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Paige Smith's Lyme Disease Fund

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Paige has always had an incredible zest for life. Her happiness, positivity, and never-ceasing smile are contagious. Her love of God and of others is truly inspiring and has touched so many people’s lives. Her dedication to serving the community is exemplified by her love of teaching and the many ministries she is involved with. In September of 2013, alongside Greenwood Avenue Baptist Church, she helped facilitate the opening of the Greenwood School of the Arts, where she taught multiple dance classes after finishing her days of supply teaching at various schools in the Nipissing county.


September 2013 was memorable as there were new and exciting beginnings, but little did she know it was the beginning of something else as well - illness. Paige fell ill with an extremely vicious flu that lasted weeks. She missed two months of supply teaching and after has never felt the same. When this unidentifiable flu began, she did not feel like herself, exhibiting symptoms including:

- Signs of extreme fatigue
- A buzzing in her ears
- Muscle weakness
- Extreme sensitivity to food
- Declined concentration
- Fevers and overall decreased energy

For someone who had always had so much energy and had been blessed with good health, these symptoms were very strange. This marked the beginning of a long, stressful, and tedious journey to determining the cause of these symptoms. Regardless of her debilitating condition, she continued to persevere, work hard, and serve the community. However, in October of 2014, her symptoms had gotten so severe that she was no longer able to work, teach dance, or do many of the other things she loved.


After two years of visiting numerous doctors, specialists, walk-in clinics, emergency departments, and naturopaths; and after receiving multiple misdiagnoses, extensive testing, and unsuccessful treatments, Paige and her family were unsure of what to do next. Despite two years of sleep and rest her symptoms only got worse and more extensive including - weight loss, oversensitivity to light and sound, increased motion sickness, inability to read or focus. Nevertheless, they continued to have hope, pray and speak to as many people as they could. In particular, they spoke to individuals who exhibited similar symptoms, many of them had been diagnosed with Lyme disease. It was then that Paige requested a blood test from an American company (IgeneX) to test for this disease because the Canadian test more often than not gives a false negative reading if the person being tested has had the disease for a prolonged period of time. After the results came back positive from the American test, Paige was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease in October 2015.


After her diagnosis, Paige and her Mom traveled to see a Lyme specialist in Vancouver, British Columbia as there are currently no clinicians that specialize in Lyme disease treatment here in Ontario; The specialist prescribed a long-term antibiotic regimen. After four months of antibiotic treatment, her doctor suggested that she try a different route for the next couple of months to try to combat the bacteria in an alternative way and to give her body a break from the harsh effects of antibiotics. They are currently trying to treat her illness with weekly Ozone therapy and strengthening her immune system with high doses of intravenous vitamin therapy.


The years of illness, uncertainty, and stress have taken a toll on Paige and her family. She has been unable to work, often unable to leave the house, or perform even the most basic of everyday activities such as cooking, grocery shopping and hanging out with her friends. Through this journey, God has been her rock; he has strengthened her and her family and given them hope. In addition, her family, dear friends, church family and community have provided immense support and so many prayers. She is so grateful for the amazing people that have reached out to her and that have been there for her throughout this time.


Unfortunately, the financial strain of Paige’s treatments has become too great for her and family to sustain. The cost for Paige’s treatments is about $460 per week and on average Lyme patients need from 6 months to 2 years of treatment (for some it’s even longer, it varies from case to case).


Because of the amazing impact that Paige has had on our lives, we wanted to share her story and appeal to you to help Paige and her family in her journey to recovery.


How can you help?


Prayer: We ask that you keep Paige and her family in your prayers as she continues along this road to recovery.


We ask that you pray that God will:

→ Strengthen her and the many others that are sick with Lyme Disease and give them hope to get through each day.

→ Give her peace, especially on the days where it seems like she is not getting any better and she is at her lowest.

→ Praise God for the many blessings that have come from this journey.


May Paige and those that surround her be filled with hope and perseverance.


Spread the Word: We hope that her story can bring hope and strength to others that are also fighting this terrible disease. May her story show others that they are not alone in their journey.


Financial Support: We appeal to you for financial support in order to continue funding Paige’s treatments, so that she may heal and eventually recover. Any amount would be greatly appreciated.


We thank you for taking the time to read Paige’s story and wish you a happy, healthy, and blessed day.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $500 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer

Lisa Narozanski-Zettler
Organizer
Noelville, ON

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