Join Christine's fight through Neuro-Lyme!
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Hello, my name is Colby Graba and I come to you with complete humility, my family needs your help.
My Wife Christine is very ill and has been for the past 7 years. She was diagnosed with Neurological Lyme, two co-infections Bartenella and Bobesia, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and PTSD finally at the end of 2017. It has been a very long and exhausting road with many challenges and dead ends. Her body has suffered countless complications and side effects due to this horrible disease. Christine has spent an extensive amount of time in hospitals, rehabs and doctors’ offices and is currently unable to care for herself and is lucky if she can get out of bed on most days. She is plagued with chronic nerve pain in both arms and hands, has to where gloves most days so she is able to use them, extreme exhaustion, severe brain fog, uncontrollable muscle spasms and pain, the list goes on and can change from day to day. We are proud parents of two beautiful teenage girls, Hope 16 a junior in high school and Alexis 19 who graduated high school last year and has volunteered to be her mother’s caregiver as we have no one else to help us right now. We hope that one day both girls can move on and follow her own dreams. Lyme disease and everything else that came along with it almost destroyed our marriage, me personally, isolated our family, caused our girls to withdraw and is still causing havoc in Christine body. With help, hope and drive we are once again the close family we were and continue to fight together every day for our wife and mother with joyful caring hearts!
We are only asking for help because we have run out of all other options and have completely depleted our savings and any other resources. Unfortunately, Chronic Lyme Disease is not recognized in mainstream medicine and not covered by health insurance. With Christine unable to continue her nursing career as well as the many expenses associated with this disease, approximately $3,000 a month, which also includes Christine's lost income from not being able to work. We are currently waiting for Social Security Disability hearing which we have been told is a 12-15 month wait. We are hoping for funds that will take us through the next 12 months to cover treatment costs and some lost income.
Anything you can do to help us would be greatly appreciated even if it is simply prayers for healing or sharing our story with your family and fiends. We are confident with prayer and continued medical help, God will heal Christine. If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information please feel free to contact me. We have always been a family that has a heart and willingness to help others so this is a humbling experience for me to ask for help.
With Love and Sincerity,
Colby Graba
We feel obligated to give a summary informing you of where the expenses for Christine's healing comes from. Monthly, Christine needs both over the counter medicine and prescriptions along with vitamins and supplements recommended to aid in her treatment, adding up to approximately $1,075. With some of these prescriptions special equipment is needed for use, which cost around $75. There is also a monthly budget for pain management separate from the other medications costing an average of $600 a month. Christine’s sees between four and eight specialists throughout the month, all paid out of pocket and with the travel expenses spent getting there, these doctor visits cost about $1,850. We also have close to, with the loss of Christine's income and the addition of these added expenses off approximately $3,000 dollars a month have left us in this desperate time in our lives.
Here is Christine’s story:
For as long as Christine could remember she always had a passion for taking care of others due to her compassionate heart. With these attributes she came to be a Critical Care Registered Nurse and worked successfully for many years. Christine has been happily married to her faithful and hard-working husband, Colby for 20 years and had two daughter', Lexi, 19 and Hope, 16. She has always had a very adventurous side for outdoor activities, her favorites being bike riding and hiking.
Christine's battle with Lyme started in 2012. We had no idea Lyme had been the culprit causing all of her illnesses that had taken place over the past eight years. Those years were very trying for the family. After seeing many doctors and specialists alongside many ER visits and admissions the only solid diagnostic we had received in 2014 was Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency. The first couple months being treated it seemed as though it was a positive diagnosis but after those first few months it started to become a roller coaster. Symptoms would come and go and she would go into Adrenal Crises every couple weeks. For three years Christine was in and out of the Emergency Room and Hospital every three to six months for severe symptoms. The symptoms consisted of severe abdominal pain, severe headaches, chest pain, weakness, paralysis and adrenal crisis. Within this time she had gone from working full time to barely being able to maintain working per-diem and having to constantly call out of work or leave work early.
On top of not being able to fulfill her role in work it had a huge impact within the household. We had lost our wife and mother in a very critical time of our daughters lives when they needed her most. Everyone began to feel a sense of depression through these hopeless times and our family was falling apart. At this point we had all lost hope and felt broken that there would be no end to the chaos, dysfunction and cycle. None of us felt that Christine would ever get better and that our family would ever be a family again.
In October of 2018, when we thought nothing could get worse it unfortunately did. She woke up one morning with complete left-sided numbness and weakness with the inability to turn her left foot out. She had still gone to work that day and the doctor, she had worked alongside with, sent her for an MRI thinking she had blown her back out. When the doctors received the MRI results they noticed it was not in her back but instead concerns in her brain and spinal cord. They referred her to an MS Specialist for the MRI findings. While the MS doctor reviewed the results he immediately told Christine to go to the hospital for stroke evaluation, since it seemed she had suffered several strokes.
This started a three month saga of her being hospitalized for a majority of the time, going through test after test as more symptoms arose on a weekly basis. She suffered from difficulty walking, was very uncoordinated, dizzy, unable to concentrate, memory loss, chronic pain, swelling, weak, severe depression and anxiety. It all ended with a 2 week stay at an inpatient rehabilitation center due to complete paralysis in her left leg as well as the pain and weakness in her upper body. She had to have physical and occupational therapy there before she could finally come home. With all of this Christine was being seen by a slew of doctors, many specialists including neurologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologist, infectious disease, endocrinologist and everything in between, all with no answers as to what the problem was or even close to a diagnosis. Each doctor was saying something different.
We thought we were at a loss until Colby posted Christine's story as a way to ask for prayer requests for our family. Through this post one of Colby’s friends messaged him asking if he had considered her having Lyme. That sparked Colby to do a slew of research and through that research he found that all of Christine's symptoms, the past five years, matched up with symptoms of chronic lyme. He presented these findings to all of her doctors only to be rejected and left hopeless again. Through a mutual friend we were referred to a lyme literate medical doctor, but the problem was lyme specialists do not accept insurance and you have to pay out of pocket. At that point, we have exhausted all of our savings in order to pay for it. By the grace of god we were blessed with the money to be able to go see the Lyme doctor. We gathered six years of medical records to prepare for. Within 5 minutes of that doctors appointment we seem to be on the right path and Chirstine was diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease, Bartionella, secondary adrenal fatigue, and Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. Finally, we had an answer with a feeling of relief but we still knew there was a long road ahead of us.
Christine started IV antibiotics the following day. Within a week and a half she had received 3 treatments of antibiotics. After the third treatment Christine came home and a few hours later our night of horror began. Christine was having major reactions from the antibiotics and her body was in such distress and most alarmingly her body began to have spontaneous bruising right before our eyes all over on top of unbearable pain. Off to the ER we went. The ER was uneventful with no help at all. At discharge Christine was no better than when she got there so we went to go see her LLMD. Christine was examined by the doctor and told us she was unable to continue treatment until she secured a pain management doctor and gastroenterologist. Once again we were left with no hope due to the fact that the LLMD refused any future contact with us or helped us secure a pain management doctor or gastroenterologist.
We were able to find hope from a local family nurse practitioner who did everything she could and then some to help rebuild Christine's immunity and find a new lyme doctor. In May 2019, we were able to secure a new lyme literate doctor who was able to help us start treatment in a slower, less aggressive, natural way. Christine's response to the natural medicine was slow, but moving forward giving a sense of hope once again.
As things seemed to be getting better for us as a whole, another tragic life altering event in our family would happen. We were told we had to leave our residence ASAP. The occurrence of that event had left us needing to find a new place to live, having no money or resources leaving us without any security, hope or drive to move forward. Each one of us were completely broken and lost with nowhere to turn but we stuck together and the lord provided a place to call home in November. Friends, family and the community came together to donate household items and aid us in getting the house back in order all while Christine was still bed-ridden. As tragic as this was for our family it only brought us closer than we had been for a long time. With the change came a new hope and brighter future!
With the move we had high hopes that Christine would start getting a lot better. We had also hoped Christine would get approved for Social Security Disability since we were on the second review only to find out we were denied again. We knew that it would be a long process but we are now a year out before getting a court date leaving us in major financial distress without the ability to meet our monthly living expenses as well as Christines treatment expenses.
After getting settled in to the new home, getting through the holidays and just taking everything in we all saw that Christine was not getting better but actually declining. A new LLMD was recommended by a mutual friend. With great encouragement Colby and Christine went to the doctors appointment. Within 5 minutes of talking to the doctor he was able to say that he had an idea of what the problem with Christine was explaining why she was not getting better. He ran a blood test and said, “I’ll see you in four weeks” and no matter what we’ll get you better. Our feelings of encouragement only grew stronger. The test he ran came back positive and as the doctor thought she had Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, which also mimics Lyme disease, in addition to all her other diagnoses. We received this diagnosis at the end of January 2020 and she started treatment for the Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and also started taking antibiotics for the Neurological Lyme disease and confections. Since she has started the rounds of antibiotics her symptoms have worsened, which we were prepared for, because when you start killing the Lyme and co-infections they release toxins which cause and effect called herxing. We are a year in for the treatment of Lyme but unfortunately it was a year wasted because we had no idea she had the Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. When that is not treated along with the Lyme the patient will not show signs of improvement at all. We are continuing to pursue new avenues if they arise. But at this point we have been told it is going to be a very slow recovery process and are probably 2 years away from Christine starting to feel like a healthy person again. Some of the damage that has been caused may never go away but we are hopeful she will once again be able to have a good quality of life. We are doing this as a happy family again and we just put out trust in the Lord each and every day to carry us along. Thank you very much for reading her story!
My Wife Christine is very ill and has been for the past 7 years. She was diagnosed with Neurological Lyme, two co-infections Bartenella and Bobesia, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and PTSD finally at the end of 2017. It has been a very long and exhausting road with many challenges and dead ends. Her body has suffered countless complications and side effects due to this horrible disease. Christine has spent an extensive amount of time in hospitals, rehabs and doctors’ offices and is currently unable to care for herself and is lucky if she can get out of bed on most days. She is plagued with chronic nerve pain in both arms and hands, has to where gloves most days so she is able to use them, extreme exhaustion, severe brain fog, uncontrollable muscle spasms and pain, the list goes on and can change from day to day. We are proud parents of two beautiful teenage girls, Hope 16 a junior in high school and Alexis 19 who graduated high school last year and has volunteered to be her mother’s caregiver as we have no one else to help us right now. We hope that one day both girls can move on and follow her own dreams. Lyme disease and everything else that came along with it almost destroyed our marriage, me personally, isolated our family, caused our girls to withdraw and is still causing havoc in Christine body. With help, hope and drive we are once again the close family we were and continue to fight together every day for our wife and mother with joyful caring hearts!
We are only asking for help because we have run out of all other options and have completely depleted our savings and any other resources. Unfortunately, Chronic Lyme Disease is not recognized in mainstream medicine and not covered by health insurance. With Christine unable to continue her nursing career as well as the many expenses associated with this disease, approximately $3,000 a month, which also includes Christine's lost income from not being able to work. We are currently waiting for Social Security Disability hearing which we have been told is a 12-15 month wait. We are hoping for funds that will take us through the next 12 months to cover treatment costs and some lost income.
Anything you can do to help us would be greatly appreciated even if it is simply prayers for healing or sharing our story with your family and fiends. We are confident with prayer and continued medical help, God will heal Christine. If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information please feel free to contact me. We have always been a family that has a heart and willingness to help others so this is a humbling experience for me to ask for help.
With Love and Sincerity,
Colby Graba
We feel obligated to give a summary informing you of where the expenses for Christine's healing comes from. Monthly, Christine needs both over the counter medicine and prescriptions along with vitamins and supplements recommended to aid in her treatment, adding up to approximately $1,075. With some of these prescriptions special equipment is needed for use, which cost around $75. There is also a monthly budget for pain management separate from the other medications costing an average of $600 a month. Christine’s sees between four and eight specialists throughout the month, all paid out of pocket and with the travel expenses spent getting there, these doctor visits cost about $1,850. We also have close to, with the loss of Christine's income and the addition of these added expenses off approximately $3,000 dollars a month have left us in this desperate time in our lives.
Here is Christine’s story:
For as long as Christine could remember she always had a passion for taking care of others due to her compassionate heart. With these attributes she came to be a Critical Care Registered Nurse and worked successfully for many years. Christine has been happily married to her faithful and hard-working husband, Colby for 20 years and had two daughter', Lexi, 19 and Hope, 16. She has always had a very adventurous side for outdoor activities, her favorites being bike riding and hiking.
Christine's battle with Lyme started in 2012. We had no idea Lyme had been the culprit causing all of her illnesses that had taken place over the past eight years. Those years were very trying for the family. After seeing many doctors and specialists alongside many ER visits and admissions the only solid diagnostic we had received in 2014 was Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency. The first couple months being treated it seemed as though it was a positive diagnosis but after those first few months it started to become a roller coaster. Symptoms would come and go and she would go into Adrenal Crises every couple weeks. For three years Christine was in and out of the Emergency Room and Hospital every three to six months for severe symptoms. The symptoms consisted of severe abdominal pain, severe headaches, chest pain, weakness, paralysis and adrenal crisis. Within this time she had gone from working full time to barely being able to maintain working per-diem and having to constantly call out of work or leave work early.
On top of not being able to fulfill her role in work it had a huge impact within the household. We had lost our wife and mother in a very critical time of our daughters lives when they needed her most. Everyone began to feel a sense of depression through these hopeless times and our family was falling apart. At this point we had all lost hope and felt broken that there would be no end to the chaos, dysfunction and cycle. None of us felt that Christine would ever get better and that our family would ever be a family again.
In October of 2018, when we thought nothing could get worse it unfortunately did. She woke up one morning with complete left-sided numbness and weakness with the inability to turn her left foot out. She had still gone to work that day and the doctor, she had worked alongside with, sent her for an MRI thinking she had blown her back out. When the doctors received the MRI results they noticed it was not in her back but instead concerns in her brain and spinal cord. They referred her to an MS Specialist for the MRI findings. While the MS doctor reviewed the results he immediately told Christine to go to the hospital for stroke evaluation, since it seemed she had suffered several strokes.
This started a three month saga of her being hospitalized for a majority of the time, going through test after test as more symptoms arose on a weekly basis. She suffered from difficulty walking, was very uncoordinated, dizzy, unable to concentrate, memory loss, chronic pain, swelling, weak, severe depression and anxiety. It all ended with a 2 week stay at an inpatient rehabilitation center due to complete paralysis in her left leg as well as the pain and weakness in her upper body. She had to have physical and occupational therapy there before she could finally come home. With all of this Christine was being seen by a slew of doctors, many specialists including neurologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologist, infectious disease, endocrinologist and everything in between, all with no answers as to what the problem was or even close to a diagnosis. Each doctor was saying something different.
We thought we were at a loss until Colby posted Christine's story as a way to ask for prayer requests for our family. Through this post one of Colby’s friends messaged him asking if he had considered her having Lyme. That sparked Colby to do a slew of research and through that research he found that all of Christine's symptoms, the past five years, matched up with symptoms of chronic lyme. He presented these findings to all of her doctors only to be rejected and left hopeless again. Through a mutual friend we were referred to a lyme literate medical doctor, but the problem was lyme specialists do not accept insurance and you have to pay out of pocket. At that point, we have exhausted all of our savings in order to pay for it. By the grace of god we were blessed with the money to be able to go see the Lyme doctor. We gathered six years of medical records to prepare for. Within 5 minutes of that doctors appointment we seem to be on the right path and Chirstine was diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease, Bartionella, secondary adrenal fatigue, and Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. Finally, we had an answer with a feeling of relief but we still knew there was a long road ahead of us.
Christine started IV antibiotics the following day. Within a week and a half she had received 3 treatments of antibiotics. After the third treatment Christine came home and a few hours later our night of horror began. Christine was having major reactions from the antibiotics and her body was in such distress and most alarmingly her body began to have spontaneous bruising right before our eyes all over on top of unbearable pain. Off to the ER we went. The ER was uneventful with no help at all. At discharge Christine was no better than when she got there so we went to go see her LLMD. Christine was examined by the doctor and told us she was unable to continue treatment until she secured a pain management doctor and gastroenterologist. Once again we were left with no hope due to the fact that the LLMD refused any future contact with us or helped us secure a pain management doctor or gastroenterologist.
We were able to find hope from a local family nurse practitioner who did everything she could and then some to help rebuild Christine's immunity and find a new lyme doctor. In May 2019, we were able to secure a new lyme literate doctor who was able to help us start treatment in a slower, less aggressive, natural way. Christine's response to the natural medicine was slow, but moving forward giving a sense of hope once again.
As things seemed to be getting better for us as a whole, another tragic life altering event in our family would happen. We were told we had to leave our residence ASAP. The occurrence of that event had left us needing to find a new place to live, having no money or resources leaving us without any security, hope or drive to move forward. Each one of us were completely broken and lost with nowhere to turn but we stuck together and the lord provided a place to call home in November. Friends, family and the community came together to donate household items and aid us in getting the house back in order all while Christine was still bed-ridden. As tragic as this was for our family it only brought us closer than we had been for a long time. With the change came a new hope and brighter future!
With the move we had high hopes that Christine would start getting a lot better. We had also hoped Christine would get approved for Social Security Disability since we were on the second review only to find out we were denied again. We knew that it would be a long process but we are now a year out before getting a court date leaving us in major financial distress without the ability to meet our monthly living expenses as well as Christines treatment expenses.
After getting settled in to the new home, getting through the holidays and just taking everything in we all saw that Christine was not getting better but actually declining. A new LLMD was recommended by a mutual friend. With great encouragement Colby and Christine went to the doctors appointment. Within 5 minutes of talking to the doctor he was able to say that he had an idea of what the problem with Christine was explaining why she was not getting better. He ran a blood test and said, “I’ll see you in four weeks” and no matter what we’ll get you better. Our feelings of encouragement only grew stronger. The test he ran came back positive and as the doctor thought she had Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, which also mimics Lyme disease, in addition to all her other diagnoses. We received this diagnosis at the end of January 2020 and she started treatment for the Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and also started taking antibiotics for the Neurological Lyme disease and confections. Since she has started the rounds of antibiotics her symptoms have worsened, which we were prepared for, because when you start killing the Lyme and co-infections they release toxins which cause and effect called herxing. We are a year in for the treatment of Lyme but unfortunately it was a year wasted because we had no idea she had the Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. When that is not treated along with the Lyme the patient will not show signs of improvement at all. We are continuing to pursue new avenues if they arise. But at this point we have been told it is going to be a very slow recovery process and are probably 2 years away from Christine starting to feel like a healthy person again. Some of the damage that has been caused may never go away but we are hopeful she will once again be able to have a good quality of life. We are doing this as a happy family again and we just put out trust in the Lord each and every day to carry us along. Thank you very much for reading her story!
Organizer
Colby Graba
Organizer
Port Murray, NJ