The children’s grandmother, BethAnn, started having health problems in her early 40s and visited many doctors and specialists before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease years later. Eventually, BethAnn’s mother, the children’s great grandmother, was also diagnosed and treated for Lyme by an LLMD.
The family began noticing health problems in the kids as they started to get a little older. Big sister Marley had a Visual Processing Disorder that was holding her back in school. Middle brother Kai struggled with asthma-like symptoms, food allergies, and hyperactivity that made it difficult to focus during school. Younger sister Leila broke out in rashes and was getting sick frequently. Their grandparents suggested the family should all be tested for Lyme. Having dealt with it themselves for over a decade, they recognized these early symptoms. Soon, their mother Angie, and all three children were diagnosed with Lyme disease and co-infections by an LLMD.
The family now faced the reality that Lyme disease had affected four generations of their family. While the grandparents were able to help get everyone tested, the treatment costs were astronomical, and with Angie staying home as primary caregiver to sick kids and her husband working, they didn’t know how they would treat so many people with Lyme disease on one salary.
Fortunately, they found LymeLight Foundation in 2018 and were able to get the children to meet with the LLMD regularly and afford supplements and prescriptions necessary to heal. “We have been able to continue treatment for the children with LymeLight Foundation’s help,” Angie told us. “LymeLight has truly been a blessing for our family and our pursuit of getting our health back.”
Since receiving their first treatment grants, the children’s cousin was also diagnosed with Lyme and is now a LymeLight grant recipient. Currently, eight members of the family across four maternal generations have been diagnosed with Lyme and have suffered from debilitating symptoms. “We are so grateful to LymeLight. You have been our guardian angels,” they told us.
