MEEt Matt & Laura

If you're battling chronic Lyme disease, you are not alone.

We fight Lyme Disease. Every single day. This is our story, as a couple, from both perspectives, the patient's and the caretaker's. Sharing what we have learned along the way, through all the rough sledding, will hopefully provide some relief, useful information, and most importantly some camaraderie in the battle against one of the world's most mysterious, life-altering, & poorly understood illnesses. 

Laura was diagnosed with Lyme in 2010. It derailed her life for the better part of two years and then subsided into a remission state after heavy doses of antibiotics. Part of the difficulty was that it was not properly and timely identified and diagnosed. This is a major challenge for treating Lyme. Diagnosis at early stages is difficult and the symptoms often trigger false diagnoses of other illnesses like RA, Fibromayalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Depression, etc. All the while, the Lyme and coinfections are digging in deeper and entrenching themselves for the long haul. Luckily, late in 2012, the Lyme symptoms pulled back. We started dating in 2013 and for the first 3 months it was high energy, action-packed, full life love story. We even moved from New York to Silicon Valley. Shortly thereafter the bugs reemerged within her, and the Lyme took hold yet again. And independent of any re-exposure or bite. In fact, this entire story lacks an observable tick bite, the onset of the disease remaining a chronic mystery.

After about a year in California, & having constantly crisscrossed the US to pursue medical treatment in New York City, we moved back to NYC to be close to the medical resources and Laura's family. From 2014 to the present we have seen about 20 different doctors from a variety of specialties, from traditional western medicine to holistic and herbal approaches. We have poured financial resources into what seemed like a medical void. The effort showed no beneficial results and Laura's health continued to deteriorate to the point that she could no longer get out of bed. Then we landed an appointment with a Lyme Specialist here in Midtown, Manhattan. She has been on a protocol with this doctor since October (about 8 months in) and we are finally seeing positive results - slow, but noticeable. Along this journey we have become de facto experts in the symptoms, strains, stresses, solutions, and to some extent the science itself. It is our hope that our joint perspectives lend an element of support to everyone fighting Lyme and everyone fighting it alongside them and supporting them. We have given this fight our absolute best effort and have somehow persevered, with some laughs along the way, and a dedication to one another that we are sincerely proud of. In particular, Laura's bravery in the face of unrelenting daily pain & sickness has been eye-opening, inspiring, and I couldn't be more proud of her. 

We've given it our best shot for years now, and given the recent increase in dialogue and awareness about the disease, we offer our perspectives here. 

We sincerely hope you find a few useful tips, our empathy, a little info, or at least a smile or two reading our Lyme Journal. 

Yours in the Lyme fight, 

Matt & Laura

5/14/16

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