GetWell—Andy's Lyme Disease Mission

Dear friends, neighbors, followers, and fellow Lyme warriors...  

Whew!  It's been a grueling eight weeks of treatment here in Schwabisch Hall, Germany.  I'm delighted to report that I am finally (FINALLY!) starting to respond to the treatment.  It has been an absolute roller coaster ride.  Four days a week in clinic, endless needles and IV infusions, and a crazy pattern of up and down with my symptoms.  But I have finally made the first solid step forward, with noticably more energy, and less pain.  In fact, I am taking half the pain meds I was on when I got here, but feeling less pain despite that.  That said, I still have quite a ways to go before I carry this torch across the finish line.    

On that note, I have decided that I must stay on here in Germany to give the treatment a chance to really get me well.  I am therefore reaching out again to folks to help me complete this mission and speed me along the path to wellness and a normal, healthy life.  Any contribution you are able to make is a huge help in this effort, as is your sharing this page with friends, family, church members, cattle industry folks, and your FaceBook feed.  The kindness, generosity, and prayers of so many people have already left me speechless—reaching out for help again is for me a very hard thing.  But I believe that my mission to beat Lyme is worth the fight.  Thank you, with all my heart, for your caring, your patience, and your faith in my power to heal.  

So... 

Let's finish this thing.

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I got Lyme Disease 13 years ago.  I was thirty.  At the time, I was super fit and strong.  During the summers I did internships on ranches. I was finishing my Ph.D.  I could bench my weight.  What could possibly harm a vibrant, healthy person like me, right?


It started off as a sore throat—nothing to worry about.  That turned into the flu.  Then all hell broke lose.  My joints swelled up like grapefruits.  At times there was so much pain, I couldn't roll over in bed, write with a pen, twist a door handle.  Unbelieveable exhausion set in.  I felt like I was losing control of my brain—I couldn't think straight or focus.  Even watching TV or reading was impossible. Like Alice, I had tumbled down a rabbit hole into a twisted and terrifying parallel reality.  I had entered the world of Lyme Disease...

...Except the doctors weren't convinced.  You see, despite the fact that my symptoms were classic for Lyme, I never had the "bull's eye" rash.  So I was tested for everything else.  I got shuffled from one doctor to the next, got the spinal tap, had wires hooked up to my head, gave gallons of blood, and was offered anti-depressants.  When I finally got diagnosed with Lyme, I had had it for months.  They hooked me up to IV antibiotics for 12 weeks.  It didn't work.  I then spent five solid years switching from one antibiotic to another with no real success.  Over time, my symptoms stablized somewhat, but there was no question that I was—and am—an exhausted, painful, miserable shadow of the person I once was.  I've tried the drugs.   I've seen naturopaths and all manner of "alternative" practitioners.  But nothing seemed to work.  There have been many times on this journey when I've been on the brink of losing all hope.

But there is hope.  

In my long quest for a cure for chronic Lyme, I've come across a treatment offered in Schwabisch Hall, Germany, which is so promising, I have decided that I must make the journey to try it.  I am not the first one to do so.  A handful of Americans before me have traveled to Germany for this therapy, and their stories are increadible.  People like me—people with chronic Lyme who have tried everything and had no relief—are recovering FULLY from Lyme Disease.  So there is no question—I must go.  This may be my best chance to recover my life, my health, and my future.  

I'm on a mission. But I'm going to need help, and that's where you come in.  This treatment isn't cheap, especially since it takes 10-11 weeks, during which time I will have to live in Germany.  So I am asking for your help and good will in the form of any donation you feel able to make.  Donations will be put toward the cost of treatment, living expenses, and transportation. You can also help me by sharing this page with your friends, especially anyone who has somehow been touched by Lyme.

Let's be clear that this mission isn't just about me.  There are hundreds of thousands of people like me silently suffering from chronic Lyme.  My recovery is their hope. Because I am a writer, I will be able to share my story of healing with the public and create awareness about a new therapy that is working.  With luck, it might even be possible to eventually make this therapy available in the U.S.  Either way, one thing is certain—in this fight against Lyme Disease, we must share our experiences and successes.  With your help, I can make this journey and start the story of my healing.   So... let's do this thing.

Thank you!