Fiona's Lyme Disease Treatment for 2015

This Pledge Page is to directly help Fiona pay for her ongoing and increasing medical bills for her Chronic Lyme Disease and co-infections treatment, without which we would expect her condition to continue to deteriorate and impact the quality of her life even more than it already has.

Since 2010 Fiona has been treated for Lyme Disease and its co-infections. With the exception of a year when we hoped she had successfully overcome this disease, she has been sick, treating it, and hoping for a breakthrough. All our savings and all the borrowings available to us has been used to fund the treatment since 2010 and she now finds herself in a position where she cannot pay for any more treatment and is too sick to seek employment.
 

History of her Illness

It is unknown how long ago Fiona became unwell but after sometime of being undiagnosed she was finally diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease and its confections. She immediately started on an aggressive treatment plan which involved over a year of high dose multiple antibiotic use but the disease and this treatment protocol both soon forced her to resign from her employment. After treatment it was hoped that it had been successful and in 2012 Fiona then worked on repairing the damage caused by such required prolonged, high dose multiple antibiotic use. During this time she did all she could to fully recover and embraced the opportunity to live a fuller life again. 
 
Unfortunately, in 2013 it became apparent that the treatment hadn’t worked and she rapidly deteriorated back to the state of needing professional and personal support. Since testing evidenced the disease was still present she has this time been treated using another method which is with a herbal protocol followed by antibiotic use. 
 
Her Symptoms
It is hard to encapsulate what it is like to live with this disease for Fiona. People who have Lyme Disease has are often misdiagnosed with an array of issues including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, Alzheimers, mental illness and many more. All i can say is what i see:
She is constantly exhausted and lacks stamina, strength and energy on a daily basis. 
She is usually in a lot of pain and this pain moves around her body from one place to another.
She has palpitations, dizziness/fainting spells, nausea and anxiety.
She experiences debilitating pressure in her head
She endures isolation and vulnerability because she is unable or afraid to spend time outside the house alone.
And perhaps most distressing for her is the neurological symptoms which include that she struggles to comprehend things, often loses words, has short term memory issues, experiences compromised vision and hypersensitive to noise.
In recent weeks her neurological symptoms have become more aggressive and concerning with periods of inability to communicate, falling down, involuntary movement, shaking violently all over and periods of semi-consciousness.
 
Most of you will never see any of this because Fiona is extraordinarily skilled at presenting herself so well so that people still see her as she used to be and not as this sick person. This effort to smile, laugh, show up, care about others, function and look ‘ok’ takes it out of her to the point that she has to prepare to be in those situations and recover from the consequences of doing that. She recently opened up more to her friends and told them the truth of her illness because it was becoming harder for her to hide it and perform.
 
Cost of Treatment
It is hard to say how much we have spent since 2010 on the journey to overcome this illness but it would be in excess of $50,000. What we do know is that this is an expensive battle, one which ironically becomes more expensive as it become more successful. We can easily expect this year to face medical and support bills in the region of $15000-$20000 for her to continue with the treatment as planned. The long term treatment she has already endured means that this year is by no means the last and even if we are fortuitous and beat it this year, there will be long term rehabilitation required to get back to her pre-Lyme state. 
 
Now
Unfortunately the cost over the years has finally taken its toll and Fiona has had to cut back on treatment and in the next week will need to stop treatment almost completely. We no longer have the money available to pay for it and there is no possibility that Fiona can return to paid employment. This enforced decision is clearly causing stress and anxiety about what that means longterm for her health. We can only assume once the treatment stops the disease will progress beyond the debilitating level it currently has.
 
Over the years many of you have offered your support and asked how you can help. Doing this PeoplePledge was an idea that came from many of you.
 
We are running this fundraiser for her in the hope that we can get support to get her back into treatment as soon as possible. This is how you can help her now.