Niamh Jimenez's Fight Against Lyme
Donation protected
Hi folks,
My name is Niamh and I'm 24 years old. If you'd asked me who I was a year ago, I would say to you: I am bubbly, annoyingly talkative, bouncy, and driven. I would say that I am about to embark on a PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and am quite an ambitious lass.
But things look a little different now. There has been an unexpected invader, who has uprooted the old foundations. The woman you will meet now is hugely changed. She is not bouncy, she lacks the energy to bounce. She is not bubbly or exciting to be around; it's hard to socialise when your greatest concern is self-preservation, and every ounce of your energy goes towards concealing chronic pain. She is too exhausted to get up and walk to work, struggles to retain information, and wonders why her friendly limbs have become heavy, useless things which don't cooperate as they should.
This year, I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.). My parents had pooled their resources to pay for serological testing at an EU-accredited German laboratory, specialising in the diagnosis of infectious diseases (https://www.arminlabs.com/en). I tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi and multiple co-infections (ehrlichia/anaplasma, babesia, mycoplasma pneumoniae, Epstein–Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, coxsackie virus, etc.) with chronic suppression of my immune system. Finally, I had an answer to my body's rapid decline and what felt like the loss of my former self; an answer to the long list of neurological and physical symptoms which no doctor has yet been able to explain or treat adequately. Finally, I had a name to put to this invader. I felt relief, I thought I would be saved.
The reality sunk in fast; it was shocking, like falling into a pool of ice-cold water. Chronic borreliosis is not recognised within the UK or Ireland. There is only one infectious disease specialist in my home country who will treat chronic Lyme disease. Many patients must travel to Germany and the United States to get treatment for this degenerative disease. I have been told over and over again that my illness is "controversial", that I am not entitled to treatment, that my deteriorating physical health is "in my head." This makes me angry, it makes me incredibly sad, it makes me want to give up. But, the most tragic realisation I have had is not how much I have lost through this illness, but that thousands of other sufferers are misdiagnosed and dismissed by GPs and specialist consultants each and every day. It is this knowledge that drives me to fight this disease, to spread awareness, and to recover, so that I, like many others before me, serve as living proof that Lyme disease is a curable illness.
I have never done anything like this in my life. Asking for financial support is a really hard thing to do and I wish that I had the money to do this on my own. But more than anything in this world, I want to recover, I want to be my old self again, I want to fight. My wish is to travel to the Jemsek clinic in Washington D.C. to undergo treatment for my illness (http://jemsekspecialty.com/). I will be forever grateful to all who help me in this battle and my mission.
In the meantime, I will continue to try to spread awareness and to reach out to anyone who is also suffering from Lyme borreliosis.
All my love,
Niamh. x
#Lymewarrior
My name is Niamh and I'm 24 years old. If you'd asked me who I was a year ago, I would say to you: I am bubbly, annoyingly talkative, bouncy, and driven. I would say that I am about to embark on a PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and am quite an ambitious lass.
But things look a little different now. There has been an unexpected invader, who has uprooted the old foundations. The woman you will meet now is hugely changed. She is not bouncy, she lacks the energy to bounce. She is not bubbly or exciting to be around; it's hard to socialise when your greatest concern is self-preservation, and every ounce of your energy goes towards concealing chronic pain. She is too exhausted to get up and walk to work, struggles to retain information, and wonders why her friendly limbs have become heavy, useless things which don't cooperate as they should.
This year, I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.). My parents had pooled their resources to pay for serological testing at an EU-accredited German laboratory, specialising in the diagnosis of infectious diseases (https://www.arminlabs.com/en). I tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi and multiple co-infections (ehrlichia/anaplasma, babesia, mycoplasma pneumoniae, Epstein–Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, coxsackie virus, etc.) with chronic suppression of my immune system. Finally, I had an answer to my body's rapid decline and what felt like the loss of my former self; an answer to the long list of neurological and physical symptoms which no doctor has yet been able to explain or treat adequately. Finally, I had a name to put to this invader. I felt relief, I thought I would be saved.
The reality sunk in fast; it was shocking, like falling into a pool of ice-cold water. Chronic borreliosis is not recognised within the UK or Ireland. There is only one infectious disease specialist in my home country who will treat chronic Lyme disease. Many patients must travel to Germany and the United States to get treatment for this degenerative disease. I have been told over and over again that my illness is "controversial", that I am not entitled to treatment, that my deteriorating physical health is "in my head." This makes me angry, it makes me incredibly sad, it makes me want to give up. But, the most tragic realisation I have had is not how much I have lost through this illness, but that thousands of other sufferers are misdiagnosed and dismissed by GPs and specialist consultants each and every day. It is this knowledge that drives me to fight this disease, to spread awareness, and to recover, so that I, like many others before me, serve as living proof that Lyme disease is a curable illness.
I have never done anything like this in my life. Asking for financial support is a really hard thing to do and I wish that I had the money to do this on my own. But more than anything in this world, I want to recover, I want to be my old self again, I want to fight. My wish is to travel to the Jemsek clinic in Washington D.C. to undergo treatment for my illness (http://jemsekspecialty.com/). I will be forever grateful to all who help me in this battle and my mission.
In the meantime, I will continue to try to spread awareness and to reach out to anyone who is also suffering from Lyme borreliosis.
All my love,
Niamh. x
#Lymewarrior
Organizer and beneficiary
Niamh Jimenez
Organizer
Eugene Jimenez
Beneficiary
