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Angels for Arielle

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My sister, Arielle, has been battling chronic lyme disease for over a year now.  Her symptoms started in the fall/winter of 2015 while in her last semester of undergrad at UW-La Crosse. She was losing weight and found it impossible to sleep at night but didn’t think much of it since she was in her last semester of college and it was a very stressful time for her.  She graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology with an emphasis in Pre-medicine in the winter of 2015.  During her time at college she worked on school nights and weekends as a bartender, and in her last semester she started her second job as a registration clerk for the ER/urgent care at Gundersen Health System. Not only did she keep herself busy with school and work but she also volunteered throughout college at the nursing home, Gundersen health system, and through Big Brother’s Big Sisters. She was also active on campus in college being a member of the Pre-med club and a part of an intramural volleyball team every semester.  On top of all that, she still managed to balance relationships with many friends and family.

Following graduation she planned on studying for her MCAT and continuing on to medical school. But, over the course of 2016 her symptoms got so much worse.  She started having unusual abdominal pain and abnormal bowel movements.  She became nauseous a lot of the time and eventually had lost most of her appetite.  She became fearful of alcohol and eating food because it seemed that every time she did, she became much sicker. Finally, in September 2016, after months of dealing with secret symptoms such as bloody stools and urges from her boyfriend and closest friends to seek medical help, she told our parents who demanded she see a doctor. She had lost 30 pounds at that point and felt sick more often than she felt healthy. Over the course of the next few months, doctors seemed to care little about her growing list of symptoms or trying to figure out what was going on with her because all standard tests and procedures came back “normal”. At this point, not only was she suffering with major digestive issues, she was suffering from joint pain, headaches, migraines, standing up and blacking out (POTS), night and day sweats, heart palpitations, confusion, trouble concentrating, brain fog, poor short term memory, speech issues (she would randomly stutter), dyslexia, floaters in eyes, fatigue, weakness, and much more. Arielle, being who she is, was actively researching and never gave up trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She came across chronic lyme disease thanks to a suggestion from a friend and knew immediately after researching and reading personal stories from others who suffered, that she had found the answer to her problems.

However, chronic lyme disease is a VERY controversial disease in the medical community. The tests are VERY inaccurate and according to most mainstream medical physicians and the CDC, chronic lyme disease does not exist. Can you imagine living with all those symptoms and being in pain every single day not knowing why and when you finally find out why, the very profession in which you someday wished to be apart of, doesn't even acknowledge its real?  She still had her primary doctor order a lyme disease test which came back negative (of course). This did not stop Arielle. She told our parents and her boyfriend that she KNEW what was causing her to be so ill- she just needed someone who knew about chronic lyme disease. She found a lyme literate chiropractor in Onalaska, WI who had a last minute opening that day and fit her in. He diagnosed her on the spot and fit her in for treatment only a month away when he was booked out several months. He told her on a scale of 1-10 her disease was an 8, and that she had most likely had it since birth (lyme can be spread from mother to child in the womb). Her body had broken down in the fall/winter of 2015 and continued to break down throughout 2016. She was diagnosed with almost 30 different infections (lyme disease almost ALWAYS has co-infections that go along with it), mercury toxicity (by-product of the pathogens), POTS, adrenal fatigue, low thyroid and sensitivities to many foods and environmental allergies. At this point she only weighed 114 pounds (40 pounds lighter than her normal weight).  Over the course of the next 7 months, Arielle completely changed her lifestyle. She quit her job working downtown because her body/mind couldn’t handle it anymore. She changed her diet to be gluten, alcohol, caffeine, dairy, sugar, egg, nuts/seeds, processed food free. She eliminated toxic household and personal products to reduce the toxins in her body.

She has done and continues to do everything in her power to become healthy again from infrared sauna to dandelion root tea to coffee enemas (for detox purposes). She kept a positive attitude and outlook because she knew that your mind is a powerful tool when it comes to healing. She reminded herself of the things she was thankful for and knew it could always become worse than it was. She kept telling everyone it would just take time to get better but she believed she would. With the treatment she did, most people are feeling tremendously better at the 3 month check-up, Arielle however was still suffering with many health issues and pain. Also at this point, she started to develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, and mood swings/bipolar.  She is 7 months out from treatment now. She still deals with headaches, joint pain, abdominal pain, digestive issues, abnormal bowel movements, bladder issues, menstruation issues, POTS, fatigue, weakness, depression, anxiety, bipolar, nausea, etc.  My sister was a very independent, vibrant, fun-loving,  outgoing girl before becoming ill. Chronic lyme disease has taken that away from her. She is very dependent on her boyfriend now. She is no longer outgoing and rarely spends time with friends. She prefers to spend her time at home, alone, resting. Her disease has turned her life upside down and turned her into someone she is not. She feels as though she is 24 going on 70.  Things that normal 24 year olds look forward to and get excited about, stress her out and she dreads doing them.

My family has decided enough is enough. We are raising money for Arielle to get medical treatment at Sanoviv Medical Institute in Mexico. This is a functional medicine treatment center that uses western medicine and holistic medicine to help patients fight the disease. This center specializes in cancer and chronic illness such as lyme disease. Arielle will be cared for by a team of doctors who understands chronic lyme disease and will individualize her treatment just for her.  We are hoping this treatment will help Arielle get back to her old, healthy self so that she can further her education in functional medicine/chiropractic and help other battling this terrible, invisible disease. We plan to send her for this treatment by September.

We, as her family, pray everyday for something to help Arielle or even that she has a few good days a week. Which lately has been hard for her.  She normally is feeling to ill to visit family. Which is hard on all of us because we are an extremely close family and just wish to see her well. We can't imagine the mental, emotional or physical pain that she is going through. But all we can have is hope.  We love her and just want her to feel normal again. Any help is more than wonderful. We thank you so much for just taking the time to read Arielle's story. 

----For those who can make it, we are having a fundraising event August 26th at the DeerView in Hatfield. We will have different types of events to raise money. Pot luck meal and beverages will be available. All proceeds will go to Angels For Arielle.-----

Love,
-Abby, Ashley, Alex, Andrew and Caleb

Organizer and beneficiary

Abby Bixby
Organizer
Neillsville, WI
Arielle Bixby
Beneficiary

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