Genevieve's Chronic Lyme Fight
Donation protected
www.lymeyogawarrior.org
In January 2016, I was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. I was bitten by a tick 3 years prior, but because I had no rash or symptoms, my doctor did not test me for anything. I also was infected with Bartonella and Tularemia when I was bitten. All unknown to me at the time, because I was never tested. I spent the next few years trying to figure out why I had sporadic nerve pain, dizziness, joints locking up, a ruptured ovarian cyst and so many trips to the ER.
When I was first diagnosed, I was a full time student of Occupational Therapy, and worked as a yoga teacher and administrative manager at a florist. I was lucky enough to start oral antibiotics under the care of an expert in the Lyme field. Unfortunately that only made me worse.
I quickly became disabled. I couldn't drive, work, or even walk some days. I had to withdraw from my beloved school program, and stop teaching yoga, my passion in life. I struggled with symptoms like vertigo, brain fog, sensory overload, disorientation, anxiety, muscle and joint stiffness, depression, night sweats, and more.
We kept trying and trying, with new oral antibitocs, herbal supplements, and herbal detoxes. But it kept getting worse, until I had a panic attack and thought I was going to die. I had to take a mental health break for a few months, and eased up on the medication. The doctors and I tried a few more times when I felt a bit better, and again I got worse. I knew something had to change.
I changed Lyme specialists and starting receiving intravenous antibiotics in April 2017 at an Integrative Medicine Center. I started going 5 days a week, and got 3 different antibiotics and detoxes like Vitamin C and Glutathione. I was so scared and skeptical, but by the second week I started driving again! Everyday I went, I left feeling better! I couldn't believe it!
My neurological symptoms subsided and it has been such a huge relief. I started being able to go grocery shopping, vacuuming the house, gardening with flowers. My Tularemia (a fatal co-infection) went from very high levels to negative after a month or so. I am so happy.
Now it's about 3 months into treatment, and I received the horrible news that my insurance company will not cover ANY of this. The CDC openly says that Chronic Lyme is not a real disease and do not study or research how to treat or cure it. So that has left me and thousands of others in the terrible position of having to finance our own recovery. This infuriates me to the core, I am a citizen of America, I pay taxes, I deserve a body of government that will help me survive these multiple diseases, that can lead to even worse conditions or death. That aspect of government says it exists but it does not serve my needs.
Which leads me here, asking my community to help me pay for life-saving medicine and treatment. I am healing, but I still can't work. I will be using this treatment for the next 6-9 months at least. So if you can, please donate. Anything helps! Thank you all so much for everything. I would not be on the healing path without my community and loved ones.
In January 2016, I was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. I was bitten by a tick 3 years prior, but because I had no rash or symptoms, my doctor did not test me for anything. I also was infected with Bartonella and Tularemia when I was bitten. All unknown to me at the time, because I was never tested. I spent the next few years trying to figure out why I had sporadic nerve pain, dizziness, joints locking up, a ruptured ovarian cyst and so many trips to the ER.When I was first diagnosed, I was a full time student of Occupational Therapy, and worked as a yoga teacher and administrative manager at a florist. I was lucky enough to start oral antibiotics under the care of an expert in the Lyme field. Unfortunately that only made me worse.
I quickly became disabled. I couldn't drive, work, or even walk some days. I had to withdraw from my beloved school program, and stop teaching yoga, my passion in life. I struggled with symptoms like vertigo, brain fog, sensory overload, disorientation, anxiety, muscle and joint stiffness, depression, night sweats, and more.
We kept trying and trying, with new oral antibitocs, herbal supplements, and herbal detoxes. But it kept getting worse, until I had a panic attack and thought I was going to die. I had to take a mental health break for a few months, and eased up on the medication. The doctors and I tried a few more times when I felt a bit better, and again I got worse. I knew something had to change.
I changed Lyme specialists and starting receiving intravenous antibiotics in April 2017 at an Integrative Medicine Center. I started going 5 days a week, and got 3 different antibiotics and detoxes like Vitamin C and Glutathione. I was so scared and skeptical, but by the second week I started driving again! Everyday I went, I left feeling better! I couldn't believe it!
My neurological symptoms subsided and it has been such a huge relief. I started being able to go grocery shopping, vacuuming the house, gardening with flowers. My Tularemia (a fatal co-infection) went from very high levels to negative after a month or so. I am so happy.
Now it's about 3 months into treatment, and I received the horrible news that my insurance company will not cover ANY of this. The CDC openly says that Chronic Lyme is not a real disease and do not study or research how to treat or cure it. So that has left me and thousands of others in the terrible position of having to finance our own recovery. This infuriates me to the core, I am a citizen of America, I pay taxes, I deserve a body of government that will help me survive these multiple diseases, that can lead to even worse conditions or death. That aspect of government says it exists but it does not serve my needs.
Which leads me here, asking my community to help me pay for life-saving medicine and treatment. I am healing, but I still can't work. I will be using this treatment for the next 6-9 months at least. So if you can, please donate. Anything helps! Thank you all so much for everything. I would not be on the healing path without my community and loved ones.
Organizer
Genevieve M. Goetz
Organizer
Chatham, NY