Donna’s life of Lyme

Help Donna prevent her Chronic Lyme from getting worse and get her life back so she can continue with her career as a sports scientist, helping people recover from and prevent injury, whilst also raising money and awareness for all manner of charities.

In March she was admitted into hospital for what she thought would be a short stay to treat rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of muscle fibres), nearly 10 weeks later and she is only now being discharged. After endless test and scans the doctors are still none the wiser as to what ails her but have prescribed a concoction of drugs to ease the pain and treat some of her symptoms. She desperately wants to find a doctor who will be able to help her, but the NHS is failing her due to a lack of guidelines for management of Chronic Lyme. This is why I have set up this page to help raise money so she can see the professionals who will be able to get her on the road to recovery and back to raising awareness of Lyme disease.

Goals

1. Allow Donna to get the help she needs which is estimated cost £15,000+ and include the following:
   • Appointments with a Lyme literate doctor (LLMD)
   • Tests and scans
   • Treatments
   • Visits to a rehabilitation centre
2. Alleviate the financial stress for Donna so she can focus of getting better

Make a difference

Anyone who knows Donna will know she is all about giving, now’s your chance to give something back to her. Please help her in her time of need, no matter how much you can spare it will make a difference. During the time in hospital she has been amazed by the support she has received via Facebook messages and the number of people who have been to visit. Through this page I am hoping we can make a real difference and bring the old Donna back.

Back to the beginning ...

Up until 2006 Donna was a fit and active, independent woman, who was in her words ’invincible’. She was a ski instructor, ran a limo business, had a jewellery business and was a property developer. Not only in it for herself, she was also fundraising for various charities through all manner of activities. Then in 2006 she was bitten by a tick and that’s when her life completely changed! A few visits to doctors gave her a verbal diagnosis of Lyme disease with a co-infection of Bartonella but due to confusions over the guidelines she didn’t receive the antibiotic treatment for the Lyme.

The effects of living with Lyme

Since 2006 Donna has lost an awful lot; due to the effects of the illness she has lost her home, businesses, ski career and other active hobbies she used to enjoy. It has also affected her relationships, left her vulnerable and sometimes isolated. The reason for all this is that the symptoms of Lyme vary, some days Donna can climb a mountain and others she struggles to get out of bed and hides away at home not wanting others to see her ’weakness’.

Throughout this Donna hasn’t let it completely ruin her life, she is a fighter and has achieved an awful lot with her motto ’beat it, manage it or adapt’ strong in her head. She completed a sports science degree, even though the Lyme was affecting her memory and was excited about her new career and how she would be able to help people. However during this time she had used all her savings to support herself, not wanting to become a drain on society.

When she thought she had overcome the worst of it and was well on the way to recovery she sold everything and went to volunteer at International Primate Rescue (IPR) in South Africa, another example of her selfless nature. It was so nice to see pictures and hear stories of her doing something she was really enjoying.

In 2014 Donna thought she had overcome the Lyme disease and thought her motto had worked, she was looking forward to a ’normal life’ and began the process of setting up her new business as a sports scientist. Her clients speak highly of her and her abilities to work her magic to find the true source of the problem, not just treat the visible symptoms.

Back to now ...

In Donna’s words ’it feels like lightning struck twice’ as she was in the final steps of setting up her sports and health sciences business, Activology, when she was admitted to hospital. Being self-employed she has no employer to support her with sick pay and has very little in the way of savings due to all that has happened since 2006. She is reaching breaking point and is unsure of how she is going to be able to pay rent, bills and general living expenses let alone funding the appointments with professionals and the associated tests, scans and treatments.

The future

Donna hopes that with the right treatment she will be able to return to her original life and be able to help people by getting back to the job she loves. She is also keen to raise awareness of Lyme disease in the UK.