises my head above the waterline. However, I now feel underwater again.
I hit my largest setback in three years on January 18, 2021. After months of extraordinary progress, I was finally rehabbing my body (that had mostly been in bed for years) in a way that had me miraculously cleaning and walking around my neighborhood! I was also managing all of my appointments, communications, finances, knitting orders, and enjoying visits with friends and family. I was on the (rocky) road to independence. However, I severely injured my back while mopping and after two months of near-constant pain went for an MRI.
During the MRI, I was given a “safe” injection of a gadolinium-based contrast agent; however, gadolinium is a heavy metal and hasn’t been largely studied for safety in immunocompromised individuals. I reacted to the gadolinium immediately afterward and the week following, with severe and worsening brain inflammation that left me unable to communicate and manage basic physical and cognitive tasks.
I struggled to open a pill bottle, feed myself, or process someone in my environment, and I could not tolerate light, movement, or sound. My precious knitting and crochet (which give me a long-missed sense of purpose, along with small financial gains), has since been put on hold. I had to ask friends and family to stop texting and emailing me, as trying to interpret the meaning of a notification on my phone or a simple emoji was too much effort for my brain.
In short, I entered a proverbial hell again, this time with no furry Sadie to keep me company.
Close friends and my Mom once again donned their superhero capes and dove in to help pull me out this very dark spot. The gadolinium poisoning has been confirmed with a urine test that shows I have more than 138 times the amount of gadolinium in my body compared to a “normal” person. According to medical literature and pharmaceutical safety profiles, NO gadolinium should be retained by the body following 48 hours after an MRI.
The silver lining (because there almost always is one) to getting gadolinium poisoning, is that it forced me to finally see a proper Lyme and chronic illness specialist in Kansas City. I have been forced to avoid Lyme-literate doctors and specialists because insurance does not cover them or most of their prescribed treatments. Instead, for the past few years, I’ve been largely treating on my own with the guidance of Medicare providers who only know small bits about Lyme and how to successfully treat a case like mine.
Since my initial appointment with that Lyme specialist in March 2021, I have completed medical testing confirming I still have positive, active infections of Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, two chronic viruses, a fungal infection in my gut causing IBS, heavy metal poisoning, no detectable iron in lab samples, and a few other issues.
I’ve used several tools to help detox the gadolinium from my brain and body — hundreds of dollars in glutathione supplements, binders, red light therapy, and daily infrared saunas. As of this writing, I’ve seen some mild progress from my efforts, but my brain is still largely damaged from the injection, my immune system is struggling to fight Lyme & Co, and my intentions of returning to physical and financial independence have been delayed.
Unfortunately, I have to strengthen my body, decrease my infection load, and repair my gut before my specialist will put me through the toxic and expensive chelation therapies (often thousands of dollars) that will remove the gadolinium from my brain and other stored tissues. In early June, she plans to add antibiotic and antiviral prescriptions to my regimen (treatment courses I’ve long been avoiding, but now need to entertain since my herbs and two mild medications alone aren’t providing me sustained progress).
The costs of the medications, herbs, and supplements my new specialist has prescribed exceed $1,000/month, which isn’t an unusual amount when treating severe Neuro-Lyme and coinfections. When my brain and body allow, I compare prices online, experiment with lower doses, and eliminate some things entirely, but I almost always regress when I take out one of my meds, herbs, or supplements.
MONTHLY TREATMENT COSTS APPROXIMATING $1,000 (as of May 2021)
- Prescriptions: $87.77/month
- Supplements: $500/month (covers 40% of suggested supplements)
$800/month (would cover 100% of suggested supplements)
- Lyme & Chronic Illness Specialist Appointments: $250/every six weeks
- Lyme and Coinfection Herbs: $250/month
- Pending Expense – Antibiotics/Antivirals (beginning June 2021): $200/month after Medicare Part D insurance
OTHER EXPENSES
In addition to treatment costs, I need financial help to pay rent for my small, 1-bedroom apartment, my handful of bills and insurance premiums, and a meal service that follows my dietary restrictions. I am currently on a list for an income-based apartment nearby, but there is no guarantee I will get one this year, nor am I in good condition to move again.
For someone on disability income who has already spent their entire 401k and savings on twelve years of illness, these costs are impossible to face without help. In addition to this GoFundMe, I am also applying for grants specific to Lyme and chronic illness patients, but receiving them is no guarantee due to high demand.
I write this with abundant gratitude from the bottom of my heart. It is not easy to ask for help. I deeply long for the days when I’m caring for myself, financially independent again, and following my passions in life. With your help, I truly believe I can get there. I know that my purpose in life is not to be chronically ill; there is more for me in this life than handfuls of pills, pain, and excessive rest.
With love and sincere thanks,
Natalie
A note from Natalie’s Mother, Shona Palmer:
In 2008, after earning her PhD in Economics from Duke, my daughter was a healthy, vibrant, hard-working young woman who loved traveling, learning, and sharing adventures with her friends and her sweet pup, Sadie. That year she became increasingly ill and, by the end of 2009, could no longer work or function independently.
At 29 years old, Natalie's life was irrevocably changed. She was incapacitated by the disease, which was to go eight years undiagnosed by hundreds of tests and over 45 different doctors. She had to stop working, move from Boston to live with me, and use all her strength and all of our family’s resources to stay alive.
Natalie's thirties were a nightmare of confusing neurological and physical symptoms that stumped her physicians and confined her to bed. In her hardest days, she has required around-the-clock in-home care and myriad treatments that have exhausted her savings and all her financial resources.
Natalie has no more money. I have no more money to give her. With medical bills, care costs, treatment costs, and daily living expenses, Natalie faces mounting debt, with no real solution for dissolving it until she is well enough. You may be able to imagine how terrifying and anxiety-filled the prospect of mountainous debt is for Natalie's economically-savvy, albeit maximally-taxed mind.
It is overwhelming for us both—we wonder all the time how a person can be allowed to fall through cracks in so many ways. Lyme is frightfully cruel, misunderstood, and underdiagnosed, and the healthcare system is broken and inadequate to assist the neediest chronically ill and disabled patients like Natalie.
Natalie has overcome so much on her way toward this diagnosis and recovery, and now she’s asking for your help to pay for the care that will allow her to continue to heal. She’s bravely, stubbornly, fighting for all these things now; she is fighting every day for her life. Natalie is motivated to enter into her next phase of healing in which abundance sustains her and allows her to return, in abundance, her gifts.
With much gratitude,
Shona Palmer (Natalie's mother)
Fundraising team (4)
Amanda Jobe
Organizer
Overland Park, KS
Natalie Goodpaster
Beneficiary
Shona Palmer
Team member
Janice Zyck
Team member
Stephanie Red
Team member
Inspired to help? Start a fundraiser for someone you know
