Story of Hope Spotlight
Renna – Living Freely
Renna was diagnosed with Lyme disease after getting Bell's palsy at 3 years old. She was treated for Lyme disease, but anxiety and OCD slowly ramped up over the next five years—but we didn't think it was connected to Lyme. We thought she had been fully treated!
It wasn't until she caught pneumonia that we learned that Renna had chronic Lyme still hiding in her body. The following year was the hardest year of our lives as Renna was diagnosed with PANDAS brought on by Lyme -- she was aggressively raging, debilitated by higher-than-ever anxiety and OCD, and dealing with joint pain, fatigue, and emotional lability.
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Renna missed so much school, and our entire family was traumatized from the aggressive rages and screaming. Our other children would hide in another room, afraid, while my husband and I did our best with Renna until one of us had to "tap out" and we would switch places. Renna could not participate in sports, complete a simple math lesson, or be near anything that smelled strongly. She did not play with toys or even read because, in her words, "I'm worried about so many things that I can't focus on the words." We had to depend daily on an iPad because it was the only way she (and we) got a break from this consuming autoimmune disease. To sum it up, she wasn't living freely, like a normal child would, and it simply wasn't her fault.
When I look back at this past year, I do not know how we would have gotten through without the generous LymeLight grants. Because of the financial help, we were able to purchase hundreds of dollars' worth of quality supplements each month and to see wonderful doctors who helped guide us through various medicine protocols, including 3 IVIG infusion treatments. Without the help of LymeLight, I would have had to leave our home to get a job to afford the treatment, all of which was completely out of pocket. Instead, I was able to stay home and care for Renna when she couldn't even put pants on for the day.
Because of consistent antibiotics, IVIG, supplements, therapy, and God's hand of healing, Renna is doing so much better! As a healthy 10-year-old, she just finished a soccer season, meaning that she was able to put on cleats, shin guards, and socks and walk out the door for practice... and RUN at practice without wincing in pain. Any Lyme family understands how huge this is! We see her organizing her room, writing loving notes to others, greeting us with a smile in the morning, playing with toys, and getting herself ready for school. She still deals with gluten restrictions, swallows large pills each day, and has some bloodwork coming up that she's anxious about. We still deal with flares. But she is a warrior, and we are grateful every day to see the real Renna back with us. Our family is healing.
