Support Molly

This campaign is an urgent plea to raise money to support Molly, who is suffering from severe neurological illness associated with Lyme Disease. She is in constant pain and confined to her home, as even short-distance travel can be dangerous. The family is running out of funds to pay for her medical care, which is not covered by insurance because insurance companies do not recognise the existence of Lyme disease. This at a critical juncture when her top-notch doctors are implementing new state-of-the-art treatments that offer new hope. It’s becoming particularly urgent as well, since Molly has been losing ground since a bad fall in December 2014 (after starting to be able to quasi-hike again), and her day-to-day suffering has become extremely acute, and her core vitality low.

Molly would like this campaign to join with the numerous efforts of others—through online groups, blogs, and activist efforts—to spread awareness about the tragedy and growing epidemic of Lyme disease, as well as its relation to medical and societal biases and global environmental changes. Because Lyme Disease is not yet adequately recognised or researched by the medical community, nor covered by insurance carriers, it is typical for those infected to take years to become properly diagnosed, but once they are, their care is not covered. In the meantime, the case becomes further advanced and therefore more difficult to treat. Research is slow to catch up with the growing need; fortunately, this is starting to change. It is typical for families of sufferers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment. Molly herself saw perhaps 10-15 doctors over several years before anyone thought to run a Lyme test, which in her case turned out to be positive--a rare “smoking gun.”

Further, many doctors—and sometimes the community-- often blame the patient by deciding their problems are psychosomatic in nature. For instance, Molly sought the help of a leading neurologist (after having tested positive for Lyme) who scoffed at the possibility of Lyme, saying he'd never seen it before. And a rheumatologist whom she visited during a particularly bad flare of whole-body pain treated her with disdain, and gave her a diagnosis of “unspecified knee pain,” with no treatment recommendations.

These are just two of the many stories she could tell. Which is not to say that this represents the entire medical profession: since then, she has found some excellent physicians, but such stories are all too common.

Molly has been shocked to hear similar stories over and over, online and through her doctors: people who had the disease for years before being diagnosed are stigmatised in the meantime, and spend a fortune on care. Molly hopes that sharing her own story may help to raise awareness about this critical problem.

There is also global environmental significance to biotoxic illnesses such as Molly’s. We are all subject to the consequences of these factors: ecosystems that are out of balance, spurring the spread of diseases; the overuse of antibiotics creating more aggressive and wiley pathogens; electro-magnetic frequencies (EMFs) disrupting bodily functions; and the toxification of the planet, with the use of pesticides, petrochemicals, heavy metals, radiation, genetically modified food, etc. These factors inhibit the body’s ability to fight off illness. Most Lyme sufferers experience a “perfect storm” of various elements of infections and toxins, resulting in complex disease pictures and treatments.

Genetics are another factor in intractable cases. Molly, like so many others, has also had an unfortunate roll of the genetic dice, with impairments in basic metabolic functions, detoxification, and processing of medications. This finding retrospectively explains why earlier traditional antibiotic treatment was not only ineffective for Molly, but made her sicker. The role of genetics in the manifestations and treatment options for these illnesses is an especially hot and growing area, offering new promise for individually tailored-treatment. Molly just got fast-tracked into a study by a famous researcher into the intricacies of metabolic function in cases like hers.

It’s worth emphasising, though, that if she, like her cohorts, had not been subjected to so many pathogens and toxins, these genetic problems in and of themselves would probably not have resulted in illness.

As a psychologist, Molly has also been struck by how much she's learned, in the course of this journey, about the new research showing how much infectious disease, toxins, genetics, injuries and nutrition may be stealth culprits in otherwise physically healthy sufferers of mental illness. For example, schizophrenics and even violent offenders may respond to medical interventions as simple as nutritional supplementation. One of her (many) dreams is to investigate this arena further.

It is often hard for those who are not on intimate terms with those suffering Lyme-related illnesses to understand the magnitude of the disease and associated suffering. Most people with other equally dangerous illnesses are hospitalised. Lyme patients most often cannot be, for a variety of reasons. Instead, they are suffering at home, unseen by the public, with what appear to be mysterious symptoms and debilities. This can result in further marginalization of the sufferer and feelings of isolation. Molly’s struggle at present is an hour-to-hour one. She writes, “I would give anything for something I could do for distraction that didn’t hurt my body further: e.g. hold a conversation, watch a movie or listen to a song, read a book, go for a walk, noodle around the internet, knit or even do a puzzle! Or for just a single decent night's sleep, or pain-free hour.”

Molly would like her parents to be recognised for their years of sacrifice, devotion and unwavering support and belief in her despite the increasing toll on them. She is grateful for all the support she has received of various kinds, but would particularly like to acknowledge her friends who took the initiative to think up and spearhead this campaign.

Please also visit Molly’s blog: http://mapletree-warrior.blogspot.com where she has posted exquisite and powerful poetry and paintings produced while confined to her home, and when her arms and vision have made it possible.

Thank you for your care and concern for Molly personally, for others with similar illnesses, and for the environmental factors involved, as well.

If you are so moved, please share the link to this campaign with anyone you think might be interested.

Many thanks for visiting this site.