Help for Coby Berdahl: Urgent Medical Support Needed

Nearly 25 years ago, on a visit to family in Kansas, I was introduced to Coby Berdahl. Within two hours, we knew that we would be best friends for the rest of our lives. We are aunties to each other’s boys and sisters to each other’s husbands. We are the family we chose for ourselves, and for a quarter of a century, Coby and I have been there for one another through cross-country and international moves, weddings, births, deaths, successes, failures and illness.

Especially illness.

It started with a tick bite during a trip to Tennessee in 2008. Since then, her life has become increasingly painful, trapped in an unimaginable prison of chronic illness.

Her experience over the last 16 years is best explained by her husband, Christian:

"It has been many, many years since I have given a detailed update on Coby. As you know, she has been sick with a debilitating version of neurologic Lyme’s disease. The road she journeys has been unceasingly difficult. Everywhere I travel, people ask me how she is doing. Unfortunately, I have not been able to give a good report in many years.

Today, she is bedridden and cannot care for herself. A “good day” means she can hobble with her walker to the kitchen and refill her own water bottle. She cannot take care of any of the household duties that she once did to care for her family. She has a port in her chest to receive medicine and antibiotic IV infusions six days a week, which last from five to nine hours.

You don't need to tell me how dangerous high doses of antibiotics are. We know! However, the alternative is a slow, agonizing death. Years ago, we went to the world-famous Mayo Clinic. After every test they conducted to find out why she was so sick, they concluded that she had demyelination (the insulating coating over the nerves was disappearing) of her central nervous system. The doctors also believed that she had no infection in her body. They told her, 'This is what you have to deal with now, and we recommend you go to a pain clinic.'

We stopped all Lyme disease protocols that she had been on for years, both natural and allopathic. Thus, Coby went for five years not fighting Lyme any longer because we believed the diagnosis. She gradually declined further and further, losing weight and mental function, which eventually landed her in the hospital. Her body was shutting down.

Two different doctors told us independently of the other that they believed she was still infected with Lyme disease. She was retested with proper tests and found to be seriously infected, putting her five years behind in the battle and losing fast. We found a Lyme specialist, who took Coby’s case. Even though we were back on heavy, natural protocols, she was still getting sicker.

We added oral antibiotics, and after a year of doing both protocols, she had declined into a dire situation, landing in the hospital multiple times. The last time she was admitted, we almost lost her. After eight days, the amazing medical staff stabilized her enough to send her home.

Her Lyme specialist sat us down and explained that it was time to go on the intravenous antibiotics since the orals were no longer strong enough, and they were disturbing her entire gastrointestinal system. She said it would be two to three years before she would possibly regain some normalcy in her life.

The doctor believed she could help Coby, even though she was in the top three most difficult cases she ever had during her twenty-five years of treating Lyme’s patients. She also said that if Coby refused the IV treatment, we would need to find another doctor because she could not just sit by and watch Coby slowly die.

The love of my life wrestles through the pain and suffering every day. She is weak physically and emotionally, but still loves the Lord, her family, and friends, and still prays for all of us. Most conversations are limited to only a few minutes, because the engagement overstimulates her nervous system and she starts to stammer and have convulsions. Even though she has to live in a darkened room with sunglasses or eye covers on and noise cancelling headphones to block light and mute the normal sounds of life, she still sees the Light of her Savior and loves to listen to the Word of God when she can tolerate sound.

This life path has been challenging for our family. We have chosen to be careful not to burden others with our reality, but have remained in prayer to our loving God about what is best in this situation.

Please refrain from negative or critical feedback, as it only makes things even more difficult. That said, we need help.

We have so many wonderful ministry projects that need funding to move forward, but right now, we find ourselves personally in a very deep pit of medical expenses. With $63,000 of debt, we cannot keep up with the accruing interest. We also need to hire help to care for Coby's daily needs. In early 2025, we hope to get Coby to Germany for a comprehensive Lyme protocol that has a history of tremendous success with very difficult cases, but the cost is $55,000 for the five-week treatment, travel and other related costs.

Coby has worked with our ministry for twenty-five years and volunteered for most of them. She could have been on the payroll for more than two decades, but we chose to live on only one income. She is fully disabled now and does receive a small disability check, but since she did not have an income all those years while volunteering, what she receives barely pays for one of her medications each month.

Coby’s best friend Ruth approached us two years ago when the financial struggles began, wanting to start a GoFundMe campaign to help. Coby and I chose to wait, hoping we could figure out a way to cover the expenses on our own. With my salary (less than the average pastor earns), this has proven to be impossible. Her treatments and medications average $7,000 a month, and we already cashed in our small retirement fund and have exhausted our savings. Basically, we are financially fatigued and in a quandary about how to cover the mounting debt.

We have finally given Ruth our blessing to move forward with a GoFundMe fundraising campaign. If your heart is moved to help my best friend and love of my life, I would be forever grateful! Oh, how we long to minister together once again. Please, dear God, heal her!"

As you can see, the situation is dire. Coby is an extremely private person and doesn’t want to be pitied or draw attention to herself, so it has taken a very long time to convince her to agree to this call for help. However, she is running out of time and we cannot wait any longer. Coby needs a cure, her husband and children need their wife and mother back, and I need my best friend, my sister, my person. It is not an exaggeration to say that without immediate help, Coby will lose this battle. If you know Coby, you undoubtedly love her. She is the kindest, most generous and loving person I have ever known, and we cannot bear the thought of losing her.

Please, help us save Coby’s life.