Hommerding's Lyme Treatment Fund

This is our dear friend Julie’s story that she posted this past January to help people become aware of Lyme disease and how it has affected her quality of life.  She has always been a warrior in our eyes.  Just last week her husband was laid off work.  May be a blessing in disguise for the time being, but the financial worries are present.  Even with health insurance, the cost of medications/treatments alone is over $1000 per month out of pocket.  The doctors are hoping she will start feeling better this fall.  Family and friends are doing what we can, but any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated by all who love this amazing woman, her supportive husband, and their 3 beautiful girls. 

Here is her story:

For several years, I have battled many different symptoms that have been left undiagnosed or misdiagnosed by a medical professional.  It started with my muscles becoming weak over time, pain in my hip, feet, knees, and elbow, with no injuries happening.  Then the numbness and tingling set in and never went away. I developed muscle tremors and uncontrollable spasms. It progressed to have a dominant liking to the left side of my body - mainly my arm. I was diagnosed with a rare condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which resulted in unnecessary surgery to remove a rib that I continue to recover from.   Neurologists, Internal Medicine, General practice, Chiropractors, ENT docs, Cardiologists, countless CT's, MRIs, Spinal tap, and many tests over years, I felt defeated, which as most of you know, is not a word in my vocabulary. They said there was nothing more they could do.

I went out of the "norm" healthcare and went to another doctor for the pain and my extreme fatigue.
It was then, 3 weeks after that visit that I was told I have Late/End Stage Lyme Disease that is causing all of my symptoms and a few other abnormal tests results.

LLD (Late Lyme Disease) treatment is VERY costly and only portions of it are covered by insurance.
It is home IV antibiotic treatment, many natural supplements to boost your immune system, help with detoxing, vitamins, adrenal support and many others, PT and OT, massage therapy, infrared saunas for detoxing. You also have to be on a NO SUGAR and NO GLUTEN diet. 

LLD treatment is compared to that of chemotherapy (it kills all your cells) and treatment is very controversial and can be different for everyone.....its incurable. I will get worse before I get better and that it could take a minimum of a year maybe two.

The treatment exacerbates your symptoms to the point where some days you don't want to wake up. Along with the side effects of treatment, I am currently dealing with Hypoadrenalism, severe detox reaction (a Herxheimer reaction) and several episodes of Bell’s Palsy. All of these reactions and diseases are secondary to LLD and cannot be avoided during treatment. I asked my doctor what would happen if I just didn't do the antibiotics. She said I would never get better. It has attacked all of my organs except my heart, which would be next.

I have good days and bad days. Somedays you look normal and somedays you don't care if you look anything at all. I can no longer drive because of the pain and muscle spasms and ‘Brain Fog’.

I know for sure that I am not alone in this journey. If I didn't have faith I would have given up long ago. In every part of this He has a plan, and I have to trust it.

Love and Blessings everyday...
Jules