We need your help

Hi. This is very long story that started 7 years ago. Long story short, I have Lyme disease. I have two children ages 11 and 15. They have seen me suffer for these past 7 years (most of their childhood memories). I know this hurts them mentally. I just want to get better and go back to being me. I have no life and I am hurting them because I can't be a normal mom. I need help paying for long term antibiotics and co payments for doctors.

I finally found a doctor in August that will help me. He has diagnosed me with Chronic Lyme. I am on a vey low fixed income and I live in Florida which is 900 miles away from what little family and friends I have. We moved here 3 years ago to try to get help from a Lyme disease doctor and it is warmer, joint pain is horrible in cold places. So it is just us 3 by ourselves. My husband is in VA and we are separated.

I am exhausted and don't know what else I can do. I feel sometimes like this disease will get the best of me but I know God will eventually heal me. And I have to be here for my children. They have no one else. No grandparents or anything. Please if you can help, help us. I would also like to have my children tested because they experience some of the symptoms that children show with Lyme. They played in the same yard that I was bitten in. I asked the pediatrician to give my son a test when he started showing weird signs but they said if I didn't pull a tick off then he probably didn't have Lyme. It was rare. But both him and my daughter have a very hard time remembering things. He was diagnosed with learning disabilities. They both complain of headaches. I would just like to get them tested. For the peace of mind.

I used to love to garden. My yard was full of flowers. Any time I had extra money, I would buy perennials. I worked hard in my yard and I worked 12 hour shifts at a window company. I was a tech and was getting ready for a raise. I was going to make almost $18 /hour which is pretty good for someone without a full college education. I owned my house, was making payments, and upgrading/remodeling constantly by myself. I painted murals on the children's bedroom walls. I was building a treehouse, a greenhouse, and I worked on my own car. My husband and I split before I got sick because of his alcoholism. But we were trying to work on it. I believe I once was a very strong woman.

One day I found a very tiny tick on my ankle. My ankle tickled so I scratched it. I felt something under my nail and it was the smallest tick I had ever seen. It was like a period with legs. Two weeks later, I was grocery shopping and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had to leave my shopping cart because I felt so bad. I went to Urgent Care and they gave me antibiotics (28 days of Doxy). I was very sick so I kept taking the antibiotics until I found I couldn't work while on them. They hurt my stomach so bad and I was feeling relief from the Lyme so I stopped taking them after 2 weeks. I had to work. Well the symptoms came back and the doctor ran another Lyme test. It was negative. They said 14 days of Doxy was enough and wouldn't listen when I said the symptoms returned. They said it would take awhile.

I got to where I couldn't remember how to fix the machines that I was so good at fixing before. I kept complaining to my PCP but he wouldn't listen. He sent me to a Rheumatologist but I had to wait several months for him to see me. Finally on the first visit he ran the lyme test again. I had full blown Lyme. I had it for almost 10 months before I took the second prescription of antibiotics. I made sure to take the whole 28 days. Despite a negative Lyme test, I still felt bad. I had to quit my job. My knees swelled up like balloons so the pcp sent me to have 2 knee replacements. I lost my home and decided to move from cold VA to FL. Here I am 3 years later with a diagnoses and a doctor that is willing to help but I need the funds. Please help and if anything thank you for reading my story. And caring about people in general.