Help Lauren Beat Lyme Disease

I never thought I’d get to this point of having to reach out to you all for help.  This journey has been extremely debilitating physically, emotionally and financially. Lyme disease is an illness not recognized by the insurance companies therefore 100% is out of pocket.  The annual cost for treatment is approx. USD 36,000 per year.  The treatment is aggressive and life altering with the best outcome of putting it into remission, with always the threat of relapse.  

I’m a wife and mum of three amazing boys and in the last four years, our lives have been turned upside down.  Four years ago the nightmare began when a large tumor was found on my thyroid. With a four-month-old baby, I had to undergo surgery for it to be removed. We now realize that this was the Lyme bacteria hijacking my body. As time went on my body kept showing signs of distress.  In October of 2014, I was hospitalized for heart arrhythmias and shortness of breath. They offered me heart surgery and lots of band-aid drugs to cover up the symptoms but never attempting to find the cause. I went 2 years thinking that I was going to die any day before a Doctor had me test for Lyme Disease. The outcome was Lyme with numerous co-infections including babesia (a form of malaria with a 20% fatality rate), pneumonia, mono, shingles, along with high heavy metals including lead poisoning. As you can imagine, this has wreaked havoc on my body.  Every organ in my body has been attacked.  After 1 year of a combination of naturopathic and antibiotic treatment, the doctors are saying the Lyme continues to strengthen.  I am now on a more aggressive treatment that comes at a very hefty cost. The next 6 months the cost of my medical bills will be $18,000, having a picc line to administer the drugs. After which it is anticipated that further antibiotic treatment will be required.  This will continue to impact my family a great deal as I won’t be able to be an active mom.  As I continue this uncertain journey I remain hopeful that I will get my life back and be able to be the wife and mum I want to be.  To protect your family during this tick season, please make sure to use lots of bug spray and do daily tick checks. This is a serious disease that could impact anyone.