MARCIA'S JOURNEY TOWARD IMPROVED HEALTH

Hello! I am 70 years old and chronically ill. I know, I don't LOOK ill. However, wigs and makeup can do wonders! My desire and prayer is to raise funding in order to receive treatment and purchase needed supplements for my chronic illnesses, which include late-stage Lyme Disease, and co-infections, Mold illness, and Mast Cell Activation Disorder (MCAD) I would love to feel  better, serve the Lord, and enjoy the remainder of the time He gives me.

Instead  of feeling better, however, I've grown more ill over the last 7 years.   It has been so long since I've gotten a decent night's sleep, (often  only 3 or 4 hours) and I am so often overwhelmed with discouragement  when I feel trapped by my symptoms and engulfed in the loneliness and  isolation that chronic illness often brings!

Here's my story. In 1995, I  was diagnosed (looking back, misdiagnosed) with Fibromyalgia on the basis of symptoms up to that point. However, as I've learned through experience, when someone is given a fibromyalgia or a mental health diagnosis, most conventional physicians will look no further and,  instead, proceed to send a patient to counseling or to the psychiatric hospital, and only the symptoms are treated. In fact, various anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs had been prescribed for me since the age of 18 until about 5 years ago when I decided enough was enough.  However, no physician bothered to seek an underlying cause for my symptoms. To be fair, most conventional doctors are not trained in this regard. In any event, these medications caused numerous side effects,  but little improvement.

No doubt, some of you can identify with my plight, and with the utter frustration of walking out of yet another doctor's office with the sense that you've not been understood or taken seriously. Perhaps you've been labeled as a hypochondriac, or even tossed out of a medical practice because it's somehow your fault that the medications the doctors had prescribed are not working.

To continue with my story:  At the time of my fibromyalgia diagnosis in  1995, I seemed pretty okay, if you could call lifelong depression,  anxiety, and having to leave my job due to panic attacks as okay. After all, I was still not in much pain, and I didn't LOOK sick!

In  2006, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (only  1% of all the lymphomas are of this type). After chemo treatment, I was  deemed "in remission." However, I began to struggle with some unexplainable symptoms and was thrown out of a medical practice because I  failed to respond to the medications they prescribed. The doctors found nothing wrong, in spite of my insistence that I was indeed ill.

In  2010, I came down with Shingles, followed by an emotional breakdown under stress from the pain of it. Once again, more unexplainable symptoms began to surface, including the loss of my solo singing voice. To this day, I still grieve this loss.

However,  in September 2015, thanks to the generosity of some individuals, I was able to raise the funds to consult with a Lyme specialist. On the basis of suspicious lab test results as well as my symptoms, I was diagnosed with late-stage Lyme Disease and some of its co-infections. The practitioner stated that the depression and anxiety I had been experiencing lifelong are often the very first symptoms to show up with Lyme  Disease as it attacks the brain,  In fact, I've probably had Lyme for over 50 years...since childhood or early adulthood when I lived in the northeast.

My daily life is presently very difficult. I not only  have to accept the reality of having a disease that people are uncomfortable with because they can't fix me, but I also experience the  daily distressing symptoms of late-stage previously untreated Lyme Disease and chronic Epstein Barr Virus, severe insomnia, blurry vision,  bodily pain, burning, tingling, and weakness in my legs and feet, and  exhaustion, to name just a few. I was also exposed to Mold in a previous apartment building and that has affected me greatly. Moreover, depression and anxiety have become unbearable!

Social Security is my only source of income.  Unfortunately, because the diseases are too far advanced (misdiagnosed for many decades), I am unable to directly treat with a view toward remission. I am only able to do what I can to aim toward an improved quality of life. Medicare insurance does not cover my visits to the medical providers, nor does it cover any treatments, necessary nutritional supplements, or clean organic food which I'm required to eat. Moreover, according to the Centers for Disease Control, late-stage Lyme disease does not even exist.

If you have read my story up to this point, congratulations! If you feel led to walk with me through what is a very long treatment journey, please feel free to donate toward my care.  And please pray for me! Be assured that any donation amount, or any prayers on my behalf, would be deeply appreciated. I am trusting that God is in control and is guiding me each step of the way.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. May the Lord bless you! I will keep you updated.