The goal of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast is to help people liberate themselves and others from suffering caused by Lyme disease through validation, community building, belief that healing is possible, and modeling success. Listen to our Tick Boot Camp podcast using all major podcast streaming services such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Our podcast is also integrated with smart home devices, such as Amazon Alexa and Apple TV. Ask your device to "play the Tick Boot Camp Podcast!"
In this special crossover episode between Tick Boot Camp Podcast and the Vital Plan Network, we welcome back Dr. Bill Rawls, a trusted mentor to our Lyme Disease community. With over 50,000 downloads per episode, our listeners represent a broad spectrum of those impacted by Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Dr. Rawls provides insight into the complex relationship between microbes and the immune system, drawing from his vast knowledge and research.
In this inspiring episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we're joined by Kerri Ciullo, a 29-year-old Lyme warrior from rural New Jersey. Kerri opens up about her extensive battle with Lyme disease, highlighting her current success with Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) as a pivotal component of her treatment.
In this enlightening episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, Dr. Elena Frid, a board-certified neurologist and neurophysiologist specializing in infection-induced autoimmune disorders, shares her expertise on the neurological and psychological aspects of Lyme disease, offering insights into why these are often the most misunderstood and challenging elements of the disease.
What You'll Learn:
Key Moments:
Closing Thoughts:Dr. Frid emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive approach to treating Lyme disease, considering both the infectious and autoimmune components of the disease. Her insights are invaluable for anyone struggling with or treating Lyme disease, especially those dealing with its complex neurological manifestations.
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. Stay tuned for more expert discussions aimed at helping you navigate the challenges of Lyme disease.
In this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we are honored to welcome Adam W. Finnegan, a researcher, writer, and Lyme disease advocate. Adam shares his deeply personal journey through the complexities of Lyme disease, from his early symptoms to his profound insights into the disease's connection with biological warfare and immune tolerance.
Dive deep into the discussion as Adam also explores his groundbreaking book The Sleeper Agent, revealing the intricate world of biological stealth weapons and the historical research of Erich Traub. Join us as we explore the transformational power of resilience and knowledge in battling Lyme disease.
In this inspiring episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we sit down with Daniel Wagner from Cincinnati, Ohio, to delve into his challenging yet enlightening journey with Lyme disease. At 33 years old, Daniel shares his experiences from a high-flying career in the corporate world to battling severe symptoms that left him bedridden. Our special guest co-host, Alexander Brook Clark, helps navigate Daniel’s story from his active life before Lyme through to his ongoing recovery process.
In this deeply inspiring episode of the Tick Boot Camp podcast, we sit down with Leanne Dalton and her daughter, Claire Dalton. Leanne, a 65-year-old entrepreneur from Utah, shares her harrowing yet uplifting journey battling Lyme disease. Diagnosed later in life after years of misdiagnoses and suffering, her story is enriched by Claire's insights and shared experiences, highlighting not just the challenges of living with Lyme disease but also their profound spiritual journey and holistic approach to healing. Join us as Leanne and Claire discuss the trials, treatments, and triumphs they have experienced on their path to recovery.
Resources Mentioned:
In this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we delve deep into the intricacies of healing from Lyme disease and related conditions with the esteemed Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge. A pioneer in addressing the neurological and psychological impacts of chronic diseases, Dr. Roseann shares invaluable insights into navigating the complex path toward healing.
Understanding Healing on Its Own TermsDr. Roseann emphasizes the individual nature of healing, challenging the notion that recovery must adhere to a predefined timeline. This discussion opens up a crucial conversation about the importance of prioritizing health and wellness over societal expectations, especially for those battling chronic illnesses.
Grieving and Growth: The Emotional JourneyHighlighting the emotional rollercoaster families face upon diagnosis, Dr. Roseann discusses the grief process, the acceptance of a new normal, and ultimately, the creation of a path forward. Her personal experiences and professional expertise shed light on the necessity of acknowledging and working through these emotions as part of the healing process.
The Critical Need for a Holistic ApproachA key focus of the episode is the shortcomings of the current medical system in adequately addressing Lyme disease, PANS, and PANDAS. Dr. Roseann advocates for a comprehensive, five-pronged approach to treatment that includes addressing infections and toxins, supporting the immune system, focusing on mental health, providing behavioral and parenting support, and regulating the nervous system.
Confronting Misinformation and MisdiagnosisDr. Roseann and the hosts discuss the pervasive misinformation about Lyme and tick-borne illnesses, including the critical issue of misdiagnosis by medical professionals. The conversation underscores the need for greater awareness and education among both the public and healthcare providers.
The Integral Role of Nervous System RegulationThe discussion turns to the significance of nervous system regulation in the healing journey. Dr. Roseann explains how chronic sympathetic dominance can hinder recovery by impacting immune response, hormonal balance, and overall well-being, making the regulation of the nervous system a cornerstone of effective treatment.
Overcoming Challenges in the Medical CommunityAddressing the issue of medical gaslighting, Dr. Roseann shares her insights into the dual challenges faced in both the physical and mental health sectors. She stresses the importance of advocating for proper treatment and recognition of Lyme disease and associated conditions as complex medical issues requiring specialized care.
Episode InsightsThis episode is a must-listen for anyone touched by Lyme disease, tick-borne illnesses, or chronic conditions, offering hope, understanding, and actionable advice for navigating the healing journey.
Rich Johannesen and special guest co-host Liza Blas focus this episode on the insights and expertise of Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, whose work in the field of Lyme disease and chronic illness continues to inspire and support countless individuals and families on their path to recovery.
For further information, resources, and support, join the Tick Boot Camp community and explore additional episodes that foster understanding, advocacy, and healing. Catch this and other episodes for a deeper dive into the lives and recovery stories of those battling Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses.
Join us in this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast as we explore the journey of Paola Giometti, a Brazil-born biologist now residing in Tromsø, Norway, who has been navigating the challenges of Lyme disease. Alongside our host, Matt Sabatello, and special guest co-host, Max Noir, we delve into Paola’s personal and professional life, her battle with Lyme disease, and her insights on overcoming the struggles associated with this tick-borne illness.
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Welcome to a deeply inspiring episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, where we sit down with Alexandra Brook-Clark, a resilient Lyme disease warrior, who has transformed her battle with Lyme into a mission of helping others. Residing in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Alexandra shares her incredible journey from blissful days in Brooklyn, New York, to facing the stark realities of Lyme disease and co-infections. Now, at 39, Alexandra's story is not just about struggle; it's about overcoming, learning, and thriving. Emma Pikoulas joins Matt Sabatello as a special guest co-host for this powerful interview.
Alexandra's Background:
Pre-Lyme Life: Alexandra reminisces about her life before Lyme—full of social engagements, work success, and joy with her husband Patrick, son August, and their dog Zeus in Brooklyn, NY. Her life, seemingly perfect, was abruptly interrupted by Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease Onset: At 36, Alexandra's world turned upside down. Post hip surgery and at the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic, she began experiencing unexplainable and debilitating symptoms. Despite numerous misdiagnoses and a journey through the complexities of the healthcare system, her relentless pursuit for answers led her to self-order an IGENIX test, which confirmed Lyme alongside multiple co-infections.
Diagnosis and Treatment:
Life Post-Diagnosis: Alexandra shares the profound changes Lyme disease brought to her life, from PTSD and fears of the outdoors to a newfound appreciation for life's simplicity and the importance of treating her body with kindness. Despite the ongoing challenges, including a battle with mold intolerance, Alexandra stands at 95% of her pre-Lyme self, actively working and enjoying a revitalized social life.
Healing Strategies: Emphasizing the importance of the brain-body connection, Alexandra credits her recovery to retraining her brain, alongside an arsenal of therapies including cold plunging, sauna sessions, and rigorous detoxification routines.
Advice to Others: For those battling Lyme, Alexandra offers hope and assurance of healing. Her preventive advice underscores the importance of vigilance against ticks, advocating for proactive measures like regular tick checks and the use of protective sprays.
Armur Health: Alexandra runs Armur, providing access to community support, expert advice, and a wealth of information to empower individuals on their journey to recovery from Lyme and other chronic infections.
Conclusion: Alexandra Brook-Clark's journey is a testament to the power of resilience, the importance of self-advocacy in health, and the transformative impact of a supportive community. Her story not only sheds light on the complexities of Lyme disease but also inspires hope and action in the face of adversity.
Closing Remarks: Thank you for tuning in to this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast with Alexandra Brook-Clark. Her courage, insights, and advice offer invaluable lessons on navigating Lyme disease with hope and determination. Join us next time as we continue to share stories of triumph and transformation in the battle against tick-borne illnesses.
IntroductionIn this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, hosts Matt Sabatello and Rich Johannesen are thrilled to welcome Sarah Quillen, the dynamic Executive Director of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), for an insightful conversation on battling Lyme disease. Adding to the excitement, special guest co-host Ali Moresco joins the dialogue, bridging her passionate advocacy work with ILADS' mission.
Guest BioSarah Quillen: With a robust background in nonprofit leadership, particularly in health and human services, Sarah brings over 25 years of experience to her role at ILADS. Her career is marked by significant contributions to organizations like the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Greater Washington, DC. A native of the Hudson Valley, NY, Sarah's personal and familial experiences with Lyme disease have deeply influenced her dedication to improving care and support for those affected by tick-borne illnesses.
Ali Moresco: A fervent advocate for Lyme disease awareness and support, Ali has been a vocal presence in the community, continuously working to amplify the conversation around Lyme and associated diseases. Her collaboration with Tick Boot Camp and ILADS underscores her commitment to driving change and providing resources for those in need.
Episode Highlights Introduction to ILADS: Sarah provides an overview of ILADS' mission, emphasizing its dedication to the diagnosis, treatment, and education of Lyme and other complex inflammatory diseases, celebrating 25 years of unwavering commitment to science, research, and education. * Personal Journey: Sarah shares her personal connection to Lyme disease, reflecting on her upbringing in a region endemic to ticks and her father's challenging journey with Lyme disease and Babesia, including his participation in the Lymerix vaccine trials. * Professional Pathway: Highlighting her trajectory from the fields of hospice and palliative care to her leadership role at ILADS, Sarah discusses the alignment of her professional expertise with her passion for advancing patient care in the realm of tick-borne diseases. * Advocacy and Education: The conversation delves into the critical role of ILADS in educating healthcare professionals and the public about Lyme disease, with an emphasis on fostering a multidisciplinary approach to care and the importance of community engagement and support. * The Power of Collaboration: Ali Moresco discusses the synergy between her advocacy work, ILADS, and Tick Boot Camp, highlighting the collective effort to raise awareness and support individuals affected by Lyme disease. * Call to Action:* The hosts and guests discuss the need for continued advocacy, education, and research to improve the lives of those dealing with Lyme disease, urging listeners to get involved and support ILADS' mission.
Closing ThoughtsSarah and Ali leave listeners with empowering messages of hope and action, encouraging those affected by Lyme disease and their loved ones to seek comprehensive care, become educated advocates, and contribute to the growing community fighting for better awareness and treatment of tick-borne diseases.
Resources* International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) * International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation (ILADEF) * Ali Moresco Podcast Interview * Tick Boot Camp Podcast Episodes
This episode was brought to you by Tick Boot Camp, dedicated to liberating individuals from the suffering caused by Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses through validation, community building, and education.
Welcome to a riveting episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, where we delve into the fascinating world of herbal medicine with Monica Wilde, a distinguished herbalist, author, and a beacon of hope for those battling Lyme disease and its co-infections. Broadcasting straight from Scotland, Monica, also affectionately known as Mo, shares her unique journey into the realm of herbal medicine, emphasizing her specialized focus on Borrelia and Lyme's complex co-infection group.
In This Episode:
Join us for an enlightening conversation with Monica Wilde and special guest co-host Cassidy Colbert as we explore the intersections of herbal medicine, belief, and the complex world of Lyme disease treatment. Whether you're a patient, a practitioner, or simply curious about alternative healing modalities, this episode offers valuable insights and hope for those on the journey to recovery.
Welcome to another episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, where today we're thrilled to have Nikki Schultek as our special guest. Nikki, hailing from Wake Forest, North Carolina, shares her journey from being a vibrant individual to facing severe health challenges like chronic Lyme disease, and how it led her to become a pivotal figure in the fight against chronic diseases through her work with the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative and Intracell Research Group.
Nikki's Background and East Coast Roots* Originally from the East Coast, Nikki's accent gives away her roots despite her current residence in North Carolina with her family, including two boys, a golden doodle, and her supportive husband.
The Tick Encounter* Nikki recounts a critical moment of finding an engorged tick, mistaken for a watermelon seed, highlighting the importance of regular tick checks in her family's life, especially given their pet's history with ticks.
Educational Journey* Despite an initial interest in science, Nikki pursued a degree in marketing, French, and international business at Villanova University. She reflects on how her career in the pharmaceutical industry, including roles at Pfizer and Genentech, equipped her with a unique perspective on healthcare and disease management, particularly in neurology and stroke care.
Personal Health Crisis* Nikki shares a harrowing account of her health deteriorating in her early 30s, leading to severe respiratory issues, joint pain, and neurological symptoms. Her quest for answers led her to a life-changing Google search connecting her symptoms to chronic bacterial infections, including Lyme disease.
The Turning Point with Dr. Charles Stratton* The discovery of Dr. Charles Stratton's work on chronic infections was a turning point for Nikki. She details how his guidance and a regimen of antibiotic therapy, overseen by her empathetic primary care doctor, began her road to recovery.
The Path to Research and Advocacy* Motivated by her experiences, Nikki delved into research, advocating for a diagnostic approach that looks beyond symptoms to the root causes of diseases like Alzheimer's. She emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to bridge gaps in understanding complex diseases.
Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative* Nikki discusses founding the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI), focusing on the diverse factors contributing to Alzheimer's disease (like Lyme disease) and the potential of targeted treatments based on precise diagnostics. She co-authored a research study on this topic and wrote an Op-Ed article breaking it down: Evidence Shows Germs May Cause Alzheimer’s—It’s Time for Researchers and Doctors to Act on It
Advocacy for Precision Medicine* The conversation highlights Nikki's advocacy for precision medicine, emphasizing the need for a consensus in diagnosing and treating diseases rooted in chronic infections. She shares insights into the challenges and opportunities in this field, including the potential impact of COVID-19 on public and medical understanding of infectious diseases and their long-term effects.
Call to Action* Nikki encourages listeners to engage in their health advocacy and underscores the importance of collaborative research in tackling complex health issues. She calls for more research into the balance of microbes within our bodies and how it influences health and disease.
Closing Thoughts* Nikki's story is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the potential for scientific innovation to transform lives. Her work with the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative stands at the forefront of a new approach to understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease, rooted in the intricate relationship between our bodies and the microbial world.
Contact InformationFor those interested in learning more about Nikki Schultek's work or getting involved with the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative, visit AlzPI.org and IntracellResearchGroup.com.
Learn MoreDiscover more enlightening and inspiring conversations on the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. Dive into our extensive archive of interviews featuring experts, survivors, and advocates in the battle against Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Each episode is designed to educate, empower, and connect our community, offering insights into prevention, treatment, and recovery. Join us on this journey to health and healing.
Introduction to Dr. Omar MoralesWelcome to this episode where we delve into the world of Lyme disease with our esteemed guest, Dr. Omar Morales, founder of the Lyme Mexico Clinic, renowned researcher, and dedicated member of the Board of Directors of ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society). Join us as Dr. Morales shares his journey from construction to medicine, his pivotal role in Lyme disease treatment, and his advocacy efforts with ILADS.
Dr. Morales's Journey: From Construction to Medicine Unexpected Beginnings: Hear how a promise of a truck from his father led Dr. Morales to a career in medicine. * Family Influence and Medical Career*: Learn about the familial influences that shaped Dr. Morales's path and his early medical experiences.
Establishing the Lyme Mexico Clinic Clinic Origins: Discover the story behind the founding of the Lyme Mexico Clinic and its evolution into a leading Lyme disease treatment center. * Patient-Centered Care*: Dr. Morales discusses his approach to individualized patient care and the clinic's commitment to understanding and treating Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease: A Complex Challenge Defining Lyme: Delve into the complexities of defining Lyme disease, chronic vs. acute presentations, and the systemic nature of the illness. * Insights from ILADS: As a member of the ILADS Board of Directors, Dr. Morales shares his perspectives on the latest Lyme disease research and treatment approaches. * The Detective Work in Understanding Lyme Disease: Dr. Morales emphasizes the complexity of Lyme disease, noting the existence of five different subtypes of Lyme and about 300 different sub-strains of Borrelia. He also highlights the significance of co-infections like Bartonella, Babesia, and Anaplasma, as well as the importance of considering both the genetics of the pathogen and the genetics of the patient in treatment strategies. * Pathogen-Induced Immune Responses*: Dr. Morales has found that Bartonella can trigger an overactive immune system or autoimmunity in patients, whereas Borrelia (Lyme) more often triggers immune suppression, especially in those with genetic predispositions. This distinction is critical for understanding why some chronic Lyme patients have barely functioning immune systems while others have overactive immune systems.
Innovative Approaches to Lyme Treatment Treatment Philosophy: Explore Dr. Morales's "less is more" approach to Lyme treatment, emphasizing the importance of timely and effective interventions. * Advancements in Treatment: Learn about the innovative treatment strategies employed at the Lyme Mexico Clinic, including intravenous treatments and the clinic's stance on maintaining patient homeostasis. * Four-Part Treatment Framework*: Dr. Morales outlines his comprehensive treatment framework, focusing on treating infections, targeting persistent forms of bacteria like biofilm, supporting the immune system, and detoxing. He provides specific treatments for each of these areas during the interview.
Neurological Symptoms of Lyme Disease: Research Insights In-Depth Discussion: We dive deep into the neurological symptoms associated with Lyme disease, an area where Dr. Morales has conducted extensive research. * 2024 Fall ILADS Conference in Germany*: Dr. Morales will be presenting his significant findings on the neurological implications of Lyme disease at the upcoming ILADS Conference, showcasing his contributions to understanding and treating this complex aspect of Lyme.
Research and Collaboration in Lyme Disease The Role of Research: Understand the critical role of ongoing research in advancing Lyme disease treatment and the importance of collaboration within the medical community. * Advocacy for Lyme Disease Awareness*: Dr. Morales discusses his advocacy work with ILADS and the importance of raising awareness and support for Lyme disease research.
Patient Advocacy and Care Strategies Commitment to Patients: Hear about Dr. Morales's dedication to patient care, including offering free initial consultations and personalized treatment plans. * Understanding Lyme Disease*: Gain insights into the detective work involved in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and the importance of listening to and understanding patients' experiences.
Conclusion: A Future Free from LymeWe wrap up our Tick Boot Camp Podcast conversation with Dr. Morales by discussing the future of Lyme disease treatment and the importance of community support, early detection, and comprehensive care. Dr. Morales's work with the Lyme Mexico Clinic and ILADS exemplifies the ongoing efforts to improve lives affected by Lyme disease.
Welcome to another episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, where we shed light on the tick-borne illness journey, offering hope, insight, and advice to our community. In this special episode, we are joined by the resilient and inspiring Tabitha Veazey, a 35-year-old Lyme warrior from Memphis, Tennessee, and co-hosted by Lacey Anderson, alongside Rich Johannesen. Tabitha shares her profound journey from the shock of diagnosis to her ongoing battle with Lyme disease, providing invaluable advice for those affected by Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
Episode Highlights: Introduction to Tabitha Veazey: Discover Tabitha’s life before Lyme, filled with ambition, social activities, and academic pursuits, painting the picture of a bright future ahead. * The Turning Point: Tabitha recounts the moment she found a tick on her back and the onset of severe symptoms that led her to seek medical attention, marking the beginning of her Lyme disease journey. * Diagnosis and Treatment: Learn about Tabitha's path to diagnosis through a blood test confirmed by Dr. Timothy Callaghan and her comprehensive treatment involving Doxycycline, Amoxicillin, and Byron White herbs. * The Role of Community and Holistic Healing: Tabitha emphasizes the importance of the Lyme community on Facebook and the significant role of herbal tinctures and probiotics in her recovery process. * Adjusting to Life Post-Lyme: Tabitha shares how Lyme disease has altered her lifestyle, from her social activities to her dietary habits, and her approach to outdoor activities. * Tabitha's Advice for Lyme Warriors: Offering words of wisdom, Tabitha encourages staying positive, embracing a healthy lifestyle, and exploring holistic treatments. She stresses the importance of immediate action following a tick bite and the crucial role of Lyme-literate physicians. * Co-host Insights*: Lacey Anderson and Rich Johannesen provide their perspectives, underscoring the importance of community support, early diagnosis, and the power of sharing personal stories to raise awareness and foster understanding.
Key Takeaways: Empowerment through Education: Tabitha’s journey underscores the importance of being informed and proactive in the face of tick-borne illnesses. * The Power of Community: The support and knowledge shared within the Lyme disease community play a critical role in navigating the challenges of diagnosis and treatment. * Holistic and Maintenance Care: The episode highlights the significance of holistic treatments and the necessity of maintenance care for long-term health and wellness. * Advocacy and Awareness*: Tabitha’s story is a call to action for increased awareness and understanding of Lyme disease, advocating for early detection, proper tick removal techniques, and the pursuit of Lyme-literate medical professionals.
Closing Thoughts:Tabitha Veazey’s story is not just one of struggle, but of resilience, hope, and the journey towards healing. Her insights and advice offer a beacon of light for those navigating the complexities of Lyme disease. Join us as we explore Tabitha's inspiring journey, the lessons learned, and the path forward for Lyme warriors everywhere.
Thank you for tuning into the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. Remember, knowledge is power, and by sharing our stories, we can make a difference in the lives of those affected by Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Stay tuned for more episodes that connect, inform, and empower our community.
Welcome to a special episode of our Tick Boot Camp Podcast, where we dive deep into the world of chronic illness, focusing on Lyme disease. Today, we're honored to have Mandy Meehan, a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified Dietary Supplement Professional, and Certified Lyme Specialist, share her incredible journey of battling and overcoming Lyme disease. Joining us as a special guest co-host is MTV Reality TV Star Kendall Darnell along with host Matt Sabatello from Tick Boot Camp, bringing their insights and experiences to today’s discussion.
Episode Highlights: Introduction to Mandy Meehan: We start by introducing Mandy, who lives in Oklahoma with her husband, James, their son, Jace, and another child on the way. Mandy's story begins with her falling incredibly sick just two weeks before her wedding, leading to a 7+ year journey battling over 21 different infections, including Lyme Disease, Bartonella, Babesia, EBV, HHV-6, and more. * Mandy's Battle with Chronic Illness: Mandy shares the challenges she faced, including severe food intolerances, hormonal imbalances, hypothyroidism, and neurological issues. These conditions rendered her unable to work or care for herself, pushing her to the brink of despair. * Turning Point: Determined to reclaim her life, Mandy embarked on an exhaustive journey of research into nutrition, supplement protocols, and healing strategies. This not only sparked her passion for functional wellness but also led her to become a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. * Expertise and Empowerment: Mandy discusses her specialty in helping people with Lyme & co-infections, chronic fatigue, and toxicity issues, focusing on digestive health, thyroid function, and hormonal balance. Her approach emphasizes the belief in the body's ability to heal through proper nutrition and lifestyle changes. * Navigating Life with Lyme: The conversation shifts to Mandy's insights on parenting with Lyme, managing relationships, addressing mold exposure, and the ups and downs of living with chronic illness. She highlights the importance of community and sharing success stories to inspire others. * Healing and Giving Back: Mandy reveals the strategies and treatments that were pivotal in her recovery. She shares how she now uses her experience to give back to the community, helping others navigate their paths to wellness. * Hosts Matt Sabatello and Kendall Darnell:* Host Matt Sabatello and special guest co-host Kendal Darnell share their perspectives, underscoring the importance of validation, community building, and the belief in healing. They discuss the role of their podcast in spreading awareness and offering hope to those affected by Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses.
Closing Thoughts:Mandy Meehan's story is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the potential for recovery against the odds. Her journey from suffering to healing and now to empowering others is a testament to the strength found in knowledge, support, and the relentless pursuit of health. We thank Mandy for a deeply insightful and inspiring episode.
Resources:* For more information on Mandy Meehan and her work, visit her website. * To learn more about Tick Boot Camp and access resources for Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses, visit our Tick Boot Camp website.
Thank you for tuning in to this special episode. If you or someone you know is battling Lyme disease or any related condition, we hope you find solace and solutions in Mandy’s story. Remember, healing is possible, and you are not alone in this journey.
Welcome to the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, where we aim to empower and uplift those affected by Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. In this compelling episode, we are thrilled to have Caitlin Doody, a 37-year-old Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) from Fairfield County, CT, share her profound journey with Lyme disease. Alongside our special guest co-host, Claire Dalton, we dive deep into Caitlin's experiences, from her initial symptoms to her diagnosis, treatment, and life post-Lyme.
Episode Highlights:
Conclusion:Caitlin Doody's story is a testament to resilience, expertise, and the critical role of self-advocacy in navigating Lyme disease. Her journey offers hope, guidance, and inspiration to our community, reinforcing the belief that healing is possible and emphasizing the power of education and prevention in the fight against tick-borne illnesses.
Join us in this inspiring episode as Caitlin and Claire discuss the realities of Lyme disease, the importance of community, and the journey towards healing and empowerment.
Available Now: Tune in to this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review to help us spread the word and support our mission of liberating individuals from the suffering caused by Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
Join us for a compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast featuring Jennifer Russell, CEO and founder of the Illinois Lyme Association. Co-hosted by Jenny Buttaccio, this episode explores Jennifer's journey from rural living to becoming a major force in the fight against Lyme disease.
Introduction
Jennifer's Early Life and First Encounter with Lyme
The Onset of Lyme Disease in Jennifer's Family
Advocacy and Legislative Efforts
Founding the Illinois Lyme Association
Accomplishments
Future Aspirations for Lyme Disease Advocacy
Conclusion
Episode Summary:In this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we delve into the inspiring story of Kenzie Vath, a Lyme disease advocate, author, and board member of the Global Lyme Alliance. Kenzie opens up about her challenging journey with Lyme disease, the treatments she pursued, and how she transformed her struggle into a powerful advocacy platform.
Guest Bio:Kenzie Vath, an influential figure in the Lyme disease community, has made significant contributions through her work on the Board of Directors for the Global Lyme Alliance. She is the author of The Ignored Pandemic: Real Stories of Lyme Disease and holds a Bachelor's degree in Holistic Health. Kenzie Vath is the VP of Strategic Innovation for Pacific Hospitality Group, a family-owned hospitality management company in Irvine, California. Kenzie oversees asset management, including Capital Expenditure, Spa, Retail, Wellness, and Sustainability. In addition, she is the founder of Holistic Umbrella, a wellness-based lifestyle company providing coaching and inspiration to the Lyme community.
Key Points Discussed:
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Episode OverviewIn this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we sit down with special guest co-host Kahlil Fuller and Christina Glowac, a Lyme disease survivor, author, and advocate. Christina shares her empowering journey through Lyme disease, the challenges she faced, and the strategies she employed to manage her condition. This episode is not just about Lyme disease but also about resilience, understanding, and adapting to life's unexpected challenges.
Episode HighlightsIntroduction to Christina Glowac Background: Christina Glowac is introduced as a significant figure in the Lyme disease community, known for her resilience and contribution through her book "Ninja Foods." * Focus of Discussion*: The podcast focuses on Christina’s personal battle with Lyme disease, her family’s experiences, and the creation of her book designed for children with dietary restrictions.
The Origin of "Ninja Foods" Inspiration Behind the Book: Christina discusses how her son’s diagnosis of Lyme disease at four years old led to the creation of "Ninja Foods." * Purpose of the Book*: Aimed at helping children with chronic conditions, the book offers dietary guidance and emotional support.
Christina’s Lyme Disease Experience Symptoms and Diagnosis: Christina shares her initial symptoms, the challenges in getting an accurate diagnosis, and the impact of the disease on her daily life. * Awareness and Education*: She emphasizes the need for greater awareness and education about tick-borne illnesses.
Coping Strategies and Healing Journey Importance of Lifestyle: The role of diet, movement, and sleep in Christina’s healing process is discussed. * Balancing Life and Health*: Christina talks about managing Lyme disease symptoms while fulfilling her responsibilities as a mother and professional.
Navigating Misdiagnosis and Treatment Challenges in the Medical Community: Christina’s struggle with misdiagnosis and skepticism from medical professionals is highlighted. * Turning to Holistic Approaches*: The discussion turns to how Christina found relief in naturopathy and alternative treatments.
The Power of Alternative Therapies Exploring Different Treatments: Christina shares her experiences with therapies like ionic foot detox and hyperbaric chamber treatment. * Financial Considerations*: The conversation touches upon the financial aspects of Lyme disease treatment.
Children and Lyme Disease Family’s Experience*: Christina opens up about her children’s battles with Lyme disease and the importance of early detection and treatment.
Lifestyle Adjustments and Mental Health Making Changes for Better Health: Christina discusses the adjustments she made in her diet and routine. * Mental and Emotional Impact*: The mental health aspect of living with Lyme disease is explored.
Conclusion: Inspiration and Advice Christina’s Perspective on Life: She reflects on how Lyme disease has changed her outlook on life and her desire to help others. * Practical Advice*: Christina provides advice for those dealing with chronic Lyme disease, focusing on affordable treatment options and community support.
Final ThoughtsThis episode with Christina Glowac offers valuable insights into the world of Lyme disease from a survivor’s perspective. Her story is a testament to the power of resilience, the importance of self-advocacy, and the strength of community in overcoming the challenges posed by tick-borne illnesses.
Listen and Subscribe: Be sure to listen to this inspiring episode and subscribe to the Tick Boot Camp Podcast for more stories and insights on battling Lyme disease.
IntroductionWelcome to a new episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast! In this insightful session, we're joined by Ethan Peterson and Josh Lindorf, who have significantly influenced the Lyme disease community. Their story gained attention after being featured on LymeDisease.org, sparking interest in their experiences and contributions to the community.
Childhood Friendship and Lyme Disease ConnectionEthan and Josh, childhood friends who reconnected in college, share their journey from early years to their struggle with Lyme disease. They discuss the potential link between their shared environment and the likelihood of contracting the disease, providing a unique perspective on community health and Lyme disease prevalence.
Education and Outdoor Exposure in UtahDiving into their educational background, Ethan and Josh highlight how their upbringing in Utah, with its emphasis on outdoor activities, potentially increased their exposure to Lyme disease. They reflect on the lack of awareness and education regarding tick prevention and Lyme disease in their curriculum, underscoring the importance of incorporating these topics in health education.
The Impact of Lyme Disease on Daily LifeOur guests open up about the profound impact of Lyme disease on their lives. They recount their personal experiences with symptoms, misdiagnoses, and the transformative journey towards awareness and self-care. This section provides valuable insights into the often-overlooked aspects of living with Lyme disease.
Navigating Diagnosis and TreatmentEthan and Josh share their diagnostic journeys, including the challenges they faced in obtaining accurate diagnoses and effective treatments. Their stories highlight the complexities of Lyme disease diagnosis and the importance of persistence and self-advocacy in the healthcare system. Treatments included Disulfiram, Dapsone, Ketamine, ozone, herbal antimicrobials, and oral and IV antibiotics.
The Role of MyLymeData in Their LivesDiscussing the significance of the MyLymeData project, our guests explain how it has been instrumental in their understanding and management of Lyme disease. They delve into the importance of data collection and community support in advancing Lyme disease research and awareness.
Personal and Spiritual Growth Through Lyme DiseaseExploring the intersection of faith and health, Ethan and Josh discuss how their experiences with Lyme disease have shaped their spiritual beliefs and personal growth. They emphasize the role of hope, resilience, and community support in their healing processes.
Advocacy and Community ContributionOur guests reflect on their roles as advocates in the Lyme disease community. They share their motivations for helping others, the importance of spreading awareness, and their efforts in creating platforms for education and support.
Conclusion: A Message of Hope and ResilienceEthan Peterson and Josh Lindorf's journey with Lyme disease is a testament to the power of resilience, awareness, and community support. Their story serves as an inspiration and a call to action for greater understanding and advocacy in the fight against Lyme disease.
About the Tick Boot Camp PodcastThe Tick Boot Camp Podcast, hosted by Matt Sabatello and Rich Johannesen, aims to empower individuals affected by Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Through sharing stories, building community, and fostering belief in healing, the podcast provides a platform for support and success modeling.
Welcome to episode 397 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. Today, we're thrilled to share our interview with Dr. Brad Montagne, a highly experienced functional medicine doctor with a unique perspective on Lyme disease. Dr. Brad Montagne, is a seasoned functional medicine doctor from Asheville, North Carolina.
Key Topics Discussed: Dr. Montagne's Early Life and Challenges: + Childhood struggles with chronic illness. + The journey towards functional medicine driven by a quest for deeper health understanding. * Exposure to Lyme Disease: + Personal and professional encounters with tick-borne illnesses. + Insights into the complexity of Lyme disease and the limitations of current diagnostic methods. * Understanding Lyme Disease: Threat x Vulnerability: + Dr. Montagne's agreement with the formulaic approach to assessing Lyme disease risk. + The importance of evaluating both external threats and individual vulnerabilities. * Educational Journey and Medical Practice: + Dr. Montagne’s rapid educational progression and experiences in California. + Establishing a medical practice and encountering Lyme disease cases. * Stress and Its Impact on Health: + Discussion on how stress leads to immune suppression and increases vulnerability to infections like Lyme disease. * Dr. Montagne's Personal Health Battles: + Dealing with immunosuppression. + Lifestyle changes, dietary adjustments, and the use of specific supplements for recovery. * Functional Medicine Approach to Treatment: + Emphasis on foundational nutritional needs. + The role of detoxification and natural remedies in treating Lyme disease and other conditions. * Lifestyle Changes for Healing*: + The importance of hydration, proper diet, and the elimination of toxic relationships for health and recovery.
Conclusion:* A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Montagne for his invaluable insights and contributions to understanding Lyme disease and functional medicine.
Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. We hope Dr. Brad Montagne's story and insights have been both informative and inspiring. For more episodes and Lyme disease resources, visit our website or follow us on our social media channels.
Introduction
Getting to Know Heidi Hayes
Heidi's Health Journey
Lyme Disease Complexity
The Search for Effective Treatment
Life After Treatment
Lyme Disease Awareness and Advocacy
Closing Remarks
Outro
Introduction:Welcome to another episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast! We're thrilled to have Jacob Rosenbaum with us today, sharing his remarkable journey through Lyme disease and the integrative approach that helped him reclaim his health. Joining us as a special guest co-host is Ryan Courneya, whose insights as a previous guest and Lyme disease survivor add a unique depth to our conversation.
Jacob's Story:Jacob dives into his childhood, detailing his early years in a picturesque community and his deep bond with his sister. He reflects on the challenges of growing up sensitive and the shock of his Lyme diagnosis, highlighting his journey from initial symptoms to a comprehensive treatment plan.
Medical Journey and Diagnosis:Jacob recounts the familiar story of navigating the medical system, consulting various specialists, and eventually being diagnosed with Lyme disease. His initial relief at having a diagnosis quickly turns to fear as he delves into research about his condition.
Approach to Healing:Jacob's healing journey is multifaceted, incorporating both traditional and alternative therapies. He discusses how he initially pursued conventional treatments, including long-term antibiotics, before exploring other healing modalities.
Integrative Modalities and Lifestyle Changes:
Jacob's Complete Approach:
Section 1: The Foundation
Section 2: Pathogen Removal
Section 3: Detoxification
Section 4: Emotional & Spiritual Healing
Conclusion:Jacob's story is a testament to the power of an integrative approach in tackling Lyme disease. His journey, marked by resilience and openness to various healing modalities, offers hope and guidance to others navigating similar paths.
Thank you, Jacob, for sharing your inspiring journey with us, and to Ryan for enriching this episode with your perspective and experience. To our listeners, we hope this episode provides valuable insights and encouragement in your own journeys.
In this powerful episode of our Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we delve into the inspiring story of Luis Antonio Martinez, known to friends and colleagues as Antonio, from Tijuana, Mexico. His journey is not just a tale of personal struggle and resilience, but also a beacon of hope for many facing similar health challenges. Join us with special guest co-host Tiffany Perez and Tick Boot Camp host Matt Sabatello as we explore Antonio's path to wellness, offering hope and guidance to others facing similar health battles.
Introduction: Welcome to Tick Boot Camp, the go-to podcast for Lyme disease advocacy and awareness. In today's episode, we're honored to host Dr. Shelley Ball, a distinguished researcher and Lyme disease warrior. Join us as we delve into her personal battles with Lyme, her professional insights, and her mission to educate and empower others with special guest co-host Aimee Packer.
Guest Bio: Dr. Shelley Ball, PhD, is a scientist and Lyme disease advocate with firsthand experience battling this tick-borne illness. After encountering the debilitating effects of Lyme, she has become a vocal proponent for change in public health policies and patient care.
Key Topics Discussed:
Resources Mentioned:
Call to Action: If you've been touched by Lyme disease or want to support our cause, please subscribe, share this episode, and join our community. Your support helps us spread awareness and advocate for better Lyme disease care.
Closing Remarks: Thank you for tuning in to Tick Boot Camp. Remember, you're not alone in this fight against Lyme disease. Stay tuned for our next episode where we continue to bring expert voices and stories of resilience to the forefront.
Special Thanks: A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Shelley Ball for sharing her powerful story and to all of you for listening and supporting our mission. Until next time, stay tick-aware and take care.
Introduction:
About Our Guests:
Discussion Highlights:
Resources Discussed:
End Note:
Contact Information:
This podcast episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of Lyme disease, the power of resilience, and the importance of family and community support in navigating health challenges.
For a deeper insight into Ryan Courneya's healing trajectory and the therapeutic methods he embraced, tune into the complete episode on our website or any primary podcast platform.
Introduction: Guest: Dr. Monica Embers, Director of Vector-Borne Disease Research and Associate Professor at Tulane University with over 20 years of experience. * Topic:* Lyme Disease - Testing, Treatment, and Beyond.
Differentiating Lyme bacteria from others and comprehending their behavior.
Animal Models in Lyme Research* The shift towards studying animal models.
Unpacking the variances: How Lyme bacteria impacts rodents vs. humans.
Importance of Research for Clinicians* Dr. Embers' vision: Equipping clinicians with vital knowledge and tools.
Stressing the need for consistency and validity in research.
Challenges in Lyme Disease Diagnosis* The hurdles in Lyme diagnosis due to the bacteria's elusive nature.
Assessing the drawbacks of present diagnostic measures.
Treatment Insights* Approaching Lyme treatment with a multi-therapeutic strategy.
Drawing parallels: Lyme disease treatment vs. tuberculosis.
Bacteria Behavior and Characteristics* Decoding Lyme disease's stationary phase and its defense mechanisms.
Exploring whether or not Lyme disease actually forms biofilms.
Bartonella and Cancer* Unraveling the potential of Bartonella in inducing cellular changes leading to cancer.
The journey of ongoing research to decode Bartonella's extensive effects.
Chronic Lyme is Real* Dr. Embers' groundbreaking work proving that Chronic Lyme disease is a reality and that Lyme bacteria can persist.
Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Monica Embers as we explore the intricate world of Lyme Disease.
Today's guest is Dr. Hank Sloan, an esteemed practitioner renowned for his expertise in SOT, Stem Cells, Peptides, NAD, Nootropics, and Ketamine therapies.
Key Takeaways:
• Background of Dr. John Lambert:
• Education & Professional Journey:
• Infectious Disease Conferences & Updates:
• Intricacies of Infectious Diseases:
• Publications and Expertise:
• Defining Lyme Disease:
• Treatment Guidelines and Controversies:
• Immune System Implications:
• Diagnostic Tools and Collaborations:
• Treatment Modalities and Approaches:
• Final Thoughts:
Delve into a riveting conversation with Dr. Courtney Day, a distinguished specialist in Lyme and Morgellons disease. In this episode, we traverse her transformative journey from traditional to naturopathic medicine, shedding light on the multifaceted interplay between pathogenic and environmental factors in illnesses and the cardinal role of the nervous system in wellness.
Closing Thoughts: With Dr. Courtney Day's profound insights into Lyme and Morgellons disease combined with her holistic approach to health, listeners are offered a fresh, comprehensive perspective on these specific health challenges and overall wellness.
Up Next: Stay tuned for more enlightening episodes, and don't miss our deep dive into other health and wellness topics. Subscribe and leave a review to support the show!
In this enlightening episode, we sit down with Serena Wills, a remarkable individual with an inspiring tale of hope and resilience within the Lyme community. Serena, who's now a health and wellness coach and an advocate for Lyme disease awareness, shares her compelling life journey, detailing her experience growing up in Queens, NY, navigating early adulthood, and ultimately facing a Lyme disease diagnosis amidst various life challenges.
Co-hosted by Taylor Brune, whom we are thrilled to welcome back to our podcast, this episode delves into Serena's battle against Lyme, the misdiagnoses, the turning points, and how her indomitable spirit has brought her to where she is today.
Stay connected with us for more inspiring Lyme disease stories, and don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast to keep updated on the latest episodes.
Note: The podcast show notes is a summary of the episode and provides a structure that encapsulates the main points and topics discussed during the episode, making it easier for listeners to decide whether the content is relevant to their interests.
Laura Hovind, Lahra Tillman, and Leo Oppenheimer from TruthCures shared their journey from being Lyme disease patients to activists, and now plaintiffs in a lawsuit. This legal venture aims to confront the misdiagnosis issue rampant in Lyme disease testing. The trio provides a comprehensive insight into their lawsuit, painting a broader picture of the challenges faced by many suffering from Lyme disease.
From Patients to Activists: The Origin StoryLahra Tillman was the first to share her ordeal, recounting her tick bite incident back in 1993, which set her on a nearly three-decade-long struggle with Lyme disease. It wasn't until around 2015-2016 that she began connecting with other activists like Laura Hovind to fight the misinformation surrounding Lyme disease.Leo Oppenheimer, an attorney hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, shared his personal and professional experience with Lyme disease. The narrative of his journey provides a fascinating blend of legal insight and personal adversity, setting the stage for their collective legal venture.
Harnessing the Legal System: The Lyme LawsuitThe transition to utilizing legal tools came from a place of desperation and a need for action. The lack of accurate Lyme disease testing led them to the lawsuit that Leo is spearheading. Their discussion revealed how the legal system could potentially play a crucial role in rectifying the diagnostic deficiencies that have plagued the Lyme disease community for years.
The FDA Meeting: Unveiling TruthsIn summer 2021, a pivotal meeting with the FDA was arranged. The trio had previously discovered flaws in the regulatory pathway for diagnostics, which led them to present these findings to the FDA. Despite acknowledging their claims, the FDA's subsequent silence prompted them to take further legal action.
Challenges of Lyme Disease Testing: The Lawsuit's FocusTheir lawsuit centers around deceptive advertising by Lyme disease test manufacturers. The primary claim is that these tests, marketed to the general populace, are inaccurate and fail to diagnose Lyme disease correctly. The discussion delves into the intricacies of the lawsuit, the hopes for its outcome, and the potential ripple effect it could have on the Lyme disease testing market.
The Impact and Future AspirationsThe lawsuit has already garnered public attention, fulfilling one of their primary goals of raising awareness about the flawed Lyme testing landscape. The trio also discussed their broader aspirations for the lawsuit - that it would lead to better, more accurate Lyme disease diagnostics.
Through an engaging discussion, Laura Hovind, Lahra Tillman, and Leo Oppenheimer provide a thorough understanding of their ongoing legal battle. They shed light on the core issues that have hindered the correct diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease for countless individuals. The trio's dedication towards bringing about a change in the Lyme disease testing paradigm is a story of determination, hope, and an unwavering quest for justice.
In this special episode, we are joined by Alayna Bellquist, an environmental advocate and Lyme disease survivor. Alayna opens up about her diagnosis, treatment, and the life-altering moments that shaped her journey. She also discusses her upcoming book and provides unique insights into how Lyme disease has become a catalyst for meaningful change in her life.
In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we're joined by Milena Pastore and our special co-host, Georgia Wood. Milena discusses her Lyme disease journey, from growing up in Colorado to her diagnosis and ongoing recovery. We explore the challenges of Lyme disease, both physical and mental, and delve into the impact it has on individuals and their families.
Background* Milena grew up in a small town in Colorado, experiencing a rather carefree upbringing. She later moved to New York City before coming back to Colorado in 2016.
Early Health Challenges* Milena recalls facing various health issues from a young age, including exposure to ticks, but Lyme was not suspected until later in life.
The Turn for the Worse* After years of battling unexplained fatigue, anxiety, and depression, Milena started to suspect Lyme Disease as the culprit.
Diagnosis and Treatment* After multiple tests and doctors, Milena was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. She discusses her experience with antibiotic treatment and its after-effects.
Emotional Toll and Mental Health* Milena shares her struggles with emotional and mental health due to Lyme, highlighting the importance of having a support system.
Navigating Treatments* From antibiotics to holistic treatments, Milena provides insights into what worked for her, including the benefits of sauna therapy.
Healing Through Communication* Milena discusses how she found healing through sharing her journey and offering guided meditations to friends and family, thus realizing her calling as a communicator and healer.
Soul Tribe Yoga Collective* Milena recently launched Soul Tribe Yoga Collective, a virtual yoga community. * Soul Tribe Yoga Collective is a safe and supportive space built on pillars of authenticity, inclusivity, compassion, and non-judgment, where students can be genuinely seen and heard. * Soul Tribe strives to bring healing to the body, mind, and spirit without causing exhaustion, flareups, or setbacks.
Introduction* Today’s special guest: Lacey Anderson, a Registered Nurse (RN) with a specialty in Sexually Transmitted Infections and mental health from Alberta, Canada. * The focus of today's episode: Lacey's personal and professional journey dealing with Lyme disease, Bartonella, Ehrlichia, and Toxoplasmosis. * Why you don't want to miss this: Lacey's rich clinical experience coupled with her personal journey through chronic illnesses offers a nuanced perspective on mental and physical health.
The Healthcare System: A Double-Edged Sword* Personal challenges faced within the Canadian healthcare system. * Comparisons between U.S. and Canadian healthcare models, particularly in treating chronic conditions.
Nervous System Health* Deep dive into how the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are affected by chronic conditions like Lyme. * Suggestions for potential treatment protocols.
Navigating the Healthcare System* Importance of clear communication with healthcare professionals. * Lacey's tips, especially valuable given her experience as a nurse.
Medical Frameworks: Blessing or Curse?* An exploration of medical frameworks, both as a patient and healthcare provider. * How these frameworks can be restrictive when dealing with complex illnesses.
Holistic Health: A New Approach* Lacey's holistic approach to treating her conditions. * The intersection of physical, emotional, and spiritual elements in healthcare.
Conditions and Treatment Regimens* Current treatments Lacey is undergoing for her diagnoses. * The power of herbal protocols and lifestyle changes.
Sensation, Pain, and Chronic Illness* Lacey's experiences with internal organ sensation changes and "thunderclap headaches." * Why understanding the unique types of pain can help in treatment.
Transmission of Lyme and Co-Infections* Existing research and gaps in understanding Lyme transmission, particularly in sexual transmission. * Lacey's expert insights into this controversial topic.
Closing Remarks* How you can follow Lacey's ongoing journey and glean more insights into chronic illness management.
In this episode of Tick Boot CampPodcast, we sit down with Tom Davies from Liverpool, England, who shares his incredible journey of battling Lyme disease. From initial symptoms to self-diagnosis, navigating the medical system, and finding relief, Tom provides invaluable insights for those struggling with tick-borne illnesses.
Meet Tom Davies
Liverpool: More Than Just The Beatles
Tom’s Life Before Illness
Struggling with the Healthcare System
Symptoms and Diagnosis
Emotional Impact and Support System
Finding the Right Doctor
Treatment Journey
Social Life and Impact
Tom’s Advice for Others
Future Plans
Closing Thoughts: Tom’s story serves as an inspiration for others navigating the complex world of Lyme disease. His courage and perseverance provide hope for those on a similar journey. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Tick Boot Camp Podcast. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any upcoming episodes.
Introduction:* Host Rich Johannesen and special guest co-host Emma Pikoulas introduce the episode and the long-awaited interview with Nina Yagual.
Nina's Background:* Nina shares the unexpected tale of her birth in New York and growing up in Central Florida. * Discussion about her childhood in Florida, the environment, and memories.
The Onset of Lyme:* Nina recalls being 24 when symptoms first appeared. * The incident with a tick bite and the immediate aftermath. * Nina's early medication journey: experiences with Doxycycline and initial treatments.
Diagnosis & Validation:* The struggles of not having health insurance and the subsequent journey to get diagnosed. * Nina's experience with an herbal protocol. * The importance and significance of a formal diagnosis and the emotional relief it brought.
Embracing a New Lifestyle:* Nina's transformative journey: recognizing triggers, managing stress, and the significance of diet. * An in-depth look into her new custom herbal blends tailored to her needs. * The essence of decluttering and creating a calming environment at home.
Acceptance & Relationships:* Nina's approach to establishing boundaries and managing social interactions. * Embracing freedom from societal constraints and focusing on personal well-being. * The power of emotions and how Nina used them as tools in her healing journey.
Serving the Lyme Community:* Nina's ongoing outreach on platforms like Instagram. * The significance of a safe, organized space, especially for those with chronic illness. * Nina's previous interactions with Lyme patients before her own diagnosis.
Conclusion:* The hosts reflect on the episode and express gratitude for Nina's insights. * Emphasizing the importance of early detection and treatment of Lyme.
Call-to-action: Stay connected with us for more inspiring journeys and insights into overcoming challenges. Subscribe and leave us a review!
Note: The show notes provide a summarized overview of the podcast episode. For a complete understanding and more in-depth discussions, please tune in!
Introduction:
Background & Personal Story:
The Lyme Connection:
Bay Area Lyme Foundation:
Center for Lyme Action:
Impact of Advocacy:
Conclusion:
End Note: Stay tuned for more episodes of our Tick Boot Camp Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with friends, family, and on social media. Remember to subscribe for more insights into Lyme disease and other crucial health topics.
Join us and special guest co-host Ali Moresco in a riveting episode as we sit down with Olivia and Steve Abrams, the brains behind the innovative Tick Mitt. With tick-borne illnesses on the rise, the Abrams share their personal experiences and insights into the world of ticks and Lyme disease and introduce us to a game-changing product.
Highlights:
Mentioned in this Episode:
Episode Wrap-up: The Tick Boot Camp podcast wishes to thank Olivia and Steve Abrams for their insightful discussion on the challenges and nuances of Lyme disease. Their invention, the Tick Mitt, promises to revolutionize how we approach tick prevention. Don't forget to check out their website and incorporate the Tick Mitt into your daily tick-check routine! Stay safe and tick-free!
In this episode of our Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we welcome back Dr. Diane Mueller, a leading voice in Lyme disease treatment, and co-host Michelle McKeon, a specialist in tick-borne infections and environmental toxins.
Introduction: Dr. Diane Mueller makes a much-anticipated return to our community to discuss updates in her practice. Joining her is Michelle McKeon, who specializes in Lyme disease co-infections and environmental toxins.
Treatment Approach: Dr. Mueller shares her four-phase method for dealing with complex tick-borne and environmental illness scenarios, focusing on understanding the body's needs before implementing treatment.
Lifestyle Adjustment: Dr. Mueller explains the importance of lifestyle changes such as the incorporation of daily movement and the benefits of managing stress.
Mental Health Aspect: We delve into the realm of mental health, discussing the crucial role of asking the right questions to promote healing.
Exploring Peptides: Dr. Mueller shares her insights into the potential benefits of peptides, specifically KPV and BPC-157, for helping manage Lyme disease symptoms and promoting healing.
Managing Persister Cells: Learn about persister cells, the dormant form of Lyme disease, and the strategies Dr. Mueller uses to combat them, such as pulsation therapy and autologous immune enhancement therapy.
Dr. Mueller's Book: Dr. Mueller has released a new edition of her book, "It's Not in Your Mind". She shares some of the key differences and additional topics covered in the new edition.
My Libido Doc: Dr. Mueller introduces her new practice, "My Libido Doc", a platform designed to address relationship and sexual health issues often affected by Lyme disease.
Mold and Mycotoxins: The discussion delves into the dangers of mold and mycotoxins, testing, and potential treatment options.
Supporting Mitochondrial Health: Finally, Dr. Mueller provides tips on how to support mitochondrial health, which is crucial for overall wellness, especially when dealing with chronic illness.
Links:
In this enlightening episode, we converse with Doctor Amanda Elam, CEO of Galaxy Diagnostics and an influential figure in tick-borne disease research. We gain insights into her work with Nicole Bell, her journey from academia to entrepreneurship, and how her company is spearheading innovative approaches to diagnose and manage tick-borne diseases.
Key Points1. Introduction: Discover the backgrounds of Amanda Elam and Nicole Bell, who've been dedicated to studying and combating tick-borne diseases. 2. Journey from Academia to Entrepreneurship: Amanda talks about her journey from an uncertain young graduate to a passionate entrepreneurship nerd. Learn about her experiences in software startups and how she fell in love with innovation. 3. Transition to the Field of Tick-Borne Diseases: Learn about Amanda’s transition into the field of tick-borne diseases. She discusses the current market dynamics, the increasing suspicion around commercial entities, and the vital role they play in solving problems. 4. Innovation in Diagnostics and Medicine: Delve into the discussion of innovative diagnostic methods and medical approaches being used to tackle chronic illnesses. Get a glimpse into the criticism of the insurance model and how it affects patient-physician dynamics. 5. Challenges and Potential Frontiers in Medicine: Understand the challenges that professionals encounter in the medical and research domains. Learn about the potential new frontiers in medicine and how we can leverage advanced testing techniques to diagnose diseases accurately. 6. The Role of Infection in Chronic Illness: Amanda discusses the role of infection in chronic illnesses and the emergence of a new germ theory of disease. She talks about the cutting-edge research being done to understand this correlation better. 7. The Interplay Between Research and Clinical Community: Dive into the discourse around the interplay between the research and clinical community, and how it affects patient treatment. Understand why Lyme disease has become a poster child for the One Health movement. 8. Gender Studies and Lyme Disease: Explore how gender affects the experience and treatment of Lyme disease. Understand the difference between male and female biology, and how hormonal transitions can impact the severity of diseases. 9. The Importance of Accurate Diagnostic Testing: Recognize the critical role of accurate diagnostic testing in Lyme disease treatment. Amanda shares how false negatives and misdiagnosis can lead patients down wrong paths and prolong their suffering. 10. Closing Remarks: As we conclude the episode, we extend our gratitude to Amanda Elam for her enlightening insights into the world of tick-borne diseases, the challenges she's faced, and the innovative solutions she is advocating for.
In this episode, we are incredibly fortunate to host none other than Dr. Armin Schwarzbach, a tour de force in Lyme disease research and a pioneer in its diagnosis and treatment. Hailing from Germany, Dr. Armin's contributions have illuminated the international stage, leaving an indelible impact on thousands of lives across the globe.
Key Highlights:1. Dr. Armin Schwarzbach's Background: Dr. Armin, a globally recognized Lyme disease expert based in Germany, started his medical journey in multiple hospitals and labs, gradually progressing to laboratory medicine. He's the founder of the internationally acclaimed Armin Labs that performs over 500 daily tests for the Lyme community, serving over 150 countries. 2. Dr. Armin's Contribution to Lyme Education: Beyond diagnostics, Dr. Armin dedicates his time to educating other doctors about Lyme disease. He's part of the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS) and the International Lyme and Associated Disease Education Foundation (ILADEF). 3. From Treating a Spectrum of Diseases to Lyme Specialization: Dr. Armin has an impressive history of diagnosing and treating diseases from AIDS, malaria, to salmonella. His focus shifted to Lyme disease after witnessing the transformative impact of Lyme treatment on multiple sclerosis patients. 4. Active Involvement in Medical Organizations: Dr. Armin is deeply involved in both American and European medical organizations, aiming to spread knowledge and establish more effective Lyme disease treatment protocols. 5. Opening Armin Labs: Armin Labs was born out of Dr. Armin's commitment to aiding the Lyme community. The decision to establish the lab wasn't profit-driven; instead, it was about delivering quality service to a largely underserved community. 6. The Multi-Faceted Nature of Lyme Disease: Lyme disease isn't a simple one-bug, one-drug issue. The disease involves complex interactions between the infection, inflammation, and immune dysfunction. Individualized diagnostic profiles are necessary to develop effective treatments. 7. Quality and Affordability of Lyme Testing: Dr. Armin emphasizes the need for affordable and quality Lyme disease tests. His lab offers comprehensive tests that check for a broad spectrum of infections, inflammatory markers, and immune dysfunction markers. 8. Understanding Co-Infections: Besides Borrelia, the bacterium that causes Lyme, many other infections could trigger similar symptoms. Doctors and patients should be aware of the complex nature of co-infections in Lyme disease management. 9. Findings from Dr. Armin's Research Study: One of Dr. Armin's studies found that a significant number of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia had antibodies for Borrelia, indicating a potential misdiagnosis or overlooked co-infection. 10. Dr. Armin's Future Plans: Dr. Armin's ongoing mission is to continue improving Lyme disease testing and developing more effective, affordable treatments. He is also pushing for greater cooperation with vets to improve Lyme disease understanding and diagnosis.
IntroductionIn today's episode, we host Dr. Shannon White, a seasoned professional in the healthcare community who's become a leading voice in Lyme disease treatment. Joining her are Rich Johannesen and special guest co-host Tiara Smith, who together will navigate the intricacies of Lyme disease, its co-infections, and the often complex treatment process.
The Journey of Dr. Shannon WhiteDr. White shares her personal and professional journey. Raised in Iowa, she was always a nature enthusiast, which ironically exposed her to ticks and the risk of Lyme disease. Dr. White was fascinated by health and biology from a young age, leading her to choose a career as a chiropractor. However, her quest for knowledge led her to explore further – delving into acupuncture and herbalism.
Understanding LymeDr. White's passion for learning and dedication to her patients led her to investigate deeper into recurring patterns in their health issues. This journey led her to explore the realm of Lyme disease. The conversation steers into discussing the complications of Lyme disease and its co-infections, where she highlights the importance of tailored treatment plans.
Discovering a New ApproachDr. White touches upon a novel approach to diagnosis using a meridian-based machine called The Reflex. This innovative device detects the stress level in the body by analyzing the reactions to vials containing imprints of different viruses and bacteria DNA.
Treating Lyme and Co-InfectionsDr. White discusses her approach to treating Lyme disease, co-infections, and the challenging process of determining which condition to address first. With the help of DesBio, a series of homeopathic remedies, and customized treatment plans, she has been able to help many of her patients recover.
The Nutrition FactorThe podcast covers the importance of nutrition in Lyme treatment. Dr. White recommends reducing the intake of dairy, corn, soy, gluten, and sugar to aid in recovery. She also emphasizes the importance of addressing any existing digestive issues.
Lyme in ChildrenDr. White shares her experience treating children with Lyme disease and PANDAS/PANS, describing her joy in seeing them recover. She stresses the importance of listening to patients to fully understand their condition and develop the best treatment plan.
Mold as a Co-factorOur conversation takes an unexpected turn when Dr. White discusses the impact of mold on Lyme disease. She shares patient stories where unexplained symptoms and stubborn Lyme cases were finally resolved after addressing hidden mold issues in the patients' environments.
Parting ThoughtsThe podcast concludes with Dr. White sharing what she wishes more people knew about Lyme disease, emphasizing that it's not just deer ticks that can cause the condition. She encourages listeners to be vigilant and informed about this complex disease.
Closing RemarksOur co-hosts thank Dr. White for her valuable insights and the knowledge she shared about Lyme disease, promising to continue the conversation in future episodes.
Tune in to this episode to learn more about Dr. Shannon White's journey, her approach to treating Lyme disease, and how she is making a difference in the healthcare community.
Welcome to our Tick Boot Camp Podcast podcast where we delve into the personal stories of those bravely fighting chronic Lyme disease. Today's special guest is Isabella Trubbianelli, a young Brazilian physical therapist and businesswoman who faced Lyme disease head-on.
Starting the Journey The Unexpected Beginning
The Professional Struggles
Dealing with Symptoms and the Diagnosis The Mysterious Onset
The First Revelation
Understanding Lyme Disease Lyme Disease Research
The Treatment and Recovery The Journey of Healing
The Impact on Personal and Professional Life
Life Post-Lyme Disease Reinventing Practice
Importance of Resilience
Wellness and Balance A Balanced Life
Appreciating Life
Making a Difference Raising Awareness
Closing Thoughts
Thank you for tuning in to our podcast. Be sure to join us next time for another inspiring journey.
In this episode, we had a stimulating conversation with Dr. Kathleen King, founder of Primal Trust: Brain Retraining a Nervous System Healing. Kathleen is an expert in physical therapy, nervous system retraining, and a survivor of chronic Lyme disease. Here's a rundown of the episode:
Unique Approach to Physical Therapy: Kathleen shares her unique approach to physical therapy that has helped her and her clients modulate pain associated with chronic Lyme disease.
Childhood Trauma: Kathleen courageously delves into her challenging childhood marked by poverty, illiteracy, homelessness, and addiction in her surroundings, and how that influenced her brain development and survival instincts.
Lyme in Achievers and Empaths: Kathleen talks about the prevalence of chronic Lyme disease among high-achievers and highly empathic individuals, and how their nervous systems often get primed to constantly look out for threats.
Fight or Flight Impact on Immune System: Explaining the detrimental effects of prolonged stress on the immune system, Kathleen illustrates how it leads to increased vulnerability to infections, which becomes a significant problem in chronic Lyme disease.
Multiple Health Challenges: Dr. King shares her personal battle with various health issues, including tick bites, Lyme disease, Bartonella, Babesia, mold exposure, and parasitic infections, amidst ongoing emotional stress, which led to chronic Lyme disease.
Limbic System: She discusses the role of the brain's limbic system in chronic illness and how it influences our perception of the internal and external environment, potentially leading to severe symptoms like insomnia.
Biohacks for Chronic Lyme Disease: Kathleen discusses the power of biohacks in managing chronic Lyme, asserting that individuals can exert control over both their pain and their responses to life, even in the presence of persistent pain and an active infection.
Importance of Brain Retraining: Emphasizing the importance of brain retraining for Lyme disease patients, Kathleen shares how she encourages her patients to focus on the present and rewire their brain to perceive safety, despite ongoing symptoms.
Tools Used to Heal: Kathleen shares her experience with various therapies, including binders, saunas, whole-body vibration plates, herbs, detox, and grounding, emphasizing the efficacy of nervous system work in her recovery process.
Brain Retraining Program Approach: Kathleen shares her approach to implementing brain retraining programs, suggesting a less dogmatic and more embodied method.
Nervous System Regulation for Lyme: Revealing some incredible outcomes of her "Regulate" program in the Lyme community, Kathleen provides evidence of significant improvements in symptoms after two to four months of engagement.
Cell Danger Response: Dr. King emphasizes the need for the right support, such as a doctor who understands the cell danger response and someone who encourages nervous system work, in the treatment of Lyme disease.
Intro: In this episode, we welcome Dr. Ashley Beckman, a health and wellness authority with a unique focus on individualized care. She discusses her background, her family's entrepreneurial spirit, and how it played a significant role in shaping her perspective on health and wellness.
Entrepreneurial Background: Dr. Beckman speaks about her family's background in entrepreneurship and how it influenced her perspective on health care. She delves into the need for a for-profit model in health care and the potential for it to deliver the highest level of service.
Individualized Care: Discussing the complexity of Lyme disease and the high costs associated with individualized care, Dr. Beckman offers an interesting take on why Lyme disease treatments can be so expensive. She also sheds light on why traditional protocols may not always yield the desired results and can sometimes be damaging to the body.
Personal Encounter with Lyme: Dr. Beckman shares her personal encounter with Lyme disease and how she had to apply her expertise to her situation. Her personal journey is a testament to her dedication to finding effective solutions for complex health challenges.
Definition of Lyme Disease: In the realm of Lyme disease, the number of definitions can often be as varied as the number of practitioners treating it. Dr. Beckman discusses her understanding and definition of Lyme disease, stressing the need for comprehensive testing, including for other pathogens such as Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).
Emphasis on Mold Toxicity: One of the key elements in Dr. Beckman's practice is focusing on mold toxicity. She argues that sometimes the most significant health concern isn't Lyme disease, but other underlying conditions like mold toxicity, which must be addressed first.
Detox Protocols: Detoxification is a central part of Dr. Beckman's practice. She discusses the importance of tailoring detox protocols to each patient, taking into account their unique needs and bodily responses.
Genetic Differences: In the world of medicine and health, one size doesn't fit all. Dr. Beckman stresses the significance of genetic differences and how they affect the way individuals respond to treatments, food intake, and even detox protocols.
Nutrition in Healing: Nutrition is a key player in the healing process. Dr. Beckman highlights the importance of a balanced diet and how to make healthier choices, such as reducing sugar intake and incorporating more protein into meals.
Collaboration in Healthcare: Dr. Beckman advocates for a collaborative approach to healthcare, encouraging patients to find a lead practitioner who can coordinate with other specialists for comprehensive care.
Work with Dr. Beckman: Those who want to learn more about Dr. Beckman's approach to health and wellness are invited to book a complimentary 15-minute discovery call, which can be easily scheduled through her Instagram or website.
Labs Unveiled - Mold and Organic Acid Testing Course: This groundbreaking course by Dr. Ashley Beckman, hosted at LabsUnveiled.com, is your ticket to mastery in the fight against mold toxicity. You'll become a proficient interpreter of urine mycotoxin testing and master key protocols for mold and organic acid testing. This comprehensive course will take you on a deep dive into the biology and pathology of mold toxicity, from understanding different mold species to exploring their impacts on human health.
This conversation with Dr. Beckman sheds light on the critical aspects of dealing with complex health conditions like Lyme disease, emphasizing individualized care, comprehensive testing, and the significant role of genetics, nutrition, and detoxification. This episode is a must-listen for anyone dealing with Lyme disease or other complex health conditions.
Welcome to Episode 369 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast where we are joined by the resilient Kerri Evans Seago. Kerri shares her insightful and emotional journey dealing with Lyme disease, not only personally but as it afflicted her family as well.
Introduction: Kerri Evans Seago is welcomed to the Tick Boot Camp podcast by Rich Johannesen from Tick Boot Camp and special guest co-host Cassidy Colbery.
Background: Kerri opens up about her childhood, moving around Texas due to her dad's role as a Texas game warden, her severe allergies and eventually settling down with her husband 15 miles from her hometown, Abilene, TX.
Lyme Disease Diagnosis: Kerri talks about how her mother had Lyme disease, and how this experience impacted the understanding of her own diagnosis. Kerri's son, Brady, was also diagnosed with Lyme disease, further complicating their family's struggle with the illness.
Lyme Disease Symptoms and Treatments: Kerri shares the struggles and success in treating her Lyme disease. She discusses the different treatments like Doxycycline, and the toll these medications took on her body. She goes into detail about the physical manifestations of her illness, like brain fog and head pressure.
The Benefits of Ozone Therapy and Lymphatic Drainage: Kerri delves into her experiences with ozone therapy and lymphatic drainage, two therapies that have proven to be beneficial for her. These treatments have contributed to better sleep and symptom reduction.
Living and Learning with Lyme: Kerri emphasizes the importance of healthy living habits she and her son have adopted, owing much of their progress to their new diets. She also touches on how integral being a part of the Lyme community has been on her journey.
Dealing with POTS: Kerri talks about her battle with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and the strategies she uses to manage it, including Alka-Seltzer gold and a PEMF machine.
The Learning Journey: The hosts and Kerri discuss the importance of continually learning and adapting during the Lyme disease journey. It's about evolving and not letting Lyme define you.
Final Thoughts: The hosts close by discussing the journey of recovery from Lyme and the importance of understanding how stress and trauma can trigger our fight or flight response, further complicating our health situation.
Please tune in to Episode 369 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast to hear more about Kerri Evans Seago's multi-generational Lyme experience and how she is managing life with Lyme.
Intro:
Tammy's Personal Journey:
Focus On Lyme:
The TGen Connection:
Focus on Accurate Diagnosis:
Breakthroughs & Discoveries:
Funding & Future Steps:
Conclusion & Call to Action:
Welcome to another insightful episode of the Tick Boot Camp podcast. In this episode, we had the pleasure to host Dr. Moses Laufer, a renowned doctor with substantial experience in treating Lyme disease patients. Alongside Dr. Laufer was our co-host Dani Tygr, a previous guest on our podcast and an amazing hairstylist who's not only a Lyme warrior but also a patient of Dr. Laufer.
Introduction: Meet our guest, Dr. Moses Laufer, who's made significant strides in the treatment of Lyme disease. With our co-host, Dani Tygr, we explore Dr. Laufer's approach to diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, considering factors often overlooked in traditional medicine.
Holistic Approach in Lyme Disease Treatment: Chronic conditions, such as Lyme disease, often require an innovative approach in their treatment. Dr. Laufer shares his experiences training physicians across the United States in unconventional treatment protocols focusing on factors that trigger inflammation, particularly in the gut.
Balancing Hormones While Undergoing Lyme Disease Treatment: Dr. Laufer highlights the potential benefits of bioidentical hormone replacement as a supportive therapy for balancing hormones while undergoing Lyme disease treatment. He stressed this is an important first step that results in some symptom relief and primes your body to better receive Lyme treatment.
The Impact of Lyme on Mental Health: Anxiety and emotional disturbances are common among Lyme patients. Our co-host, Dani, shares her experiences dealing with anxiety due to Lyme, emphasizing the importance of considering mental health during treatment. Dr. Laufer provides guidance on managing anxiety and mental health symptoms when dealing with Lyme.
Personalizing Lyme Disease Treatment: Dr. Laufer emphasizes the necessity of personalized treatment for Lyme disease. He shares his approach to addressing inflammation, hormonal issues, and building an immune response before incorporating antibiotics or alternative antimicrobials into the treatment regime.
Antibiotics for Lyme Disease: Dr. Laufer warns that antibiotics have a negative impact on gut health. If patients decide to proceed with antibiotics, he provides guidance on mitigating the risks of antibiotics. Additionally, Dr. Laufer emphasized one antibiotic will never be effective for Lyme and that a combination of antibiotics to address Lyme's spirochetal, round body, cell deficient, and biofilm forms, as well as intracellular Lyme bacteria, must be used. He identifies a wide range of antibiotics and highlights which ones work best for all the different forms of Lyme.
Role of Peptides and Diet in Lyme Disease Treatment: Dr. Laufer explains the potential benefits and drawbacks of all different types of peptides in Lyme disease treatment. He also underscores the importance of diet in managing symptoms and shares strategies for identifying foods that trigger gut dysfunction.
Bringing Light to Unseen Battles and Unheard Voices: Dr. Moses Laufer, a relentless advocate for patients battling invisible illnesses, offers a profound perspective on the unseen intensity of their struggle. His unique ability to convey the magnitude of their battle not only gives a voice to those immersed in the depths of such challenges, often misunderstood by others, but also enlightens those who stand beside them, unable to fully comprehend their experience. For many, like Dani's husband Philip and others in immediate families, hearing about the taxing reality of these illnesses from Dr. Laufer—a medical professional—is pivotal in gaining a clearer understanding. His passionate representation is an invaluable source of awareness and empathy, bridging the gap between the invisible battles and those standing on the outside.
Significance of Physical Activity for Lyme Patients: Regular physical activity can significantly improve the health of Lyme patients who are well enough. Physical activity will look different for patients depending on where they are in their healing journey. It can include gentle movement and stretches in bed, slow walks, or even muscle-building exercises and cardio. Dr. Laufer encourages patients to incorporate it into their daily routine to support their recovery process.
Join us as we delve deep into the world of Lyme disease treatment, learning from the experiences and wisdom of Dr. Moses Laufer. This episode is a wealth of knowledge for anyone dealing with Lyme disease or chronic conditions in general.
Remember, the show notes contain key information discussed in the podcast, but for a more comprehensive understanding, tune into the full episode.
In this episode, we are thrilled to be interviewing Professor Ed Breitschwerdt, a renowned expert in the field of Bartonella research, often a co-infection of Lyme disease. He is currently a professor of medicine and infectious disease at North Carolina State University and an adjunct professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He has written 186 research studies with the word "Bartonella" in the title.
Research Lab: His laboratory focuses on testing animals, especially companion animals like cats, dogs, and horses, for vector-transmitted infectious diseases, like Bartonella and Lyme disease. Through years of intensive research, Professor Breitschwerdt and his team have become the reference laboratory for these diseases in animals.
An Expert in the Field: Professor Breitschwerdt also directs North Carolina State University's Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory in the Institute for Comparative Medicine, co-directs the Vector Borne Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory, and has co-supervised the Tick-transmitted Diagnostic Laboratory since 1984. He has also supervised a biosafety level P-3 research laboratory.
The Focus on Bartonella: Currently, there are about 15 to 16 known species of Bartonella causing diseases in humans. The most common disease caused by Bartonella is endocarditis, a life-threatening infection of the heart.
Bartonella and Schizoaffective Disorders: Professor Breitschwerdt has performed studies strongly suggesting a connection between Bartonella infections and psychosis, mood disorders, and Tourette's syndrome. A study found that almost all schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder patients tested positive for Bartonella and had symptom relief once receiving proper treatment.
Bartonella's Effect on the Microbiome and Immune System: Chronic infection with Bartonella can alter the normal microbiome of the intestinal tract, likely due to immunosuppression or the disruption of immune modulation. Different strains of Bartonella may also lead to different symptoms in the human body. Once Bartonella enters the host, it becomes predominantly intracellular, infecting many different types of cells.
Role of Galaxy Diagnostics in Bartonella Research: Galaxy Diagnostics, where Professor Breitschwerdt is the Chief Scientific Officer, has played a significant role in progressing Bartonella research and testing. This organization uses insect growth media and digital PCR for cultivating and identifying Bartonella in blood tests. Galaxy Diagnostics has become one of the leading Bartonella testing labs in the world.
Bartonella Transmission: Professor Breitschwerdt cited numerous studies he's performed which suggest Bartonella can be transmitted sexually, through blood transfusions, congenitally from mother to child, or through a variety of vectors like ticks, cats, and bats to human beings.
The Importance of Animals in Understanding Bartonella: Studying the effects of Bartonella in animals can provide important insights into how it behaves in humans. In some instances, the same Bartonella species can cause different diseases in humans and animals, adding another layer of complexity to the research.
Closing Thoughts: Though there are still many questions surrounding Bartonella, researchers like Professor Breitschwerdt are working tirelessly to deepen our understanding.
In this special Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode, we were joined by Britney Serpa Smith, a cybersecurity professional based in New York City, and our special guest co-host, Dianna Brescia.
Britney's Journey with Lyme Disease: Britney grew up in New York City and later moved to Connecticut, where she spent most of her childhood unaware of ticks and Lyme disease. It was around the age of 17 that she fell ill, with her official diagnosis coming before her freshman year of college. She had been unwell for two to three years before that. Britney opens up about her struggle with Lyme disease, its debilitating symptoms, and how she managed to navigate through her collegiate years despite the illness. Her battle with Lyme disease was marked with extreme fatigue, neuropathy, fainting spells, muscle pain, and more. However, Britney kept pushing forward, determined to continue her studies.
Challenges and Successes in Britney's Journey: Britney sheds light on the social impacts of her illness, describing how it affected her personal and academic life. She also talks about the importance of understanding and supportive people in her journey, from professors to friends.
Despite the many challenges, Britney graduated from college and became a cybersecurity professional. Her journey stands testament to the resilience and perseverance of individuals dealing with chronic illnesses.
Diagnosis and Treatment: Throughout the podcast, Britney shares the details of her treatment regimen for Lyme disease and co-infections. She emphasizes the importance of staying on top of treatments, managing one's health, and not delaying treatment as she did at one point in her journey.
Dealing with Re-infection: One significant point in Britney's story was her re-infection. Despite not finding a bullseye indicative of a tick bite, she started experiencing familiar symptoms and decided to seek treatment. Britney discusses the importance of listening to your body and seeking help when needed.
Advice and Insights from Britney's Journey: Britney offers several pieces of advice for those battling Lyme disease. She stresses the importance of staying on top of your treatment regimen, being cautious of your limitations, and seeking help when necessary. She also highlights the importance of incorporating physical activities like weightlifting and yoga into one's routine.
Conclusion: In this enlightening podcast, Britney Serpa Smith shares her journey from being diagnosed with Lyme disease at 17 to becoming a cybersecurity professional. Her story provides hope and inspiration for others dealing with similar struggles, demonstrating that it is possible to lead a fulfilling life despite chronic illness.
Connect with Britney Serpa Smith on LinkedIn under Britney Serpa-Smith and on Instagram at @bserpss_.
Introduction
Lyme Disease Research
Autoimmune Responses and Lyme Disease
Understanding Lyme Disease: A Veterinary Perspective
Investigating the Human Immune Response to Lyme Disease
The Complexity of Eradicating Lyme
The Role of Antibiotics and Their Impact
Final Thoughts
Episode Wrap-up
Introduction In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jimmy Pemberton, a successful entrepreneur, musician, and Lyme Disease warrior.
Early Life and Lyme Disease Awareness Born and raised just north of Lyme, Connecticut, Pemberton was aware of Lyme disease and its typical symptoms, such as fatigue and achy joints. However, his understanding of the disease was minimal until his own journey unfolded. As an athlete, and particularly as a golfer, he encountered ticks quite often, but he never suspected the significant impact they would eventually have on his life.
Career and Pre-Lyme Life Pemberton led a fulfilling, hybrid life of building or helping others build companies, playing gigs in front of large audiences, and teaching students. The sense of fulfillment and excitement in his life started to change when his health took an unexpected turn.
The Onset of Lyme Disease Symptoms Pemberton experienced a decline in his health shortly after taking a COVID-19 vaccine. He began to experience flu-like symptoms, which gradually escalated. Within 7-8 days post-vaccination, Pemberton started to feel unusually sick. The symptoms took a toll on him, both physically and emotionally, resulting in him ending up in the ER.
Diagnosis Journey In the ER, doctors took notice of Pemberton's symptoms and suspected Lyme disease. A nurse practitioner, Beth Galon, suspected that Pemberton had Lyme for a while, and his immune system could no longer keep control over the Lyme post-vaccination. A subsequent IGeneX test confirmed his diagnosis of Lyme disease and Bartonella.
Emotional Impact and Support The diagnosis and debilitating symptoms left Pemberton in a constant state of fight-or-flight, impacting his emotional well-being. However, he found comfort and validation in his regular appointments with his chiropractor, who was aware of his changes and consistently reassured him of his progress.
The Healing Journey Pemberton began his healing journey with a slow start, avoiding pushing his body too hard. His healing process included regular sauna sessions to detoxify his body and lessen the Herxheimer reaction. He also found relief in cold water immersion therapy, which helped in resetting his nervous system.
Spiritual Healing Pemberton also found solace in spiritual healing practices like meditation and Reiki. He turned to meditation to connect his mind, body, and spirit, while Reiki helped align his electromagnetic field, creating space for his body to heal.
The Role of Nutrition and Exercise Proper nutrition and exercise played a crucial role in Pemberton's healing journey. He followed an anti-inflammatory diet and maintained a regular workout regimen. His functional medicine doctor ensured regular blood work every four to six months to monitor his hormones and vitamin and mineral levels.
Current Status and Future Plans Currently, Pemberton is in remission and has resumed his regular life. He is determined to use his experience to help others battling Lyme disease. He believes in the importance of emotional support for Lyme patients and recommends resources like the Tick Boot Camp Podcast to guide them through their journey.
Conclusion Pemberton's journey with Lyme disease is a testament to his resilience and determination. He highlights the importance of a multi-faceted approach to healing, incorporating physical, emotional, and spiritual practices. Despite the challenges, Pemberton continues to thrive and uses his experience to inspire and guide others on their healing journeys.
You can connect with Jimmy on Instagram @JimmyPemberton and TikTok @JimmyPemberton.
In today's episode of Tick Boot Camp, we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Jill Carnahan, a renowned Lyme specialist and the founder and medical director of Flatiron Functional Medicine in Colorado. She has been featured on various media outlets including Forbes, NBC, and Huffington Post. In this episode, we discuss her newly released book "Unexpected: Finding Resilience Through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith" which provides a deep insight into her journey and battles with health and environmental challenges.
Key Points:
Relevant Links:
In this compelling episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, co-host Matt Sabatello and special guest co-host Lauren Less had an engaging conversation with Christinabella (Bella) Carson, a dedicated educator, therapist, and Lyme warrior. Christina shares her personal story about her battle with Lyme disease and how it led her to make a significant impact within the Lyme community.
About Our Guest: Bella is a vibrant, resilient Lyme disease warrior who has faced numerous medical challenges since childhood. Her health complications, however, never hindered her spirit or determination. Despite the hurdles, she pursued her passion for education, working tirelessly to impact her students positively. In this podcast episode, we discuss:
Connect with Christinabella Carson: You can connect with Christinabella Carson on Instagram and on Facebook.
Visit FREmedica's website for more information about bioenergetic wearable technology and its use of frequencies, along with the upcoming launch of Wave 2.
Welcome to another episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. In this episode, we had the distinct pleasure of speaking with the incredible Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) Dr. Casey Kelley. The audio for this enlightening conversation is sourced from an Instagram Live interview conducted in May, during Lyme Disease Awareness Month.
Overview: Dr. Casey Kelley is an authority in the field of integrative health and a trusted voice in chronic illness communities, especially Lyme disease. In this episode, she answers pressing questions from the community, discusses her views on various treatment methods, and offers valuable insights on managing Lyme disease.
This episode is packed with insights and practical advice from a medical professional who's on the frontlines of Lyme disease treatment. Tune in to learn more about managing and treating Lyme disease from an integrative perspective.
Remember: If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts!
(Note: These show notes are intended to provide a general overview of the podcast episode. For more information and specifics, please listen to the episode in its entirety.)
In this episode, we welcome the incredibly talented and inspiring Isabel Rose to the Tick Boot Camp podcast. A renowned writer, performer, and singer, Isabel shares her story of facing Lyme disease and how she turned her struggles into advocacy work.
✨ Show Highlights:
🌿 Isabel's early life and encounter with Lyme disease: Discover how her tick bite in 1976 led to a lifelong battle with the disease.
🎓 Education and career: Despite her health challenges, Isabel graduated summa cum laude from Yale and built a successful career in the entertainment industry.
🦟 The impact of Lyme disease on her life: Explore how undiagnosed Lyme disease affected her mental and physical health throughout her life.
🤰 Passing Lyme disease to her children: Hear Isabel's heart-wrenching experience of unknowingly passing Lyme disease to her two children in utero, and the steps she took to help them manage their symptoms.
🎗️ Lyme advocacy: Learn about Isabel's journey to becoming a prominent voice in the Lyme disease community through her work with Mothers Against Lyme.
💪 Isabel's story is a testament to the power of resilience and strength in the face of adversity. Join us for this inspiring episode that will motivate you to keep fighting for a healthier and happier life.
🔗 Links and resources:
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the Mom vs Lyme podcast episode on your favorite platform, and follow us on social media for updates and future episodes. Together, we can create a supportive community in the fight against Lyme disease.
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Morgan Lucas, a 31-year-old naturopathic doctor from San Diego, CA, about her journey with Lyme disease. Morgan shares her story of overcoming the challenges of Lyme, how her life changed because of it, and her passion for helping others navigate their own health challenges.
Key Points:
Dr. Lucas' background:
Connect with Dr. Morgan Lucas:
In this podcast, we explore Dr. Stephanie Canestraro's personal journey with Lyme disease, her diagnosis and treatment experiences, and her advice for others dealing with the condition or looking to protect their families from tick-borne illnesses.
Introduction to Dr. Stephanie Canestraro
Life Before Lyme Disease
First Experience with Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease Diagnosis
Treatment for Lyme Disease
Life After Lyme Disease
Advice for Those Battling Lyme Disease
Tips for Protecting Families from Tick Diseases
Dr. Stephanie Canestraro's Education and Professional Experience
Join us in this enlightening podcast episode as we dive deep into Dr. Stephanie Canestraro's journey with Lyme disease, her path to recovery, and her valuable insights for those dealing with the condition or looking to protect their loved ones from tick-borne illnesses.
In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we welcome Professor Stephen Rich, a well-respected scientist in the chronic Lyme disease community from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Join us as Professor Rich shares insights into his research on tick-borne diseases and practical applications, focusing on Lyme disease transmission, deer's role in the spread of Lyme, and various preventive measures.
Discussion Points
In this informative episode, Professor Stephen Rich offers valuable knowledge about the transmission and prevention of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. By understanding these complex processes, we can develop better preventive measures and treatment strategies. Stay tuned for future episodes featuring more insights from experts in the field.
Dr. Marty Ross is a Lyme disease specialist and ILADS member who runs the Marty Ross MD Healing Arts Medical Facility in Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Ross combines the best of natural medicines, prescription medicines, and lifestyle medicine to find answers and health solutions for people with complex and chronic illnesses.
He uses cutting-edge science mixed with modern and ancient healing methods to help people recover from complex and misunderstood illnesses.
In this episode, we will discuss Dr. Ross's background, including his training in Georgetown's Family Medicine program treating the urban poor, and how he opened his first clinic in 2000 to help people with complex chronic illnesses.
We will also explore how he became an expert in treating chronic Lyme disease, and how he discovered that people living with chronic Lyme disease are often medically under-served due to policies of the medical establishment.
Dr. Marty Ross provides many resources for those with Lyme disease, including:
Check out our profile of Dr. Ross to learn more about each of these items.
If you'd like to learn how to supercharge your Lyme disease healing journey from a leading Lyme doctor, then tune in now!
This week on Tick Boot Camp, we're thrilled to welcome Dr. Eva Sapi, an internationally recognized Lyme disease expert. Join us as we discuss her groundbreaking work, her personal journey with Lyme disease, and her unwavering commitment to finding better treatments for this debilitating illness.
Dr. Sapi is the Coordinator of M.S. Cellular & Molecular Biology and a professor at the University of New Haven. After contracting Lyme disease herself, she shifted her research focus from breast cancer to Lyme disease. As the director of the university's Lyme Disease Research Program, Dr. Sapi has trained over 100 graduate students and authored 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers. She was the first to discover the presence of Borrelia biofilm in human-infected skin tissue, a finding that has shaped our understanding of Lyme disease.
In this interview, we discuss:
If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Sapi's remarkable journey, her passion for Lyme disease research, and her unwavering commitment to finding a cure, tune in now!
This week on Tick Book Camp, we're excited to have special guest co-host Khalil "Two Monies" Fuller joining us for an illuminating discussion with Fred Diamond, the empathetic author of the indispensable guide "Love, Hope, Lyme." As Fred shares his personal experiences with a loved one affected by Lyme disease, he offers valuable insights on providing genuine and compassionate support for those with chronic illnesses.
In this episode, Fred delves into crucial topics such as neurological concerns, family dynamics, and the healing process. The book's foreword, penned by Dr. Richard Horowitz, has received acclaim from both experts and survivors, making it an essential read for those seeking to better understand and assist their loved ones with Lyme disease.
Explore the journey that led Fred to write "Love, Hope, Lyme" and learn how his book has positively impacted countless families. Listen in to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of love, hope, and empathy in supporting those living with chronic conditions.
If you would like to learn more about how to fortify your support network and enhance your relationships with those affected by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Healthinar
The Healing Framework
Addressing the Controversy over the Word "Cure"
Additional Healing Tools
The Number One Thing Doctors Aren't Talking About
Working with Dr. Christine Arseneau
In this milestone 350th episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we welcome special guest Sarah Terlaga Bergquist, a Lyme disease survivor, who joins Rich Johannesen and guest co-host Julia Feygelman. In this heartfelt conversation, Sarah shares her inspiring journey from the first symptoms and diagnosis to overcoming the challenges of Lyme disease and her ultimate recovery.
Athletic Childhood to Lyme DiseaseSarah, a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, grew up as a competitive figure skater. After college, she began to experience unexplained health issues that escalated until a swollen knee led to a quick diagnosis of Lyme disease by a perceptive orthopedic surgeon.
A Long Journey of Treatment and RecoveryOver the years, Sarah tried various treatments, including oral and IV antibiotics, with her symptoms worsening at times. Eventually, she sought hyperthermia treatment at Klinik St. Georg in Germany, where she met Julia.
Hyperthermia Treatment and Klinik St. Georg in GermanySarah and her husband Zach, also a Lyme disease patient, traveled to Germany for hyperthermia treatment. They met Julia and other Lyme patients, creating a support system that helped them through the process. The treatment marked a turning point in their lives.
Life after Lyme DiseaseSince returning from Germany, Sarah has become a mother and has focused on rebuilding her life. She shares her journey to help others realize that recovery is possible.
Advocating for Lyme Disease AwarenessAfter recovering from Lyme disease Sarah joined the "silent majority" of Lyme disease survivors but agreed to revisit her painful journey to inspire hope in others facing similar challenges.
Key Takeaways
Don't miss this enlightening conversation between Julia and Sarah on episode 350 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast as they delve into the challenges, triumphs, and hope that comes with overcoming Lyme disease.
Welcome to this episode of our podcast, where we interview Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch, the filmmakers behind the acclaimed Lyme disease documentary "The Quiet Epidemic" coming out on May 16 on Amazon, iTunes, and Vimeo-On-Demand. Both Lindsay and Winslow are Lyme disease patients themselves, and they first met while undergoing treatment at a Lyme disease center. During this time, they were urged to incorporate a pursuit of purpose into their treatment plan, which eventually led them on a 7-year journey to make a film that uncovers the broader issues surrounding Lyme disease and its impact on millions of people worldwide.
In this episode, the filmmakers share the story of a young girl from Brooklyn and a Duke University scientist who were both diagnosed with Chronic Lyme disease, a condition that many medical professionals still deny exists. The film follows their journey to find answers, which leads them into the middle of a heated medical debate. As the filmmakers dig deeper, they uncover a history of Lyme disease dating back to its discovery in 1975. The paper trail of suppressed scientific research and buried documents shed light on why ticks and the diseases they carry have been allowed to quietly spread around the globe.
Joining us as a special co-host is Phyllis Bedford, the Executive Director of the LymeLight Foundation. Together, we delve into this thought-provoking film and explore the issues surrounding Lyme disease. We discuss the challenges of making the documentary, the controversy surrounding Lyme disease, and the impact of this quiet epidemic on millions of people around the world.
If you want to learn more about how Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch utilized the pursuit of purpose on their healing journeys, and how it led them to create a powerful and informative film that sheds light on the quiet epidemic of Lyme disease, then tune in now. This is an episode you won't want to miss.
In this episode, we chat with Ben Ahrens, the founder of Re-Origin, about his inspiring journey to recover from Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease using neuroplasticity. At the age of 25, Ben found himself bedridden for over 3 years, despite conventional medical treatment. It was then that he discovered neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganize itself and form new neural connections.
Ben attended an online class in neuroanatomy at UC Berkeley and learned about the incredible results that applied neuroscience or "neuroplasticity training" had achieved with chronic pain, physical rehab, and even immune-related conditions. He realized that the brain is the "chief orchestrator" of all mental, physical, and emotional processes and decided to heal himself with this approach.
Over the years, Ben consulted with top neuroscientists and doctors from around the world, eventually developing a program and process called The Brain Trust™ that could replicate his success at scale for a wide range of debilitating conditions. This program serves as the cornerstone of Re-Origin.
Through the power of neuroplasticity, Ben healed himself from Lyme, CFS, and Hypersensitivity disorder. He joined forces with Innovative Medicine, earning advanced certifications in biological medicine and becoming an AADP Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner in the state of New York. Together, they work on untangling some of the world's most complex chronic conditions.
If you're interested in learning more about how the power of neuroplasticity could provide hope for a new path to recovery, tune in now!
Professor Holly Ahern, is an award-winning professor of microbiology at the State University of New York (SUNY) Adirondack. Her personal experience with Lyme disease, specifically her daughter's diagnosis, led her to shift her research and advocacy toward Lyme disease awareness and patient care. In this Tick Boot Camp interview, co-hosted by Lyme disease advocate Tony Felice, you will learn about Professor Ahern's journey and her advocacy work.
Professor Holly Ahern is a co-founder and vice-president of Lyme Action Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and promoting policy changes that will help individuals with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. She was also a member of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, a federal advisory committee established by Congress to improve federal coordination of efforts related to tick-borne diseases. In addition, Professor Ahern is a LymeX Next Generation Diagnostics judge, which is a program that aims to accelerate the development of new diagnostic tests for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Finally, she serves on the board of Mothers Against Lyme Disease, a non-profit organization that provides support to families affected by Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
In our interview, Professor Ahern shared her personal journey of her daughter's diagnosis with Lyme disease and how it shifted her research and mentorship concentration towards advocating for Lyme disease awareness and patient care. She also talked about her work with Lyme Action Network and other advocacy organizations, including her involvement in legislative initiatives to improve patient access to care.
Professor Ahern emphasized the importance of education and prevention in the fight against Lyme disease. She explained that early diagnosis and treatment are critical in order to prevent long-term health problems associated with Lyme disease. She also stressed the need for increased research into tick-borne diseases and the development of more effective diagnostic tests.
If you would like to learn more about how a mother, academic, and expert in microbiology has been able to bring a unique perspective to the fight against Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Tony Felice special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Kendal Sheppard-Darnell is an MTV reality TV star who has been featured on Road Rules: Campus Crawl, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno (where she won the championship), and The Challenge: All Stars (seasons 1, 2, and 3). She's also a Registered Nurse (RN) and mother of 3 beautiful children.
Kendal grew up in Washington state. She went to college in Chicago before traveling the world with MTV and then moving to Los Angeles to work as an actor.
Kendal started getting sick in her early thirties and saw scores of doctors before getting diagnosed with Lyme disease, Babesia, Bartonella, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) through IGeneX.
She was treated with methylene blue, BEG nasal spray, Argentyn 23 colloidal silver, antibiotics, antifungals, antiparasitics, antimalarials, and red light therapy.
Kendal is a bright shining light in the Lyme community now working as a hospice nurse and advocating for more research and awareness in the Lyme disease arena.
If you'd like to learn more about how a driven, determined, and intelligent healthcare professional has tackled Lyme disease head-on, tune in now!
PS Heather Glovack special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Lindsay Stay is a 38-year-old wife, mother of two, Lyme disease advocate, and entrepreneur who lives in Dunedin, Florida.
Lindsay was bit by a tick at 12 and her symptoms remained dormant until a cruise when she was 28 years old when she got sick and her body could no longer manage the Lyme bacteria.
Lindsay tried to continue on with her life as a new mom despite her symptoms, but a year later she became even sicker after a root canal when she felt like she was "slowly losing herself".
Another year later, Lindsay was rear-ended and the physical trauma was the straw that broke the camel's back resulting in Lindsay becoming completely bedbound with a wide range of Lyme symptoms including back/face/neck/foot pain, digestive issues, scattered thoughts, and "everything spinning around me".
Parasite cleansing helped Lindsay get out of bed, but she was still very sick and looking at mold and heavy metal exposure with her medical team.
Finally, she tested positive for Lyme disease and went to Sanoviv Medical Institute in Mexico where she treated her whole body with hyperthermia, antibiotics, rife, colon hydrotherapy, chiropractic care, therapy, lymphatic massages, and yoga.
Lindsay gained back most of her health, but unfortunately, she contracted covid 6 months later which caused her to have a setback.
Lindsay pulled out her holistic toolbox, tried some limbic system retraining programs, and today is using the Pompa Program to continuously improve her health.
If you'd like to learn the specific tools Lindsay has used in her Lyme journey and are looking for a story of hope, then tune in now!
PS Julia Feygelman special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Bari Mitzmann is 30-year-old teacher, social media strategist, and podcaster originally from New York City, New York. She is the creator of the IBA social media course, consults with numerous businesses on social media and influencer strategy, and built a highly regarded Instagram page designed to teach about orthodox Jewish life and modest fashion.
Shortly after her engagement to be married, she began to suffer fatigue and weight loss. Her symptoms progressed to anxiety, depression, and loss of appetite.
Shortly after the wedding, she and her husband moved to a basement apartment in tick endemic Rockland County, New York. Her ongoing health conditions caused family and friends to believe she was anemic or pregnant until she tested positive for Lyme disease.
Initial treatment from a primary care physician exacerbated her symptoms resulting in Ms. Mitzmann’s exit from the traditional medical system. To fund the treatment from a Lyme literate medical specialist, she and her husband were forced to spend all their wedding gifts.
The final leg of her treatment journey was with an orthodox Jewish naturopathic doctor that utilized spiritual, emotional, and physical treatment modalities that suppressed her chronic symptoms permitting her to return to a normal personal and professional life.
If you would like to learn more about how an orthodox Jewish influencer had to return to her traditional roots to shlogn (Yiddish for beat) Lyme disease, the tune in now!
Becca Greenberg is a 26-year-old rhinestone artist from Florida who grew up in upstate New York.
Prior to getting sick, Becca was very social, had excellent grades, and ran 25 miles a week.
Becca was bit by a tick at the age of 9 and was likely reinfected at least once in her childhood.
At the young age of 14, Becca became wheelchair-bound and developed an array of symptoms, including fainting spells, dizziness, migraines, sudden onset confusion, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting, light and sound sensitivity, muscle pain, fatigue, left-sided paralysis, tachycardia, hearing loss, vision loss, and hallucinations.
Doctors dismissed Becca and told her she was "just going through puberty" or that it was all in her head.
Becca's mom posted on Facebook looking for answers and had a friend who was a doctor reach out and say that her symptoms were consistent with Lyme disease.
Becca got tested and was positive for Lyme, Babesia, and Bartonella.
Bercca treated with her mom's friend for 9 months on oral antibiotics, but she didn't get any better.
Next, Becca visited Dr. Daniel Cameron where she got an additional diagnosis of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and was treated with IV Rocephin and a rotation of oral antibiotics for almost 2 years.
At the end of treatment, Becca was completely symptom-free.
Becca re-entered life full force and suffered a crash, but she discusses how she skipped the recovery and maintenance faces of recovery and how she's now focusing on that part of her journey.
If you'd like to learn how a determined young woman has navigated the ups and downs of Lyme, uses her artwork to bring joy to others, and is giving back to the Lyme community, then tune in now!
PS Emma Pikoulas special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Aimee Noelle Packer is a 23-year-old mother and wife residing in Fairview, North Carolina. Mrs. Packer and her family gained national prominence after she posted a powerful “prayer request” video depicting her baby daughter Timberly courageously working with physical therapists to mitigate muscle tremors caused by congenital Lyme disease.
Mrs. Packer’s journey with Lyme disease began when she was bitten by a tick at the age of 7. She became chronically ill at 12 and was diagnosed with Lyme disease at 16.
After her diagnosis, Ms. Packer's parents located a Lyme-literate homeopathic doctor in Virginia who treated her by utilizing adrenal support, immune support, and drainage. The treatment was successful and she returned to full participation in high school life and activities.
After graduation, she married and was advised by doctors that her childhood disease would not impact a pregnancy “because [she] did not have an active Lyme infection”.
One year after the birth of her daughter, the Packer family home suffered a flood. The flooding resulted in mold growth triggering a recurrence of Lyme symptoms for Mrs. Packer. At the same time, Mrs. Packer noticed her baby was physically and cognitively regressing.
The post-flood events caused doctors to test the entire Packer family for Lyme disease and all three tested positive. Mrs. Packer concluded that her husband and daughter were infected by contact with her. If you would like to learn more about how the Packer family is courageously battling both congenital and sexually transmitted Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Ashley Marba special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. Michael Snyder, Ph.D. is the Chair of the Stanford University Department of Genetics and the Director of the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine.
Dr. Snyder caught the attention of the Lyme disease community when wearable technology allowed him to accurately diagnose himself with acute Lyme disease. Additionally, the data provided him with the tools he needed to persuade a skeptical doctor to test and treat him.
A long-time critic of the “sick care system”, Dr. Snyder has advocated for reform that would support health care before the onset of illness, including the use of wearable monitoring devices. A personal experience with a tick bite while helping his brother build a fence in rural Lyme-endemic Massachusetts taught him that wearables could produce a data stream that could help medical professionals diagnose and treat illnesses before the onset of symptoms.
Dr. Snyder told Tick Boot Camp that "noticing the shift in my baseline data and acting immediately on the information led to an early diagnosis, then treatment and cure."
If you would like to learn more about how inexpensive wearable watch and ring technology could be used to assist you on your Lyme healing journey, then tune in now!
PS Ali Moresco special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Haleigh Hekking is a 24-year-old model turned actor from Los Angeles, California, who's now become a fierce advocate in the Lyme community after her personal experience with the disease.
Prior to Lyme completely changing her life, Haleigh was very social, focused on her career, and ran 5 miles a day.
At the young age of 21, Haleigh had tingling hands and feet, shortness of breath, and fatigue resulting in a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) misdiagnosis.
Haleigh was treated with "bubble ozone" and IV colloidal silver which relieved all her symptoms.
About a year later, Haleigh just finished working on a show as a recurring character, was cast in a new movie, and then a "perfect storm" hit her causing her health to decline so much that she had to stop working.
Haleigh was bedbound and had to move back in with her parents who once again became her caregivers.
Her doctor suspected Lyme, but after an indeterminate Labcorp test and a subsequent IGeneX test resulting in a positive Lyme disease diagnosis, a positive Bartonella diagnosis, and an indeterminate Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF) diagnosis, her doctors still wouldn't officially diagnose her with any tick-borne illness.
Haleigh finally found a doctor who properly diagnosed her and added Borrelia miyamotoi to the list of tick-borne illnesses.
She was treated with prescription antibiotics and antivirals, as well as an herbal regimen of natural antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-modulating ingredients. Unfortunately, she experienced an extreme Herxheimer reaction and after treatment, she didn't feel any better.
Haleigh then underwent a dark period where she didn't leave her room and she thought she was going to die.
After a few months, Haleigh started to reengage doctors to seek help and found a game-changer treatment.
Today, Haleigh is working with her new doctor on her next round of treatment and she's hopeful for the future.
She is using her time and energy to advocate for the Lyme community and she plans on using her platform as an actor to bring attention to tick-borne disease.
If you'd like to learn how a determined young actor who was featured in the popular movie Plane that just dropped refused to give up and is now changing the Lyme community, then tune in now!
PS Dani Tygr special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. Susan B. Trachman, MD is a practicing psychiatrist with over 30 years of experience, an Assistant Clinical Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Clinical Associate Professor at George Washington University. Dr. Trachman is also a prolific author and a columnist at Psychology Today.
Dr. Trachman grew up in the Long Island, New York Lyme belt where a passion for law and medicine grew out of a childhood interest in “learning how things worked”. She merged her two passions by focusing her medical school training and attending physician work to become the go-to doctor for “mystery cases”.
In this comprehensive interview, the award-winning Dr. Tractman discusses with Tick Boot Camp:
How her passion for exploring medically unexplained illnesses taught her to focus on Lyme disease;
How her Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship shaped her ability to diagnose and treat the neuropsychiatric presentations of Lyme disease;
How and why the acute care medical system in the United States is ill-equipped to diagnose and treat Lyme disease and chronic illnesses in general; and
How the shortcomings of the medical system are causing frustration and trauma to doctors and patients alike.
If you would like to learn more about how the author of the soon-to-be-released book on medically unexplained symptoms is using her medical detective skill set to diagnose and treat neuropsychiatric symptoms of Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Dr. Christine Arseneau special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Ann Pennington is a blogger, model, philanthropist, and multi-pageant champion. Her pageant achievements include Mrs. USA Earth 2023, Mrs. New Jersey Earth 2022, and Mrs. United States of America 2021.
Ms. Pennington grew up a daughter of the American west and was educated in Asia. She married and moved to the eastern United States to pursue professional opportunities in New York City. She was unaware that her move to the east coast would require her to protect herself and her family from the ever-present threat of ticks and Lyme disease.
Shortly after moving, she began to suffer from migrating health symptoms. Some of her 20 symptoms encompassed multiple joint pains, brain fog, memory loss, rashes, and fatigue.
Her illness progression stole her ability to work and walk without assistance. Despite having access to scores of New York City’s top doctors and medical centers, the cause of her symptoms remained a medical mystery. One of her medical doctor specialists suggested that her extreme weight loss, hair loss, and vision loss were the function of advancing to the “age of 40”.
After winning the Mrs. New Jersey Earth crown, she suffered from a symptom flare triggering her to call her sister. After hearing the description of her suffering, her sister recommended that she request a test for Lyme disease.
At her scheduled visit with an immunologist, she tested positive for Lyme disease with the traditional two-tiered blood test.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme inspired Mrs. USA Earth 2023 to construct and promote the “Spray Before You Play” campaign to help protect children from suffering caused by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Adena Sampson is a best-selling author, singer-songwriter, coach, and founder of Outloud Productions and The Unbreakable Spirit Movement.
The multi-talented entrepreneur and artist constructed an almost magical life and career. She became a sought-after speaker, emcee, narrator, and presenter and she graced the entertainment stage across the globe as the opening act for world-renowned artists such as Patti LaBelle and Wayne Newton.
In 2008, everything changed for the worst. “Everything just fell apart - [her] health, [her] relationship, [her] finances. [Her] world came crashing down and so did [she]”. For the next 7 years, her health decline forced her to visit “too many doctors to count” until she was finally diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease.
Following her diagnosis, she traveled a long road to healing. During her travels, she learned 9 principles that allowed her to rediscover the road back to the version of herself stolen by chronic illness.
To share the healing principles she learned while healing, she wrote the 2021 Best Book Award Winner: The Road Back To Me - 9 Principles for Navigating Life’s Unexpected Twists & Turns.
If you would like to learn how Lyme disease taught an entertainment professional the principles for recovery and healing, then tune in now!
PS Cole Elbel special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. Kent Holtorf, MD is the founder of the Holtorf Medical Group with offices in El Segundo, California and Marietta, Georgia. He is also the founder and director of the not for profit National Academy of Hypothryoidism and Integrative Science (NAHIS). His work has been featured on numerous TV shows including the Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC News, ESPN, CNN and Fox Business.
Dr. Holtorf suffered from and managed a series of undiagnosed childhood and early adult illnesses that caused him to have difficulty getting out of bed. By the time he attended medical school, he suffered from terrible fatigue leaving him barely able to function.
He visited numerous medical colleague practitioners and specialists and was told that he was “depressed or stressed and needed to get more sleep and more exercise”. The standardized diagnostic tests he studied and learned to utilize in medical school “revealed nothing abnormal”.
His undiagnosed medical condition left him feeling hopeless until he tested positive for Lyme disease, Babesia, Bartonella, reactivated viruses and mold toxicity. Finally securing a diagnosis allowed Dr. Holtorf to resolve his symptoms by using innovative treatments including peptides, SOT therapy, NK cells and other progressive treatment practices.
If you would like to learn how a journey with Lyme disease inspired a doctor to open treatment centers to help others who are suffering the way he had, then tune in now!
PS Daisy White special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. Miles Nichols is the 37-year-old co-founder of the highly regarded Denver, Colorado based Lyme and mold treatment clinic: Medicine with Heart. He also co-founded the Medicine with Heart Institute to provide professional training to clinicians in the treatment of complex chronic diseases.
Born into a high achieving Ivy League educated family, Dr. Nichols followed the family tradition and was accepted into gifted and talented educational programs through middle school. By the time he entered high school, a multitude of nagging childhood illnesses merged and presented as chronic fatigue causing his grades to decline.
Debilitating fatigue forced Dr. Nichols to seek alternative educational models. He attended a school founded by a Buddhist Monk and then he gritted his way through graduate school. Unfortunately, his physician father and scores of doctor colleagues could not solve Dr Nichols’ chronic fatigue puzzle.
Finally, in 2016, Dr Nichols tested positive on a blood test for Lyme disease. In 2019, he tested positive for Babesia and Barronella. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired a doctor to build a heart centered treatment institute in an effort to end suffering caused by Lyme and mold diseases, then tune in now!
PS Micaela Hoo special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Briana Jamshidi is a 27-year-old Registered Nurse (RN) and certified personal trainer from Charleston, South Carolina. Ms. Jamshidi loved to lift weights, run races, dance, go to concerts, attend music festivals, and was a top performer on her National Guard physical fitness test.
At the age of 21, Ms. Jamshidi suddenly fell ill while attending her annual training with the Army National Guard in Virginia. Shew was first diagnosed with Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and then doctors said it was Interstitial Cystitis (IC) because her urine cultures never grew any bacteria.
Some of Ms. Jamshidi’s early symptoms included severe burning when peeing like glass slicing her bladder, spasms of her bladder and pelvic floor, frequent and urgent urination, urinary incontinence, and painful sex. Her symptoms worsened and she developed severe lower back pain, swollen lymph nodes, neck pain, hives, muscle spasms, hand tremors, extreme fatigue, cognitive decline, constipation, food sensitivities, and the feeling of bugs crawling all over her at night.
Ms. Jamshidi was finally diagnosed with Lyme and Bartonella when she was 24. She treated using antibiotics, Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), supplements, diet changes, and more.
If you’d to learn how a young woman realized her body is strong and resilient while going through the battle of her life, then tune in now!
PS Sara Brunner, the Lyme Dietitian, special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. Rosalie Greenberg MD is a Board-Certified Adult, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatrist from Summit, New Jersey. She is known for her expertise in the diagnosis and management of complex problems in children and pediatric psychopharmacology.
Dr. Greenberg earned her MD from the Ivy League Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she served as chief resident and then member of the teaching faculty after completing a fellowship in child psychiatry.
In practice for over 40 years, Dr. Greenberg brings her expertise to a wide range of topics including adolescent suicide, pediatric bipolar disorder, and the many psychological aspects of Lyme disease.
Treating patients living in Lyme endemic New Jersey has granted Dr. Greenberg the opportunity to discover that a large number of the children she evaluated for psychiatric disorders are positive for tick-borne illnesses, despite many never having recalled a tick bite.
Dr. Greenberg is a highly regarded author, researcher, lecturer, and host of an award-winning TV show related to children’s health. For the past several years, she has focused on the psychiatric manifestations of tick-borne illnesses in children.
If you would like to learn more about how a medical doctor is working to stem the tide of psychiatric disorders caused by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Debbie Kimberg from Hijacked Brains special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Heather Gray is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner with a background in advanced DNA and mold from Colorado. She uses her skills to help other tick-borne disease patients heal.
Prior to getting sick, Ms. Gray experienced childhood trauma and didn’t have a “normal” child’s life. She contracted Lyme disease at the young age of 13 and aggressive symptoms began when she was 15.
Some of Ms. Gray’s symptoms included back pain, gut issues, a swollen knee, depression, anxiety, and more. She was sick for almost 20 years and was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was 34 years old. She was diagnosed with Lyme through a blood test and high-resolution dark field microscopy, which is a live blood analysis.
Ms. Gray treated using many modalities, including Disulfiram, antibiotics, herbs, rife, ozone, silver, MMS, and somatic experiencing. Today, she’s 110% recovered and is enjoying life.
If you’d like to learn how a determined young woman overcame 20 years of undiagnosed Lyme disease, childhood trauma, and more, then tune in now!
PS Pastor Dan Price special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. John Allocca is a medical research scientist and biophysicist from “the Lyme capital of the world”: Long Island, New York. He is the author of more than 60 books on medicine, physics, nutrition, and photography and the founder of Allocca Biotechnology.
Dr. Allocca’s journey with Lyme disease began over 30 years ago when he began to suffer knee pain, headaches and fatigue. Despite his medical training and experience writing medical diagnostic software programs, he “could not figure out what was wrong with [him]”. He consulted with several medical doctor colleagues to help him unravel his personal medical mystery without success.
One day he used his own blood to calibrate his microscope and noticed spirochetes in his blood. By happenstance his medical mystery was solved. He treated with antibiotics, nutritional intervention, and supplements for detoxification and anti-oxidation.
In May 2022, Dr. Allocca took a hike at a local park and noticed a deer tick on his back. The bite resulted in a reinfection causing a bullseye rash and triggered the return of his previous Lyme symptoms. He also learned that wearing long pants while hiking does not offer adequate protection.
If you would like to learn more about how 2 Lyme disease infections inspired a doctor to build a 3 point wellness plan utilizing neuro chemical nutrition, brainicity brain biofield enhancement, and photography as a path to healing, then tune in now!
PS Tiffany Perez special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Alexis Raleigh is a 25-year-old reporter from upstate New York. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Binghamton University and a master’s degree in broadcasting and journalism from Syracuse University.
Ms. Raleigh was “able to do anything” before she got sick when she was 20 years old. Some of her symptoms included severe headaches, nerve pain, POTS, neck pain, and neurological symptoms.
Ms. Raleigh was misdiagnosed with Lupus, POTS, and migraines before receiving a proper diagnosis of Lyme disease 2 years later when she was 21 years old.
Ms. Raleigh first used IV antibiotics for 8 months to treat chronic Lyme disease, but she didn’t get better. Next, she went to Sanoviv Medical Institute in Tijuana, Mexico to get hyperthermia.
If you want to learn how a young reporter refused to give up and found solutions for chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Dana Papadopoulos special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Dianna Brescia is a holistic wellness coach, the entrepreneurial founder of The Kitchen Remedy and native New Yorker residing in sunny California.
Ms. Brescia grew up in the bosom of an ethnic New York Italian family. The practice of daily food preparation during her childhood had nurtured and connected her with her culture and family despite being “unable to function like a normal person or do normal things”.
At the age of 25, she began to lose her vision and brain function. The severe symptoms caused her to visit a hospital and several doctors including a a neuro ophthalmologist. After she tested negative for Lyme disease, her doctors diagnosed her with intracranial hypertension caused by “bad luck”.
Hopeful that a change of environment would offer her an opportunity to overcome a healing plateau, she moved from New York to California. There she connected with folks on social media and was told by Michaela Hoo (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 318) that her health symptoms “sounded kind of Lymie ” and recommended that she visit LLMD Dr. Erica Lehman.
Utilizing IGeneX testing, Ms. Brescia tested positive and began treatment for Lyme disease. She was also inspired to serve the chronic illness community by building a business around the physical, emotional and spiritual healing powers of food.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease took a holistic wellness coach back home to the nurturing power of food, then tune in now!
PS Daisy White special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Katie Bork is a 23-year-old nurse from Loveland, Colorado. She is currently on a healing sabbatical from her passion profession.
Although she was symptomatic since the age of 10, she largely enjoyed an idyllic childhood. However, in 2011 her health bounced back and forth between “failure to thrive” to weight gain in “excess of 60 pounds” trigging her to regularly visit the hospital
Last year, her health took a “terrible turn” causing her to feel pain all over her body that she “could not seem to remedy”. In December, she also discovered a “rash that progressively spread throughout [her] whole body”.
Her visits to medical professionals resulted in misdiagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, depression, anxiety disorder, and anorexia. She was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease (Borrelia Burgdorferi, Borrelia Afzelii, Borrelia Garinii, and Borrelia Andersonii) after “begging a doctor to test her”.
Ms. Bork has utilized a variety of treatments including antibiotics, ozone, herbals, IV glutathione, and probiotics to reassemble 60% of her health.
If you would like to learn how a young nurse is utilizing customized care to manage the challenges of Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Jenn Hyla special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Phyllis Bedford is the founder of LymeLight Foundation, a not-for-profit whose mission is to provide grants which enable eligible children and young adults with Lyme disease to receive proper treatment and medication as well as raising awareness about Lyme disease.
Ms. Bedford is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Economics. She uses her God-given talents to help the chronic Lyme disease community and she’s given over $8,000,000 to 1,150 Lyme patients since starting LymeLight.
Ms. Bedford, her husband, and two daughters all have Lyme disease. She’s a congenital Lyme disease advocate and gave a presentation about it at the LymeMind Conference.
As a mother, Ms. Bedford is passionate about helping other parents advocate for their children and she wants all parents to trust their gut and never give up when it comes to their children’s health.
If you’d like to learn more about how a family’s Lyme disease journey led to the creation of a multimillion-dollar Lyme disease not-for-profit, then tune in now!
PS Christina Kovacs, from Lady of Lyme, special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Paul Selian is a 61-year-old executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for State Street Corporation. He oversees the firm’s proprietary portfolio and the activities of a team of investment professionals in the United States, Europe and Australia. Paul has also served as a board member and President of the Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness. He and his family reside in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
In 2004, when the Selian family was in the midst of adopting their 4th child, Paul fell ill. His initial symptom was a sharp drop in blood pressure that made him feel faint and numbness in his arm. This caused him to be admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital for 3 days, where the hospital’s team of 24 doctors were unable to settle on a diagnosis.
Following the hospital discharge, he was sent to a neurologist who “quickly figured it out” that he had Lyme disease. Recognizing that he “didn’t get sick overnight” and therefore he “won’t heal overnight” he began to invest in his health by attending clinics in Switzerland and Germany.
From the clinical experiences he met people from around the world that counseled him that healing from a chronic illness would require him to become a “self trained medical professional”.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught an investment officer to “own his own health” and never to “delegate to even a doctor”, then tune in now!
PS. Ride Out Lyme’s Brandi Dean co-hosted this podcast interview with Rich.
Tiffany Perez is a 35-year-old professional tattoo artist from Pine Brook, New Jersey.
Ms. Perez led a very busy and productive life and owned her own business before getting sick with Lyme disease.
Ms. Perez had a stroke and then was diagnosed with COVID. Next, shortly after COVID, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease.
Some of Ms. Perez’s symptoms included extreme brain fog, Bell's palsy, hallucinations, short term memory loss, neck pain, depression, full body pain, and swelling of her joints.
Most of Ms. Perez’s symptoms were dismissed as being related to COVID, but she kept fighting and eventually tested positive for Lyme disease through a blood test from a cardiologist.
Ms. Perez was treated with antibiotics, antivirals, herbs, vitamins, and steroids. She also practices regular nervous system regulation and detox regimens.
If you’d like to learn how a professional tattoo artist overcame getting hit with a stroke, COVID, and Lyme disease all around the same time, then tune in now!
PS Rosmeyris Estrella special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Flora Deborah is a 38-year-old artist, sculptor and photographer from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Ms. Deborah was born in Evian, France and raised in Milan, Italy. During her childhood in Italy, she discovered an aptitude and love for the drawing arts.
In 2015, she moved to Israel to attend graduate school. Shortly after earning a master’s in fine arts degree and beginning a career as a sculptor, a friend noticed a bullseye rash on the back of her arm and urged her to visit a doctor to be tested for Lyme disease.
Approximately one month later, she discovered a second bullseye rash on her calf. Despite visiting 30 doctors and asking to be evaluated for Lyme disease, she was not treated for Lyme. In less than two years, she progressively developed chronic symptoms that rendered her bed bound.
Desperate for a diagnosis, Ms. Deborah stepped out of the public health care system and had “blood work privately” tested by Armin Labs in Germany and she tested positive for Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn more about how a bed bound artist rediscovered her childhood love for the drawing arts while treating and healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Lauren Murphree is a 29-year-old certified IV technician from Tennessee. She’s also the author of Silent Suffering: Finding God's Faithfulness in Chronic Lyme Disease.
Ms. Murphree was flourishing and worked full time after graduating college. She was an athlete and was very social with a lot of friends.
Ms. Murphree was first diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was 9 years old, but it didn’t “wreak havoc” in her life until she was around 20 years old.
Some of Ms. Murphree’s symptoms have included neuropathy, neck and back pain, brain inflammation, loss of energy, jaw pain, tremors, sharp shooting pains in her head and body, heart palpitations, body weakness and numbness, cognitive dysfunction, arthritis, heat intolerance, memory loss, insomnia, chest pain, panic attacks, Lyme rage, depression, anxiety, loss of appetite, nausea, light and sound sensitivity, POTS, heart and lung weakness, muscle spasms, tinnitus, exercise intolerance, dizziness, and more.
Ms. Murphree’s Lyme relapse wasn’t diagnosed until her early twenties after two years of suffering. She was finally diagnosed with a Lyme relapse through a Western Blot blood test and an IGeneX specialty test.
Ms. Murphree was treated with Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), Disulfiram, Low Dose Immunotherapy (LDI), Bee Venom Therapy (BVT), Cowden Protocol (Nutramedix), various antibiotics, rife, ozone, and more.
If you’d like to learn how a young woman has used an arsenal of treatments to treat chronic Lyme disease and wrote a book about her experiences to help the millions of people suffering with this horrible disease, then tune in now!
PS Michelle McKeon, the Lyme Specialist, special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Jennifer Sala is a 32-year-old herbalist and research writer from Ellsworth, Maine.
Ms. Sala was a healthy baby, and she was accepted into her school’s talented and gifted program at a young age. She was bit by ticks all throughout her life but didn’t know what they were.
Ms. Sala’s health started to decline after a tick bite when she was 4 years old, and she crashed at the age of 10 shortly after developing a bullseye rash from another tick bite. She was then infected later in life while living in Texas when she was 18 years old from another tick bite with Relapsing Fever and Mycoplasma.
Some of Ms. Sala’s symptoms included Lyme rage, heat intolerance, dizziness, fevers, body pain, and a brain infection. She first heard of Lyme disease from friends when she moved back home to Main at 23, but she wasn’t properly diagnosed until she was 29 by a naturopath.
Ms. Sala treated her tick-borne illnesses with high dose antibiotics, cryotherapy, herbs, a mitochondrial optimizer, supplements, and more.
If you’d like to learn how Ms. Sala has been able to recover 85% of her health after a lifetime of Lyme disease and co-infections, then tune in now!
PS Liza Blas special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Micaela Hoo is a 28-year-old freelance content creator, social media manager, Global Lyme Alliance (GLA) peer mentor, and entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California. She is the co-creator of My July, a clean skin care brand.
Born in the eastern United States Lyme belt, Ms. Hoo’s childhood was interrupted by persistent illness, learning difficulties, issues with word recall, and heightened sensitivity. She made frequent trips to doctors and medical centers without securing a diagnosis.
Ms. Hoo’s health did not improve when her family moved across the county to pursue professional opportunities on the west coast. Frustrated by the medical community’s failure to diagnose the source of her chronic symptoms, she turned to social media where she was told she “sounds very Lymie”.
As a graduation present, her dad offered to pay for a visit to a highly regarded California based Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). Her gift included an IGeneX Lyme disease test that answered the multiyear medical mystery.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired a digital creator and entrepreneur to build a social platform that bravely represents “what it looks like when you do not feel well”, then tune in now!
PS Randi Goodman from Think Lyme special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Dr. Christine Arseneau is a 38-year-old pharmacist who spent 6 years training at a hospital before managing an integrative compounding pharmacy where she now works today. She is the founder of Lyme Support which serves clients suffering with Lyme disease and tick-borne infections, is certified in Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy, and has a Functional Medicine Certification in Health Coaching.
Despite moving around a lot as a child because her father was in the Army, Dr. Arseneau was a straight A student and excelled at everything she did. Although her life seemed perfect from the outside, she never felt important or valued as a child since her mother had narcissistic tendencies and anxiety resulting in her emotionally abusing Dr. Arseneau.
Dr. Arseneau was bit by a tick and became sick at 9 years old, but she didn’t begin to have major health issues until she was 27 with things like meningitis, a rare form of cancer, debilitating fatigue, and pain. Finally, at the age of 29, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, Babesia, and Bartonella.
Dr. Arseneau treated using Byron White Formulas (A-L Complex and A-Bart), Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), plant medicine (psilocybin and ayahuasca), and more.
If you’d like to learn how a determined pharmacist refused to stay sick and overcame chronic Lyme disease to now help others heal, then tune in now!
PS Amanda Millie special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
PPS get Dr. Arseneau has a free virtual training for anyone struggling with chronic Lyme disease, pain, fatigue, and chronic complex health challenges titled How I Cured My Chronic Lyme Disease: The #1 Thing You Need to Know That Doctors Aren’t Talking About.
Dana Papadopoulos is a 30-year-old not-for-profit Media Director residing in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ms. Papadopoulos was transformed from an active, healthy, athletic child and young adult to a chronically ill 18-year-old woman. Then, for almost a decade, she battled a series of seemingly separate symptoms including anorexia, extreme GI issues, gastroparesis, POTS, EDS, fibromyalgia, ovarian cysts, hypotension, anemia, PCOS, leaky gut, and more.
Despite treating with over 50 medical doctors and medical centers, including the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, she continued to suffer from poor health while collecting an array of diagnoses. Finally at the age of 27, a local chiropractor diagnosed her with Lyme disease utilize blood testing.
Her Lyme disease diagnosis became a blessing in that it permitted her to locate a focus for healing. After treating for one year, she successfully abated her symptoms and moved into a new apartment. Sadly, the new apartment had mold that reignited Lyme causing her to lose functionality.
Today, she is preparing to revisit Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) by rebuilding her gut, utilizing routine detox tools, exercising, and performing breath work and chanting.
If you would like to learn more about a young woman had to rebuild trust in herself, get back into her body and listen to body signals to overcome the challenges caused by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Katie DePaola, from IGC Coaching School, special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Amber Benge is a 39-year-old young woman from Hickory, North Carolina who is now a sustainable farmer growing her own food and medicine at Grace Walk Farm. She’s a trained victim advocate and her professional background is in working with women who have addiction issues and are victims of sex trafficking.
Ms. Benge was bit by a tick when she was 5 years old during a family vacation. She got a bullseye rash, became sick, but Lyme disease went undiagnosed for the next 34 years.
Ms. Benge was sick for decades after her family vacation and she was misdiagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In her early 20’s, she battled infertility, had multiple miscarriages, had preterm births for both of her children, and finally had to have a hysterectomy at age 24.
In her late twenties, Ms. Benge developed severe arthritis in her hands and feet and had her gallbladder, tonsils, and adenoids removed. During her mid-thirties, things really fell apart and she was constantly sick and had to quit her job as a counselor at a drug rehab center for women.
Ms. Benge was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease and Bartonella this year when she was 39 years old by a naturopath through bioresonance. Her husband and youngest child both also tested positive for Lyme.
Ms. Benge and her family treated with DesBio homeopathy. This included 15 different supplements, a very strict diet (no gluten, dairy, caffeine, or sugar), along with a very intensive detox program.
If you would like to learn more about how a strong woman is fighting back Lyme disease after over 30 years of being sick, then tune in now!
PS Bianca Crino special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Daisy Ilchovska is a 36-year-old nutritional therapist, researcher, and author from Bournemouth, England. She is the founder of Optimal Health Nutrition, a virtual clinic established to help people overcome health challenges through evidence-based strategies.
At the age of 26, Ms. Ilchovska was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and doctors told her to expect to be permanently disabled in less than a decade. Shortly thereafter, she suffered a tick bite causing her to health to deteriorate from a myriad of neurological symptoms.
After working with a half dozen conventional doctors, she discovered that she had to take responsibility for developing her own treatment plan because none of her doctors knew how to treat her. She overcame Lyme through her own research and seeking out hypothermia treatment in Germany.
Her recent work includes publishing a research paper in the December 2020 issue of Autoimmunity Reviews, publishing a book titled “Lyme in the Limelight” in 2022, and contributing a chapter on Lyme disease and autoimmunity in the 3rd edition of Infection and Autoimmunity to be published in early 2023.
If you would like to learn how Lyme disease inspired a young researcher to study nutritional intervention, Lyme disease, and autoimmunity, then tune in now!
PS Christina Kantzavelos, Lyme literate therapist, special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Christèle Dumas-Gonnet is the 48-year-old co-founder of ChroniLyme, a patient advocacy association dedicated to improving diagnosis and treatment of chronic Lyme disease, based in Lyon, France. She is also a member of the European Lyme patient engagement collective PREFACE (Patient Resource Facilitator Europe).
Shortly before the end of her university studies, she began to suffer from fatigue, aches, pains, and “a white fog that prevented [her] from concentrating”. For the next 20 years, her health slowly and steadily declined requiring her to seek treatment from “dozens of doctors” and hospitals.
In 2014, she was hospitalized for “left side paralysis that lasted several days”. During her hospitalization, she underwent several diagnostic tests including a spinal tap and a brain MRI. Despite the “highly positive results” for “Lyme neuroborreliosis” from the spinal tap, the hospital released her with a single diagnosis of “atypical migraines”.
For the next two years, she was not treated due to her silent diagnosis resulting in a rapid health decline. Her illness prevented her from performing any social or professional activities and she was deemed fully disabled by the French government.
In 2016, she sought treatment with a general medical practitioner known as “Doc Lyme” who diagnosed her with and initiated treatment for Lyme disease. Following the diagnosis, Ms. Dumas-Gonnet collected her medical records and discovered that she had unknowingly tested positive for Lyme disease two years earlier.
Her experience with diagnostic and treatment nightmares typically faced by Lyme patients caused Ms. Dumas-Gonnet to use her education and training to advocate for patients in France and across Europe.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired a patient to build two Lyme advocacy organizations and to appear before the French National Assembly and Senate, then tune in now!
Dr. Jaban Moore is a Doctor of Chiropractic and founder of the Redefining Wellness Center located in Kansas City, Missouri. The mission of Redefining Wellness Center is to educate people about the root causes of chronic illness to help them to find true healing.
The foundation of Dr. Moore’s passion for restoring health through a multi therapeutic approach was informed by witnessing his mother struggle with chronic illness and health decline during his childhood.
Later, during his time at chiropractic school, he began his own rapid health decline. His search for answers for why he was suffering from extreme fatigue, joint pain, and low testosterone began by utilizing his access to a wide range of doctors at medical conferences. After many misdiagnoses, he attended a conference for functional medical doctors where he accepted a recommendation to test for Lyme disease.
Testing positive for Lyme disease gave rise to a journey of personal and professional development for Dr. Moore. After consulting several doctors and utilizing a wide range of treatments, he found relief and has been symptom free for over 5 years.
If you would like to learn how Lyme disease inspired a doctor to build a wellness center to educate people about the root causes of chronic illness, then tune in now!
Sarah Lombard is a 27-year-old social media marketing, management, and creation professional from Scottsdale, Arizona.
Prior to attending college, she enjoyed a very social teen life that included “the worst diet known to man”. She would “eat candy and cookies for lunch with some fries and coming home, starving, eating frozen dinners and spoons full of sugar”.
At the age of 17 she began to get sick. She suffered monthly infections, stomach aches, lethargy, lack of motivation and anxiety. Her symptoms forced her to seek treatment from so many doctors she “lost count”.
After being misdiagnosed with various illnesses and undergoing several procedures and tests, a co-worker recognized her symptoms and referred her to a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). A blood test confirmed her co-workers suspected Lyme disease diagnosis.
Post diagnosis treatment began with clearing her “gut from yeast and parasites” followed by the “Cowden protocol with liquid tinctures for 9 months”. She then turned to “Disulfiram but it’s an extremely hard regimen and it made [her] too sick to function so [she] had to stop”.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired a young woman to use her professional skill set to socially serve the community, then tune in now!
PS Ashley Marba special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Vanessa Nolet is a 29-year-old young woman from Quebec, Canada. She is working on finishing up a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management.
Prior to getting sick with Lyme disease, Ms. Nolet had a great life filled with friends and sports. She worked at a spa while going to college and was exposed to Freon during an accident which changed her life.
Around this time, Ms. Nolet was bit by a tick and within a month she became very ill. She had chronic fatigue, whole body spasms, light sensitivity, body burning, ulcers, arthritis, irregular periods, autoimmune symptoms, and more.
She visited many doctors, specialists, and hospitals in Canada before going to America for help where she was finally diagnosed. Nobody could figure out why she was sick. Some doctors misdiagnosed her with conditions such as Fibromyalgia, other pain disorders, and Lupus.
Finally, at the age of 27, Ms. Nolet was diagnosed with Lyme disease in part thanks to Dr. Richard Horowitz’s Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome (MSIDS) questionnaire. She was treated with Doxycycline, Rifampin, Azithromycin, Naltrexone, AGE, and more with a specialist in Canada.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from Canada fought for a root cause diagnosis and is now on the path to health, then tune in now!
PS Johanna Laliberte special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Kahlil Fuller, stage name “Two Monies”, is a singer, songwriter, musician, and entertainer from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Shortly after graduating from North Carolina A & T with a degree in marketing he “noticed a huge rash on [his] left leg” while working out at the gym. He assumed the rash was from a harmless “bug bite” until he began to limp 5 or 6 days later.
Prompted by left leg paralysis, Two Monies called his primary care doctor of 15 years. Expecting his doctor to diagnose his “problem and… fix it” he was surprised to “be let go by his doctor” without a diagnosis.
The medical surprises continued for Two Monies when his next set of doctors diagnosed him with a “complex and controversial” medical condition named Lyme disease. His diagnosed illness moved him from a stable independent life to “stressed, depressed and anxious”.
Working with a Lyme Literate Chiropractor in North Carolina and a Lyme literate practitioner in San Francisco became a game changing experience for Two Monies. Treatment with herbs, Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), probiotics, CBD oil, IV glutathione, infrared sauna, and IV antibiotics modulated his symptoms and expanded his quality of life.
If you would like to learn more about how two co-infections and Lyme disease gave Two Monies a bad rap, then tune in now!
Lexi Czar is a 27-year-old young woman from Creston, BC, Canada. She created Lyme disease awareness apparel and is and is thinking about relaunching her brand in the future.
Prior to suffering the extreme symptoms of Lyme disease, Ms. Czar was a full-time student with a part-time job and was involved in many extracurricular sports and activities. She traveled throughout British Columbia and Alberta and was an extremely happy person with a great group of friends.
Ms. Czar struggled with health issues as a child after a bad case of mono, but once she entered college her symptoms became more persistent. She had severe migraines and chronic fatigue which were dismissed and attributed to being a stressed college student.
Unfortunately, Ms. Czars symptoms continued to worsen and expand, including body pain, insomnia, restless legs, bone issues, anxiety, and depression. After contracting dengue fever and being exposed to toxic mold, she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was 22.
Ms. Czar was bit by another tick and reinfected with Powassan virus, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), Babesia, and Bartonella after making progress recovering from her initial Lyme diagnosis. Some of the treatment modalities she has used over time include stem cells, kambo, peptides, microdosing (with psilocybin), herbal antibiotics, ozone, light therapy, Rife, the FREmedica WAVE device, and more.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from Canada is using a variety of non-standard treatment protocols to recover from chronic Lyme disease and co-infections, then tune in now!
PS Emma Pikoulas special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Åsa Rydmark is a 48-year-old woman from Sweden who has traveled all around the world. She’s worked in the medical field as a Registered Nurse (RN), research nurse at a gynecological ward, and for the last two years as a research coordinator at Linköping University.
Ms. Rydmark had many tick bites throughout her life, got a bullseye rash when she was 14, and Lyme came out and wreaked havoc when she was 39 due to mold exposure and environmental toxins weakening her immune system while performing home renovations. At first, she thought her symptoms were due to “sugar addiction” after reading an article in the newspaper about it. Removing sugar and gluten from her diet helped her feel a little bit better.
Ms. Rydmark quickly realized there was more to the picture and saw many doctors, all of which told her she was fine and her tests all came back normal. She was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease at the age of 46.
Ms. Rydmark and her doctors believe she suffers from Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans (ACA), a late and chronic manifestation of European Lyme borreliosis (Borrelia afzelii), which is characterized by red or bluish-red lesions and leads to extensive flaccid atrophy of the skin.
Ms. Rydmark was treated with Doxycycline for a month, but her doctor wouldn’t do any more for her and she only made minimal health improvements. She started researching and came across the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, Dr. Rawls’ work on chronic Lyme, and Dr. Horowitz’s Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome (MSIDS) all of which solidified her gut feeling that she was still sick with Lyme disease and needed more help.
Ms. Rydmark started her treatment with Dr. Rawls’ herbal Restore Kit and Gut Revival Kit from Vital Plan, but the international shipping costs weren’t practical so she had to stop despite feeling better and kickstarting her true healing journey. Next, she tried some Microbe Formula products that built upon the improvements started with Dr. Rawls’ products. She also discovered Swedish Fascia Vibes which helped improve lymphatic flow and aided her body to rid itself of toxins more easily. This was a gamechanger for Ms. Rydmark.
If you’d like to learn more about how Ms. Rydmark “found a new complete and whole sense of self and a belief in the power to heal and help others,” then tune in now!
PS Rachel Barnes, a Life, Health, and Wellness Coach, special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Karen Widaman is a 62-year-old certified dog trainer and owner of a large dog training company from Glendora, California.
Despite working in a high-risk industry, Ms. Widaman was unaware of that her contact with thousands of dogs increased her Lyme vulnerability. In 2015, she began to suffer from stomach, foot, and hand pain her doctors believed to be unrelated symptoms in part because she tested negative for Lyme disease.
Unrelenting symptoms forced to treat with a plethora of medical doctors including internists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, oncologists, and infectious disease doctors. In desperation, she sought out a “natural doctor” who retested her for Lyme utilizing a test from IGeneX.
Testing positive for Lyme disease offered Ms. Widaman a path forward. The Integrated Natural Medical Clinic began treatment with herbal supplements utilizing the Buhner protocol and ozone therapy followed up with stem cell, nutritional therapies, and SOT therapy.
Today, Ms. Widaman is pain free and functioning at a high level utilizing supportive therapies to reduce inflammation and support for her immune system. If you would like to learn why a professional dog trainer had to leave the old dogs in the medical community to learn new tricks from an integrative medical discipline to heal, then tune in now!
PS Tiara Smith special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Casey Fillian is a 45-year-old personal trainer, massage therapist, and competitive runner from Marlboro, New Jersey.
Ms. Fillian is also a Lyme disease pioneer: during her childhood she was one of the first people in the United States diagnosed with Lyme. After suffering a tick bite while attending a summer camp, she “developed a fever, general malaise… a bad flu, [her] knee blew up to 3 times its size, and [her] torso was covered in a rash”.
Although her parents did not believe the “knee swelling was related to the flu”, the family pediatrician “was suspicious of a new disease [thought] only in Connecticut at the time”. “He sent us to Yale University Hospital and the doctors were able to confirm and start me on an oral antibiotic protocol” followed by “admission to Monmouth Medical Center… for IV therapy”.
Her childhood experience inspired her to make “fitness and exercise a priority in [her] life”. She pursued a career as a fitness professor and trained for and ran in several distance and marathon events. In 2017 after returning home from a marathon training event, she discovered a tick embedded on her hip.
The second/adult tick bite was followed by a bullseye rash, sepsis, and chronic illness. She has since treated with 3 courses of antibiotics via PICC line and herbal supplements allowing her to return part time to work serving the senior population in a fitness facility for people 62 and older.
If you would like to learn how a Lyme disease pioneer was twice knocked down by Lyme but got up each time twice as strong, then tune in now!
PS Adina Bercowicz, founder and president of Lyme TV, special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Grace Anderson is a 21-year-old Lyme disease advocate from the coast of Maine. She's currently studying mental health and human services.
Ms. Anderson first became sick with symptoms of Lyme when she was 12 at a Taylor Swift concert with the following symptoms: dizziness, nausea, swollen feet, excessive sweating, and vomiting. These symptoms quickly subsided, but they came back a month later and never went away with the addition of migraines, fatigue, difficulty walking, full body pain, and body weakness.
Ms. Anderson tested positive for Hashimoto's disease and the rest of her symptoms were dismissed as "just anxiety". Her health continued to decline, and she saw many doctors and specialists, including those at Boston Children's Hospital.
Finally, Ms. Anderson's mother brought her to a naturopath when she was 16 where she was tested for Lyme, and it came back positive. She was also diagnosed with POTS and through trial and errors found a treatment that was very effective at controlling her symptoms.
After making progress with her treatment, Ms. Anderson became very sick again a few years later and was diagnosed with Bartonella and active Lyme disease which likely was from a new tick bite. She used a wide variety of treatments including antibiotics like Doxycycline and Rifampin.
If you'd like to learn more about a young woman who fought back against childhood Lyme disease and is now helping others in their healing journeys, then tune in now!
PS Carly Taylor special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Samantha Lynn is a 31-year-old Nutritional Therapy Practitioner from Missouri. She’s also a Vaccine Education Specialist and Transformation Touch Practitioner.
Ms. Lynn had many events occur in her early life that contributed to her declining health leading up to her crash at 21 years old after receiving two vaccines. She ended up in the Emergency Room (ER) and then followed up with a variety of doctors.
Finally, a hypnotherapist referred Ms. Lynn to a functional neurologist where she began her real holistic healing journey. She also started to study the work of Irene Lyon and became an expert in the nervous system, which was pivotal in her healing journey.
If you’d like to learn more about how an unbalanced nervous system can prevent you from healing chronic Lyme disease and how activating the parasympathetic nervous system can significantly assist in healing, then tune in now!
PS Margaux Gunning special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
PPS Ms. Lynn provided a private link to Tick Boot Camp listeners for a free video training from nervous system expert Irene Lyon to learn more about healing trauma (medical, physical, emotional, etc.) and how to move from a state of survival, anxiety, and stuckness to one of hope, possibility, and potential.
Rosemeyris Estrella is personal trainer and health and nutrition coach from Pennsylvania. She grew up and spent most of her adult life residing in the urban New York City borough of The Bronx.
Recently, Ms. Estrella and husband decided to offer their 4 children the opportunity to trade city living for the freedom, fresh air, and open spaces offered in rural Pennsylvania. Shortly after moving to their new home, Ms. Estrella discovered she had suffered a bug bite on her left leg after spending time tending to her garden.
Shortly after the bite, she “got a bulls eye rash” at the bite site. Having “no idea about ticks or Lyme” disease, she did not plan to seek medical intervention until a neighbor told her “to go to the ER” where she was diagnosed with a skin infection. Two months later, she woke up with a swollen leg, radiating pain, and swollen lymph nodes causing her to return to the emergency room where she tested positive for Lyme disease.
Despite taking the prescribed 21 days of antibiotics, her health continued to decline kicking off a “journey of researching and learning… about [chronic illness and Lyme] disease”. Her research taught her that the joint stresses of an extreme fitness regimen and the move to a new community were immunosuppressive resulting in vulnerability and illness.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught a fitness and nutrition professional the importance of moderate exercise and stress relief for immune health, then tune in now!
Evangelina Vensel is an author, life coach, certified Master PSYCH-K facilitator, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner, and certified Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner from Washington State.
Although she had been symptomatic and ill since early childhood, she was not diagnosed with Lyme disease until surpassing her 40th birthday. She sought treatment with over 20 health care providers and was misdiagnosed with a plethora of mental and physical health disorders including Multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, dementia, autoimmune disorders, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and fibromyalgia.
After treating with a naturopathic doctor and receiving a Lyme disease diagnosis she “received many, many treatments and protocols… before [she] discovered a path to [a] cure”. By “taking a road less traveled… and treating with a Holistic Dr. in Tijuana, Mexico [she] only needed 9 months to get to full remission”.
In addition to treating at the Mexican health care facility, she “did brain rewriting, subconscious reprogramming, and trauma release… to [emotionally] heal for [her] treatments to be a success”.
If you would like to learn more about how an author and health coach remitted Lyme disease in 9 months utilizing subconscious rewiring and taking the road less traveled to work with a Holistic practitioner in Tijuana, Mexico, the tune in now!
Dr. Alan MacDonald is an Ivy League educated Medical Doctor who worked as a hospital pathologist in the eastern Long Island, New York area at the outset of the modern Lyme disease pandemic. He and his pioneering work were first featured on episode 171 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast.
In this comprehensive interview, Dr. MacDonald discusses his groundbreaking and yet to be published research findings on topics such as the Lyme disease connection to suicide, brain cancer, Leukemia, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, in addition to how acute Lyme disease disrupts liver function and why and how Lyme disease testing is flawed.
If you would like to learn more about how the new research of Dr. Alan MacDonald is providing definitive answers to the Lyme disease questions that have plagued patients for the past four decades, then tune in now!
PS you can also view an exclusive Tick Boot Camp presentation created by Dr. MacDonald with photos of Lyme under a microscope and descriptions highlighting the various topics discussed in this interview!
PPS if you'd like to help fund Dr. MacDonald publish his work in medical journals so his discoveries can be utilized by practitioners across the world, then check out his GoFundMe page.
Carley Rudd is a 34-year-old second generation artist and Travel Photographer from Portland, Maine. Her work has taken her across the globe and has been featured in Vogue, Condé Nast Traveller, National Geographic, Architectural Digest, and Travel & Leisure.
Ms. Rudd suffered from Lyme disease for 10 years before she was diagnosed in 2021. She balanced her pre-diagnosed symptoms and travel by visiting over 50 United States (US) and international doctors.
Eventually her body said no to her rigorous professional schedule, and she was forced to put her career on pause. Knowing her body was out of balance, she pursued a wide variety of medical diagnostic testing; including, bio-resonance, blood, and clinical.
After locating a diagnosis, Ms. Rudd tapped into her artistic skill set to build a healing plan. She utilized multi-sensory treatment tools such as blue, red, and sun light, diffused lavender oil, 54321 sensory exercises, adaptogen herbs, ozone, parasite and mold cleanses, meditation, Qigong, and energy healing.
Today, Ms. Rudd continues treatment, but she has returned to work and her social life. If you would like to learn more about how an artistic mindset can be used to accelerate healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Dr. Christina Rahm is a medical, clinical and research scientist, entrepreneur, author, Chief Science Officer for ROOT Wellness, and Chair of the International Science Nutrition Society from Brentwood, TN. Her resume includes working for pharmaceutical giants such as Johnson & Johnson, UCB, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Pfizer and she has created multiple provisional patents, proprietary formulas, and trade secrets.
Dr. Rahm’s journey with Lyme disease and chronic illness began when she suffered multiple bites from a “bed of seed ticks” at the age of 19. Within two weeks, she became chronically ill causing her to suffer memory loss, headaches, fever, fainting, and to feel “generally sick all over”.
Driven by a desire to help the patient community avoid the physical, emotional, and spiritual trauma caused by chronic illness, Dr. Rahm managed her own disease symptoms while earning undergraduate and graduate degrees (BA, MS, Ph.D and Ed.D) and post graduate certificates from Ivy League Harvard University and Cornell University.
In her adult life, Dr. Rahm has survived multiple bouts of cancer that she believes were stimulated by Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease has inspired professional, spiritual, emotional, and instinctive discoveries that have granted Dr. Christina Rahm the opportunity to help patients in more than 80 countries, then tune in now!
Zack Jones is a 48-year-old professional guide, trainer, trip designer, and photographer residing in Frankfurt, Germany. He is the “Zack of all Trades” with his current company and “recently added smitten father to an amazing baby girl to the CV”.
Mr. Jones described his life before Lyme as “pretty good and at the same time full of blissful ignorance”. While on a trip to Honduras, he and a travel companion began to suffer from neck and back pain that progressed to fever, intense body aches, and diarrhea that rendered him “barely able to function”. After treating with an infectious disease doctor, he returned to work but suffered from 5 years of lingering mental health issues.
Ten years after his initial symptoms, he traveled to Chile for work where he suffered relapsing mental health issues including anxiety attacks, depression, and insomnia. Thereafter he began to suffer physical symptoms including jaw pain, fatigue, neuropathy, bone pain and air hunger.
After treatment with “30 to 40 medical professionals for one symptom or another” he was tested for Lyme disease and co-infections through Armin Labs in Germany and IGeneX labs in the United States.
Today, Mr. Jones is in the midst of treatment utilizing genetic testing from traditional naturopath Bob Miller to guide him through the use of herbals, the Wave 1 bio resonance device, and the Patricia Kane protocol.
If you would like to learn more about how a professional guide and trip designer is mapping his treatment plan through genetic testing, then tune in now!
Jeni Quante is a 29-year-old Registered Nurse (RN) and chronic illness patient advocate from San Antonio, Texas. She has earned high regard from the Lyme disease community for producing creative educational content on social media platforms including TikTok and Instagram.
Ms. Quante was born with Congenital Lyme disease, but the undiagnosed illness did not become debilitating until the age of 14. Her disability activated her medically educated and trained parents who dedicated all their resources to advocating for their daughter. In total, the family visited “well over 100” doctors before she was diagnosed by a primary care physician. Her diagnosis took more than 12 years.
Despite debilitating symptoms, Ms. Quante graduated from college and nursing school, earning a BS, BSN, OCN, and RN. She also dedicated time to “engaging others in the chronic illness community and found some wonderful lymies who kept her going through the hell”.
This far, her 3-year treatment plan has included the use of several western and eastern treatment modalities, including, hyperthermia, SOT, herbs/tinctures, detox work, disulfiram, and biofilm busters.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease played a role in transforming a Registered Nurse into a highly regarded chronic illness and social media advocate, then tune in now!
Axel Roelants is an entrepreneur and former professional athlete from Belgium. He is the co-founder of 4Gold, an athletic supplement, health, and performance company.
In 2016, Mr. Roelants suffered a broken neck in a dirt bike accident. Shortly after the injury, he began to suffer from a diverse and progressive set of classic Lyme disease symptoms that his doctors attributed to his traumatic injuries.
Trusting his intuition and relying on his entrepreneurial and athletic skill sets, he built a team of doctors, therapists, and friends to help him to “look at [his] disease like a project”. After much trial and error, one of the team members suggested his “strange health issues” should be evaluated by an ILADS doctor in Belgium where he tested positive for Borrelia Miyamotoi.
Mr. Roelants’ healing journey included the use of IV antibiotics, disulfiram, samento and banderol from NutraMedix, Meyers’ Cocktails, ozone therapy, and detoxification. Unfortunately, his discipleship in the church of the athletic “suck it up” culture caused healing setbacks because he “over exercised” and pushed through treatments too quickly.
If you would like to learn more about how a professional athlete and entrepreneur utilized his professional skill sets to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Ali Lazowski is the 31-year-old John’s Hopkins University educated founder and CEO of Bare Life. Bare Life is a company that creates “crave worthy and easy to enjoy plant based and gluten free foods, inspired by Ms. Lazowski’s journey with chronic Lyme disease”.
Undiagnosed Lyme disease symptoms began to interfere with Ms. Lazowski’s goal driven life during her junior year in high school. Beginning with “utter exhaustion, horrible headaches, brain fog, [difficulties] focusing, and a constant low-grade fever”, her illness progressed to include “joint pain”.
She suffered in constant pain without a diagnosis for 8 years despite treating with “north of 30 different doctors”. Finally, at the age of 25, she granted permission to “cry… with relief” when a blood test indicated that she was positive for Lyme, Babesia and Anaplasmosis.
Treatment with a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor included various antibiotics and antibiotic cocktails. The 3 “game changing” healing plan interventions were: 1. working with a psychologist to learn how to read her body signals, 2. dietary changes that removed dairy, gluten, and refined sugar, and 3. Cord stem cell therapy.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired Ali Lazowski to create great tasting gluten, dairy, and refined sugar free chocolate, then tune in now!
Debbie Kimberg is a 55-year-old author, activist, and director of International Expansion for Merchant Services at JP Morgan Chase from Dallas, Texas.
Ms. Kimberg, her mother, and her 3 children have been diagnosed with Lyme disease. Despite 3 generations of the family exhibiting classic Lyme disease symptoms, Lyme was not a consideration until after the youngest child, Sammy, was diagnosed.
Sammy’s Lyme journey began prior to birth, when a brain development issue was discovered on a prenatal ultrasound. He saw a neurologist at birth and then doctors and special education service providers diagnosed him with ASD, ADHD, Tourette's syndrome (TS), OCD, Autism and PANS.
At the age of 10, Sammy was also diagnosed with Lyme disease by a functional doctor. At the same time, Ms. Kimberg was also diagnosed. Finally, Sammy’s test results led doctors to test his 2 brothers and his grandmother.
For most of Sammy’s life, his family, doctors, and teachers believed his disability would limit his ability to work and require him to live in a long-term residential facility. However, in the past 18 months, Lyme and Bartonella treatment protocols have resolved his learning disabilities and ADHD. As a result, he is reading above grade level, attending school in the general education population, and studying for the ACT college entrance exam in anticipation of attending a 4-year college.
The Kimberg family’s lengthy congenital Lyme disease journey activated Debbie. She has participated in advocacy forums, podcasts, articles, and has authored a soon to be published book titled “Our Hijacked Brain: A True Story of Infection, ADHD and Psychiatric Issues”.
If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme advocate was born out of solving a multi-generational medical mystery, then tune in now!
Greg Lee is the 55-year-old founder of the Lyme Research and Healing Center and GoodbyeLyme.com. He is a nationally recognized expert in the use of Chinese herbs and alternative medicine for the treatment of persistent infections.
Mr. Lee began his career as a systems engineer on NASA projects such as the Hubble Telescope, the Space Station, robotics, and climate modeling projects. The stresses of working on multiple space projects caused Mr. Lee to suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which he managed with medications until he resolved the illness after treating with an acupuncturist.
The relief offered by the alternative treatment inspired Mr. Lee to change his career path. He returned to college to become a Master of Acupuncture and he also earned a Chinese herbal certification before opening a healing practice for chronic pain in Fredrick, Maryland.
Two concurrent events inspired Mr. Lee to narrow the scope of his healing practices focus on Lyme: first, many of the patients he successfully treated for fibromyalgia tested positive for Lyme disease, and second, his daughter was bitten by an infected tick.
If you would like to learn more about how you may benefit from herbals, alternative treatment, and the Lyme Research and Healing Center on your Lyme disease healing journey, then tune in now!
Dr. Janis J. Weis, Ph.D. is a Professor of Pathology in the Division of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Dr Weis developed a professional passion for studying Lyme disease when she and her family lived in the east coast Lyme belt during the time she performed her post-doctoral training in immunology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard University Medical Center.
Dr. Weis maintains an active research laboratory at the University of Utah studying the mechanisms and genetic regulation of Lyme arthritis development. She also serves as director of the Training Program in Microbial Pathogenesis, a National Institute of Health (NIH) sponsored training grant that supports pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees in this discipline.
Dr. Weis’ current studies are focused on understanding the inflammatory dysregulation associated with acute and chronic Lyme arthritis in mice. Recent studies have identified in Lyme infected immune deficient mice several features that are similar to features seen in patients with chronic Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn more about how the work of research Professor Dr. Janis Weis may provide the answers to how the Lyme bacteria may cause sustained inflammation and chronic illness regardless of the status or condition of your immune system, then tune in now!
Sarah Corlis is a mother of two children with Lyme disease from Alpharetta, Georgia. Growing up, she had a very active social life and used to work out all the time.
Sarah was a human resources manager until she was 34 years old when she took some time off to have her kids. A few years later, she returned to work as a realtor with a more flexible schedule for 6 years until she decided to work fulltime on her health and the health of her two children.
Some of Sarah's early Lyme disease symptoms included dizziness, nausea, jaw pain, headaches, terrible fatigue, depression, and anxiety, but doctors dismissed her symptoms and told her she was just anxious. Finally, Sarah was tested for Lyme disease by a functional medical doctor and was positive through both Labcorp and Vibrant Wellness tests.
Sarah has been treating using a variety of different tools for almost a decade. She has used antibiotics, herbals, FREmedica WAVE 1, Supportive Oligonucleotide Therapy (SOT) for Lyme and Bartonella, and most recently Ivermectin/Azithromycin for Babesia. Next, she is considering SOT for Babesia.
If you'd like to learn more how a determined mom "didn't lose hope, kept trying" and knew her and her children "could feel better", then tune in now!
PS Cassidy Colbert special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Amanda Millie is a 35-year-old model, blogger and podcaster from London, England.
Shortly after Ms. Millie’s family immigrated from Africa to the UK, she was bitten by a tick on a school camping trip. She “picked off the tick and moved on with [her] life” because she was “unaware of what that bite meant”.
Around the age of 19, Ms. Millie “started getting intense fatigue” which she attributed to lifestyle changes she felt compelled to make to advance her career in the fashion modeling industry. Ms. Millie’s pursuit of food deprivation and high intensity exercise bolstered her modeling career and at the same time her undiagnosed Lyme disease symptoms, including, night sweats, headaches, brain fog, and hair loss.
The next decade of Ms. Millie’s life was punctuated by “a lot of doctors’ visits” and new symptoms. After visiting over 20 “private pay” doctors that caused her to collect several misdiagnoses, she was referred to a Lyme disease clinic in London. There, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease and prescribed a 10 step “personalized treatment protocol”.
Today, Ms. Millie has rebuilt her health by reorganizing her career and reconnecting with a healthy food and exercise regimen. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease forced a fashion model to return to her traditional lifestyle choices to support healing, then tune in now!
Dr. Daniel Kinderlehrer is a nationally recognized medical doctor, educator, and author from Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Kinderlehrer is acknowledged for his wide-ranging expertise in the fields of nutrition, allergy, environmental medicine, healing of the mind/body/spirit as a whole, and Lyme disease. His passion for treating Lyme disease was born out of his personal experience.
He is the co-founder of the New England Center for Holistic Medicine in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and has taught extensively, including practitioner training courses at the Omega Institute, The National Institute of Behavioral Medicine, and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). He is the creator of the Lyme Fundamentals course which is presented annually at the ILADS conferences.
He is the author of the acclaimed book “Recovering from Lyme Disease” and several review articles in medical journals and on LymeDisease.org.
If you would like to know more about how Lyme disease inspired a former patient to build an integrated medical practice in Denver, Colorado to focus on the diagnosed treatment of Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Dina Benedetto is a 38-year-old beauty and skin care industry professional from Long Island, New York.
Ms. Benedetto’s Lyme disease journey was ignited by a common stomach virus that infected several members of her family at the same time. While her family’s symptoms dissipated, her illness became increasingly more severe. She suffered from confusion, heart palpitations, air hunger, anxiety, and panic attacks.
As her symptoms progressed, the fearless former lacrosse athlete and driven business professional began to lose faith in her ability to heal. Her escalating symptoms caused her to think she was dying.
Finally, her primary care physician tested her using a full “tick panel” that revealed she was suffering from “late-stage neurological Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Epstein Barr Virus”.
After her diagnosis, she treated with a primary care physician, 2 infectious disease doctors, a gastroenterologist, and finally a holistic practitioner. Utilizing traditional antibiotics, herbal remedies, CBD oil, and detoxification baths she began to rebuild her health. Unfortunately, she has recently come to understand that her dream career and the consequent chemical exposure is triggering her current health ebbs and flows. After “two days of facials, [she] literally cannot move”.
If you would like to learn more about how a beauty industry professional residing in a Lyme endemic community learned how her chemical exposure suppressed her immune system and made her vulnerable to chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Jill Wichner is a 48-year-old entrepreneur, copywriter, and content marketing strategist. She is also a board member and Vice President of social media and digital content marketing for the Pennsylvania Lyme Resource Network.
Ms. Wichner’s Lyme disease journey began when she “noticed a bullseye rash on the back of [her] arm” while on a Caribbean cruise with her husband. Thinking the rash was “a little bit odd, [she] took a photo” to show to her doctor in Lyme endemic Pennsylvania. “After showing [her doctor] the photo and asking him about the association with ticks, he advised that ticks aren’t found in the Caribbean, and that [she] would already be sick if the rash were a result of a tick bite”.
Ten months later, the high energy, socially active, full-time employee of a Pharma company became “seriously ill”, and she lost her job. Her illness forced her to seek treatment from “at least 7 doctors (not including those assigned to [her] during a 5-day hospital stay)” before she was diagnosed with Lyme, Bartonella and Babesia.
Her clinical doctor treated her with antibiotics and supplements for one year before she could return to work. The “time and struggle” of Lyme “significantly changed [her] perspective” and provided her with a license to leave a career in Pharma to pursue an entrepreneurial calling. After opening her own business, she also felt called to give purpose to her pain and accepted an invitation to join the board of the renowned Pennsylvania Lyme Resource Network.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease changed the perspective of a Pharma employee and gave her permission to change her career path and the focus of her social contributions, then tune in now!
Kristen Harris is a 39-year-old small business owner from Westchester County, New York. Her story is different than most of our guests.
Ms. Harris was very sick with Lyme disease in 1998, reached remission in 2000, and in 2016 fell ill again due to Lyme. She went to college, got a job, traveled, and lived a very active life from 2000 to 2016.
At the age of 33, Ms. Harris relapsed and suffered severe neck pain, full-body pain, dizziness, cognitive issues, Lyme rage, disassociation, heart palpitations, ringing in her ears, vision disturbances, muscle twitching, migraines, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and more.
Ms. Harris has treated using IV and oral antibiotics, herbs, supplements, IV glutathione, IV Vitamins, oxygen therapy, and detox protocols.
If you would like to learn how a young woman is beating back Lyme disease a second time in her short life and is starting to reacclimate professionally and socially, then tune in now!
PS Christina Kantzavelos, Lyme Literate Therapist, special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Andi Czyz is a multi-talented 23-year-old Certified Functional Nutrition Practitioner, Holistic Health Practitioner, and Social Media Manager originally from midwestern suburban Illinois.
Ms. Czyz’s Lyme disease journey began when she suffered a tick bite in March 2020. Within weeks she suffered “full body numbness, extreme brain fog, tremors, anxiety, and knee swelling”. Despite displaying classic Lyme disease symptoms, the then uber fit weightlifter had to visit with 6 doctors before she was tested for and diagnosed with Lyme.
After treatment with traditional antibiotics failed to yield symptom relief, she pivoted to a functional medical practice. There she discovered her Lyme illness was working “hand in hand” with a mold illness that was found in her body and her apartment. By treating and resolving the mold illness (CIRS) symptoms, she was offered “a Lyme treatment protocol which cleared up some of the other Lyme symptoms”.
Ms. Czyz’s research during her treatment journey revealed “that not many people post on food” for people managing chronic illness on social media. She decided to fill the gap by creating the “A Little More Balanced” Instagram and website to provide information on “easy to prepare gluten-free, vegan and anti-inflammatory foods”.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired a social media marketing manager and Certified Nutrition Diagnostic Practitioner to build a highly regarded nutrition infotainment platform dedicated to serving the chronically ill, then tune in now!
Ali Goodman is a 24-year-old dancer and Pilates instructor from San Diego, California.
Ms. Goodman’s young life has been punctuated by a passion for the performing arts and health challenges that would hinder her artistic progress. “Never feeling completely normal,” she and her family had to deal with random medical anomalies from the time [she] was born.
Undeterred by a “different [medical] diagnosis” from more than 15 doctors, she was a straight A student, and “danced rigorously”. By the age of “16 or 17” her symptoms became so severe and deteriorating that she “thought [she] was going to die”.
For the next two years she suffered from debilitating chronic Lyme disease symptoms such as “brain fog, fatigue, heart palpitations, fevers, joint and muscle pains, and migraine headaches”. Shortly after her 19th birthday, she was finally diagnosed with congenital Lyme disease, a diagnosis confirmed by urine and blood tests in addition to a “neuroquant mri”.
After learning she was suffering from a congenital disease, Ms. Goodman and her family moved forward with holistic treatments that arrested and remitted the Lyme bacteria allowing her to now focus on treatment for bartonella, mold toxicity, and MCAS”.
Today, Ms. Goodman is inspiring the Lyme community with her Instagram advocacy page Dancing.In.The.LymeLight. If you would like to learn more about how a performing artist is using dance and movement as an element of her physical and emotional healing plan, then tune in now.
This week Tick Boot Camp was joined by special guest co-host Alexandra Castellanos in an inspiring interview with author, public servant, and Lyme disease family advocate Jody Hudson. Ms. Hudson is the author of one of this year’s most highly acclaimed Lyme disease books: “My Promise to Alex - Through Pain Comes Purpose...”.
After building the Alex Hudson Foundation and sharing her family’s journey at public forums, Ms. Hudson answered the divine call to write a book to serve as a permanent monument to her daughter’s triumphant life. Despite 10 years of medical trauma, caused by more than 40 doctors’ incorrect diagnosis, Alex taught by example that servicing others is the path to locating life’s joys.
Today, Ms. Hudson utilizes diverse media to help families locate tools that bring forward faith and joy in a quest to overcome terminal illnesses. If you would like to learn more about how the Hudson family has converted loss into faith and purpose, then tune in now!
Emily Hogan is a nurse and health coach specializing in gut health from Seattle Washington. She is the founder of the “Stick to Your Gut” health coaching business.
Ms. Hogan began her Lyme disease journey while she was studying nursing during her sophomore year of college. She was studying abroad when she began to suffer a lengthy flu-like illness that she decided to ignore despite her gut telling her otherwise.
Shortly after she returned from her foreign studies, she became gravely ill with “extreme GI issues”. She was rushed to the hospital and when her tests “came back negative” she was introduced to the dark side of western medicine: gaslighting.
After 3 years of misdiagnosis and treatments that served to exacerbate her illness, she pivoted away from the modern medical system she “full heartedly believed in” and visited a naturopathic doctor. There she tested positive for Lyme on an IGeneX blood test and began to heal by using antibiotics and natural modalities such as herbals, probiotics, acupuncture, and sauna treatments.
After being failed by the medical system she “dedicated her whole heart and life to” that “left [her] with nothing when [she] needed it most,” she began to study health coaching. While continuing to “work at the bedside” as a western trained nurse, she believed she had to supplement her training “to support others who were going through life experiences” similar to her Lyme disease journey.
After learning from personal experience that “our gut and nutrition are both the most vital components to our healing journey,” she built a successful health coaching business. If you would like to learn more about how a western educated nurse learned to coach people on how to remove gut triggers, adapt diets to nourish the gut, and create a plan for long term healing, then tune in now!
Kelley Flannagan is an attorney, model, celebrity spokesperson and reality tv personality from North Barrington, Illinois and Miami, Florida. She became a household name when she starred in the ABC reality series: The Bachelor.
Ms. Flannagan grew up in a large mid-western family. She and her siblings enjoyed a variety of outdoor activities during their childhood. At the same time, her body was forced to cope with the ebb and flow of a variety of childhood illnesses.
After graduation from High School, Ms. Flannagan attended the University of Alabama and then the Chicago-Kent College of Law. After earning her Juris Doctorate degree and passing the bar exam, she joined a prominent Chicago law firm.
In 2020, Ms. Flannagan was invited to pivot from her law career to become a member of the Bachelor Nation reality series. During season 24, she was eliminated after seven stressful weeks on the show. Shortly after departure from the show, she began to suffer severe health complications.
After visiting with an array of doctors, she began to fear she may be suffering from Lyme disease. Sadly, several of her siblings were diagnosed with Lyme disease and she followed in her brother’s footsteps and tested for Lyme disease with IGeneX.
When her lab work revealed positive results for Lyme and several co-infections, Ms. Flannagan felt called to share her diagnosis on her social and mainstream media platforms to build Lyme disease awareness. If you would like to learn more about how a lawyer and reality tv star is using her celebrity status to generate attention to the Lyme disease crisis, then tune in now!
“The Cellular Wellness Solution - Tap Into Your Full Health Potential with the Science-Backed Power of Herbs” is the newly released bestselling book by the brilliant Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) Bill Rawls. During Lyme Disease Awareness Month (May 2022), Tick Boot Camp challenged Dr. Rawls to “unofficially launch” his then unpublished book, live and unscripted. Dr. Rawls took up the gauntlet and this podcast is the audio of the Instagram Live broadcast.
If you would like to learn more about why herbs are a vital element of every Lyme disease patient’s toolbox, then tune in now!
Note: The Cellular Wellness Solution is now available as the #1 New Release on Amazon. If you order the book today and then visit CellularWellness.com, Dr. Rawls will provide you with bonus extras including the Cellular Wellness Workbook.
Dr Jessica Peatross is medical doctor and board-certified hospitalist. She is the founder of the Wellness Plus by Dr Jess platform and the highly acclaimed Lyme disease medical infotainer.
Dr Jess was raised in rural West Virginia by a preacher-missionary father and dietitian mother. Her sheltered religious upbringing and a broken back suffered in an auto accident informed her decision to prepare to serve by attending medical school.
While attending medical school, she developed a passion for internal medicine and after completing her residency she chose to work as a hospitalist. Unfortunately, her time as an in-hospital “first responder” negatively affecting her health because she was constantly in “fight or flight”.
Dr Jess left her job as a board-certified hospitalist to focus her practice on root cause answers for her patients. When she understood that “disease is not one thing but a combination of toxicity and pathogens,” she built a platform to entertain while teaching complex medical topics.
Today, Dr Jess is serving the community on both free and subscription platforms. She offers unparalleled free content on her social media and in-depth video courses and community through her subscription Wellness Plus platform.
If you would like to learn more about how Dr Jess’ post traumatic growth allowed her to transform medicine and the treatment of Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Nicoleta Forbes is a married 36-year-old realtor from St Petersburg, Florida. She and her husband co-manage their family, a successful real estate business, and Lyme disease.
In 2016, the couple were both physically unwell and Mr. Forbes was diagnosed with Lyme disease. His debilitating symptoms became life threatening, forcing the family to close their business, sell their house, and focus full time on healing.
While supporting her husband’s healing, Ms. Forbes felt like “she understood her husband’s symptoms so well and could truly understand what he was going through”. In 2018, she discovered her sympathy was in fact empathy because she tested positive for a cocktail of tick diseases including Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Her diagnosis helped her to understand why her life was bookmarked with “seasons of feeling good and then not”. Fortunately, “the trial and error with [her] husband” allowed her to shorten her treatment journey and work with a health care provider she trusted.
Ms. Forbes treated with antibiotics, herbals, lymphatic drainage massages, a rife machine, ozone therapy, cryotherapy, and glutathione through a nebulizer. She modeled her husband’s treatment path except he utilized additional SOT and Lyme N therapies.
Today, the couple have returned to work and have rebuilt their real estate business after learning how to turn their treatment into a lifestyle.
If you would like to learn more about how a real estate professional performed her “due diligence” and paid the customary “commissions” in order to go to “closing” on Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Dr. Casey Kelley is a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor and the founder and Medical Director of Case Integrative Health. Tick Boot Camp has featured Dr. Kelley’s work online and on episodes 98 and 170 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. For the past two years, podcast co-hosts Matt Sabatello and Rich Johannesen challenged Dr. Kelley to honor Lyme Disease Awareness Month by answering your questions in real time on Instagram Live. This podcast is the audio of the 2022 Instagram Live broadcast. If you would like to learn more about how Dr. Casey Kelley demonstrated that she “really knows the ropes” and gave Matt and Rich “the ole one-two”, then tune in now!
Hilary Jane is a 32-year-old multidisciplinary artist, entrepreneur, and internationally recognized tattoo artist from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Her Lyme disease symptoms began when she was in her early 20s. She suffered a “gigantic bullseye rash on [her] thigh that kept spreading.” The rash got infected, triggering her to seek treatment from a medical doctor that “didn’t catch on to what it really was.” She believed the rash was from “a spider bite or maybe Lyme,” but her speculation was not supported by her doctors.
For the next 10 years her artistic endeavors progressed, and her career offered her the opportunity to travel the world. Her extreme travel, social, and work schedules suppressed her immune system causing her to develop progressively debilitating symptoms, eventually resulting in total burnout.
Seeking solutions to her health crisis, she turned to a naturopathic doctor. The naturopath diagnosed her with Lyme disease and treated her with “supplements, detoxing, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and infrared sauna.” The game changing treatment for Hillary Jane was the discovery and use of ancient Egyptian healing rods.
If you would like to know more about how an internationally renowned artist used an ancient treatment to make significant health gains, then tune in now!
Lauren Lovejoy is the charismatic entrepreneurial founder of the Lyme service organization Lyme Warrior. She grew up and lives in rural Virginia.
Ms. Lovejoy was living a life of a normal 20 something, working in a law office by day and attending graduate school studying Analytics at night. She filled her remaining time participating in social activities and training at a CrossFit gym.
One weekend, when she took an 8-hour road trip, she suffered a panic attack, shaking, and an out of body experience. After returning to school, she began to suffer from disorientation and vision loss. Her symptoms continued to build to the point that she had to acknowledge she “could not continue her job or her education.”
Her illness remained undiagnosed, despite visiting “piles of primary care doctors, every category of specialists (twice), and functional medicine” professionals. One renowned neurologist told her “there was nothing he or any doctor could do for [her]” and she had to accept her “life as being home bound.”
Her diagnosis arrived as a gift from a nurse at a holistic clinic that rejected her as a patient. He told her “based on your symptoms, you sound like you have Lyme disease” and encouraged her to attend a specialized Lyme clinic.
During her time studying Lyme disease, she discovered her story was not uncommon. She learned that the well documented disease was “still denied by [her] government, and most doctors.” This information inspired her to create the Lyme Warrior non-profit from her couch.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme Warrior Lauren Lovejoy discovered that it was her job to try to prevent her Lyme disease story “from happening to as many people as possible,” then tune in now!
Blakeley Boyd is a 20-year-old farm girl from Alabama who has a heart of gold and a passion for spreading the love of Jesus to those around her. She spent her growing up years with her eight siblings working her farm with her dad and being homeschooled by her mom. All growing up Blakeley often was there always offering a helping hand to those who need it. That good work ethic and passion for loving others running through her veins drove her to dream of doing mission work into her adult years. At a young age, Blakeley felt greatly called to spend her life being the hands and feet of Jesus.
When Blakeley was 17 years old, she quite suddenly developed many unexpected symptoms that left her incapacitated and seemingly cemented to her couch for a time. She spent her first year of Lyme looking for a diagnosis, suffering greatly, and treating her Lyme and coinfections with antibiotics. With little results seen on that path, Blakeley and her mother went searching for answers for other alternative treatments that placed her feet on the path of healing.
At this time, Lyme and coinfections seemed to rob Blakeley of her dreams and deprive her of her capability to do anything she had once done or ever desired to do. Blakeley also found that she lost many friendships and relationships due to her persistent suffering. And like many of those in the Lyme community, that hindered her ability to heal.
About a year and a half into her Lyme journey, Blakeley was able to connect to the chronic illness community online and eventually meet some of her best friends and community. Throughout these experiences, Blakeley is well on her way to healing now and beautifully finding ways to fulfill her dream of being the hands and feet of Jesus through The Chronically Care Project, despite her suffering.
If your interest is piqued, and you want to know how a small-town girl from Alabama is healing from Lyme through Jesus and a constant drive to transform hearts, tune in now!
P.S. Claire Dalton, Blakeley's best friend whom she because of their commonalities in Lyme and in life, special guest co-hosted this episode with Matt from Tick Boot Camp! You don't want to miss this episode all about The Chronically Care Project, how it can help you, and how you can get involved in giving back to the Lyme and chronic illness community!
Care Package Applications for #TheChronicallyCareProject open on June 6th, 2022. Go apply for a care package!
Jim Miller is a 38-year-old professional mixed martial arts athlete from Sparta Township, New Jersey. He currently holds the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) records for the most wins, most bouts, most submission wins, and most fight time (6:03:59) in the lightweight division. He has been awarded Fight of the Night 7 times and Fight of the Year.
In 2016, after losing a unanimous decision, he decided he would announce his retirement after a final bout at UFC 200. Because he believed that 11 years of MMA had taken a physical toll, he planned to stand in the middle of the Octagon, “thank his fans, and call it a career.”
Prior to his retirement bout, he visited his doctor and described the ever-widening array of symptoms that began in 2013, the same year he suffered a tick bite. His doctor diagnosed him with and began to treat him for Lyme disease.
Initially, he treated with 6 months of doxycycline and followed a disciplined exercise, diet, and mindset strategy he developed for MMA bouts. When his symptoms returned, his doctor prescribed an additional 2 years of antibiotic treatment.
After treatment, Mr. Miller returned to the Octagon and defeated Ultimate Fighter Champion Joe Lauzon on Fox in Vancouver and then put on his best performance of the year by defeating Thiago Alves at UFC 205 in New York.
If you would like to learn how Lyme disease landed a near career end blow to a UFC mixed martial arts legend, then tune in now!
Kayla Stevens is a 27-year-old woman from Atlanta, Georgia. She has a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Health Sciences from the University of Maine, a Master of Health Administration (MHA) from Georgia State University, and she’s currently finishing up her Integrative Health Practitioner (IHP) certification.
Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Stevens worked for a local hospital, was known as the “party girl,” and traveled frequently.
At the age of 25, Ms. Stevens quickly fell ill from Lyme disease the day after a tick bite with flu-like symptoms and a bullseye rash. Within a week her symptoms rapidly progressed and included severe psychiatric symptoms she’d never before experienced, such as suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, severe depression, a constant feeling as if she were dying, seeing shadows, and feeling schizophrenic.
Ms. Stevens went to the Emergency Room (ER) 3 times, saw an infectious disease specialist, rheumatologist, and Lyme literate doctor before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease through IGeneX and muscle testing a few months after getting sick. Her infectious disease doctor said she “couldn't possibly have Lyme disease” while all the ER doctors suggested it was a mental health disorder or Lupus.
Ms. Stevens first treated using antibiotics for 16 months in combination with a mix of herbs. She then went on to treat at LymeStop in Idaho for 4 months.
If you would like to learn how Lyme disease inspired a western trained medical professional to study and utilize integrative medicine, then tune in now!
PS Kelsey Watkins special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Leanne Pearson is a 32-year-old Country Rock singer songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She has written and produced several popular songs including “Miles Away,” “Little Man,” and the TikTok famous “Caturday.”
Ms. Pearson’s professional and personal life plans were more times than not rejected by her family, friends, and teachers. She was told she could not be a professional singer/songwriter and she was told she was not sick during her lengthy Lyme diagnostic journey. “No” was a constant theme in Ms. Pearson’s early life.
Despite all the naysayers in her early life, Ms. Pearson has become a highly regarded singer/songwriter and she overcame 25 years of medical misdiagnosis by locating and working with a naturopathic doctor that tied together her migrating/random symptoms and diagnosed her with Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn more about how a Country Rock singer/songwriter moved from “No” to personal and professional success, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp and special co-host Nicole Bell interviewed the charismatic Founder and CEO of HatchPath.io: Jordan Dunin. Mr. Dunin’s Lyme disease journey inspired him to build built a platform designed to match patients with vetted professional health and life coaches.
Mr. Dunin was diagnosed with Lyme disease at the age of 20. Prior to the diagnosis, he was an elite Canadian Jr hockey player in high school and college. His path to professional hockey was interrupted by multiple short-term illnesses and then a traumatic brain injury.
When Mr. Dunin’s brain injury failed to respond to treatment, his doctors began to suspect that his immune system was compromised. He was initially tested for Lyme with a traditional western blot and then eventually tested positive on the German ArminLabs test.
Like many Lyme patients, Mr. Dunin was forced to abandon the western medical system to rebuild his health. Utilizing Rife therapy, “completely changing [his] diet,” and changing his mindset and lifestyle, he overcame debilitating Lyme symptoms.
If you would like to learn more about how former elite athlete found health and happiness by completely changing his mindset and lifestyle, then tune in now!
Laura Perry is a 37-year-old myth busting Integrative Health Practitioner from Richmond, Virginia. Despite suffering from unwellness for most of her life, she succeeded in securing a very stable and lucrative job in corporate America.
During her lengthy diagnostic journey, she treated with 15 allopathic doctors who misdiagnosed her “over and over again.” In 2019, she abandoned the western medical system and utilized Bioresonance testing. She tested positive for “Borrelia, Babesia, Bartonella and Rickettsia.”
Finally securing a diagnosis permitted Laura to treat her “own Lyme by addressing immune system dysregulation.” First, she remediated mold contamination in her home. Next, she had to address parasites and cell danger response. Thereafter she moved “on to treating with things like the parasite zapper and CellCore IS tinctures” for Lyme disease and co-infections.
After much trial and error, Ms. Perry developed a “muscle testing method that provides the ability to hone in on what is driving symptoms very quickly.” With the support of her entrepreneurial husband, she left corporate America to share her method by building Revealing Healing. Revealing Healing is a program designed to help “those who want to heal and to do it themselves” with gentle guidance from Ms. Perry for the first few months.
If you would like to learn more about how the 12 week Revealing Healing program can provide you with the tools and information required to foster self-healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed the dynamic mother daughter founders and operators of Eco Laboratory.
Karen Weeks is an internationally recognized Lyme disease pioneer who has been at the forefront of Lyme research since the early 1980s. While supervising the Virology Department at the Department of Public Health for Massachusetts, Ms. Weeks worked directly with Dr. Allen Steere (the physician researcher recognized for detailing the clinical symptoms and naming Lyme disease). At that time, Ms. Weeks developed the Antibody Capture Immunoassay, which remains the most sensitive test available for Lyme disease.
In 1990 she co-founded IMUGEN Inc, the premier laboratory for the diagnosis of Lyme disease, and many other tick-borne diseases. Ms. Weeks co-authored several publications pertaining to tick-borne diseases in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, The New England Journal of Medicine, and many others. Anna Roberts is following in her mother's large footsteps and manages Eco Laboratory.
Because Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are spreading at an alarming rate, Ms. Weeks decided to re-enter the testing arena after merging IMUGEN to a national testing company. She understood that quick diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illnesses is vital to treating tick-borne pathogens.
To support early intervention, she set up a testing system that quickly processes the tick and provides patients with accurate timely results.
Today, Eco Laboratory offers 5 highly regarded tick testing panels including, a Lyme Disease only panel, a Blacklegged Deer Tick Panel, a Lone Star Tick Panel, an American Dog Tick Panel, and a Customized Tick Panel.
If you would like to learn more about tick testing and the virtues of working with a laboratory built by a Lyme disease pioneer, then tune in now!
Miranda Holder is a 46-year-old fashion stylist, TV stylist, college lecturer and animal rescue philanthropist from Hampshire, England. Her entertainment portfolio includes number one girl band Little Mix, music icon Boy George, and Hollywood actress Vanessa Williams. She is a regular TV Stylist on QVC, and she hosts her own highly regarded fashion podcast.
Ms. Holder’s life and entertainment career were stalled by injuries and illness following a near fatal auto accident. Shortly after suffering traumatic injuries to her lower legs, she also began to suffer from low energy, the flu, body aches, rashes, memory loss, insomnia, and hyper mobility. Unfortunately, the traumatic injuries consumed her doctors’ attention and her classic Lyme symptoms went ignored.
She was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease “by accident via a kinesiologist” who was treating her daughter. Because she tested negative for Lyme on traditional tests administrated by her “GP in the UK,” she was “shocked” when she tested positive by the muscle testing followed by blood tests from Armin Laboratory in Germany.
Utilizing herbs (Klinghardt protocol), ozone therapy, a nutrition protocol, bioresonance, an infrared sauna, yoga, IV glutathione, IV vitamin C, and CBD Ms. Holder took control of her health and returned to a career in the entertainment industry.
If you would like to learn more about how an acclaimed fashion stylist overcame life threatening injuries and chronic Lyme disease to rekindle her love affair with fashion, the tune in now!
Kim Director is a Carnegie Mellon University educated TV and film working actor from New York City, New York. She has starred in HBO’s “The Deuce,” Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black,” “Queens,” “Blair Witch 2” and several Spike Lee films including “He Got Game,” “Summer of Sam,” “She Hate Me,” and “Inside Man.”
Ms. Director’s Lyme disease journey began 18 years before her diagnosis. She visited with over 60 doctors on both the east and west coasts of the United State. Despite presenting her doctors with classic Lyme disease symptoms, she was regularly failed by the medical community. She was misdiagnosed with “tired woman” syndrome, “aging” and “still beautiful” (when she presented with facial paralysis).
Her success as an actor required her to learn how to be gritty and to process grief quickly. These emotional skill sets allowed her to fight for a diagnosis and move through the medical trauma induced grief cycle to begin treatment almost immediately after securing a proper Lyme disease diagnosis.
If you would like to learn more about how to manage the sadness and loss caused by medical trauma in a way that will propel you forward on your healing journey, then tune in now!
Kate Petrie is a 54-year-old classically trained actor, voice actor, drama teacher, and makeup artist from Morayshire, Scotland. Drama school and stage acting offered her the opportunity to travel across the globe residing in France, England, and Spain.
Ms. Petrie spent her childhood in rural Scotland where she “was bitten by ticks many times.” She “had lots of health issues when [she] was younger,” but suffered severe symptoms including rashes, swollen glands, loss of voice, and “horrendous fatigue” after a tick bite at the age of 17. Her doctors diagnosed her with “ringworm” and “the kissing disease” and urged her not to “kiss too many boys.”
Despite growing up in a tick endemic community and suffering from classic migrating Lyme disease symptoms, she was not accurately diagnosed until she was 50 years old. Doctors misdiagnosed Ms. Petrie with Endometriosis, Graves’ disease, and arthritis. Finally, she hired a “private doctor in London” who sent her blood work to Armin Labs in Germany.
Today, Ms. Petrie has become a Lyme education advocate because she believes that if she had “known about Lyme” and had received early “treatment” her “life would have been very very very different.”
If you would like to learn more about how education can protect you and your family from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Children’s Lyme author Alex Castellanos served as a special guest co-host with Rich for this interview.
Gabriela Wijegunawardena is a 43-year-old mother living in the Washington metropolitan area, originally from San Francisco, California, where she contracted Lyme disease. She is a food blogger and has helped countless individuals in the Lyme disease and tick-borne illness community.
Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Wijegunawardena worked as a NICU nurse at a level III NICU/Regional surgical center for almost 2 decades. She loved traveling with her husband to places like Hawaii, Bali, Spain, Ireland, and London and was an avid hiker.
At the age of 35, Ms. Wijegunawardena first began to exhibit symptoms which she later learned were caused by Lyme disease. Some of her symptoms included migraines, insomnia, UTIs, Interstitial Cystitis (IC), edema (swelling caused by fluid in your body tissue), worsening allergies, rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis (inflammatory skin disorders that cause redness, lesions, and itching), and joint issues.
Ms. Wijegunawardena saw 45 healthcare practitioners over 7 years before finally receiving a proper Lyme disease diagnosis. She treated with IV Rocephin (Ceftriaxone) and oral Tindamax for 1 year until more recently when she used Supportive Oligonucleotide Technique (SOT) which got her into remission 6 weeks post-SOT.
If you would like to learn how a determined nurse refused to give up and used a new treatment modality that’s been borrowed from the Cancer world to reach remission, then tune in now!
PS Jenny Buttaccio special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Stacy Johnson is a TV and film working actor, singer, director, producer, and stunt woman. Her acting career began at the age of 4 on Sesame Street and has blossomed to include high profile projects like “Heroes,” “Ozark,” “The Greatest Showman,” “Halloween,” and “Iron Man” movies. She has produced and won awards for her documentary films "Hursit" and “The Sun Sets.”
As a successful actress, Ms. Johnson has taught students on acting and in furthering their careers. She and her husband Scott Dukelow manage SJD Acting Studio that coaches students on acting and the film industry.
Ms. Johnson’s Lyme disease journey began with a tick bite in 2005. Despite developing classic Lyme disease symptoms and working with scores of the top doctors in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and North Carolina, she was not diagnosed until after more than a decade of suffering.
Prior to securing a Lyme disease diagnosis, she suffered from migrating neurological and cardiac symptoms. In 2015 she had to be resuscitated by emergency service personnel after her heart stopped during a visit to a McDonald’s restaurant in Chicago.
Desperate for answers for her health crisis, Ms. Johnson visited Dr. Jeffrey Lawson, MD at the Piedmont Arthritis Clinic located in South Carolina. Working with Ms. Johnson and her husband, Dr. Lawson diagnosed and treated Ms. Johnson for Lyme disease.
The lengthy and painful encounter with Lyme disease inspired Ms. Johnson, Mr. Dukelow, and Dr. Lawson to tell their story on film. The documentary “Lyme Disease: Beating Back Death” is slated to complete filming and to be released on Netflix later this year.
If you would like to learn more about how an actor and her team beat back death secondary to Lyme disease, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed the Director of Integrative and Interventional Pain Management at Case Integrative Health: Dr. Deepti Agarwal, MD. Dr. Agarwal is a double board certified and fellowship trained Pain Physician and Anesthesiologist. She served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois where she presented and published on a wide range of scholarly research on Anesthesia, Acute and Chronic pain medicine. In this comprehensive interview, Dr. Agarwal discusses:
If you would like to learn more about how the combination of eastern and western medical philosophies and the merger of integrative and conventional medicine can serve to defeat chronic pain and boost healing, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed writer Frances Cecilia and Director Tony C. Silva, the power couple that created one of this year’s finest full-length feature films. By turning the camera towards themselves, they show the intimate side of our modern era's most misunderstood chronic illness: Lyme disease. In The Monster Inside Me, Frances and Tony take the viewer on their journey of researching the truth, lies and healing behind Lyme disease. In this comprehensive discussion, Frances and Tony discuss their 5-part documentary that includes:
If you would like to learn more about the full spectrum of Lyme disease and how it affects everyday people, then tune in now!
Kelsey Wenburg is a 39-year-old woman from Anchorage, Alaska. She’s on a health journey healing from Lyme disease and mold.
Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Wenburg was working full-time and ran weekly workouts. She then became a health coach and helped others heal their bodies from a variety of ailments.
At the age of 29, Ms. Wenburg first began to exhibit alarming symptoms that she later learned were caused by Lyme disease, which included fatigue and insomnia. Unfortunately, as time went on, Ms. Wenburg developed worsening symptoms and had to quit her government job three years after her initial symptoms began.
Ms. Wenburg tried to simplify her life while trying to figure out what was going on with her health, but 3 years later she became completely bedridden, lost her ability to think, and developed debilitating seizures. Shortly after this decline, she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease at the age of 35.
Ms. Weburg used a wide variety of treatment modalities, including Bee Venom Therapy (BVT), Disulfiram, antibiotics (oral, IV, and injections), antiparasitics, mold treatments, herbs, ozone, laser therapy, and more while treating with Dr. Klinghardt and Dr. Lehman. She’s been treating for the past 3 and a half years and has made significant progress recently.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from Alaska never gave up after doctors dismissed her symptoms for years and has since used a diverse set of treatment tools to heal, then tune in now!
PS Heather Glovack special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
This week Tick Boot Camp invited Lindsay Mitchell, founder and CEO of Vital-Side, to discuss the membership program that empowers people suffering with chronic illness and limbic system impairment to retrain their brain out of the chronic stress response to gain relief from their symptoms. In this comprehensive interview, Ms. Mitchell discusses:
If you would like to learn more about how you could benefit from the Vital-Side approach to rewiring your brain to optimize its function and allow your body to rest, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp invited Robert Miller, a Certified Traditional Naturopath and founder of the Tree of Life Naturopathic practice, NutriGenetic Research Institute, and Functional Genomic Analysis, to discuss the relationship between genetic variants and Lyme disease. In this comprehensive interview, Mr. Miller discusses:
If you would like to know more about how genetic testing can help you on your Lyme disease treatment journey, then tune in now!
Samantha Marie Chocano is a multi-talented 25-year-old entrepreneur, graphic artist, YouTuber, gamer and glass ceiling breaking athlete from Fresno, California. She is vlogging and publishing her “entire treatment” journey to expose the reality of Lyme disease.
Ms. Chocano’s childhood garnered her the opportunity to “do many out of the box things.” She was the sole female wrestler on her high school and college teams, moved to different parts of the county each year as the child of a military family and “was even featured on [an episode] of MTV Catfish.”
Ms. Chocano’s nomadic childhood exposed her to new experiences and unfamiliar perils. At the age of 12 she moved to Virginia and was bitten “by many ticks.” Her parents would remove the ticks “with a hot needle” and told her the worst that would happen is she could “get a flu for a couple of weeks.”
The tick bites provoked sleep paralysis, extreme fatigue, gut inflammation, anxiety, depression and “a slight Bell’s Palsy.” Unfortunately, the symptoms were written off as emblematic of transitioning “into a typical teenager.”
By the age of 23 she became chronically ill, despite treating with over 20 doctors. She finally located a global diagnosis after she was tested for Lyme disease by a Naturopathic Doctor.
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman came to learn that she “had no other options but to do research [herself] and save [her] own life,” then tune in now!
PS Jessica Snajder from Partner In Lyme special guest co-hosted with Rich!
Dani Tygr is a 34-year-old hair stylist from Los Angeles, California. In addition to film and television, her work has been featured in music videos, red carpet events, music tours, music festivals, editorials, runway events, and more.
Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Dani traveled all over the world working in the beauty industry serving as an executive global platform artist and technical educator. She graduated from the Paul Mitchell School of Cosmetology and won various awards including the Modern Salon Top 100 Artist and the Paul Mitchell Hairstyling Award.
In her late twenties, Ms. Tygr first began to exhibit increasingly intrusive symptoms which she later learned were caused by Lyme disease. At 31 years old, she could no longer manage her illness and the true destructive nature of Lyme disease reared its ugly head.
Ms. Tygr was diagnosed with late-stage Lyme disease at the age of 32. Doctors had initially associated her symptoms with thyroid disease and autoimmune disease which runs in her family prior to her Lyme diagnosis. She was misdiagnosed by many doctors with a “damaging” mental health illness and one doctor told her she “really needs to get mental help from a professional because this is all in [her] head.”
Dr. Moses A. Laufer from the Holtorf Medical Group in El Segundo diagnosed and treated Ms. Tygr with various herbs, supplements, BPC-157 (peptide), and more. They also targeted immune function and utilized a special diet.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from Los Angeles learned how to forge a new and better version of herself through chronic Lyme disease as she continues to give it her all and thrive in all aspects of life, then tune in now!
PS Margaux Gunning special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Hayden Crook is a 28-year-old youth pastor from Bend, Oregon. He graduated from the elite University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree majoring in Psychology and Business.
After college, Pastor Crook was appointed Youth Pastor for one of the largest churches in the State of Oregon. In this capacity, he supervised youth mission trips, including a mission to cut firewood for a Native American reservation. On the second day of the firewood mission trip, he suffered a headache and dizziness that “never went away.” The symptoms progressed from brain fog and memory issues to the loss of his capacity to speak and then he became bedridden.
Pastor Crook’s undiagnosed symptoms became so aggressive and debilitating that his wife had to leave her job to become his full-time caregiver. He was unable to perform basic elements of self-care including toileting himself without the assistance of his wife.
Visiting over 50 doctors and 2 extended hospitalizations did not result in a diagnosis. In part, his diagnosis was delayed by a medical bias that the former Division 1 football player was afflicted by concussion-related disease. He was also misdiagnosed with a CerebroSpinal Fluid (CSF) Leak, a sinus infection, and mental illness.
He was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease by a Naturopathic Doctor in Bend, Oregon. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by blood testing from IGeneX.
If you would like to learn more about how a Pastor, psychology major and former Division 1 athlete is building a toolbox of spiritual, emotional and physical tools to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed Certified Trauma Coach and entrepreneurial founder of EmotionalHealthAccelerator.com: Ali Kates. Ms. Kate’s is from Sonoma County, California.
In the comprehensive interview, Ms. Cates shared how she endured a series of traumatic childhood experiences that included chronic illness caused by Lyme disease, emotional pain brought about by parental philandering and divorce, the death of a family member and best friend, and finally a sexual assault.
Ms. Kates attempted to manage her traumatic childhood by “putting pain aside” and “shoving [it] under the rug.” Unfortunately, the avoidance techniques failed to serve her, forcing her to utilize alcohol as a vehicle to meet her “need to leave [her] body… because her body did not feel safe.”
After treating with 20+ doctors over 13 years, Ms. Kates was ironically diagnosed with Lyme disease 3 weeks before her wedding. Initially, she treated with a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) for 9 months at a cost of over $150,000. When the time and money invested into the intensive treatment failed to provide any health gains, she turned to mold detoxification and Bee Venom Therapy (BVT).
Today, Ms. Kates is building on her health gains and using her childhood trauma to help others heal from illnesses when trauma is involved. If you would like to learn more about how a trauma coach built a business to assist people to heal through trauma, then tune in now!
As a special gift to the Tick Boot Camp community, Ms. Kates is offering a free training on “How to Face Your Emotions Without Being Exhausted in the Process.”
PS Carrie Perry from Sam's Spoons special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich!
Samantha Perry is a 23-year-old graduate of Penn State University. She is currently working as a traveling yoga teacher in Costa Rica. Next year she will move to Spain to commence a graduate studies program in Doctor of Chiropractic.
Samantha’s Lyme disease journey began during her junior year of high school. The life of the “super active, ambitious and social teenager” was halted by flu-symptoms that migrated to joint pain, fatigue, nausea, and low-grade fever.
Samantha and her parents visited 7 doctors before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. She was misdiagnosed with “just anxiety,” an adolescent eating disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain and “…was encouraged to go to a pain management camp.”
Recognizing that getting well may not have been possible if her parents could not afford to pay for her care, she and her family created the Sam’s Spoons Foundation. Since 2018, the not-for-profit organization has been helping families affected by Lyme disease by providing treatment grants to defray out of pocket medical expenses.
If you would like to learn more about how the Perry family navigated the perils of chronic Lyme illness to find wellness, independence, and purpose, then tune in now!
This week Tick Boot Camp invited the "Core Four" of Generation Lyme, Brooke Stoddard, Jennifer Hoffmann, Jesse Ruben, and Haley DiBiase, to discuss the services the not-for-profit organization offer to the Lyme disease community. In this comprehensive interview the board of directors discusses:
If you would like to learn more about how Generation Lyme can help you or a loved one on a Lyme disease journey, then tune in now!
Amanda Tiberi is a multi-talented 33-year-old clinical nutritionist and founder of the Amanda Nova Wellness community. Ms. Tiberi is from Westchester County, New York.
Ms. Tiberi’s journey with chronic illness, triggered by Lyme disease, began when she “got sick in 2018 and never got better.” Her symptoms initially presented as chronic back pain then migrated to “brain fog, full body muscle and joint pain, digestive issues, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and weight gain.”
After suffering a misdiagnosis of fibromyalgia, she was diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease by a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). Unfortunately, healing did not begin until she left the care of the LLMD and “took her treatment into her own hands.”
Ms. Tiberi discovered that Lyme disease attacked her physical, emotional, and spiritual health and learned that physical healing was not possible until she brought in the “spiritual piece.”
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman became grateful for her Lyme experience because it revealed to her that she was born to help other people overcome chronic illness, then tune in now!
Gretel Adams is a 36-year-old small business owner from Columbus, Ohio. She has owned and operated Sunny Meadows Flower Farm since 2006 with her husband Steve.
Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Adams worked very hard and had to perform both physical labor and intense decision-making. While not working, she enjoyed socializing with friends and attending music festivals.
At the age of 33, Ms. Adams had found a tick biting her and she quickly removed it and went on with her life. The very next day she developed alarming symptoms that just got worse and worse.
Ms. Adams’ doctor was unable to see her in a timely manner and 13 days after the tick bite she went to an urgent care facility because she “felt something foreign in [her] body, everything was tingly, [she] could not stand in the field because the sun was too bright, her body was so weak, and she was very confused.” The urgent care doctor diagnosed her with Lyme disease and gave her 10 days of antibiotics.
Ms. Adams followed up with her primary care physician who told her she only needed 21 of antibiotics. At the end of the 21 days, she was even worse, but her doctor told Ms. Adams that “there was no way her symptoms were what they were, and she just had to deal with it.”
Ms. Adams subsequently visited two Lyme specialists where she was diagnosed with active Lyme, co-infections, fungal infections, and other viruses. She has treated and had some great success using a combination of antibiotics, herbs, laser treatments, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), ozone, and more.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from Ohio has made progress rebounding from medical gaslighting, severe neurological Lyme, and a plethora of other diagnoses, then tune in now!
PS Claire Dalton from the Chronically Care Project and the Chronically Beautiful Blog special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
This week Tick Boot Camp invited Stuti Vora, customer service supervisor of IGeneX, to discuss how and why IGeneX has become the laboratory most trusted by patients in the Lyme disease community. In this comprehensive interview Ms. Vora discusses:
If you would like to know more about how IGeneX can help you on your Lyme disease diagnostic and treatment journey, then tune in now!
Gabriella Bordonaro is a 21-year-old student majoring in Marketing at Le Moyne College located in Syracuse, New York. She plans to continue with her studies by attending graduate school in the fall.
Ms. Bordonaro spent her childhood in the rural central New York region where she enjoyed a life filled with outdoor activities. Hailing from a family of athletes, she followed in the footsteps of her uber athletic brother and became a 4-sport athlete.
Unfortunately, her outdoorsy childhood in the northeastern United States Lyme belt frequently exposed her to ticks. She suffered an undisclosed tick bite that triggered migrating and undiagnosed illnesses. Her regular visits to the pediatric doctor’s office caused her to have “the biggest file out of all the other kids/”
At the age of 17, she suffered an injury and then an illness that reminded her of the symptoms a close friend described after suffering a tick bite. She subsequently tested positive for Lyme disease and began treatment.
During her treatment journey Ms. Bordonaro learned that diet, exercise, and forgiveness are essential elements of immune health and healing. She started a fitness/ health Instagram page and reminds herself that “no matter what people say… you can control how long you are going to hold on to it.”
If you would like to learn more about how a forgiving spirit enhanced a young woman’s healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Dr Richard Horowitz is an internationally recognized Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD), author of 2 New York Times bestselling books and co-author of the 2018 Housing and Human Services (HHS) Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) report to Congress. He has treated more than 14,000 Lyme disease patients earning him the reputation as the LLMD to the stars.
During his career, Dr. Horowitz has learned that Lyme disease and chronic illness can be healed if treated holistically, i.e., physically, emotionally, and spiritually. His patients have also taught him that Lyme disease is a symptom of a chronically ill earth, suffering ongoing ravages of climate change.
In his third book, Starseed R/evolution - The Awakening, Dr. Horowitz demonstrates that our planet can be saved from peril if the Lyme disease community can set aside differences and join forces to lead the world’s communities to individual and collective healing.
Described as a “Gulliver’s Travels for the twenty third century, Starseed R/evolution utilizes satire, adventure, pop psychology, mystical exploration and a breath of fresh air in a world choking on its own hubris.” The book captures the scope of the threats and solutions required to prevent the ecocide facing our planet.
Jody Levy is a 42-year-old artist, designer and serial entrepreneur from Detroit, Michigan. She is the founder and co-founded of several successful businesses, including LabElymental, The Milk Cleanse, NeuroPraxis and WTRMLN WTR.
Ms. Levy’s Lyme journey began when she heard the call to leave Michigan to attend college in upstate New York. A tick bite during her freshman year transformed her life from “amazing and full of magic” to 18 years of health and diagnostic labor.
Although she achieved a high level of professional success, undiagnosed Lyme robbed her of the energy to enjoy a full life. Her neurological symptoms progressed to a point where she “could not remember the name of her close friend and brother-in-law.”
While attending a party, she was approached by a friend who shared with her his secret to his remission from Lyme. He told Ms. Levy that healing was available through Dr. Linda Lancaster and her Harmonic Healing Milk Cleanse.
The 8-day Milk Cleanse resolved all Ms. Levy’s Lyme symptoms and allowed her to fully return to work and to her social life. Achieving remission inspired Ms. Levy to build a business to make the Milk Cleanse available to the world.
If you would like to know more about how The Milk Cleanse can help you on your healing journey, then tune in now!
Grace and Jessica Snajder are the dynamic mother-daughter founders of Partner in Lyme. The Connecticut based non-profit organization offers financial, emotional, and spiritual support to people diagnosed with Lyme disease.
The Snajder family’s journey with Lyme began when Grace suffered “headaches, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and loss of the ability to read and do math” after falling while snowboarding. The rapid change in Grace’s health came as a surprise because she wore a helmet and “never hit [her] head.”
Grace’s plan to attend college, attend Bible school, and perform mission work “rebuilding homes damaged by natural disasters” was halted by her illness. Her parents responded to their daughter’s expanding symptoms by searching for and scheduling appointments with an array of over 10 health care providers.
Grace was diagnosed with Lyme disease after her mom, Jessica, requested and reviewed a copy of blood work ordered by a primary care physician. Her treatment plan was built by a Naturopathic Doctor prescribing antibiotics, massage therapy, antioxidant juicing, chlorella, and the Rawls MD Vital Plan Restore Kit.
Grace did not find relief from all the treatment tools recommended by her doctors and located by her parents. For example, an infrared sauna treatment did not offer relief and turned out to be “too harsh for [her].”
If you would like to know more about how the Snajder family sold an ineffective treatment tool and used the money to start a Lyme disease non-profit, then tune in now!
Kelsey Watkins is a 28-year-old wife and mother on leave from her career as a utility company office manager. She and her family reside in Meyersville, Maryland.
Ms. Watkins’ health challenges began with fainting spells when she would “go from sitting to standing.” At the age of 19, she would faint “upwards of 5 times per day.” Her primary care physician and cardiologist diagnosed her with POTS, prescribed her medication, and told her to “eat more salt.”
Her symptoms stabilized until the birth of her children. She developed headaches, gut issues, and rashes after the birth of her first child. Following the challenging birth of her second child, her symptoms migrated to “extreme psychiatric and neurological issues, brain fog, and memory loss.”
Fearing she was not healthy enough to care for her children, she sought diagnostic and treatment assistance from 10 doctors. In that process, she battled medical gas lighting and misdiagnosis until her health “went from 100 to 0 very quickly.”
Eventually a primary care physician suspected her diverse and migrating symptoms may have been caused by Lyme disease. Ms. Watkins located a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) to evaluate the PCP’s forecast and was diagnosed after a positive blood test.
A Lyme diagnosis offered Ms. Watkins the opportunity to build a healing plan that included antibiotics, traditional Chinese medicine, and SOT (Supportive Oligonucleotide Therapy).
If you would like to learn more about how a young mother overcame gas lighting and years of misdiagnosis to discover “game changing” SOT therapy, then tune in now!
Peter Owen is a 63-year-old geologist, photographer and entrepreneur from Melbourne Victoria, Australia. He is a founding member of the TICNA (Tick-Borne Community Network Australia) public education group and President of the Conquering Chronic Illness patient support group.
While recovering from a badly broken leg from a fall at his home, Mr. Owen began to feel incredible pain all over his body. Beginning with headaches, shoulder pain, and neck pain his symptoms expanded and migrated to include fatigue, panic attacks, and brain fog.
Mr. Owen was misdiagnosed with MECFS after he was examined and treated by 30 doctors over 18 years. Despite an official government “there is no Lyme dogma in Australia,” Mr. Owen’s general practitioner sent his 50 most afflicted patients for IGeneX blood testing and Mr. Owen’s tested positive for Lyme disease. His IGeneX lab results were confirmed by a follow up test from the German Infectolab.
The lab tests provoked Mr. Owen to join Lyme Facebook groups and research Lyme and tick infection treatment on his own because “there is no such thing as an LLMD in Australia.” His journey required him to overcome “disbelief and denial by doctors, family and friends” while exploring treatment options.
If you would like to learn more about how an Australian Lyme disease activist is standing up swimming against the tide of an official government policy that denies the existence of Lyme disease, then tune in now!
PS Debbie form Two Alpha Gals special guest co-hosted this interview with Rich from Tick Boot Camp!
Jessica Jensen is a 31-year-old alternative and holistic health services teacher/ coach from Hillsboro, New Hampshire.
Ms. Jensen’s Lyme disease journey began while she was working to “coordinate chaos” as a preschool teacher. Her initial symptoms included migraines, body pain, stomach pain and fatigue. She sought treatment from 20 doctors over 6 years before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease.
The lengthy diagnostic and treatment journey pilfered Ms. Jensen’s financial resources. To restart healing, she had to overcome a self-limiting belief that healing requires a large budget.
Today, Ms. Jensen is resourcefully on the road to recovering her health. She has returned to her teaching roots by assisting patients to learn how to coordinate the chaos of Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn how Jessica Jensen learned and is now teaching how to heal from Lyme, then tune in now!
Kirstan O’Neil is a 24-year-old small business owner from Northwest Florida. She runs an RV resort with her family and helps manage the day-to-day operations of the business.
Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Kirstan had a very active and enjoyable life. She regularly went to the gym, enjoyed cooking and gardening with her grandma, and started working with her family at a young age.
At the age of 12, Ms. O’Neil contracted Lyme disease and developed a “strep-like cold,” nosebleeds, swollen glands on her neck, joint pain, chest pain, and bad urinary tract infections (UTIs). Doctors dismissed her symptoms and misdiagnosed her with things like Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), “hormonal issues,” and acid reflux.
Unfortunately, as time went on, Ms. O’Neil developed even more severe symptoms like debilitating migraines. She had to “fight back the tears” to just leave the house with her family because of excruciating pain.
Ms. O’Neil was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease at the age of 23 after seeing many different doctors. She treated Lyme disease using a variety of herbal formulas from Byron White, but first detoxed her body from extremely high levels of heavy metals and candida using a successful regimen we’ve never discussed on the Tick Boot Camp Podcast.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from Florida never gave up after doctors dismissed her symptoms for years and how she fought for her health and a proper diagnosis, then tune in now!
PS Candice form Two Alpha Gals special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!
Claeren Smets is a 33-year-old holistic life coach, pain reset therapist, yoga and meditation docent from Antwerp, Belgium.
Ms. Smets was an internationally ranked combat athlete excelling in Judo and boxing. She studied sports education and fitness instruction in university and worked as a high school teacher upon graduation.
At the age of 27, the uber fit Ms. Smets began to feel fatigued and suffered numerous sports injuries. Her energy levels continued to decline and she felt like she “had the flu all the time.” Her swiftly declining health caused her to suffer job loss and loss of independence requiring her to move “back to [her] parents’ home.”
She was diagnosed with Lyme disease after she followed an acupuncturist’s recommendation that she explore a Lyme disease diagnosis. She tested positive for Lyme disease in testing prescribed by her family doctor.
If you would like to learn how a combat athlete had to abandon her warrior spirit and discover a growth mindset before she could heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Nicole Oliveira is a 35-year-old marketing, advertising and brand professional from Charlotte, North Carolina. She lived and worked for most of her life in the eastern US Lyme belt states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.
The Oliveira family’s Lyme disease journey began with a “bullseye rash” discovered by Nicole’s mother at the age of 4. Ms. Oliveira was treated with a short course of antibiotics and remained healthy until the age of 11 when she developed chronic migraine headaches.
Ms. Oliveira’s Lyme disease relapse went undiagnosed for one year because her pediatrician dismissed her symptoms and accused her of “making it up… [due to the] anxiety of attending a new school for 6th grade.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time she was “dismissed by a healthcare professional.”
At the age of 27, she again began to suffer a health decline. Trained and empowered by her parents, who had been her “biggest health advocates” during her childhood, Ms. Oliveira listened to her body, took control of her doctors, and rebuilt her health and her life.
Today, Ms. Oliveira is working, engaged to be married and “preparing [her] body to be as healthy as it can be to hopefully have a baby in the near(ish) future”. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman overcame childhood Lyme disease and medical gaslighting by becoming the CEO of her health, then tune in now!
Laura Arnal is a 47-year-old Lyme disease health coach, author, patient advocate, and co-founder of the PREFACE group (Patient Resource Facilitator Europe). She is the author of the French language book titled “I Overcome Lyme Disease” (J’ai sumonte la Maladie de Lyme - Editions Odile Jacob).
Ms. Arnal was born, raised, and educated in France. In 2009, she, her husband, and their 3 children moved to Germany “to discover another culture.” Shortly after the move to Germany, the Arnal family “decided to take a trip from New York to Boston with an RV. An extraordinary adventure for Europeans!”
During the tour of the northeastern US, they “visited friends living at Yale” University, located near Lyme, Connecticut. The day after spending an afternoon in the friends’ Connecticut garden, Ms. Arnal felt “strange and tired.” She initially attributed the symptoms to “jet lag” and when the symptoms persisted for several days and then weeks, she concluded she “caught a virus” on the flight from Europe.
Ms. Arnal’s health steadily declined for 5 years resulting in visits to 69 doctors in 3 countries before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a German Internist. “This doctor made this diagnosis by my detailed medical history …[and] by listening precisely to my symptoms.”
After securing a diagnosis, Ms. Arnal joined several Lyme disease social media groups to seek advice about how to find a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). After building and sorting the list of social recommended LLMDs, she treated with the famous Lyme pioneer Dr. Daniel Cameron (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 233).
If you would like to learn more about how a French patriot living in Germany crossed international borders in 2 continents to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Lauren Kingsly is a 21-year-old author, speaker, and student at the University of Chicago. She was born and raised on the American east coast in Morristown, New Jersey.
By the age of 15, her physical, neurological, and psychological symptoms were cataclysmic. She was wheelchair bound, unable to form clear sentences, and suffering from hallucinations.
Ms. Kingsly was such a “train wreck” that her hallucination experience became “oddly comforting” to her. She was consistently visited by a “man [with] a youthful glow… [and a] slender build… that reminded [her] of someone [she] used to be close to, whose name [she] couldn’t recall.”
To add insult to injury, Ms. Kingsly was misdiagnosed with “psychological issues,” Schizophrenia, IBS, SIBO, and psychosomatic disorders by 7 doctors from New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Finally, she was diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease by her “superhero” Doctor Kristine Gedroic whom she credits with saving her “from the yard of sleeping souls.”
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman utilized her antifragile mindset to overcome life threatening Lyme disease and swap a wheelchair and hallucinations for authorship and acceptance to one of the top colleges in the world, then tune in now.
Christa Nannos is a 31-year-old American author, actor, writer and Lyme disease educator from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Nannos was bitten by a tick when she was 9 years old. Her Lyme disease remained mostly dormant until she was exposed to parasites while on a mission trip to Guatemala.
Ms. Nannos was misdiagnosed with mental health illnesses, Candida, SIBO, Overactive Bladder Syndrome, IBS and more over 10 years. Christa was finally properly diagnosed with Lyme disease a few years ago and after various treatments she is now close to remission. See Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 135 for Christa's full story.
This week, Christa dropped a #1 Best-Selling book on Amazon titled Tick Tock, It's LYME O'clock: A Warrior's Guide to Reclaiming Health & Happiness. This book can help you in your Lyme healing journey and it also provides guidance to caretakers, family, friends, and colleagues of Lyme warriors!
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman wrote a #1 Best-Selling book while battling chronic Lyme disease and how it can help you, then tune in now!
PS Tick Boot Camp is hosting an exclusive virtual behind the scenes launch party for Christa on Thursday, February 10, at 8:00 pm EST (NY time). Stay tuned and follow us on social media for more information.
Dr. Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH is an internationally recognized Lyme disease pioneer with over 30 years of medical, epidemiological and research experience from Mt. Kisco, New York.
Dr. Cameron is a board-certified internist and epidemiologist that opened a private medical practice in 1987. Almost immediately after hanging out his shingle, he began to treat patients from the local community suffering from persistent, recurring symptoms, including neurological manifestations caused by Lyme disease. He has since diagnosed and treated thousands of adult and adolescent Lyme disease patients from around the globe.
Dr. Cameron is the past president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) and the lead author of the ILADS evidence-based treatment guidelines.
He has become one of the Lyme communities most recognized experts and educators through his utilization of a wide variety of publication platforms. He has authored books, blogs, vlogs, podcasts and social media posts and has been interviewed by mainstream media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, the Today Show, NPR, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
If you would like to learn more about how a farm boy from Minnesota grew up to become a superhero known as the “Fearless Pioneer” and co-wrote the widely utilized evidence-based Lyme disease treatment guidelines, then tune in now!
Bianca Crino is a 27-year-old Health Coach, Reiki Practitioner, author, and course builder/creator. She was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and currently resides in Poland.
Ms. Crino began to feel “unwell” shortly after her 22nd birthday. She experienced brain fog, severe fatigue, neck pain and headaches. Her debilitating symptoms caused her to seek diagnostic and treatment assistance from more than 6 medical doctors resulting in misdiagnosis including Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, CFS, and depression.
Her healing journey began when a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor utilized a blood test from the German BCA Lab to diagnose her with Lyme disease. Shortly after the diagnosis, the disease progressed and stole her capacity “to function at all.”
The next page in her healing journey was written when she traveled to Malaysia for treatment. During her time there, Ms. Crino started an Instagram page to seek advice and counsel from members of the Lyme community.
Ms. Crino discovered that as she leaned into vulnerably sharing her story on Instagram, the community would provide her with advice which she would in turn share on her page to pass on the healing models to others. The cycle of giving and receiving guided Ms. Crino to her purpose: channeling healing tools and tips to people suffering from Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught a healing channel and health coach to accept the responsibility to help others by healing herself first, then tune in now!
Jessica Smith is a 30-year-old local director with Child Evangelism Fellowship, a Bible and Theology student at Shasta Bible College, and a student at Trinity School of Natural Health.
In 2014, Ms. Smith moved from Oregon to Missouri to attend ministry vocational school. Despite growing up on a farm with a general awareness of ticks and Lyme disease, she was not taught to take steps to avoid or check for ticks. While taking a hike on the 600-acre school campus, she discovered a small tick on her arm. Shortly thereafter, she exhibited acute Lyme disease symptoms such as fatigue, flu symptoms and brain fog.
Her acute symptoms dissipated in a few weeks and she “did not notice any decline in her health” until 3 years later when she again suffered flu symptoms, lost an “alarming amount of weight,” followed by severe joint pain, mental struggles, and heart palpitations.
The debilitating symptoms sent her to a Naturopathic doctor who diagnosed her with Lyme disease after she tested CDC positive on a Western Blot blood test.
For the next several years, she battled through a grief cycle and both sides of the pride and imposter syndrome coin before learning to become a good steward of her life and health. Today, she is “105%” healthier than before she suffered the tick bite.
If you would like to learn more about how chronic Lyme disease sent a minister on a “New Path” for healing and a school to study natural health, then tune in now!
Lauren Less is a 29-year-old Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), real estate broker and nutrition enthusiast.
While attending summer camp at the age of 13, she was bitten by a tick that she removed without adult assistance. After returning home from camp, she began to suffer classic acute Lyme disease symptoms including fatigue, joint pain and brain fog.
For the next 15 years, Ms. Less’ symptoms progressed and became chronic. She sought answers for the cause of her illness from “many doctors,” all of whom told her she was “fine” and not in fact ill.
Unfortunately, these 15 years caused her to suppress and lose touch with her body signals. Fortunately, she located an Integrative Medical Doctor that utilized blood testing to diagnose her with Lyme disease.
Through her research Ms. Less determined that she would need to prepare herself physically, emotionally, and socially to battle Lyme. Additionally, she recognized that becoming reacquainted with her body signals was vital to successful healing.
If you would like to learn how a young woman from the mid-west is using Oura Ring technology to validate her body signals and to support her healing journey, then tune in now!
Adina Bercowicz is founder and executive director of LymeTV. She is a 44-year-old tick-borne illness advocate, wife, and mother living in Portland, Maine.
Prior to getting sick, Ms. Bercowicz was working full time as an executive leader for a nonprofit in India, regularly attended yoga and martial arts classes, had an active social life, and traveled frequently for work. She was “active and at the top of [her] game, life was perfect.”
Ms. Bercowicz became sick with Lyme disease when she was 36 years old shortly after a tick bite during her pregnancy. Some of her early symptoms included chronic fatigue, sharp joint pain, memory loss, cognitive decline, phantom smells, dizziness, and chronic migraines.
Once diagnosed with chronic neurological Lyme disease, she was mistreated with oral antibiotics and her health continued to decline. She kept fighting for her health and found a doctor that helped her get on a 90-day course of IV Rocephin (Ceftriaxone) for Lyme disease, Malarone (Atovaquone / Proguanil) and Mepron (Atovaquone) for Babesia, and a bunch of supplements.
Ms. Bercowicz is currently working with a team of specialists and dealing with damage to her body and secondary diseases that were triggered from her late-stage tick-borne illnesses, such as Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), small fiber neuropathy, and dysautonomia. She is treating with Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) to address these 3 degenerative nervous system disorders.
If you would like to learn more about how a dedicated professional who has given back to the community since she was a child is now giving back and inspiring great changes in the Lyme disease community, then tune in now!
Ally Lopes is a 24-year-old National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and kindergarten teacher from the New Jersey Lyme belt.
Ms. Lopes’ Lyme disease journey began with severe vertigo and flu-like symptoms the day before she flew to Walt Disney World for her high school senior class trip. She was initially diagnosed with a stomach virus and a sinus infection.
During the following 2 years, her symptoms progressed forcing her to seek treatment from so many doctors she finally lost count. She was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease using a Western Blot blood test by the doctor that diagnosed her mother with Lyme disease one year earlier.
Ms. Lopes treated with her mother’s practitioner for 1 year and then decided to take responsibility for building her own treatment team. Blazing her own trail introduced her to eastern and western treatment tools and practitioners resulting in Ms. Lopes making sufficient health gains to allow her to complete her undergraduate degree in elementary education.
Inspired by her health journey and a desire to assist others overcome chronic Lyme disease, Ms. Lopes studied Wellness Coaching at the prestigious Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired an elementary school teacher to diversify her professional skills to bring her lessons from her personal journey to other people battling Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Madi Peters is a 22-year-old medical school student from Canada training to become a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). Her Lyme disease experience has shaped her life, values, and passions. She soon will be helping others suffering from chronic Lyme disease once she completes medical school.
Prior to getting sick, Ms. Peters was a very active teenager engaged in competitive dance, teaching gymnastics, participating in her school’s swim team, and actively serving as a member of her school’s student council. Suddenly, she went from an extremely active, social, and academically successful teenager to becoming debilitatingly ill and bedridden.
Ms. Peters’ Lyme journey began when she was 16 years old in eleventh grade. She visited over 20 doctors during a one-year period prior to getting her Lyme disease diagnosis. Some of Ms. Peters’ symptoms included debilitating migraines, extreme fatigue, noise and light sensitivity, dizziness, brain fog, and many more neurological and systemic symptoms.
Many doctors misdiagnosed Ms. Peters’ with things like a concussion, chronic daily tension headaches, stress, overexertion, and some even said she was making it all up in her head. She had numerous MRIs, CAT scans, spinal taps, and other tests which couldn’t find anything wrong with her.
Finally, Ms. Peters found Dr. Maureen McShane in New York who diagnosed her with Lyme disease through a clinical assessment followed up with an IGeneX blood test. She has also used ArminLabs in Germany as well as the Immunosciences Lab out of California to validate her Lyme diagnosis.
Ms. Peters first treated with Dr. McShane using oral and IV antibiotics prior to treating at the Sponaugle Wellness Institute in Florida which utilized heavy detox protocols, IV supplements, herbal tinctures, infrared saunas, colonics, and more for 4 months. The institute also discovered that she had mold toxicity and fungal infections which were preventing her from healing. She continued with the recommended treatment once back home in Canada. Once stopping treatment last year, Ms. Peters has stayed on a maintenance protocol which includes immune support and detox tools.
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman didn’t let Lyme disease take her down and is now using her experiences to help others in the Lyme disease community, then tune in now!
Liz Campbell is a 23-year-old Health Coach residing in the shadow of South Carolina’s storied Clemson University. She is working to enhance her coaching skill sets by enrollment in a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) course of study.
Ms. Campbell’s Lyme disease experience began with a month-long flu followed by severe fatigue. Weight gain, joint pain, and insomnia were added to her fatigue symptoms triggering a health crash that rendered her housebound and unable to attend school for 9 months.
The changes caused by her health decline rendered Ms. Campbell unrecognizable to herself and her family. When doctors were unable to provide her with a diagnosis, she began to feel that she was “lazy” and “had abandoned herself.”
She was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease by a doctor utilizing muscle testing. A diagnosis allowed her to build a team of health care practitioners that offered a diverse set of treatment tools including antibiotics, herbs, homeopathic medicine, ozone therapy, and high dose vitamin C.
She was unable to overcome her final hurdle until she realized her “brain was working against her.” Utilizing brain retraining (DNRS) she reset her brain, learned how to manage her stress levels, and returned to a life where she could do “whatever [she] wants to do.”
If you would like to learn more about how a health coach is teaching her clients how to use self-regulation of the nervous system to break the chains of Lyme disease bondage, then tune in now!
Crystal Hefner is a multi-talented 35-year-old artist, model, entrepreneur, philanthropist and travel blogger from Los Angeles, California.
The foundation for Ms. Hefner’s chronic Lyme disease journey was built on the footings of the iconic Playboy lifestyle. While married to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, she resided in a mold infested mansion surrounded by emotionally unhealthy people.
In 2015, Ms. Hefner fell ill and sought treatment from medical doctors. Confused by classic Lyme symptoms, her doctors settled on a “waste basket diagnosis of stress.” Unfortunately, the opportunity for an early diagnosis was missed because Ms. Hefner accepted the conventional wisdom that “there is no Lyme disease in California.”
Diagnosed with Lyme, Bartonella, and Babesia by IGeneX labs, she began to treat with an elite Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). All treatment tools were rendered ineffective until Ms. Hefner honored her “intuition” and took steps to remove all toxins from her environment. She underwent breast explant surgery, contracted a $2 million mold remediation of her home, and removed toxic people from her social circle.
If you would like to learn how a multi-talented artist discovered that healing from Lyme disease begins with removing all physical, emotional, and social toxins from your environment, then tune in now!
Julie Yakunich is a 40-year-old Integrative Health Practitioner and Certified Health Coach specializing in Lyme disease from Chicago, Illinois. She has her own private practice, Get Well with Julie, and sees Lyme and chronic illness patients at Case Integrative Health.
Ms. Yakunich’s battle with Lyme began when she was 29 years old after living a very active and high functioning life while working, attending graduate school at night, and traveling around the world in her free time. Her first symptoms were random fainting spells that started to become more frequent.
As time went on, Ms. Yakunich’s symptoms progressed and included constant severe headaches, air hunger, brain fog, fatigue, pain, tremors, blurry vision, and more. She visited 26 doctors over 5 years and none of them properly diagnosed her with Lyme disease.
Many doctors misdiagnosed Ms. Yakunich with brain tumors, cysts, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), migraines, food allergies, asthma, hypothyroidism, and more. Eventually, she found a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) in Portland, Oregon, who diagnosed her with Lyme disease through an IGeneX blood test.
Ms. Yakunich was treated using a combination of oral antibiotics for 20 months. She also used a wide variety of immunotherapies, herbs, ozone therapy, IV glutathione, and more to aid in her healing.
After regaining her health, Ms. Yakunich climbed Mount St Helens with her siblings and friends and raised money for the LivLyme Foundation during this event.
If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Yakunich went from being completely homebound and bedridden for almost 2 years to climbing a mountain and now helping others heal from chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Elected officials from around the United States joined leading Lyme disease advocates to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Advocacy Express which flipped over 40 representatives to now support Lyme legislation!
Tune in to listen to Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (Long Island, New York), Brookhaven Town Councilman Kevin LaValle (Long Island, New York), New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright, and Michigan State Representative Karen Whitsett
These elected officials share their personal Lyme experiences, what they’ve done to help the Lyme community, and how you can personally advocate for Lyme disease to your elected representatives
This discussion is followed up with a question-and-answer session from members of the Lyme community before concluding with a patient advocate discussion with Matt Sabatello and Rich Johannesen from Tick Boot Camp, Ali Moresco, Jenny Buttaccio, and Jennifer Hoffmann.
Advocacy Express is a platform that enables you to magnify your voice to your representatives. Ali Moresco founded Advocacy Express to automate Lyme disease advocacy by systematically mailing letters written by policy experts to your elected officials for the cost of a stamp.
If you would like to hear from elected officials who have personally been impacted by tick-borne illness and learn a variety of ways you can advocate for the Lyme community, then tune in now!
Amanda Rojas is a 31-year-old medical collections supervisor. She is planning on continuing her college education soon and wants to help others navigate through the craziness of Lyme disease.
Ms. Rojas’ battle with Lyme began at Christmas time when she was 25 years old. She visited over 30 doctors, specialists, urgent care facilities, and hospitals, but none of them could discover the root cause of her problems.
Many doctors misdiagnosed Ms. Rojas with psychological disorders and other conditions like Fibromyalgia and Epstein Barr Virus (EBV). Eventually, she found a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) who diagnosed her with Lyme disease through a Vibrant Labs test.
Ms. Rojas started treating using the kill, bind, and sweat treatment method which kickstarted her healing. She continued her treatment journey by visiting LymeStop. Most recently, she has started Vital Side Brain retraining to heal her limbic system.
If you would like to learn more about how a driven young woman located her Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment by never giving up and continuing to take action, then tune in now!
Julie Comble is a 23-year-old student and online tutor from Paris, France. She is studying English and Modern Literature at Sorbonne University, Paris.
Ms. Comble’s Lyme disease journey began with severe fatigue in her early teens. Three months after her parents terminated an unstable and often volatile relationship, she suffered a rapid acceleration of symptoms. She lost 17 pounds, suffered severe fatigue, neurological deficits, heart symptoms, and back, leg, arm, and foot pain.
Unfortunately, the proximity of the chronic symptoms to her parents’ divorce caused her doctors to misdiagnose her with mental health disorders related to her family’s trauma. After treating with scores of doctors over several years, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a French Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD).
Her doctors treated her with “many treatments” both traditional and natural, including antibiotics, anti-parasitics, probiotics, amino acids, herbs, and the “game changing” cycling of Rocephin and Malarone.
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman overcame systemic French Lyme disease denialism and diagnostic flaws before securing life altering medical treatment, then tune in now!
Hana-li Pendery is a 33-year-old entertainer, public speaker, business owner and entrepreneur. Her artistic parents named her in homage to the Peter, Paul & Mary classic song Puff the Magic Dragon.
Ms. Pendery’s battle with the Lyme dragon began when she was “about 16 years old." She managed her symptoms for over a decade until she lost the ability to sleep. Eventually her sleep disorder was diagnosed by a doctor who tested her for Lyme disease.
Knowing there was an answer to her health challenges, Ms. Pendery visited with almost every natural doctor in Florida to first diagnose and then treat her illness. Her treatment journey was guided by listening to her body’s signals that led her to utilize muscle testing, herbal supplements, ozone saunas, and ozone and UV light therapy.
If you would like to learn more about how an artist located her Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment by following her body’s signals, then tune in now!
Liz Walcott is a 36-year-old MBA/ CPA and serial entrepreneur residing in New York City, New York.
Ms. Walcott’s Lyme disease journey began in 2012 when she was “burning the candle at both ends” while working at a top US accounting firm In New York City. For several years she excelled in a demanding corporate culture with a code of conduct that required spin/workout classes before breakfast, long office hours, and mandatory after-hours social obligations.
Shortly after returning from a Hamptons share house summer retreat, she began to feel “heavy cold sweats, heart racing” and fear. She was “otherwise in great shape… so [she] knew something was wrong.” Her symptoms worsened to include neurological deficits, shortness of breath, tingling, and light sensitivity eventually rendering unable to work.
After visiting 15 doctors over 3 years, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease by an infectious disease doctor. After her diagnosis she utilized antibiotic therapy prescribed by one of the top LLMDs in the US, EBO2 ozone therapy, stem cell therapy and biomagnetism for pain management.
If you would like to learn more about how Liz Wolcott utilized “body confidence” and “modeling people who were successful” to regain her health, become a parent, and start a new business venture, then tune in now!
Dr. Timothy Haystead is a UK educated Doctor of Biochemistry, University Professor, entrepreneur, and world-renowned scientific researcher.
Dr. Haystead graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Biochemistry from Cardiff University (United Kingdom) and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee (United Kingdom).
He and his wife (a medical doctor) immigrated to the US to “seek adventure” in a new country. Dr. Haystead’s career in academia commenced in Seattle, traveled through the University of Virginia, and drew to a stop at the prestigious Duke University. During his adventures in academia, he trained under and worked with four Nobel Laureate scientists.
Dr. Haystead’s entrepreneurial efforts developed a drug discovery platform to take guess work or “luck” out of the process of identifying disease diagnostic and treatment tools. He founded two companies to develop and commercialize his drug discovery platform. He sold his first company, named Serenex, to Pfizer. He is working to build a new company that he started out of a “garage” in close proximity to Duke University.
After meeting and working with the famous Duke University Lyme disease researcher, Dr. Neil Spector, he was inspired to use his drug discovery platform to pioneer diagnostic and treatment tools for Lyme disease. Dr. Haystead’s Lyme research has earned the recognition and support of grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), US Department of Defense, Cohen Foundation, and the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. The grant funded research is being conducted in collaboration with researchers from Tulane University, UC Davis, and UNC Chapel Hill.
If you would like to learn more about how Dr. Haystead is working to pioneer tools to detect and eliminate Lyme bacteria by destroying its DNA, then tune in now!
Brianna Marie is a 39-year-old Holistic Doctor, athlete, and mother. She is the creator of the Holistically Fit Protocol and the @HolisticallyFitMomma and @HolisticallyFitBabe social platforms.
Dr. Brianna Marie grew up in a tick endemic community and suffered from classic Lyme symptoms since early childhood. Despite growing up the child of a medical doctor and treating with “dozens” of “allopathic doctors,” she was not diagnosed with Lyme disease until she was 32 years old.
The failures of the allopathic medical community inspired Dr. Brianna Marie to study and utilize holistic therapies including stem cells, yoga, IV Glutathione, CBD, probiotics, and infrared light therapy on her healing journey.
If you would like to learn more about how a Holistic Doctor rebuilt her health and converted her experience into a healing framework, then tune in now!
Russ Bell is a married father of two minor children. His MIT educated wife Nicole describes him as the most intelligent man she had ever met.
Mr. Bell grew up in the American South where he enjoyed outdoor sporting activities such as hiking and shooting. He understood that ticks and tick bites were part and parcel of a sportsman’s outdoor experience.
Toward the end of his professional career, Russ Bell fell in love with and married a brilliant young colleague. The couple’s 20-year age gap presented an opportunity to engineer an idyllic life: Russ would begin a new chapter in life as a caretaker for their young children and Nicole would continue to build her blossoming career.
The seemingly perfect family planning came to a sudden halt when the Lyme spirochetes and co-infections lurking in Russ’ brain caused him to suffer cognitive decline from Alzheimer’s disease, rendering him unable to care for his children and eventually himself.
During the family’s painful journey, Nicole Bell heard a call to describe her family’s experience with the raw reality of Lyme and converted her journal into a critically acclaimed memoir: What Lurks in the Woods.
If you would like to learn more about the Bell family’s “mistakes and successes” and the book that author Kris Newby described as a “must read for caregivers,” then tune in now!
Patricia Cosulich is a 26-year-old multi-talented artist, entrepreneur and social innovator. She is the playwright and producer of The Great Imitator, a Lyme disease play designed to “change the way we view healing, build community, mobilize policy change and fundraise through storytelling.”
Ms. Cosulich was a gifted child that enjoyed the exploration of her talents until she suffered the tragic loss of her father. The stress of the loss overwhelmed her immune defenses and unleashed Lyme disease.
For years, doctors dismissed classic Lyme symptoms “as grief and trauma” until she tested positive by an IGeneX blood test. Securing a diagnosis permitted her to treat with “an out of state” Lyme literature doctor that utilized modalities such as a “rotation of antibiotics, herbs, immune support and nervous system retraining.”
Although “not 100% [healed] yet,” her healing journey has allowed Ms. Cosulich to rediscover her “essential self” and at the same time feel “completely transformed - sort of like Patricia 2.0.”
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease helped a young woman find her purpose while on a journey of rediscovery and transformation, then tune in now!
Marsha Goins is a 41-year-old Oxford University and London School of Economics educated marketing entrepreneur. She is the founder of @MomToMomfluencer, a business “help[ing] mompreneurs grow and monetize [business] on Instagram.”
Ms. Goins began the momprenership phase of her career after working in the not for profit and big business sectors. She served on conflict resolution teams in several war-torn regions and then worked for Amazon.
Growing up on the US east coast Lyme belt, she frequently suffered tick bites causing her to believe she was a “tick magnet.” Unfortunately, none of her tick encounters were followed up with treatment and she eventually began to suffer from classic, but undiagnosed Lyme disease symptoms.
Ms. Goins visited with several doctors in search of a diagnosis and was misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid arthritis. Shortly after she began breast feeding her children, her health crashed and her doctors utilized blood testing to diagnose her with Lyme disease.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired a woman to reject the lure of big business to build a mom-to-mom entrepreneurs venture, then tune in now!
Brett Knight is a 26-year-old licensed personal trainer currently working full time parenting her son and healing from Lyme disease. She has been managing Lyme-related health issues for “all of her adult life” and her earliest symptoms presented by the age of 17.
Ms. Knight’s Lyme symptoms began with “feeling off,” “ringing in [her] ears,” and insomnia. Over time, she suffered from back pain, fevers, difficulty walking, and loss of the ability to lift her arms.
For 3 years she visited with medical doctors who misdiagnosed her with Chronic Fatigue and Depression. Finally, at the age of 20, a family friend and the founder of Infusio, Philip Battiade, was visiting her in-laws and utilized a biofeedback machine to diagnose her with Lyme disease. The Lyme diagnosis was later confirmed by blood testing.
Ms. Knight’s circuitous Lyme disease journey included stem cell therapy at Infusio in Germany, breast implant and explant surgeries, competitive bodybuilding, vitamin therapy, dietary changes and “game changing” Bee Venom Therapy (BVT).
If you would like to learn more about how a young mother is balancing parenting and healing by using a diverse set of modalities, then tune in now!
Tiara Smith is a 27-year-old financial industry marketing specialist from Kansas who was introduced to Lyme disease by a spouse suffering from the chronic disease.
Inspired to assist her wife overcome the illness, Ms. Smith joined Lyme groups and studied the work of Dr Bill Rawls and herbalist Stephen Buhner. As she witnessed her spouse go “through hell on antibiotics,” she searched for a sustainable treatment protocol.
Over time, Ms. Smith grew increasingly concerned that she could contract Lyme through intimate contact with her spouse. She discussed her concerns with a medical doctor and was advised that she should abandon her concerns about sexual transmission.
Despite taking steps to protect against intimate transmission, she began to exhibit symptoms that mirrored those of her spouse. Her first doctor refused to clinically diagnose and treat her classic Lyme symptoms because a blood test disclosed only a single positive Lyme band.
Undeterred by the failures of traditional medicine, Ms. Smith began to treat Lyme disease by utilizing the Dr. Rawls Vital Plan Restore kit with some additional herbal add-ons. She grew to believe that the only way to regain her health was to “become her own herbalist.”
If you would like to learn more about how herbal tools were used to defeat sexually transmitted Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Megan Ward is the 30-year-old founder and CEO of Ergo Hemp Co., a health and wellness company established to provide the community with reputably sourced CBD products.
Ms. Ward grew up in the heart of the Long Island, New York Lyme belt. Her environmentally aware parents and grandparent taught her to conduct regular tick checks, often resulting in finding biting ticks on her body.
By the age of 8, she had suffered from classic Lyme disease symptoms including fatigue, brain fog, and joint pains that regularly disturbed her sleep. Her symptoms resulted in Ms. Ward “continuously seeing [her] pediatrician” who diagnosed her with “growing pains.”
Her “growing pains” followed her to college where a Lyme literate classmate recognized that she was suffering from Lyme disease. Ms. Ward then visited a doctor and tested positive for Lyme.
Following her diagnosis, Ms. Ward located and treated with one of the top Lyme Literate Doctors in the US who treated her with a combination of antibiotics. She also utilized herbs, prebiotics, probiotics, dietary changes and the “game changing” CBD.
The positive health results she achieved utilizing CBD inspired Ms. Ward to study the endocannabinoid system and the beneficial impacts of cannabis products. She then founded a company to “educate consumers about the amazing benefits of cannabis and provide high-quality CBD products.”
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease motivated the creation of a health and wellness company, then tune in now!
Colonel Nicole Malachowski is a nationally recognized fighter pilot and military commander. Her 21-year military career included flying 26 combat missions, serving as the first female Thunderbird pilot, serving as a White House Fellow in the administrations of Presidents Bush and Obama, and commanding the 333rd Fighter Squadron at Seymour Air Force Base in North Carolina. Colonel Malachowski is a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and is the recipient of 11 Air Force medals including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.
As commander of the 333rd Fighter Squadron, she participated in outdoor training “without taking precautions for preventing insect bites.” Upon returning from training, she visited military doctors to be treated for “flu like symptoms” and an “EM rash.” The doctor diagnosed her rash as a spider bite “because [they] don’t have Lyme in North Carolina.”
Shortly thereafter, Colonel Malachowski was stationed in Newport, Rhode Island and discovered an engorged tick on her leg. Her military doctors warned her to “watch for a rash,” which never appeared. Three months later she tested IgM positive for Lyme disease and was prescribed 28 days of antibiotics.
Colonel Malachowski’s health quickly declined over the course of the 3 years following her 2nd tick bite. She became wheelchair bound despite treating with 24 military and civilian doctors. She was finally “fully diagnosed” after she was granted permission to treat at the civilian Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness – Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.
Unfortunately, the late-stage diagnosis and treatment were too late to preserve Colonel Malachowski’s military career. She was forced to retire in 2017 because she contracted “tick-borne illnesses.” Today, Colonel Malachowski is a public speaker and patient advocate for people suffering from tick-borne illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about how a fighter pilot is using her military education, experience and training to win the battle with Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Martha Edmister is a multi-talented 47-year-old artist, entrepreneur, and mental health coach from Baltimore Maryland. Her health journey began after suffering a childhood tick bite, 2 years before Borrelia Burgdorferi was identified as the bacterial cause of Lyme.
Shortly after her childhood tick bite, she developed health issues that were followed for 14 months by the head of endocrinology at DC’s Children’s Hospital. For the next 40 years she battled mental and physical illnesses resulting in multiple hospitalizations.
Prior to securing a Lyme Disease diagnosis, she was medicated for serious mental illness and her physical symptoms digressed to a point where she lost her vision, lost the ability to work, and suffered incontinence.
At the age of 41, Ms. Edmister tested CDC positive for Lyme Disease by a doctor utilizing the two-tier Elisa/Western blot tests. The positive diagnosis liberated her from years of mental health medication and launched a healing journey. Her diverse treatment protocols included two trips to the German Klinik St. George and the Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
On August 24, 2021, Ms. Edmister officially joined the ranks of nationally recognized Lyme disease activists by testifying before the Federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught an artist and activist the importance of pivoting in life and Lyme, then tune in now!
Nora Claire is a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Denver Colorado. Her Lyme disease journey began immediately after being bit by a tick when she was 17 years old.
Ms. Claire developed a summer flu within a few days of her tick bite but didn’t connect it with the tick bite because she didn’t notice a rash. A few months later, she developed fatigue, joint pain, depression, and anxiety.
Ms. Claire’s symptoms began to progress throughout the next four years while at college and included unusual brain fog and food intolerances. After college, her existing symptoms worsened, and she developed even more symptoms like extreme body pain and inflammation. As a result, doctors prescribed medication for her symptoms without digging deeper to find the root cause.
Ms. Claire sought the assistance of a Chinese medicine practitioner who diagnosed her with a thyroid problem and also performed a cupping session. Afterwards, Ms. Claire had an emotional release which caused her to have the realization of “I have Lyme disease.”
Shortly after, Ms. Claire was diagnosed by a naturopath in Beverly Hills using a non-traditional testing technique involving electrodes. Ms. Claire’s treatment regimen included a toolbox loaded with natural medicine and even a treatment never before discussed on the Tick Boot Camp Podcast!
If you would like to learn more about how a brilliant young woman leaned into natural and holistic medicine to heal from chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Tricia “Trish” Baden is the 33-year-old Candle Scientist behind Flores Lane from West Hollywood, California. Her Lyme disease journey began while on a cabin trip with her ex-boyfriend and his family to Northern Wisconsin when she was 23 years old.
Ms. Baden became immediately ill during the last day of her trip with a sore throat, bump on the back of her head, and a fever. Her symptoms progressed and she developed neurological problems in addition to various other symptoms from head-to-toe.
Ms. Baden kept fighting for her health and was misdiagnosed with early on-set Parkinson's disease and depression. She knew deep down that there was more to the story.
Over a year later, Ms. Baden was diagnosed with stage 4 neurological Lyme disease, Babesia, and Bartonella after seeing almost 30 different doctors. She has used a wide variety of treatments and is
If you would like to learn more about how a curious scientist used her God-given talents to overcome medical incompetence and use what she learned to become the founder/CEO of Flores Lane, then tune in now!
The Tick Boot Camp community has partnered with Global Lyme Alliance (GLA) Ambassadors Ali Moresco and Meghan Bradshaw to host a free virtual kick-off party and donation drive.
On Sunday, October 3, 2021, the GLA Global Gala watch-party will be preceded by a Tick Boot Camp kick-off party. You are invited to join the party at 11:30 am EST via Zoom at Tickbootcamp.com/GLA.
You are also invited to shorten your healing journey and at the same time help the entire Lyme community by making a tax-deductible donation to the Global Lyme Alliance. If you make a $50 donation to the GLA, you will receive unlimited access to courses designed by the top Lyme health entrepreneurs in the world, valued in excess of $600 (For those of us that are poor at math, that is an immediate return on investment of more than 10 to 1).
The Lyme disease healing package of programs you will receive are as follows:
The 5 Steps to Manifesting Course E-Course ($49 value) - created by fellow Lyme advocate, Inner Glow Circle's CEO, and author Katie Depaola
Hack Your Mind: Hack Your Life E-Course ($297 value) - created by fellow Lyme advocate, doctor, and author Doctor Diane Mueller from Medicine With Heart
LymeEd: The Complete Guide for Adopting an Integrative Approach to Chronic Lyme Disease E-Course ($197 value) - created by Lyme advocate, doctor, and author Doctor Nicola Ducharme from Restore Medicine
The Lyme Diet: Nutritional Strategies for Healing Lyme Disease E-Book ($30 value) - created by Lyme advocate, doctor, and author Doctor Nicola Ducharme from Restore Medicine
The Lyme Ease Mindset Journal ($17 value) - created by Lyme advocate, author, and health coach Jenn Hyla
Katie Beecher is a 55-year-old peer reviewed and verified Medical and Emotional Intuitive and Licensed Professional Counselor from Jacksonville, Florida. Her work has been featured on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, Kourtney Kardashian’s Poosh and many other media outlets.
Ms. Beecher’s Lyme disease journey began during her childhood, but was not diagnosed until approximately 8 years ago. She suffered a lifetime of classic Lyme disease symptoms that included joint inflammation, facial paralysis, GI issues, fatigue, brain fog, and migrating mental health issues.
While working with patients diagnosed with Lyme disease, she noticed that her lifelong symptoms closely mirrored their Lyme symptoms. The pattern recognition caused Ms. Beecher to seek medical treatment from a Naturopathic Doctor. Utilizing energy and blood testing, the doctor substantiated a Lyme disease diagnosis.
The diagnosis delayed by decades granted Ms. Beecher and her doctor the opportunity to banish the symptoms she had intuitively managed and treated through naturopathic and spiritual self-care.
If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme disease journey stimulated a Professional Counselor to uncover her medical and emotional intuitive gifts, then tune in now!
Margaux Gunning is a 29-year-old wellness expert from San Diego, California. Her Lyme disease journey began while she was studying culinary nutrition at one of the top culinary arts programs in the United States.
For several years after graduating from college, Ms. Gunning struggled with progressive migrating health issues. Her “random” symptoms included “unmanageable foot pain” and “rashes” requiring frequent hospital admissions. During one hospitalization her pain was diagnosed as depression and bipolar disorder triggering her to scream because everything “was so out of control.”
Ms. Gunning adroitly outmaneuvered years of medical diagnostic failure. She excelled professionally and socially until she was entrapped by a doctor offering a hormone therapy. Two doses of Lupron Depot robbed her of her health, rendering her bedbound and unable to speak or toilet herself.
Desperate to reclaim her life, Ms. Gunning’s research and “gut” directed her to the famous Amen Clinic where a SPECT scan was utilized to diagnose her with Lyme disease. Locating a diagnosis allowed Ms. Gunning to work with a plethora of Lyme literate practitioners to rebuild her physical and mental health.
If you would like to learn more about how a beautiful mind rose from the ashes of medical diagnostic and treatment negligence, then tune in now!
Erin Meyers is a 39-year-old culinary artist from Bakersfield, California. Ms. Meyers moved to California after living most of her life in the eastern US Lyme belt.
Ms. Meyers’ Lyme journey began during childhood with classic migrating symptoms that were misdiagnosed as growing pains, IBS and SIBO. Her symptoms were treated individually, not collectively, for over 30 years resulting in a delayed Lyme disease diagnosis.
Securing a diagnosis permitted Ms. Meyers to build a cookbook of medical recipes to rebuild her immune system including IV ozone, ozone saunas, acupuncture, muscle testing for herbals and energy healing.
Today, Ms. Meyers is recovering from dental cavitation surgery and preparing herself physically and emotionally for the next steps in her treatment journey.
If you would like to learn more about how a culinary artist overcame decades of medical system failure to unearth the recipe for successfully treating Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Dr. Diane Mueller is a Naturopathic Doctor, Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, author, public speaker, and entrepreneur. She is also the Co-Founder of Medicine with Heart, a clinical medical practice located in Morrison, Colorado.
Dr. Mueller grew up on the east coast of the United States where Lyme disease cast a shadow over her childhood experience. Her sister was diagnosed with Lyme disease as a 10-year-old child, and Dr. Mueller suffered from a diversity of ailments that included constipation, joint pain, and fatigue.
After medical school, Dr. Mueller looked forward to commencing a career in clinical medicine and expected to recover from “Medical School Syndrome,” a fatigue commonly associated with the rigors of medical education. While observing her medical school colleagues “quickly recover,” her health continued to deteriorate.
Declining health forced Dr. Mueller to turn the lens of her duel eastern and western medical degrees on herself. She ran “a ton of tests …that no one had considered” and tested positive for the same disease her sister battled during their childhood: Lyme Disease.
Finally locating a diagnosis allowed Dr. Mueller to treat the symptoms she could only manage for most of her life. She utilized treatment modalities to work on her mind and the parasympathetic nervous system, in addition to “herbal, bee venom therapy and ozone.”
Today, Dr. Mueller is healthier and has more energy than she did during any time in her life.
If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught a doctor how to diagnose and treat herself and to have empathy and compassion for patients that deal with chronic illnesses, then tune in now!
Sam Lesch is a 20-year-old student originally from Auburn, New York currently residing in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Her Lyme disease journey began during her senior year of high school when she suffered migrating symptoms that included the loss of the use of her right leg, the use of her hand and fingers, brain fog, fatigue, and facial drops.
Although suffering from classic migrating Lyme disease symptoms, the confirmation of her family’s suspicion that she was suffering from Lyme was delayed due to the failure of the standard Western Blot testing. Ms. Lesch tested negative for Lyme on 4 separate LabCorp Western Blot tests. Finally, a family friend recommended a superior DNA ConneXions (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 168) urine test and her diagnosis of Lyme disease and co-infections was confirmed.
After her diagnosis, Ms. Lesch’s parents and siblings studied Lyme through course work and built a team of medical professionals to treat her disease. The treatment team included a kinesiologist and an out-of-state Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD).
Ms. Lesch’s age and illness forced her to rely on her family and medical team to establish a treatment plan that included 5 antibiotics, probiotics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, IV Meyers’ Cocktail, yoga, and glutathione. Her treatment protocol was so rigorous that she began to feel what she called “pill fatigue.”
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman on the cusp of adulthood refused to allow Lyme disease to prevent her from transitioning to college and independence, then tune in now!
Madeline Castellanos is a 9-year-old actor, student and author from Los Angeles, California. Her Lyme disease journey began 4 years ago when her mother, Alexandra, took her to an urgent care facility when she noticed the child had an “alarming rash."
After being dismissed by the urgent care doctor, the formerly energetic Madeline began to nap frequently, fall asleep during car trips, suffer daily migraine headaches, and fall behind her classmates academically in school. The developing symptoms and a new “bullseye” rash caused her mother to schedule Madeline for an examination by her primary care physician.
Madeline’s primary care doctor diagnosed her with Lyme disease after she tested positive on a Western Blot test. Sadly, Madeline’s doctor acknowledged that he did not have the experience or training to adequately treat her disease, so he urged Alexandra “find a good doctor” for her daughter.
Alexandra’s quest to find a “good doctor” required the pair to travel across the country from California to the birthplace of Lyme disease: Connecticut. There, Madeline treated with the famous Dr Jones of New Haven Connecticut for “10 months nonstop” before she achieved symptom relief. Today, Alexandra helps Madeline to prevent symptom flare ups through diet, limiting direct sun exposure, and avoiding stressful situations.
The Castellanos family’s Lyme journey taught the mother and daughter many powerful lessons that they wanted to share with other parents and children. Their first outreach project was to co-author a children’s book about a young child’s Lyme disease journey titled “Mylie’s Lyme Story.” Mylie’s Lyme Story is now available wherever books are sold including Amazon and ironically Target.
If you would like to know more about how Lyme disease inspired a mother and child to share their journey through a child friendly medium, then tune in now!
Kaitlyn Oleinik is a 27-year-old psychology student, musician and equestrian enthusiast from Orange County, California. Ms. Oleinik is also the daughter and granddaughter of WWII era Jewish resistance fighters.
Starting at the age of 10 years old, Ms. Oleinik began to treat with medical doctors for Lyme disease symptoms including severe fatigue, knee pain, and joint pain. Despite visiting “dozens of doctors,” her symptoms did not result in a diagnosis until she and her parents watched a television show that profiled a young woman’s Lyme disease journey.
The parallels between Ms. Oleinik’s symptoms and those of the television heroine inspired her to take control of her childhood diagnostic journey. First, she researched and located the CanLyme symptom guide. When she discovered that she exhibited the overwhelming majority of the traditional symptoms listed in the guide, she petitioned her parents and her doctor to treat her for Lyme disease. She achieved remission with antibiotic treatment prescribed by her primary care physician.
Several years later, during her senior year of college, she suffered a series of traumatic events while at the same time residing in mold infested student housing. The combination of immune disrupting events caused her to suffer a Lyme relapse that was misdiagnosed by doctors as mental illness. Realizing that her symptoms were potentially indicative of Lyme disease, she ignored her family, friends, and doctors and took control of her second diagnostic journey by locating a Lyme literate medical doctor (LLMD) who diagnosed her with Lyme disease.
Ms. Oleinik and her LLMD utilized IV antibiotics, IVIG therapy and stem cells to treat her Lyme disease relapse. Ms. Oleinik described the $30,000 stem cell therapy as “lifesaving.”
If you would like to learn more about how a young woman tapped into her resistance fighter spirit to overcome the doubts of family, friends, and doctors to take control of her Lyme disease diagnostic journeys, then tune in now!
Gina Valles is a 33-year-old personal trainer, exercise scientist, gym owner, and entrepreneur from South Windsor, Connecticut. Ms. Valles was an elite nationally ranked high school and college athlete who discovered that over training could inhibit her game day performance.
Ms. Valles’ Lyme disease journey began in 2017 after she discovered 3 attached ticks after returning home from a walk with her dog. Shortly thereafter, she began to suffer flu-like symptoms, insomnia, neurological pain, and breathing problems. Despite residing in the shadow of Old Lyme, Connecticut, her classic symptoms went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed by 5 Connecticut based medical doctors.
Her health improved vastly after locating a Lyme literate medical doctor (LLMD) who diagnosed her with Lyme disease and treated her with an aggressive antibiotic protocol.
When Covid mandated gym closures and suspended in-person training, Ms. Valles pivoted to online training. The online model required her to lead several Zoom classes per day, causing her to suffer physical exhaustion and a relapse. She discovered that the physical stress from over training disrupted her immune system causing a Lyme disease relapse.
The relapse experience inspired Ms. Valles to return to her exercise science roots. She studied over training and immune disruption. The research coupled with her second Lyme healing journey inspired her to build “Immune Warrior,” an online information/education business. Immune Warrior offers cutting-edge eBooks, subscriptions, and products to help folks in the community “find [their] inner warrior.”
If you would like to learn more about how too much of a good thing taught a fitness professional the importance of balance and immune health and inspired a new online business, then tune in now!
Dr. Janice Iannucci is a Nurse Practitioner and lifelong resident of tick endemic Long Island, New York.
Dr. Iannucci studied and earned her nursing degrees, LPN, RN, NP, and Doctorate from the top universities located on Long Island, while working in hospital systems in the region.
As Dr. Iannucci was climbing to the educational pinnacle of her profession, she felt but could not see “something on the back of her leg while she was driving” that resulted in a rash and chronic “flu-like syndrome that would put [her] down for months.”
Unable to self-diagnose, she began to share her puzzling symptoms with hospital colleagues who were also unable to help her locate a diagnosis. Desperate for a diagnosis, Dr. Iannucci became a patient and visited over 10 doctors in search of a diagnosis where she was misdiagnosed with MS and depression.
Finally, she visited the famous LLMD, Dr. Raxlen, where she tested positive for Lyme disease on an IGeneX lab test.
The failure of her own education and training, the education and training of her hospital colleagues, and the education of her 10 medical doctors reset the concentration of Dr. Iannucci’s doctorial education. Additionally, the challenges she faced on her healing journey caused her to study traditional eastern herbal tools to supplement the tools she had utilized during her career.
If you would like to learn how Lyme disease changed the educational and career paths of a western-educated Doctor of Nurse Practitioner, then tune in now!
Megan Bradshaw is a 28-year-old fashion industry professional and Lyme disease policy activist from Waxham, North Carolina. Since childhood, she has answered the call to public service. She volunteered for church clothing drives, served families at the Ronald McDonald House, and assisted breast cancer survivors during her time managing a lingerie business in the fashion industry.
Ms. Bradshaw’s professional and health journeys kicked off at the same moment in time. While she was blessed with rapid advancement in her career, she was forced to manage the curse of rapidly declining health.
Ms. Bradshaw sought treatment for her failing health at the leading medical institutions in the United States, including the Cleveland Clinic, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Vanderbilt University. Unfortunately, a misdiagnosis resulted in a treatment prescription “that opened the flood gates” for Lyme disease to cause orthopedic injuries requiring multiple joint replacement surgeries.
Ms. Bradshaw’s painful journey has caused her to earn superhero status in the Lyme disease community. By overcoming medical trauma to become a more effective and focused public servant, she has become affectionately known as the Bionic Woman of Lyme.
Today, Ms. Bradshaw is using her time on medical leave to focus on tick-borne disease advocacy and fundraising. She is also preparing for an educational and career pivot to public policy and administration in the health care/disability industry.
If you would like to learn more about how a benevolent spirit used Lyme disease to build the Bionic Woman of Lyme, then tune in now!
Nic Turinski is a 39-year-old data analyst and artist from Eugene, Oregon. He is the creative force driving the Chronic 2 Wear brand. Mr. Turinski was an uber athletic 18-year-old basketball player when he began to suffer classic Lyme disease symptoms. The then undiagnosed disease restricted his athleticism eventually stealing his athletic gifts entirely. At the height of the disease, he lost all mobility, suffered seizures, and required the assistance of an electric wheelchair to experience the outside world. His eight-year diagnostic journey was checkered with medical incompetence caused by “doctors trying to validate themselves by invalidating [him].” Before he could locate a path to healing, Lyme disease required him to learn two life lessons: treatment must be slow and steady and healing requires you to locate a passion outside of Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how the creative force behind the Chronic 2 Wear brand is using slow and steady progress and artistic passion to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Debbie Nichols and Candice Matthis are the charismatic co-founders of TwoAlphaGals, an Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) health and wellness community. Ms. Nichols’ Alpha-Gal journey began when she realized that red meat consistently made her stomach hurt. Ms. Matthis’ journey began with GI issues that presented shortly after she discovered a tick attached to her toe. Their paths crossed and their relationship was born out of a realization that they shared similar dietary restrictions when meeting at a social gathering. As the relationship grew, they realized they were travelling on parallel medical journeys later resulting in a joint diagnosis of Alpha-Gal Syndrome. Together, they developed a support system that allowed them to improve their own lives, the lives of their families and the lives of people in the tick-borne disease community. If you would like to learn more about how the bond between two women from Virginia manifested into an advocacy, health, and wellness community, then tune in now!
Katie DePaola is an entrepreneur, author and the creative force behind a globally recognized education and training program. She is the founder of Inner Glow Circle, a company dedicated to training and certifying woman as life coaches. Ms. DePaola’s Lyme disease experience began with a tick bite suffered the summer before she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend the elite Vanderbilt University. For the 9 years following her tick bite, the formerly energetic young woman suffered declining health with symptoms that included extreme fatigue, constant pain, mood swings and paralysis to her hands, feet, and face. Despite consulting and treating with over 30 health care practitioners, her mysterious illness went undiagnosed until she visited the famous LLMD Dr. Joseph Jemsek, MD. Between 2014 and 2017, she treated with several well-known Lyme disease specialists where she learned how to rebuild her health and, in the process, discovered her life’s purpose! Ms. DePaola’s spiritual journey laid the foundation for her to build and run a successful business and in 2020 to publish the acclaimed book “At Least You Look Good: Learning How to GLOW Through What You Go Through.” If you would like to learn how a young entrepreneur discovered her Greatest Level of Want (GLOW); i.e., want for herself, for others and for the world, then tune in now!
Dr. Leo Shea is a neuropsychologist, Lyme disease pioneer and polymath with offices in Boston and New York. Dr. Shea began his professional career as a successful international business consultant where he developed a passion for identifying and developing human resources. Provoked by his passion, he returned to academia to earn dual PhDs in psychology. In 1995, while serving as the Assistant Director of the NYU Brain Injury Day Treatment Center, he began to treat patients with Lyme disease who were exhibiting classic brain injury symptoms. Today, Dr. Shea is the President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation (ILADEF), the Immediate Past President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), staff psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Rusk Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Principal of Neuropsychological Evaluation and Treatment Services (NETS). If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme disease pioneer is constructing customized psychological care for patients with neurological disorders, traumatic brain injuries, Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, then tune in now!
Jenn Hyla is a 39-year-old author, field biologist, and health coach mentoring Lyme disease recovery and veterans of the US military. In the fall of 2011, after suffering numerous “bug bites” during basic training for the US Air Force, she fell ill with knee swelling, fever, swollen glands, aches, and fatigue. Military doctors prescribed Ibuprofen and 24 hours of bed rest. Over the following 4 years, her health steadily declined. She was misdiagnosed with arthritis and giardia until her primary care physician tested her for Lyme disease. The diagnostic delays and failures from the medical industry gave rise to the belief that healing from Lyme disease would require Ms. Hyla to take radical responsibility for her health through citizen science. Utilizing a diverse range of healing tools, she recovered 90% of her pre “bug bite” health, developed a business to mentor Lyme recovery and authored “The Lyme Ease Survival Guidebook.” She has also developed a free Lyme Ease Herx Guidebook to help those with Lyme disease get through treatment reactions and symptoms. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease transformed a field biologist to a published author and Lyme recovery coach, then tune in now!
Malorie Green is an entrepreneurial beauty industry professional from Long Island, New York residing in south Florida. Ms. Greens’ chronic illness developed after undergoing a dental procedure. Her symptoms included fatigue, neck pain, joint pain and ironically hair loss. Ms. Greene’s hair loss symptom was particularly stressful because she believed her changed appearance would cause her customers to lose faith in her ability to meet their needs. Her mind told her that if she did not make a healthy appearance, she could not help her customers look good and feel good. After suffering for several years without a diagnosis, at the age of 26 she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. During her healing journey, Ms. Greene learned that she needed to feel good emotionally to fertilize an environment for healing, triggering an entrepreneurial epiphany. If you would like to learn more about how a beauty industry professional discovered the importance of scaling healing from the outside-in, then tune in now.
Erin Reeves is a 27-year-old veteran of the Air Force reserves originally from Plymouth, Massachusetts. She is a medical technician, a published model, and a student. During her time in the military, she served as an Aerospace Medical Technician and after discharge she worked in a diverse set of medical environments. Ms. Reeves began to suffer from the symptoms of Lyme disease at the age of 12. The time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 13 years, during which time she was treated by scores of doctors including a number of military doctors during her 6 years of military service. Ironically, Ms. Reeves was diagnosed when she was scanned with a diagnostic tool during a training. A colleague scanned her arm and discovered evidence of a Lyme co-infection that was later confirmed by her treating physician. Finally locating a diagnosis liberated Ms. Reeves from terrible anxiety and provided hope she would locate a plan to end her suffering. If you would like to learn more about how a veteran of the American armed forces is winning the war with Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Emily Levy is the 27-year-old visionary female entrepreneur and co-founder of Mighty Well. Mighty Well is a medical wearables company that grew from a vascular access equipment company (PICCPerfect) to a community that has defined the Adaptive Fashion industry. Ms. Levy’s journey to CEO of a venture capital backed category king began when she was bitten by a tick at the age of 6. For the following 6 years, untreated Lyme disease presented as chronic illness without a diagnosis until the end of Ms. Levy’s first year of college. The many trials faced by Ms. Levy and her 2 best friends and caregivers during their collective college experiences became the inspiration for the three to start a movement “to change the perception of patients from victims to fighters.” If you would like to learn more about how functional and stylish apparel, accessories and medical wearables were manifested by Lyme disease and the love that developed between 3 college classmates, then tune in now!
Jennifer Hoffmann is a 36-year-old multi-talented artist from New Rochelle, New York. She is a touring opera singer, board member of Generation Lyme and a project manager at Project Lyme. Ms. Hoffmann recalls having suffered multiple tick bites during her childhood, and she was recently reinfected after a tick bite in 2020 from visiting New York City’s Central Park. Since the age of 7, she has suffered classic but undiagnosed Lyme disease symptoms that interfered with her artistic, educational, and social activities. Prior to receiving a Lyme diagnosis from an enlightened allergist, she received “double digit” diagnosis and treatments that “never yielded positive results.” Since testing positive for Lyme, she has utilized a diverse set of treatment tools including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, herbs, ozone and IVIG. If you would like to learn more about how an artist is using her creative spirit to heal herself and others from the suffering caused by Lyme disease, the tune in now!
Ava Passarelli is a 15-year-old young woman from Chicago, Illinois. Ava lives with her dynamic mother Liza Blas, her father, and her younger brother. Prior to attending high school, Ava attending a sleep away camp in Minnesota where she suffered multiple tick bites over two summer seasons. The summer camp officials did not notify Ava’s parents of the tick bites, nor did they provide Ava with prophylactic medical treatment. Ava’s parents discovered that Ava was bitten by a tick after they received a letter from their daughter 10 days after one tick bite incident. Shortly after returning home from her summer camping experience, Ava began to suffer various neurological Lyme disease symptoms that were diagnosed by health care providers as anxiety, depression, OCD, eating disorders and Tourette syndrome. Eventually, a Chinese medicine doctor offered to test Ava for Lyme disease using an IGeneX test kit that returned positive results for Lyme disease. Ava’s mother Liza built a multi-level healing framework for her daughter by locating and hiring many of the most highly regarded treatment professionals in the world; including in-patient treatment at Sanoviv Medical Institute in Mexico, Michelle McKeon (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 141) of Lyme and Cancer Services in New York and the renowned Lyme Literate Integrative Medical Doctor, Doctor Casey Kelley (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 98), MD, of Case Integrative Health. If you would like to learn more about how Ava Passarelli and her mother Liza Blas are working together to power through Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Cole Elbel is a 25-year-old native of rural Pennsylvania residing in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Elbel’s rural childhood experience caused him to suffer 3 attached tick bites resulting in constant fatigue during his youth. His immune system managed the undiagnosed Lyme disease symptoms until he was faced with several high stress events during his senior year in college. He then began to suffer debilitating symptoms including headaches, nightmares, severe fatigue and joint stiffness. Because his symptoms continued to spike, he accepted the advice of a family member and returned home to Pennsylvania to visit a Lyme literate doctor who diagnosed him with Lyme disease. Mr. Elbel spent 3 years treating with antibiotics, vitamins, dietary restrictions and the Canadian SOTA protocol. Mr. Elbel has returned to full-time work and enjoys a social life with restrictions. If you would like to learn more about how a financial professional utilized the power of the mind and the power of his relationship with God to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Traci Weintraub is a 40-year-old entrepreneur and sitcom television entertainment professional from West Hollywood, California. Originally from the Long Island, New York region of the east coast Lyme belt, Ms. Weintraub moved to California after she graduated from college. She enjoyed an active professional, social and athletic west coast lifestyle until she began to suffer leg heaviness and pain, migraines and POTS symptoms shortly after she ran a half marathon in memory of a deceased friend. Her diverse symptoms caused her to treat with 19 doctors on both coasts before she was prescribed an IGeneX Lyme disease test by an Integrative Gastroenterologist. Today, her Lyme disease is remitted after utilizing a diverse set of treatment tools, including, antibiotics, herbs, ozone, and dietary changes. Her Lyme mandated dietary changes inspired her to develop Lyme and chronic illness friendly soup recipes that later became the foundation of a new career. If you would like to know more about how Gracefully Fed, a Lyme and chronic illness friendly soup and food business was inspired by the healing journey of a Hollywood TV sitcom professional, then tune in now!
Dan Price is a 42-year-old married father serving as the Executive Pastor of a church located in Bend, Oregon. The Price family began a relationship with Lyme disease in 2012 when Pastor Dan began to suffer a long-term fever and fatigue that progressed to brain fog, short term memory loss, anxiety, and depression. He treated with 5 doctors before he was diagnosed with Lyme disease. After his diagnosis, his symptoms continued to progress and Pastor Dan lost hope that he would heal from Lyme disease until 2 members of the Lyme social media community recommended a doctor practicing outside of Detroit, Michigan. Shortly after Pastor Dan’s health began to improve, his wife and family “rock” was diagnosed with acute Lyme disease. Pastor Dan suspects that he unknowingly infected his wife with Lyme through sexual contact. The final chapter of the Pastor’s healing journey required EMDR therapy with a “brain injury focused therapist.” Today, Pastor Dan and his wife have attained remission from Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how a Pastor and his family have recovered strength from weakness inflicted by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Noel Elie is a 35-year-old actor, model, director, producer and entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California. Her acting resume includes appearances on CBS’s Blue Bloods, CW’s Dynasty, NBC’s Shades of Blue and ABC’s Shark Tank. In her business life, she worked with many iconic brands and NY Times bestselling authors until she became chronically ill. Approximately one year ago, Ms. Elie developed debilitating symptoms; including, brain fog, tremors, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression. When these symptoms “kicked into high gear,” she visited a carousel of 8 doctors before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. The diagnosis inspired Ms. Elie to utilize traditional and alternative treatment modalities such as antibiotics, vitamin IV therapy, plant therapy (Ayahuasca), and Kambo (frog poison). If you would like to learn more about how an uber talented entertainment and business professional is writing and producing the script to recover her health from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
John Tubbs is a 41-year-old empathic Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Health Coach from upstate Slingerlands, New York. His Lyme disease journey began at the age of 27 when he suffered classic flu like symptoms, intense neck pain and Bell's Palsy. He was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and achieved short term remission after being treated with several courses of antibiotics. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Tubbs suffered a relapse and Lyme disease "came back with a vengeance" causing him to become chronically ill and hospitalized. Mr. Tubbs was determined to heal and intuitively understood he had to become his own advocate, doctor, and a student of self-care. He also learned that he had to connect with other people in the chronic illness community where he found a "kindred community of people who understood him." To give back to the "kindred community," Mr. Tubbs was inspired to create the BeYourOwnPhysician Instagram page. If you would like to learn more about how a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Health Coach is using the lessons he learned on his personal Lyme disease journey to help others build a tool box for healing, then tune in now!
Tori Piskin is a 30-year-old comedian, producer, editor and podcaster from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Piskin was raised in a traditional close-knit New York Jewish familial environment. Her family was activated to help as soon as her chronic symptoms presented during her senior year of college. She was diagnosed and in treatment with a well-known Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) within months of the onset of her symptoms. After graduating from college, Ms. Piskin returned home to earn a "graduate degree in Lyme disease" by dedicating herself to "full time healing." During that time, she and her family filmed and posted the highs and the lows of her Lyme journey on YouTube. YouTube served to channel Ms. Piskin's talents and to validate the Lyme experience for others in the community. Today, Ms. Piskin describes her health as "87 percent" improved and she is "taking care of herself" by "listening to her body." If you would like to learn more about how an entertainer and media professional is dedicating her vast talents to sharing the humorous love and support she received on her healing journey, then tune in now!
Danielle Cosgrove is a 26-year-old sports management professional from Long Island, New York. Ms. Cosgrove’s Lyme disease journey began in 2012 when her symptoms prevented her from achieving her dream of playing college lacrosse. Her progressing symptoms sent her to visit 9 doctors over 8 years before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Her diagnosis was incidental to treating at a immunological clinic and her nurse practitioner recognized her symptoms and recommended her to IGeneX for diagnostic testing. After a positive Lyme test, she moved back home to Long Island and sought treatment from the famous Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) Daniel Cameron, MD. Today, Ms. Cosgrove is ready to aggressively treat with the Cameron protocol and to study supplemental treatment tools. If you would like to learn more about how a sports management professional is working to manage Lyme disease out of her life, then tune in now!
Gary Shope and Doctor Alex Shope are the father and son team working to disrupt Lyme disease diagnostic testing at medical start up Contamination Source Identification (CSI-Dx). Gary Shope is a serial entrepreneur who exited retirement to build CSI-Dx. Dr. Alex Shope, MD is a medical doctor who was inspired by his mentor to abandon the clinic setting and scale his work to offer health care solutions to thousands of patients worldwide. In the next 12 months, CSI-Dx will offer patients a set of affordable diagnostic tools that will remove guesswork from Lyme disease treatment. The testing will provide solid evidence of all active infections by identifying RNA through Artificial Intelligence (AI) to report all detected infections within 24 hours. If you would like to learn more about how the Shope family and CSI-Dx will use AI and RNA testing to give hope to the Lyme community and disrupt the diagnostic testing industry, then tune in now!
Misty Rangel is a 33-year-old English Arts student from Fresno, California. Ms. Rangel’s Lyme disease journey began after a doctor assured her that a bug bite on her leg “was nothing to worry about.” At the time, she was an extremely fit professional performing artist, dancer and Zumba instructor. Over the next several months, she began to suffer classic Lyme disease symptoms forcing her to visit with 15 doctors before she was properly diagnosed with Lyme disease. Despite debilitating symptoms, Ms. Rangel was determined not to allow Lyme to “shut her up” and she enrolled in college to construct a new career and she dedicated all her available free time to serving the Lyme community through public appearances, rallies, and governmental lobbying events. If you would like to know more about how chronic Lyme disease inspired a professional entertainment artist to Lyme disease community activism, then tune in now!
Theora Dobronte is a 33-year-old Registered Dietitian from California. Ms. Dobronte is one of six members of her family diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. Her personal Lyme disease experience was induced by an intimate relationship with a man from a Lyme endemic community. Her symptoms progressed over time eventually forcing her to withdraw from athletic, social, and professional activities. After testing CDC positive for Lyme disease, Ms. Dobronte embraced an aggressive treatment regimen that included attending a Lyme treatment center in Nevada. Determined not to “give up” and “refusing to accept the fate” of chronic illness, she has progressed toward returning to social and professional activities. If you would like to learn more about how a Registered Dietitian is making use of her scientific aptitude, education, and experience to fearlessly battle Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Paola Leichter is a 35-year-old attorney from New Jersey. During her senior year in college, she developed full body seizures. Soon thereafter, she suffered additional classic chronic Lyme disease symptoms. Somehow, she found the fortitude to grit though the illness to complete law school, an advanced law degree (LLM), pass two bar examinations (New York and New Jersey) and complete a prestigious judicial clerkship. During her diagnostic journey, she visited some of the most respected medical professionals in her community, including an LLMD. She was finally diagnosed when she was fortunately treated by a substitute ENT. At her sickest, Ms. Leichter weighed 90 lbs. and was too weak to leave her bed. Today, she has recovered her weight, began driving and returned to the practice of law. If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme Literate Lawyer won an acquittal over Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Ally Hilfiger is a multi-dimensional artist residing with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Hilfiger’s Lyme disease journey began when she was bitten by a tick at the age of 7. Undiagnosed Lyme disease presented various physical and emotional challenges during her childhood, but it could not contain Ms. Hilfiger’s artistic genius. She began a professional stage acting career at 13, produced an acclaimed film at 16, and created and starred in MTV’s first reality tv program at 17. Her illness did force her to pause her career at 19 when psychiatric symptoms required an involuntary institutionalization. During her hospital stay, an enlightened doctor recognized her symptoms and diagnosed her with Lyme. After her diagnosis and early treatment, Ms. Hilfiger pursued artisan painting and built a successful fashion design company. Recently, she answered a call to dedicate her life and talents to help others heal from Lyme disease. The healing mission manifested in the publication of a widely read Lyme testimonial book. Today, she is one of the most active and thoughtful figures serving the Lyme disease community. If you would like to learn more about how Ally Hilfiger is dedicating her multi-dimensional artistic talents to helping end the suffering caused by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Maxine (Max) Janssens is a 27-year-old architect and project manager from Perth, Australia. In 2019, Ms. Janssens and her partner took a trip to explore the west coast of the United States. At the behest of an Australian friend who contracted Lyme while traveling in the US, Ms. Janssens took precautions to protect herself from ticks and Lyme, including, daily tick checks. Shortly after returning from her trip, she began to suffer undiagnosed acute Lyme symptoms and within 6 months her “bone crushing” fatigue and brain fog required her to stop working and to return home to live with her parents. Fortunately, a friend recognized her symptoms and recommended her to one of the few Lyme literate doctors in Perth Australia who diagnosed her with Lyme. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman is using her architecture and project management skill sets to design her recovery from chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Sarah Hook is an Integrative Holistic Practitioner, Health Coach, Functional Diagnostic Practitioner and Reiki Master from London, England. She was bitten by a tick at the age of 25 and managed her health challenges until professional stressors caused her health and nervous systems to crash after 8 years. Fortunately, Ms. Hook’s training and experience resulted in an early diagnosis after she sought treatment at the renowned Breakspear Clinic. Her treatment plan included a diverse set of treatment protocols including herbs, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), ozone therapy and colonics. Today Ms. Hook is preparing to return to work and to creatively share more of her treatment journey on social media, including Instagram. If you would like to learn more about how a holistic health practitioner is using her training to shorten her healing journey, maintain her social relationships and validate people living with Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Dr. Alan MacDonald is an Ivy League educated medical doctor and the first Lyme Literate Pathologist. Dr. MacDonald practiced as a "Doctor's Doctor" on Long Island, New York at the onset of the Lyme disease pandemic. Dr. MacDonald pioneered the use of pathological techniques to prove that untreated Lyme disease can result in a patient's death. He also perfected direct diagnostic testing to prove seronegative chronic active Lyme disease. Additionally, Dr. MacDonald proved Lyme disease caused fetal deaths, stillbirths, and sudden infant deaths. Lastly, he was the first to link Alzheimer's disease to Lyme infections. If you would like to learn more about how America's first Lyme Literate Pathologist pioneered many of the mainstream diagnostic and treatment techniques used by medical practitioners and Lyme researchers, then tune in now!
Dr. Casey Kelley is a Lyme Literate Integrative Medical Doctor from Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Kelley shared her personal and professional journeys with Lyme disease in Episode 98 of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast. To celebrate Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Tick Boot Camp issued a challenge to Dr. Kelley to answer your questions live and in real time. This podcast is the audio of the Instagram Live broadcast. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme Literate Integrative Medical Doctor Casey Kelley took on all challengers including the rapid fire “follow-up” questions from co-hosts Rich Johannesen and Matt Sabatello, the tune in now!
Danielle Pashko is a nutritionist and author working at a clinical medical practice based in New York City, New York. After overcoming a battle and writing a book on thyroid cancer, she began to exhibit symptoms of Lyme disease. Her Lyme disease went undiagnosed for over a year despite visiting 14 doctors exhibiting classic symptoms. Ms. Pashko was finally diagnosed after her primary care doctor tested her for Lyme. She utilized a broad spectrum of spiritual, emotional, eastern and western treatment modalities over 2 years to achieve remission. In December of 2020, Ms. Pashko contracted COVID which triggered a Lyme relapse. Today, she is returning to the treatment tools she utilized to heal from Lyme. If you would like to learn more about how nutritionist Danielle Pashko is revisiting her treatment successes to attack her Lyme relapse, then tune in now!
Dr. Leslie J. Douglas is a geneticist and molecular biologist from Colorado. Currently she is the Principal Investigator and Laboratory Manager for DNA Connexions. DNA Connexions is a top US based testing company focusing on bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic molecular based detection assays. Dr. Douglas' current professional focus is the research and development of PCR (direct DNA) based Lyme and tick-borne disease co-infection testing as well as the development of various molecular based assays. If you would like to learn more about how DNA Connexions and Dr. Leslie Douglas' research and testing tools can provide you with valuable information on your treatment and diagnostic journeys, then tune in now!
Emma Pikoulas is a 22-year-old lifelong resident of tick endemic Long Island, New York. Ms. Pikoulas was bitten by ticks on numerous occasions during her childhood. She was first diagnosed with a tick infection (Mycoplasma) at the age of 16 and then Lyme disease and coinfections after a relapse at the age of 19. Ms. Pikoulas has treated with several of the top Lyme Literate Medical Doctors (LLMDs) on the east coast. One of her medical protocols required her to travel 5 hours per day, by train, for infusions. Despite chronic Lyme and the COVID epidemic, this young woman located the fortitude to grit through her symptoms and treatment to graduate from college in 4 years. Today, Ms. Pikoulas is treating with the famous LLMD and co-author of the book Chronic: Dr. Steven Phillips, MD. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman balanced treatment, an epidemic, and her college studies, then tune in now!
To honor Lyme Disease Awareness Month and all those suffering from Lyme disease, Dr. Bill Rawls, MD joined the Tick Boot Camp podcast to announce that his company is giving away free copies of the bestselling "Lyme disease healing bible:" Unlocking Lyme. Dr. Rawls also shared with the Tick Boot Camp community that his company will continue to offer free monthly Lyme disease related webinars. Finally, Dr. Rawls discussed some of the healing lessons he has learned since publishing Unlocking Lyme and that he is putting the finishing touches on his newest book. If you would like to learn more about how you can receive a free copy of the bestselling Lyme disease healing and reference guide, Unlocking Lyme, then tune in now!
Dr. Joseph Burriscano is America's first Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). He began practicing medicine in Lyme endemic eastern Long Island, New York, a short time and distance from where the first Lyme infected ticks examined by Dr. Willy Burgdorfer were dragged. Dr. Burriscano's clinical observations resulted in the discovery and development of diagnostic and treatment protocols that were considered taboo in the 1980's and 1990's which have become gold standards for LLMDs today. He is now considered one of the world's leading experts in the treatment of Lyme disease. He has appeared on virtually every television, radio and newspaper outlet, published 16 scholarly papers in medical journals and advised governmental agencies including the NIH, CDC, armed services subcommittee and the US Senate. Currently, Dr. Burriscano works full time in the biotech arena at IGeneX (website, Instagram). If you would like to learn more about America's first Lyme Literate Medical Doctor, then tune in Now!
Lindsay Ruiz is a 44-year-old large scale corporate organizational change leadership professional from Charlotte, North Carolina. Ms. Ruiz earned her B.S. in her native Venezuela, a master’s degree in the United States and she is currently doctoral candidate. Ms. Ruiz presented classic Lyme disease symptoms to over 20 medical professionals over the course of one year. One of the doctors that helped Ms. Ruiz on her diagnostic journey was her dog’s veterinarian. Ms. Ruiz’s psychologist reviewed her medical records and discovered she had tested positive for Lyme disease with one of her previous doctors. She then took an Igenex test which confirmed her Lyme diagnosis. Ms. Ruiz is now working with the brilliant Doctor Tiffany Brown-Bush and is showing promising results. If you would like to learn more about how Lindsay Ruiz used her organic fighting spirit to overcome medical gaslighting, then tune in now!
Layla Perchal Neal is a Jacksonville, Florida based media professional and photographer originally from Leicester, England. Ms. Perchal Neal was bitten by ticks on at least four separate occasions prior to suffering chronic Lyme disease symptoms. When she began to feel fatigue and brain fog, Ms. Perchal Neal sought the assistance of medical doctors; including, infectious disease doctors who resisted testing for Lyme disease despite four tick bites and classic Lyme disease symptoms. If you would like to learn more about how a photographer overcame medical gaslighting and utilized easter and western medical tools to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Freddie Kimmel is the host of the Beautifully Broken Podcast and part of the management team at AmpCoil. He is also a functional health coach through IFHC, Gut Health Specialist, Citizen Scientist, Reiki Healer, and public speaker. He has been featured in, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, LA Talk Radio, and in Dance Magazine. Freddie is a proud survivor of metastatic cancer, Lyme disease and mold. If you would like to learn more about how a polymath discovered awareness as his superpower, then tune in now!
Elizabeth Brannan is a 33-year-old cowboy from Ventura, California. Ms. Brannan identified as a cowboy for most of her life. Her Lyme disease journey began when she was bitten by a tick at work resulting in a bullseye rash. She visited a doctor who diagnosed and treated the rash as ringworm. Thereafter, Ms. Brannan rapidly developed classic Lyme disease symptoms. Eventually, she lost the ability to grit through her symptoms and was forced to leave her dream job and her independence. Ms. Brannan’s healing journey turned the corner when her sister challenged her to focus on her mental fitness. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman had to focus on mental and spiritual health to take control of her Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Max Noir is a 25-year-old self-described nomad originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She is currently the head of operations for a Chinese virtual reality company. Ms. Noir’s Lyme disease journey began at the age of 16 with fatigue, seizures, and facial paralysis. During her health journey, she was betrayed by school administrators and medical doctors teaching her to advocate for herself. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught a young woman to replace expectation with self advocation to survive and then thrive while living with a chronic illness, then tune in now!
Christina Kantzavelos is a UCLA educated licensed psychotherapist, professional content writer and blogger from Joshua Tree, California. Ms. Kantzavelos is the creative force behind the highly regarded daily healing journal “Begin Within.” She developed “Begin Within” because she could not find a journal while on her Lyme disease journey that offered both physical and mental health prompts. Ms. Kantzavelos’ Lyme diagnostic journey was long and painful. At the age of 29, she had to take a professional leave of absence and return home to live with her mother because her Lyme symptoms rendered her unable to care for herself. Today, she is living independently, seeing patients part-time, promoting her journal and working on several Lyme disease and chronic illness projects. If you would like to learn more about how a psychotherapist utilized various tools, including journaling, to heal her mind and body from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Sarah Tyghter is the 55-year-old Director of Education and Outreach at the Global Lyme Alliance. Ms. Tyghter is a lifelong resident of the state of Connecticut, the birthplace of Lyme disease. Despite attending primary and collegiate educational institutions in close proximity to Lyme, Connecticut, Ms. Tyghter received no Lyme health related education or training until she began to work at the Global Lyme Alliance. Ms. Tyghter’s classic Lyme disease symptoms were not properly diagnosed by her doctors for 5 years. If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme educator is tirelessly working with the Global Lyme Alliance to bring Lyme disease awareness and education to the world, then tune in now!
Kymberlie Stansell is a 38-year-old Duke University educated Lyme disease coach and “Wellness Sleuth.” Ms. Stansell’s Lyme disease journey began after she graduated from college and moved to New York in pursuit of an acting career. For 15 years she consulted with scores of doctors, spending tens of thousands of dollars eventually searching herself into diagnostic exhaustion. Finally, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a doctor in New York City. If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme coach had to connect with her inner sleuth to find clues to her health questions, then tune in now!
Jaime Jamgochian is a touring musician and worship artist from Nashville, Tennessee. Several of Ms. Jamgochian’s singles play on Christian radio stations and her most well-known original song “Hear My Worship” spent 12 weeks at #1 on National Christian Radio resulting in her recognition as a the #1 inspirational artist on the Billboard charts. In 2017, Ms. Jamgochian’s neurological Lyme disease required her to take a sabbatical from work and return home to live with her parents. Ms. Jamgochian began to regain her health while she treated with the New York Center of Innovative Medicine in Huntington, New York. If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme disease journey inspired a worship artist’s new album “All Things,” then tune in now!
Ashley Bobe is a business development specialist from Kansas City, Missouri. Ms. Bobe’s Lyme disease journey began at the age of 6 when she discovered an engorged tick biting her below her hair line. The tick was removed at a hospital and Ms. Bobe was treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, Ms. Bobe’s childhood hospitalization foreshadowed a series of undefined adult illnesses that triggered hospital visits to every hospital in the states of Missouri and Kansas. At the age of 32, Ms. Bobe was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease resulting in treatment with one of the top Lyme disease doctors in the United States. If you would like to learn more about how Ashley Bobe located Lyme remission only after she left the traditional medical community and utilized the free Buhner Protocol, then tune in now!
Georgia P. Grey is the 30-year-old founder of WBH Nutrition, a holistic nutrition business. Ms. Grey’s Lyme disease symptoms began at the age of 24. Prior to the onset of symptoms, Ms. Grey was a teacher working 10 to 12 hour days and an avid runner competing in half and full marathons. During her Lyme disease treatment journey, Ms. Grey studied at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and became a Certified Holistic Health Coach. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught a first-grade teacher to slow down, love herself and launch a new career, then tune in now!
Renata Lindoso is a 40-year-old woman from Brasilia, Brazil. Ms. Lindoso’s Lyme disease journey began when she traveled to the United States (US) and was bitten by a tick causing her to suffer a bullseye rash and a long-term flu. Unfortunately, her diagnostic and treatment journeys were long and lonely due to her family, friends, and mental health professionals refusing to acknowledge her illness and diagnosis. If you would like to learn more about how a woman from Brazil refused to look at her “situation through her suffering” and “fought a lonely battle for [her] truth,” then tune in now!
Rachel Barnes is a 35-year-old woman from Northern Virginia. Ms. Barnes was Pursuing an active career as a commercial interior designer and project manager when she suffered a summer flu and knee pain that were written off by her doctor. Ms. Barnes’ diagnostic journey included being misdiagnosed by 10 doctors. Currently, she is working with Health Coach Jackie Shea (episode 10) and a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) who has prescribed antibiotics, herbs, dietary and detox protocols to rebuild her health. If you would like to learn more about how a designer is utilizing her project management skills to reconstruct her health, then tune in now.
Arianne Jones is an Olympic gold medal athlete, holistic nutritionist and Lyme disease activist (episode 83). Paige Lawrence is an Olympic athlete and performance coach. The two Olympic athletes merged their talents to build the Podium Performance Program (use coupon code TICKBOOTCAMP for 10% off). If you would like to learn more about how a performance and holistic nutritional program may be a next step in your Lyme disease recovery journey, then tune in now!
Alexandra Moresco is a well-known Lyme disease activist (episode 101) married to University of Chicago MBA DJ McKerr. Ms. Moreso and Mr. McKerr merged their talents to build Advocacy Express, a tool designed to help Lyme disease patients lobby their elected representatives with letters written by policy experts to advocate for those living with tick-borne illness. If you would like to learn more about Alexandra Moresco’s pivot to entrepreneurship as a new tool in her Lyme disease toolbox, then tune in now!
Lena is a health, fashion and beauty influencer currently residing in California. Lena was born and raised in the former Soviet Union where she was exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. At the time Lena and her family immigrated to the United States, she was not aware that her exposure to Chernobyl radiation compromised her immune system. While attending a cultural festival in Upstate New York, Lena was bitten by a tick and became chronically ill. To treat her chronic illness, Lena built a team of healthcare professionals including health coach Daisy White (Tick Boot Camp Podcast Episode 80). As part of her emotional healing journey, Lena was encouraged to pursue an outlet and she created a fashion Instagram page: @Panthere_InStyle. Today, @Panthere_InStyle has inspired 4.3 million followers and has become a platform for fashion and Lyme disease advocacy. If you would like to learn more about how a mysterious fashion influencer built a team of healthcare professionals and turned a mindset outlet into a platform to bring Lyme disease awareness to millions of people, then tune in now!
Romy Rosen is a 19-year-old college student from Portland, Oregon. Ms. Rosen and her family lived in Connecticut until she was diagnosed with Lyme disease at the age of 7 years old. The framework for Ms. Rosen’s childhood healing journey was built by her mother, resulting in symptom remission at the age of 13. Three years later, Ms. Rosen suffered a relapse triggering her to take control of her healing by learning and then building on the framework constructed for her during childhood. To defeat the initial relapse, and then prevent a second, Ms. Rosen seamlessly integrated a diverse set of physical and mental healing modalities. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman built on a childhood healing foundation by integrating eastern and western medicine to treat chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Michele Nicole is a 38-year-old Penn State University educated Teacher and Behavior Specialist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Michele's Lyme disease journey began during her late 20’s with symptoms that included fatigue, chronic pain, migraines, depression and a seizure. Her symptoms eventually required her to take a medical leave from her career as an educator and the loss of her driver’s license. Recently, Michele's health began to show signs of improvement permitting her to find love with an intimate partner and launch a career as a social media marketer. If you would like to learn how Lyme disease opened the door for a teacher to find love and pivot to social media marketing, then tune in now!
Skye Cowie is a 21-year-old college student and professional athlete from Raleigh, North Carolina. Ms. Cowie’s Lyme disease symptoms began shortly after she was bitten by a tick at the age of 12. At the time of her tick bite, Ms. Cowie played high level team soccer. Unfortunately, Ms. Cowie’s Lyme disease symptoms progressed rapidly rendering her incapable of participating in scheduled team practices or games. Although Ms. Cowie and her mother attributed her progressive illness to a childhood tick bite, she was not diagnosed with Lyme disease for over 6 years. During her lengthy diagnostic journey, Ms. Cowie discovered a way to pursue her passion and pivoted from team to freestyle soccer. Freestyle soccer granted Ms. Cowie the flexibility to practice when pain or fatigue did not interfere. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman used her resourcefulness to pursue her dream, overcome Lyme disease and work with First Lady Michele Obama, Adidas, Samsung, Wilson, Puma and Canon, then tune in now!
Amanda and Christopher Dahl are the 44-year-old founders of Dahl Holistic Health from San Diego California. Mrs. Dahl is a certified herbalist, health consultant, bio magnetic therapist and Reiki Master. Mr. Dahl is a Reiki Teacher/Master. Mr. and Mrs. Dahl traveled an 18-year diagnostic journey that ended when they were tested by a doctor that diagnosed their minor child with Lyme disease. The Dahl family utilized antibiotics, herbs, medically supervised essential oils, bio-magnetic therapy and energy healing to rebuild their health. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease taught the health consultants, energy healers and Reiki Masters from Dahl Holistic Health that the timing of healing modalities is everything, then tune in now!
Natalie Torres is a 27-year-old life coach, entrepreneur and model from Houston, Texas. Ms. Torres was infected twice with Lyme disease, first at the age of 12 and then she was reinfected at the age of 23. She was working as a fashion model based in New York City (NYC) when her doctor diagnosed with Lyme disease. After receiving a Lyme diagnosis, Ms. Torres granted herself permission to engage in self-care and to make healthy lifestyle changes which became the foundation for a career change. Ms. Torres’ healing journey introduced her to various eastern and western healing modalities including antibiotics, psychedelic mushroom micro dosing, mineral detoxing, Kambo, Kundalini yoga and breathwork. If you would like to learn more about why a fashion model left the bright lights and the big city to answer a spiritual calling to coach healing, then tune in now!
Mimi Maclean is a 49-year-old Ivy League educated entrepreneur, Lyme disease platform curator and dual podcast host from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Maclean, her husband and one of their 5 children have been diagnosed with Lyme disease. Ms. Maclean was infected with Lyme disease 6 years ago when she was bitten by a tick while visiting the east coast. Upon returning home to California, she sought medical treatment for the tick bite and made the regrettable decision to forego prescribed antibiotics. If you would like to learn more about how a tick bite and Lyme disease transformed an entrepreneur and mother of 5 into the founder of the Lyme 360 platform, podcast and community, then tune in now!
Johanna Laliberte is a 35-year-old registered behavior technician, life skills coach and small business owner serving the special needs community in Bergen County, New Jersey. Ms. Laliberte’s Lyme disease experience began during her childhood when her mother was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. Ms. Laliberte was herself diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease approximately 5 years ago. She is currently on a professional leave to dedicate full time to a unique IV and nutritional therapy protocol. In response to the concern that most Lyme disease stories are told after the healing journey has ended, Ms. Laliberte offered to share the physical and emotional challenges of her experience immediately after commencing treatment. If you would like to learn more about why a second generation chronic Lyme disease patient is bravely sharing the ups and downs of her treatment experience, in real time, then tune in now!
Michelle McKeon is a Certified Mold Specialist, teacher, Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) and the founding owner operator of Lyme and Cancer Services and Balancing Pathways. She is also the director of LifeSpan medicine’s Lyme Nutrition Program. After a 5-year diagnostic journey that started with a tick bite on Fire Island, New York, she treated with some of the top Lyme Literate Doctors (LLMDs) in the US including Dr. Kenneth Leigner, Dr. Richard Horowitz and Dr. Sheryl Leventhal. She also treated at the renowned Klinik St. Georg in Germany. Ms. McKeon’s diagnostic and treatment journeys granted her insight into a diverse set of treatment tools which she converted into Lyme disease recovery frameworks. If you would like to learn how a Lyme disease experience inspired a pivot from a teaching career to a career dedicated to building businesses designed to end the suffering caused by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Lauren “Lorny” Pfeifer is a venture capital investor, artificial intelligence data scientist and artist from San Francisco, California. Ms. Pfeifer’s health “crashed” when participating in an academic cultural exchange in Europe through the Fulbright US Student program. Although she exhibited classic Lyme disease symptoms, she was misdiagnosed by doctors in several states, countries and two continents. Ms. Pfeifer was diagnosed with Lyme disease 3 years ago and is currently treating in New York with the well known LLMD, Dr. Richard Horowitz. If you would like to know more about how a brilliant young venture capital investor, AI data scientist and artist is utilizing technology to disrupt the suffering caused by Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Mariko Sato is a sales representative for an IT Company and a professional Samba dance entertainer from Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Sato’s Lyme disease journey began when she was bitten by a tick when she traveled to Brazil to study Samba. She was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a DNA Connections test administered by the Japanese Wellness Clinic Kagurazaka. Ms. Sato tested positive for Borrelia Burgdorferi, Babesia and Bartonella. If you would like to learn more about how a professional entertainer from Tokyo, Japan contracted Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Christina Kovacs is a 32-year-old Lyme disease blogger, advocate and lobbyist from Kentucky. Ms. Kovac’s Lyme disease journey began shortly before she left college at the University of Louisville. For the next 5 years, Ms. Kovacs’ health continued to decline and she visited with over 100 doctors in 8 US states. Finally, she was referred to the real life “Doctor House,” Dr. Michael Bernui, who diagnosed her with Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about Christina Kovacs’ 100 doctor Lyme disease journey, then tune in now!
Olivia and Holiday Goodreau are the dynamic mother-daughter team from Denver Colorado that co-founded the LivLyme Foundation and the Tick Tracker App. The Goodreau family’s Lyme disease journey began when Olivia was bitten by a tick at the age of 7. Olivia’s classic Lyme disease symptoms were misdiagnosed by 51 doctors over 18 months. Since her diagnosis, Olivia has become one of the Lyme disease community’s most aggressive advocates resulting in her meeting with Governors, Senators, a President and world leaders. She has also partnered with some of the Lyme community’s most famous doctors including Dr. Neil Spector and Dr. Richard Horowitz. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease transformed a 16-year-old woman and her mother into advocates, educators, app builders, and co-founders of a foundation that provided treatment grants to 49 patients and awarded 4 major university research grants, then tune in now!
Sam McLaren-Fahey is a 31-year-old Citizenship Assimilation program manager and the creator of the acclaimed trauma survivor podcast: “Your Survived. Now What?” Ms. McLaren-Fahey’s traumatic Lyme disease experience began at the age of 24 when she suffered symptoms including complex migraines, weight and hair loss, panic attacks and severe neurological symptoms. On one occasion Ms. McLaren-Fahey’s neurological symptom prevented her from processing how to use a cooking spatula and she attempted to turn an egg with her bare hand. Ms. McLaren-Fahey’s Lyme disease was misdiagnosed by 13 different doctors over 2 years. If you would like to learn more about the Lyme disease journey of popular podcast host Sam McLaren-Fahey, the tune in now!
Christa Nannos is a 30-year-old American actor, writer and Lyme disease educator from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Nannos was bitten by a tick when she was 9 years old. Her Lyme disease remained mostly dormant until she was exposed to parasites while on a mission trip to Guatemala. During the following 10 years, she was misdiagnosed with mental health illnesses, Candida, SIBO, Overactive Bladder Syndrome, IBS and more. Despite being mistreated by the medical community and suffering from debilitating physical symptoms, Ms. Nannos focused on maintaining a positive mindset and used laughter as a healing tool. If you would like to learn more about how a comedic actress and writer is using laughter as a Lyme disease healing tool, then tune in now!
Christine Lydon is an Ivy League educated American Medical Doctor (MD), Author and Attorney (JD) living in Rossland, British Columbia, Canada. Ms. Lydon moved to Canada, with her son, to attend law school. Both Ms. Lydon and her son began to exhibit classic symptoms and were diagnosed with Lyme disease by the well know Lyme Literate Doctor (LLMD) Daniel Cameron. Unfortunately, Ms. Lydon’s Lyme disease diagnosis was questioned by the Canadian medical and legal communities and her son was temporarily placed in the Canadian foster care system which prevented him from receiving Lyme treatment. If you would like to learn more about how a doctor-lawyer suffering from chronic Lyme disease was failed by the Canadian medical and legal systems, then tune in now!
Brianna Wick is a 26-year-old digital media content creator and the curator of the Official Green Soup platforms. Ms. Wick began her Lyme disease journey when she bitten by a tick while participating in a school trip to the east coast. Despite suffering classic Lyme disease symptoms, she was not correctly diagnosed or treated until 3 years after her tick bite. Ms. Wick’s doctors treated her with antibiotic cocktails, herbal tinctures and supplements. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired Brianna Wick to build a chronic illness awareness and education platform, the tune in now!
Chris Kontopidis is a 32-year-old person living a nomadic life in New Mexico’s desert. After suffering a tick bite in 2017 and discovering mold at their home, Chris began to suffer progressive Lyme disease symptoms including severe fatigue, hair loss, bone pain and finally extremely progressed dementia. After treating with rotating antibiotics and heavy supplements, Chris Kontopidis detached from traditional social, emotional and housing boundaries to overcome healing plateaus. If you would like to learn more about how Chris Kontopidis established firm non-traditional boundaries to promote healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Christina Ricucci is a 22-year-old American actor, musician and dancer. Ms. Ricucci won national recognition when she was named “Teen Best Dancer” at the age of 14. Soon thereafter, she began to feel sick, but was not diagnosed with Lyme disease until 2 years later. Unable to perform at an elite level, Ms. Ricucci abandoned her dream to dance professionally and discovered a larger reservoir of performance artistic talents. If you would like to learn more about how a chronic Lyme disease journey revealed Christina Ricucci’s acting and musical performance talents, then tune in now!
Kobra Paige is a 32-year-old touring musician and recording artist from Calgary, Canada. The lead vocalist for the band Kobra and the Lotus began her Lyme disease journey when she suffered facial paralysis at the age of 12. She suffered fatigue, memory loss, joint pain and depression, but went undiagnosed until the age of 25. Ms. Paige, her sister and her mother were all 3 diagnosed with Lyme disease and treated in the US at the Envita Medical Center. If you would like to learn more about heavy metal vocalist Kobra Paige’s Lyme disease journey, then tune in now!
Dr. Tiffany Brown-Bush is a 41-year-old Naturopathic Doctor, Certified Mental Health professional, creator of the EAT-FIT safe weight control program and co-creator of the CRAVE DETOX allergen free protein bar. She began her personal Lyme disease journey in 2016 and after treating with 5 doctors for over 2 years, she was diagnosed with several Lyme infections; including, Borrelia Burgdorferi, Babesia and Ehrlichia. Since her diagnosis, Dr. Brown-Bush has managed her symptoms with herbal protocols, the Freemedica Wave wearable frequency emitter for cellular and immune health, cold laser treatments, sauna treatments, QNRT and EFT. If you would like to learn more about how Dr. Tiffany Brown-Bush is using a diverse set of diagnostic and treatment tools to manage her own symptoms and the Lyme disease symptoms of her patients, then tune in now!
Emily Strauss is a 28-year-old native of New York City, New York. At the time Ms. Strauss began to exhibit the symptoms of Lyme disease, she founded a nationally recognized company: Mural Painter, Inc. Ms. Strauss’ Lyme disease symptoms began as small aches and pains and then developed into seizures and fatigue rendering her bedridden for over one year. Despite the challenges presented by her developing Lyme symptoms, Ms. Strauss found the internal resources to build a business that was recently featured on the network television program Shark Tank. If you would like to learn more about how Emily Strauss became a nationally recognized female entrepreneur while battling chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Alexis Najarian. Ms. Najarian is a fitness trainer, Ms. Nebraska USA ’19 and Lyme advocate with the Twin Cities Lyme Foundation. Ms. Najarian, her brother, and her mother became extremely sick when they moved to Tick endemic Connecticut. Ms Najarian is the granddaughter of one of the country’s top medical doctors and the daughter for former NFL linebacker, entrepreneur, and television personality. Despite the resources available to the Najarian family, their collective diagnostic journey was painful and lengthy. Fast forward to the 2019 Ms. Nebraska USA pageant, Ms. Najarian dedicated her pageant platform to Lyme disease awareness and advocacy in collaboration with her family and the Twin Cities Lyme Foundation. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Najarian is humbly advocating for the Lyme community, then tune in now!
Leeann Escobar is a lifelong resident of tick endemic New Jersey. She began to exhibit the symptoms of Lyme disease during her early childhood, but was not diagnosed until one year after developing “mysterious symptoms” as an adult. Despite a lengthy diagnostic journey, Ms. Escobar maintained a positive mindset. Utilizing her grit and IV treatment, Ms. Escobar achieved symptom relief and recently celebrated the birth of her second child. If you would like to know how Leeann Escobar utilized a positive mindset and IV treatments to gain Lyme disease symptom relief, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is the uber talented Carly Taylor. Ms. Taylor grew up in tick-endemic Connecticut and left her home community with Lyme disease. Ms. Taylor learned a great deal about herself and life in general while traveling on her Lyme disease journey. If you would like to learn more about Carly Taylor’s greatest life lesson, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Heather Glovack. Ms. Glovack is a lending officer residing in paradise, aka Hermosa Beach California. Ms. Glovack exhibited classic Lyme Disease Symptoms since she was a teenager, but was not diagnosed with Lyme disease for approximately 14 years. Ms. Glovack’s Lyme-related fatigue caused her to mentally bully herself in her head, which she overcame to become a more compassionate patient young woman. If you would like to learn more about Heather Glovack’s transformative Lyme disease journey, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Dr. Susan Eisen of Tick Tock Naturals. Dr. Eisen is a holistic chiropractor from Jersey City, New Jersey. After suffering Neurological Lyme and symptoms that included excessive sleep, short term memory loss, aphasia and word retrieval loss, she also began to suffer “out of control” anxiety over the thought of reinfection from a tick bite. To manage her anxiety and protect herself from reinfection, she developed an organic mosquito and tick repellent. If you would like to learn more about how Dr. Eisen used anxiety to fuel the creation of Tick Tock Naturals, a natural organic tick repellent, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Josh Kreifels and Kristina Biggs. Ms. Biggs is a Registered Nurse (RN) and Mr. Kreifels is a Registered Dietician (RD) both residing in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Biggs and Mr. Kreifels went on a COVID weekend getaway in a mountain area in the Pacific North West and Mr. Biggs discovered a tick biting him on his arm. Ms. Biggs’ training made her aware that Lyme disease can be very dangerous and chronic. Knowing she had a short window to act, Ms. Biggs turned to social media for resources and located Tick Boot Camp’s Instagram page and Tick Bite Blueprint. If you would like to learn more about Kristina Biggs’ and Josh Kreifels’ tick bite journey and how you can use the Tick Boot Camp Tick Bite Blueprint to help you prevent a Lyme disease infection or reinfection, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is a 20-year-old Irish/Danish Lyme disease warrior named Monica. Monica’s (Instagram page id_monica123xx) Lyme disease journey began at the age of 10 when she visited her father for a summer holiday in rural Denmark. Despite a Danish public awareness campaign that warned Monica and her family to the dangers of ticks and Lyme disease in her father’s community, a rash on her leg was written off. Shortly thereafter, Monica returned to her native Ireland and was vaccinated, triggering severe and then chronic Lyme disease symptoms. If you would like to learn more about Monica and her Lyme disease journey, then tune in now!
Dorothy Leland is an author and Lyme Disease activist from California. Ms. Leland’s Lyme disease journey began when her 15-year-old daughter Rachel began to suffer the symptoms of Lyme disease. Rachel’s long and often painful Lyme journey led Ms. Leland to work as a research assistant on a Lyme documentary, blog for LymeDisease.org and co-author “When Your Child Has Lyme Disease, A Parent’s Survival Guide.” If you would like to learn more about how the Leland family survived childhood Lyme disease and transformed into Lyme disease activists, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Vicki Novinsky. Ms. Novinsky is a spoonie blogger and cartoonist from Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Novinsky was only five years old when she became extremely sick at her parents’ vacation house in Massachusetts. Her mom was frustrated with their family care physician and took Ms. Novinsky to an alternative pediatrician where she was treated with antibiotics. At that time, Ms. Novinsky also developed an autoimmune thyroid disease. Fast forward to graduate school, and Ms. Novinsky became extremely sick again. She had severe brain fog and allergic reactions to almost everything. She also had several misdiagnoses before finally being diagnosed with Lyme by an LLMD. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Novinsky is bringing light to the Lyme community, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Sophie Eustache. Ms. Eustache is a 22-year-old graduate student from Bordeaux, France. She first experienced symptoms of Lyme at just four years old, and doesn’t remember what it feels like to live without constant joint pain and fatigue. She wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme until she was ten years old. Ms. Eustache had a severe relapse of symptoms in 2017, but to the best of her ability, still refuses to let Lyme get in the way of her academic or professional aspirations. If you would like to learn more about the journey of an almost lifelong Lymie, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Maren Lotte van Merrienboer. Ms. Lotte van Merrienboer is a 25-year-old social media influencer from the Netherlands. She first started experiencing the symptoms of a tick disease in 2014. Ms. Lotte van Merrienboer was extremely tired, couldn’t control her muscles, and had brain fog. She wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme for four years, and didn’t see many doctors because they didn’t take her seriously. They told her what she was feeling was in her head. Ms. Lotte van Merrienboer’s ex-boyfriend suffered from Lyme. They hadn’t spoken in years, but she accidentally connected with him on LinkedIn. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He messaged her, and soon she was telling him about her health problems, and he connected her with his doctor. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Lotte van Merrienboer’s treatment journey, and how she is inspiring others to fight chronic illness, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Ashley Iovinelli. Ms. Iovinelli is a 32-year-old integrative nutrition coach from Naperville, Illinois. She was a 28-year-old new mother when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. She went from being an active mother to not being able to move from the couch. Ms. Iovinelli had unexplainable pain that migrated throughout her entire body. She was tested for Lyme at the beginning of her journey, but it came back negative. It wasn’t until a year and a half later that she finally received a positive test. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Iovinelli is helping others with Lyme through her health coaching and blog, Wheatgrass Warrior, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Alaina Hamade. Ms. Hamade is a 22-year-old health and wellness coach, social media marketer, and podcaster from Pennsylvania. She started experiencing symptoms of a tick disease in high school, after finding a rash on her leg. Soon after, she had migraines, heart problems, panic attacks, and memory issues. She had to drop out of school. After receiving her Lyme diagnosis, Ms. Hamade now focuses on building up a healthy immune system with probiotics and vitamins. If you would like to learn more about why Ms. Hamade will never be able to return to her old self, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are the creative founders of the Body Lyme Spirit movement: Shannon Delrahim and Ashley Keller. Ms. Delrahim is a 30-year-old woman from Los Angeles, California and Ms. Keller is a 31-year-old woman from Pensacola, Florida. Ms. Delrahim’s and Ms. Keller’s parallel Lyme journeys intersected at a doctor’s office when Ms. Keller moved to the west coast in pursuit of an acting career. Unfortunately, they each went undiagnosed for almost a decade. Today Ms. Delrahim describes herself as “totally better” after moving to New York for 6 months to work with a health professional utilizing Quantum Reflex Analysis (QRA). Ms. Keller’s Lyme battle is ongoing, but she is now on the trail blazed by her friend and Body Lyme Spirit partner: she is treating with the “same angel of a woman who led Shannon to symptom freedom." If you would like to learn more about the parallel physical, emotional and spiritual journeys that resulted in the creation of the Body Lyme Spirit movement, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Rachel Roller. Ms. Roller is a 32-year-old entrepreneur and business optimization and connection strategist from Denver, Colorado. For her entire life, Ms. Roller has dealt with various symptoms of Lyme, including lung and joint issues. She wasn’t diagnosed until she was 30 years old. Ms. Roller focuses her treatment around detoxing, diet, and healing other underlying issues in her body so that she can make her immune system stronger. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Roller’s journey with Lyme, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Victoria Kotowski. Ms. Kotowski is a 26-year-old lacrosse club director and coach from Long Island, New York. She was an extremely successful athlete and student in high school, with an active social life. That changed when she was 18 years old. Suddenly, Ms. Kotowski had pain in her joints, anxiety, migraines, and developed an eating disorder. She had a very isolating Lyme journey, and doctors misdiagnosed her symptoms as being related to various mental health issues. It took 14 years for her to get a Lyme diagnosis. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Kotowski is using her experience to help and inspire others, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Christina Colandrea. Ms. Colandrea is a model from Columbia, Maryland. She was only 12 years old when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. Despite her symptoms, Ms. Colandrea worked as an orthodontic assistant, and was a self-proclaimed gym rat. Unfortunately, she wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme until she was 31 years old. Ms. Colandrea is a huge fan of detoxing, and is currently treating with a new LLMD. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Colandrea’s Lyme journey, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Courtney Schutze. Ms. Schutze is a 29-year-old blogger from Austin, Texas. She was bitten by a tick in August 2014 while on a cross-country bike ride from Texas to Alaska. For years she experienced memory issues, joint pain, and lost the ability to read. After working long hours trying to fight through her symptoms, Ms. Schutze had to leave her job and move back in with her mom. Then, she was finally diagnosed with Lyme. If you’d like to learn more about Ms. Schutze’s healing journey and her recent move to Austin, Texas, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Kris Newby. Ms. Newby is a 60-year-old author, engineer, and tech and science writer from Palo Alto, California. After vacationing with her family at Martha’s Vineyard, Ms. Newby and her husband both began to feel the symptoms of a tick disease. Ms. Newby communicated to her and her husband’s doctors that they had previously been in a tick endemic community, but they were refused Lyme tests. One year and ten doctors later, Ms. Newby tested positive for Lyme after taking two ELISA tests. She found an ILADS Lyme specialist, who treated her Lyme with IV antibiotics. Ms. Newby has dedicated the past 15 years of her life to finding creative ways to end the tick-borne disease epidemic, including researching and writing Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons. If you would like to learn more about all of Ms. Newby’s contributions to the Lyme community, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jeremy Scott Foster. Mr. Foster is a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California. He was just a teenager when he was bitten by a tick in his backyard in New Hampshire. He experienced extreme brain fog and night sweats, and was lucky to be diagnosed almost right away. He took antibiotics, and began traveling around the world soon after. Then, in September 2015, Mr. Foster either relapsed, or was reinfected. Luckily, he recognized the symptoms he was experiencing, like fatigue, as being related to Lyme and fought to be tested again. If you would like to learn more about Mr. Foster’s Lyme journey and how he hopes to inspire others, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Melanie Hubert. Ms. Hubert is a 28-year-old personal trainer from Miami, Florida. Ms. Hubert was just 12 years old when she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. She was a troublesome child because of issues that stemmed from Lyme. In 2017, Ms. Hubert suffered from an extreme relapse. She was underweight, had severe skin issues, and couldn’t shower or dress herself. She had to move back home. Ms. Hubert then started seeing a holistic medicine doctor and began her Lyme treatment journey. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Hubert stays so positive despite having had Lyme for more than half of her life, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Olivia Nicholas. Ms. Nicholas is a 25-year-old mom and real estate administrator from Perth, Australia. She started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease when she was in high school. She had digestive issues, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Ms. Nicholas would not be diagnosed with Lyme until she saw close to 50 doctors. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Nicholas is helping others so they don’t ever have to feel as lost as she was on her journey, then tune in now!
Joyce Braun is a 43-year-old woman from Ontario, Canada. She was bitten by a tick during a camping trip to a Lyme endemic area in 2015. After the camping trip, she developed severe neck pain. She visited a hospital emergency room and was dismissed by the doctor and accused of seeking drugs. The doctor recommended that she visit a chiropractor for her neck pain. Thereafter her symptoms progressed, and she began to suffer fatigue and chemical sensitivities. In 2018, a series of stressful life events overwhelmed her immune system and she lost the ability to get out of bed. After visiting 5 doctors over 6 years, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease through an IGeneX blood test. The IgeneX test also showed that she tested positive for a German strain of Lyme disease. The results were surprising because Joyce never traveled to Germany. Today, Joyce is treating with Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) and has seen early positive results. If you would like to know more about Joyce Braun managed her Lyme disease related fatigue and chemical sensitivities using Bee Venom Therapy, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Julia Feygelman. Ms. Feygelman is a 25-year-old community health scientist from Corte Madera, California. She first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease at just 15-years-old. She went on a volunteer trip to remove weeds, and a week later, she was hospitalized with a persistent high fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes. She googled her own symptoms and knew she had Lyme disease, but since her test came back negative, it was never revisited. Ms. Feygelman fought through her symptoms to earn a B.S. and Master’s Degree from UCLA. It would take almost 10 years for her to be properly diagnosed with Lyme. If you would like to learn more about this brilliant Lyme Warrior who is in the midst of her healing journey, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Abby Lottridge. Ms. Lottridge is a 19-year-old college student from East Lyme, Connecticut. She was only in elementary school when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. She was tired all the time, and had flu-like symptoms. Ms. Lottridge was diagnosed with Lyme four separate times. She had to quit sports and couldn’t socialize with friends. Thanks to an amazing guidance counselor and high school teachers, Ms. Lottridge was able to graduate from high school on time. She was set to attend UConn on a rowing scholarship, but had to withdraw because the physical demands were too much on her body. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Lottridge plans to help others throughout the course of her career, and how she is already making an impact in the Lyme community, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jenna Luché-Thayer. Ms. Luché-Thayer is the 59-year-old founder and director of the Ad Hoc Committee for Health Equity in ICD11 Borreliosis Codes, and she’s from Florida. She first experienced the symptoms of a tick disease in 1976, when she was just 16 years old. She had a fever, extreme fatigue, joint pain, and Bell’s palsy. Her illness came and went, but it took over 35 years for Ms. Luché-Thayer to receive a Lyme diagnosis. This expert brilliantly details what it is like to be a woman on the Lyme journey. If you would like to learn more about the amazing work that Ms. Luché-Thayer has done to give back to the Lyme community since her diagnosis, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Alex Moresco. Alex Moresco is a 27-year-old Lyme advocate from Chicago. She hosts a podcast, handles media for one of her favorite LLMDs, helps develop TV shows, fights for policy change, and has raised over $350,000 for the Global Lyme Alliance. Ms. Moresco first discusses her work in PR, the first symptoms of a tick disease, and her familial support. Next, Ms. Moresco discusses her diagnostic journey, treatment journey, and immunodeficiency. Lastly, Ms. Moresco discusses her career change. She became extremely driven to help other Lymies, and shares how she is using her background in PR to advocate for change. If you would like to learn more about the final stages of Ms. Moresco’s development into a Lyme superhero, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s special 100th episode guest is Dr. Bill Rawls, bestselling author of Unlocking Lyme. Dr. Rawls was a 45-year-old OBGYN when he first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. His Lyme journey has led him to helping MANY others with his herbal protocol. Today, he talks about a new definition for Lyme disease, immune disruption, and new treatment protocols! If you would like to learn more about Lyme and gain helpful insight from one of the most intelligent experts, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s special 100th episode guest is Dr. Bill Rawls, bestselling author of Unlocking Lyme. Dr. Rawls was a 45-year-old OBGYN when he first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. His Lyme journey has led him to helping MANY others with his herbal protocol. Today, he talks about a new definition for Lyme disease, immune disruption, and new treatment protocols! If you would like to learn more about Lyme and gain helpful insight from one of the most intelligent experts, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Dana and Anna Penenberg. We’re excited to feature them this week, because Anna’s book, Dancing in the Narrows: A Mother-Daughter Odyssey Through Chronic Illness, comes out Tuesday, July 7th. Dana was a 16-year-old sophomore in high school when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. At the same time, Anna was a single mother of two, working as a therapist. Suddenly, Dana started to experience flu-like symptoms, including a fever, body aches, and brain fog. Anna didn’t know why her healthy, successful daughter couldn’t get out of bed. Ten doctors and a year later, Dana was finally diagnosed with Lyme. If you would like to learn more about Dana and Anna’s journey with Lyme and gain some more insight into their book, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Dr. Casey Kelley. Dr. Kelley is an integrative doctor and the founder of Case Integrative Health. She’s from Chicago, Illinois. While in college, Dr. Kelley started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. By the time she was in medical school, she had a high heart rate, extreme fatigue, and brain fog. After watching Dr. Richard Horowitz speak at an integrative medical conference, she decided to get tested for Lyme. It came back positive. If you would like to learn more about how Dr. Kelley shifted her practice to focus almost exclusively on helping other Lyme Warrors, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Athena Brownson. Ms. Brownson is a 29-year-old realtor from Denver, Colorado. Ms. Brownson was a successful freestyle skier when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. After finishing college, she developed severe anxiety, depression, GI, and thyroid issues. Luckily, her boyfriend is a doctor, and he knew there was an underlying cause to her health problems. He convinced her to get tested for Lyme, and it came back positive. Ms. Brownson has since treated her Lyme with Disulfiram, and is currently tackling parasites in her gut. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Brownson is inspiring other Lymies to give themselves grace and love their bodies, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Amber Nadine. Ms. Nadine is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nadine was a 16-year-old high school student when she first started experiencing the symptoms of a tick disease. She had a tick bite on her rib cage, and had a fever, rash, and severe pain not long after. The on-call doctor at her primary care physicians’ office knew immediately that she had Lyme, and Ms. Nadine went to the emergency room to be tested. She had to be taken in a wheelchair. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Nadine’s homeopathic doctor helped her to heal, and how she is now inspiring other Lyme Warriors, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Sophie Ward. Ms. Ward is a 25-year-old podcaster, blogger, and travel agency owner from North West, England. Ms. Ward was an elite swimmer training for the London 2012 Olympics when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. She had extreme weight loss, gut issues, burning at the soles of her feet, and a low core body temperature. Doctors told her she was anorexic and depressed. After five years, Ms. Ward finally tested positive for Lyme disease. She has focused her healing around gut health. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Ward uses her many talents to inspire other Lymies to take on whatever challenges come their way, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Madison Lewis. Ms. Lewis is a 22-year-old entrepreneur and social media influencer from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Lewis was a 16-year-old high school student when she first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. She was on multiple sports teams, got good grades, and had a busy social life. When Ms. Lewis failed the running test for her field hockey team, she immediately knew something was wrong. She had two tests for Lyme; one was positive, and the other was negative. Her doctor dismissed the results and Ms. Lewis had a subsequent slew of misdiagnoses. After three years, she tested positive for Lyme again and was treated with antibiotics. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme inspired Ms. Lewis to use her creativity to open her own business, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Rhisa Marie Parera. Ms. Parera is a 30-year-old multimedia journalist and yogi from Union City, New Jersey. After a senior trip in high school to Upstate, New York, Ms. Parera had extreme abdominal pain. She also started to experience migraines and dizzy spells. She first saw her primary care physician, but received no concrete answers. After seeing over 30 doctors, she was given medicine for depression. Her concerns and symptoms were routinely dismissed by most doctors because she was a woman. She lost her job, her friends, and could barely function. Ten years after her initial symptoms, Ms. Parera finally had an appointment with a female doctor who tested her for Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Parera is giving back to the community of Lymies who have helped her, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Corene Summers. Ms. Summers is a 34-year-old meditation and mindfulness expert, wellness coach, Reiki Master, and yoga instructor from Chicago, Illinois. She went hiking in Shenandoah in 2010, and noticed a tick on her stomach a few days later. Soon after, she developed flu-like symptoms and a bullseye rash. She tested positive for Lyme at an urgent care, and doctors put her on Doxycycline. She was allergic to the antibiotic, and was not given a new one. Soon, she had an ovarian cyst rupture, anxiety and depression, digestive issues, and brain fog. After 8 years and 40 doctors, Ms. Summers finally tested positive for Lyme again, and found that it had been the root cause of her symptoms. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme transformed Ms. Summers into a stronger version of herself, and how she’s using that to help other Lymies, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Stela Sulzdorf. Ms. Sulzdorf is a 30-year-old yogi from the United Kingdom. She initially started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease when she was just 20 years old, and they forced her to drop out of the University of the Arts London. Her health declined even further in 2016, when she started to have flu-like symptoms and throat infections. She also developed chest pain, knee issues, and started to have seizures. When she finally received a positive Lyme test in February of 2019, she was prescribed Doxycycline. Ms. Sulzdorf had terrible Herxheimer reactions that increased her seizures. If you would like to join Ms. Sulzdorf at the beginning of her Lyme treatment journey, tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jennifer Gladysz. Ms. Gladysz is a 46-year-old health coach and Lyme co-pilot from Joshua Tree, California. She and her husband, Keith Gladysz, lived in Upstate New York when Mr. Gladysz started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. After a horse-riding accident, he had neck pain that spread throughout his body. He could no longer make music or spend time with his children. The couple went to Dr. Daniel Cameron, who treated Mr. Gladysz with long-term antibiotics. If you would like to learn more about how this husband and wife duo tackled Lyme with the Carnivore Diet, then tune in now! Learn more about Jennifer at Lyme.Solutions
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Vanessa Laporte. Ms. Laporte is a 30-year-old customer service and accounts manager from Vancouver, Canada. She was bitten by a tick in 2011 and developed a bullseye rash, but doctors didn’t know what caused it. Ms. Laporte started to develop the symptoms of a tick disease. In 2015, after having a breast augmentation, her symptoms spiraled out of control. She lost feeling in her hands and feet. Two years later, she was in a wheelchair. Ms. Laporte saw over 30 doctors before she received a Lyme diagnosis. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Laporte hopes to inspire others to find strength through their Lyme journeys, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Summer Succulence. Ms. Succulence is a 24-year-old social media influencer from Orange County, California. Ms. Succulence was a 15-year-old high school student when she started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. She went from earning straight A’s to not being able to comprehend the words in a textbook. She had to drop out during her sophomore year of high school. Ms. Succulence was also forced to give up two of her passions, art and makeup. She saw more than 50 doctors before receiving her Lyme diagnosis. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Succulence is using her experience with Lyme to help others who are on their healing journeys, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Allyssa LaScala. Ms. LaScala is a 29-year-old integrative health practitioner from Reading, Pennsylvania. In 2011, during her sophomore year of college, she started to experience extreme fatigue. She scheduled an appointment with her primary care physician, who ran a multitude of tests, including a Western Blot. Ms. LaScala tested positive for Lyme. She took Doxycycline for 3 weeks, but still felt the symptoms of a tick disease. After 6 months, she asked to be retested, and still came back positive for Lyme. While developing new symptoms like depression and brain fog, Ms. LaScala got advice from other Lymies. She decided to see a Lyme literate doctor. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. LaScala’s Lyme experience changed the course of her life and led her to start Biohacking Bombshell, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jody Hudson from the Alex Hudson Lyme Foundation. Ms. Hudson joins the podcast today on behalf of her daughter, Alex. Ms. Hudson is from Fresno, California. Her daughter grew up a typical, healthy girl who loved to play sports. When Alex was in 5th grade, she started to experience joint pain. Doctors found nothing and dismissed Alex as a medical mystery for 10 years. She was correctly diagnosed with Lyme in May 2017, but it was too late. Lyme triggered Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) in Alex, and the two diseases destroyed her body. She was never able to gain control of her illness and passed away in March of 2018. As Alex was always service oriented, once she was diagnosed with Lyme, she wanted to help others. If you would like to learn about how Ms. Hudson is carrying on her daughter’s legacy through the Alex Hudson Lyme Foundation, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Sarah Hott. Ms. Hott is a 29-year-old social media influencer, blogger, and digital marketing manager from northern Virginia. In the fall of 2016, she grew increasingly sick with an extremely high fever and body aches. The ER kept sending her away. She finally went to a walk-in clinic, where it was determined that her liver was swollen, and her gallbladder was on the brink of failure. Ms. Hott was not diagnosed with Lyme until she went to the Jemsek Clinic in 2018. By then she was cognitively impaired. She was treated with antibiotics through an IV port and has seen a lot of progress. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Hott is using her new identity to inspire others through her social platform, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Julieann Hartley. Ms. Hartley is a music therapist from New Hampshire. She had an extremely high fever in 2012 that was accompanied by a rash. Her father recognized her rash as the same one that he had when he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Ms. Hartley’s doctor, the same one that treated her father for Lyme, told her that she just had a virus. But after that incident, her health deteriorated. She had extreme fatigue, joint pain, insomnia, and her bowels were paralyzed. Her naturopath begged her to submit to a Lyme test. Once she agreed, it came back positive. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Hartley managed to graduate as the valedictorian of her college class and maintain a relationship with her future husband while battling Lyme, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Arianne Jones. Ms. Jones is an Olympic athlete and holistic nutritionist from Canada. As part of her luge career, she has competed not only at the Sochi Olympics, but also in 10 Canadian championships and 52 world cups. She trained for up to 8 hours a day, went to the gym afterwards, and took college classes in the evenings. But in May of 2016, she started to exhibit the symptoms of a tick disease. She had dizzy spells, pain in her bones, a fast heart rate, and sensitivity to light and noise. She had a blood test sent off to Armin Labs in Germany, and it came back positive for Lyme and multiple co-infections. If you would like to hear more about how this Olympian’s life changing Lyme journey inspired her to launch her own brand, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Mary Juhl. Growing up, Ms. Juhl constantly felt sick. She had strange symptoms like numbness in her head, stomach pain, bladder issues, and depression. Her father was a doctor and ran all sorts of tests on her, but they were inconclusive. Recently, she asked her family practitioner to run a Lyme test. It came back positive for chronic and acute Lyme. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Juhl is using yoga to aid her on her healing journey and to help others, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Laura MacLeod from the Heal Hive. Growing up, Ms. MacLeod always felt sick. She was constantly fatigued and missed a lot of days at school. After graduating from Wake Forest University, Ms. McLeod started working long hours in advertising, which is when her health started to rapidly deteriorate. She was having seizures, passing out, and couldn’t eat. After she tested positive for Lyme, Ms. McLeod was treated with antibiotics, which made her feel worse. Doctors concluded that she didn’t actually have Lyme, and her parents agreed. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. McLeod is currently using Bee Venom Therapy to treat her Chronic Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Daisy White. Growing up, Ms. White traveled all over the world, visiting places like Italy and Spain. She spent time in tick endemic communities on Long Island and in Massachusetts. She also experienced weird health problems throughout her childhood. All of that worsened when Ms. White took a trip to Africa in college. She got terribly sick with dysentery, and by her senior year, thought that she was going to die. Ms. White was struggling to hold down food and had terrible pain all over her body. In her mid-40s, due to dental struggles, she was referred to a doctor who finally diagnosed her with Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how Daisy White is using her tick disease journey to be an advocate for others, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Kirstin Long. Throughout her childhood, Ms. Long, her sister, and one of their friends would play outside in the woods every day. None of them ever found a tick biting them, but all 3 of them have Lyme Disease. In the summer of 2012, Ms. Long developed severe pain in her legs. After two long years of suffering, Ms. Long’s sister made a prayer request for Ms. Long at their church. A parishioner stood up and asked if they had looked into Lyme Disease. Ms. Long and her sister both tested positive for Lyme. If you would like to learn more about how Kirstin Long is using her tick disease journey to help others with nutrition and fitness, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Lindsey Lozoskie. She is a 21-year-old college student from Virginia. Ms. Lozoskie first started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease during the summer of 2015, right before her senior year of high school. Suddenly, she didn’t feel like she was in her own body and developed thyroid problems and POTS. As a result of her health issues, Ms. Lozoskie began to feel isolated from her peers. Once she finally got her Lyme diagnosis, she was validated. She started a treatment regimen that consisted of antibiotics, organic foods, and herbs. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Lozoskie is using her tick disease experience to change the world, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Karen Maloney. She was 18 when she started to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. After a seemingly quick diagnosis and treatment with 30 days of Doxycycline, Ms. Maloney thought she would never have to think about Lyme again. Unfortunately, she was exposed to mold and her symptoms returned. By 2018, she was at her worst. Currently, Ms. Maloney is combatting her Chronic Lyme with biomagnetism. If you would like to learn more about Karen Maloney’s journey toward becoming her authentic self and how she helped develop an app that creates a community for people with chronic illnesses, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is April Nill-Boitano. She is the president of Tick Wise Education, a nonprofit that educates children and adults on tick bite prevention. Ms. Nill-Boitano has been bitten by ticks three times, and experienced sinus symptoms, rashes, and hives that only worsened as she got older. She received many misdiagnoses and wasn’t taken seriously by the medical community. After finally receiving a Lyme diagnosis, she decided that she needed to help others. If you would like to learn more about April Nill-Boitano’s tick disease journey and how she came to develop her Tick Wise curriculum, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Emma Mellblom. She is a 31-year-old woman from Sweden. Ms. Mellblom was training to become a police officer when she was adversely affected by the symptoms of a tick disease in 2012. She experienced nausea, flu-like symptoms, and joint aches. She was finally diagnosed with Lyme five years later. If you would like to learn more about how Emma Mellblom is using her tick disease journey to remind others to remain positive and take time to heal, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Signe Jensen. She is a 29-year-old fitness and health influencer from Denmark. In 2011, Ms. Jensen fell off of her bike and was severely concussed. Then, in 2013, she was bitten by a tick and developed a bullseye rash. She was given 10 days of antibiotics. Soon, she had flu-like symptoms, hair loss, and menstrual irregularities. Ms. Jensen finally received a positive Lyme test five years later. If you would like to learn more about how Signe Jensen is using her Lyme Disease journey to help others know that they’re not alone, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Anna Strezelczyk. Anna Strezelczyk is a 29-year-old IT professional from Poland. At the age of 7, she was bitten by a tick. Afterward, she started to experience health problems, and was always sick growing up. As she got older, she started to have trouble walking, breathing, and speaking. She also had numerous hospital stays before being diagnosed with Lyme at the age of 26. If you would like to learn more about how Anna Strezelczyk is using her Lyme disease journey to facilitate an open conversation about Lyme, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Ashley Belanger. Ashley Belanger is a young woman from Minnesota. In her early 20s, she began to experience the symptoms of a tick disease. She had migraines that would last for months, hair loss, extreme fatigue, and night sweats. At its worst, she would walk into a room and forget why she was there. After 10 years and no diagnosis, Ashley Belanger decided to give her cousin’s Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) a try. There, she tested positive for Lyme via a muscle test and started the LymeStop treatment plan. If you would like to learn more about Ashley Belanger’s tick disease journey and how she wants to give others hope and guidance, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Ivan Ramirez. Ivan Ramirez is a 26- year-old professional dirt bike racer from Mexico. In 2015, he was on top of the racing world, he had won the Hare & Hound National Championship, and had many sponsors including Oakley, Red Bull and KTM. Then, he had a crash while practicing, and felt weak and dizzy when he attempted to return to training. He visited countless doctors, eventually receiving a Lyme Disease diagnosis when he went to a clinic in the US that tested for bacteria and viruses. If you would like to learn more about how Ivan Ramirez is documenting his Lyme Disease journey and hopes of getting his racing career back on track, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Nolan Fernandez. Nolan Fernandez is a microbiologist from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He dedicated his educational career to researching ticks and has been bitten by ticks over 1000 times. As a result, he has many tips on avoiding ticks and protecting yourself from tick diseases. He also discusses genetically modified mice, Deet, permethrin and utilizing ticks as bio-weapons. If you would like to learn more about how Nolan Fernandez is using his knowledge of ticks to help others avoid ticks, Lyme and tick diseases, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Emma Franklin. Emma Franklin is a young woman from England who first started experiencing the symptoms of a tick disease when she was just 11 years old. As her symptoms progressed, she lost close friends, family members, and romantic partners. By the age of 20, she was completely bedridden and in a semi-conscious state where she couldn’t move her arms or legs. She couldn’t even have clothing or bed sheets touch her skin without experiencing severe discomfort. She finally visited a private clinic where she tested positive for Lyme. If you would like to learn more about Emma Franklin’s healing journey and how she is helping other Lyme Warriors to feel less alone, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Shona Curley. Shona Curley is a 45-year-old woman from San Francisco. In 2014, she was bitten by a tick, but told by her doctors not to worry unless she developed a fever or rash. One year later, she began to experience constant flu-like symptoms, spent weeks in bed, and was forced to miss out on her young children’s lives. She eventually made an appointment with a Lyme specialist, and her healing journey began. She now balances her health with working part-time and being an active mother. If you’d like to learn more about Shona Curley’s tick disease journey and how she hopes to help Lymies through her guided meditations, then tune now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Rayanne Dooley. Rayanne Dooley is a 21-year-old woman from Ireland. In September 2018, she started experiencing flu-like symptoms which her doctors dismissed as anxiety. Her family also dismissed the severity of her illness and she struggled to stay in school. A woman from a Facebook group mentioned to Rayanne Dooley that she should get tested for Lyme Disease, and that’s when she finally received a proper diagnosis. With the support of her partner, Rayanne Dooley has embarked on a mission to heal. If you’d like to learn more about Rayanne Dooley’s tick disease journey and how she hopes to help Lymies with frayed family ties, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Brandi Dean. Brandi Dean is the founder and president of Ride Out Lyme, and founder and advisory board member of the Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness. After finishing a four-year tour in the Coast Guard, she began to feel the symptoms of a tick disease. At its worst, Brandi Dean would have to take her son to school in a taxi, because she was incapable of driving. She was bitten for a second time in 2016 and her symptoms returned with a vengeance. If you’d like to learn more about Brandi Dean’s tick disease journey and how she and her husband are helping others with tick borne illnesses, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Sara Brunner. Sara Brunner is a clinical dietician from Ontario, Canada. In 2014, she was bitten by a tick and started experiencing flu-like symptoms. She was still suffering two years later and had an unsuccessful trip to the Mayo Clinic. The night of the trip, her husband conducted his own research pertaining to his wife’s illness, and Lyme Disease repeatedly came up. The next day, Sara Brunner ordered an IGenex test and her healing journey began. If you’d like to learn more about Sara Brunner’s tick disease journey and how she hopes to someday create a program that helps other Lyme Warriors, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Dr. Nicola Ducharme. Dr. Ducharme is a Naturopathic Doctor trained in Australia and the US. She is also the author of several books on Lyme Disease and has developed online Lyme Disease training programs. Early in her career, Dr. Ducharme recognized that many of her patients with Autism had sick mothers. She theorized that the mothers may have Lyme Disease and could have passed it on to their children in utero. If you would like to learn more about her research, her educational programs, her books, and her international travels to share Lyme education with patients, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Stefanie Smit. Stefanie Smit is a 38-year-old woman from Atlanta, Georgia. In 2016, her Lyme Disease symptoms began to interfere with her everyday life and her ability to be present as a mother and a wife. Her diagnostic and healing journey began after she was failed by 17 medical doctors. As a result of the transformation caused by her Lyme Disease experience, she is now enrolled in an educational program to become a certified health and wellness coach. If you would like to learn more about how Stefanie Smit’s Lyme Disease journey prepared her to help others manage and overcome chronic illnesses, then tune in now.
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Dr. Lindsay Vose. Lindsay Vose is a 24-year-old woman from Enfield, Connecticut. In 2013, during her freshman year at college, her Lyme disease symptoms became so severe she could no longer exercise, and her brain fog made it difficult to study for exams. Her diagnosis and healing journey began after she began to treat with a naturopath. In May, Lindsay earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy. Her personal Lyme disease experience taught her to listen to and validate her patients. If you would like to learn more about how a Doctor of Physical Therapy used her Lyme disease journey as a tool for professional development, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Brooke Stoddard. Brooke is a 39-year-old resident of New York City, New York. In 2010, Brooke's Lyme Disease symptoms became career threatening: brain fog made it difficult to find words to complete sentences and occasionally he would have a conversation with a co-worker and realize that he couldn't remember their name. Over the past 6 years, Brooke has treated with the famous Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD), Dr. Kenneth Liegner, using Disulfiram to regain 95% of his health. Brooke is a co-founder of Generation Lyme, a not-for-profit organization empowering young people facing Lyme disease, one story at a time. Generation Lyme has weekly themed Zoom meetups for those with Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how Brooke overcame Lyme disease and is now giving back to the community, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Richard I Horowitz, MD and Savi Glowe. Dr. Horowitz is a Board Certified Internist in private practice in Hyde Park, New York. He is the medical director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center and the author of two best selling Lyme Disease books: “Why Can’t I Get Better?” and “How Can I Get Better?” Savi Glowe is the Director of Operations at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare. She is also the organizing chair of the LymeMind conference. At the LymeMind conference, Dr. Horowitz will present a clinical cure for chronic Lyme Disease. If you would like to learn more how Dr Richard I Horowitz, MD has developed a treatment regimen that is a clinical cure to chronic Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is the dynamic Cassidy Colbert. Despite suffering from Chronic Lyme Disease for over one-third of her young life, Ms. Colbert is very accomplished. She is a student, officer in a leading Lyme Disease education foundation, a Lyme educator, lecturer, blogger and teen Lyme Disease support group administrator. In the summers of 2018 and 2019, Ms. Colbert traveled the United States with noted Lyme Disease education expert Dr. Nancy Fox to provide Lyme Disease education to over 5,500 children in 25 cities. If you would like to learn more about how a 21 year-old has battled Chronic Lyme Disease and become “The Unstoppable Force” in the Lyme education and awareness community, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Lillian and Meredith Park, a mother-daughter duo from the northern suburbs of Chicago. Meredith Park has been sick since her late teens, when she started to feel extreme fatigue, severe headaches, and anxiety. Meredith received various misdiagnoses ranging from bipolar disorder to MS. It wasn’t until her daughter, Lillian, was born that Ms. Park figured out the true cause behind her symptoms. Around the age of two, Lillian started to experience rashes and bite marks all over her body, accompanied by a fever and extreme fatigue. Lillian was diagnosed with Lyme, and Meredith’s doctor theorized that she too had it, and passed it on to Lillian in utero. If you would like to learn more about a mother and daughter’s Lyme Disease journey, then tune in!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Michaela Sheranko. Michaela Sheranko is a 25-year-old woman from Massachusetts. She is a creative spirit with an interest in various art forms including music and film. She is also a social media manager and the founder of the Lyme not-for-profit “I love the way you Lyme.” If you would like to learn more about how Michaela Sheranko pursued her Lyme Disease treatment and her music her “own way,” then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Getine Taylor from Bloomfield, New Jersey. Ms. Taylor lived a normal life until five years ago, when she started to feel sick after running a Super Spartan race. She had extreme fatigue, severe headaches, anxiety attacks, and pain all over her body. Her symptoms progressed even further, and her family started to suffer. She even began passing out in front of her daughter and took regular trips to the emergency room. After countless misdiagnoses, Ms. Taylor’s husband began researching on his own, and believed his wife’s symptoms were consistent with Lyme disease. Soon after, she received a positive Lyme test and started herbal and dietary treatments. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Taylor’s journey and how she’s advocating for those who face tick diseases, then tune in!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Taylor deRegt. Taylor deRegt is a 28-year-old woman from Carmel Valley, California. After overcoming chronic Lyme Disease that plagued her childhood, she developed dual careers as an event planner and a professional rodeo athlete. Unfortunately, illness caused by a second tick bite forced her to shelve her dual career paths. If you would like to know more about how a professional Cowgirl is cutting short her long ride with Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Jeanette Blackwood. Jeanette Blackwood is a 57-year-old native of Colorado now residing in Southern California. After discovering, removing and disposing of a large tick, she began to suffer flu and increasingly debilitating symptoms including vertigo, memory loss, balance issues and paranoia. After divorcing her husband, leaving her church, losing her ability to remember how to get home from a shopping trip and then contact with the police, she turned to the naturopathic medical community for help. If you would like to learn more about how a woman from Southern California rediscovered her health and faith, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Amy Rogala. Amy Rogala is a 29-year-old woman from Mackinaw City Michigan. She grew up on her family owned campground in the rural northern lower peninsula of Michigan. After graduation from school, she suffered flu symptoms that were followed by headaches, loss of balance, seizures and suicidal ideations. The failures of the traditional medical community forced Amy to visit a holistic doctor where she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. If you would like to learn more about how an outdoor enthusiast from rural Michigan won a tick disease battle, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Maribeth Lacy. Maribeth Lacy grew up in the Mennonite community of Guys Mills, Pennsylvania where she estimates that 1 of every 3 people are suffering from a tick disease. After making the decision to leave her Mennonite community and culture to attend college in California, her tick disease related illnesses caused her health to decline and forced her to leave college before graduation. If you would like to learn more about how a former member of the Amish community is fighting a tick disease battle that began during her childhood, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Dr. Rachel Long. Dr. Long is a Naturopathic Doctor, the author of the book “Living in the Lyme Light: The Challenges and Triumphs of Living Life with Chronic Lyme Disease” and a sought-after public speaker. At the age of 16 after a Lyme Disease diagnosis, she had to travel 6 hours per day, 5 days a week for treatment. Because her parents could not maintain their jobs and take off the time that the treatment protocol required, her community came together to drive her to and from each of her doctor’s appointments. If you would like to learn more about how a community came together to help a family win a tick disease battle, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Mikayla Vacher from North Scituate, Rhode Island. Despite never seeing a tick in her life, Mikayla started to develop weird symptoms around the age of 12. She had migraines, anxiety, panic attacks, and a feeling of “overall doom.” By her junior year of high school, she had to give up playing competitive ice hockey, and couldn’t hang out with friends. Not only was her social life struggling, but her family life began to fall apart as well. Mikayla Vacher visited countless doctors with her mom, but none of them could properly diagnose her, and her dad didn’t believe that she was truly sick. He often told her to suck it up, or claimed that she wanted attention. The sole focus of Mikayla’s mom was making sure that her daughter got better, and her parents ended up separating. She then got her Lyme Disease diagnosis and has received various treatments since then. If you would like to learn more about how this brave young woman learned to trust herself and is now tackling Lyme Disease head on, then tune in!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jennifer Buttaccio from Chicago, Illinois. Before becoming sick, she led an active life that included teaching kickboxing, doing pilates, and making DVDs. Then, after she had surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, Jennifer Buttaccio’s Lyme symptoms started to reveal themselves, and her life was never the same. She had to give up all of her hobbies that required her to be physically active, and could no longer work as an occupational therapist. She was bed bound for almost two years. Despite not even feeling 50% back to her old self, Jennifer Buttaccio started writing, eventually becoming an editor for Dr. Bill Rawls’ website. If you want to know how Jennifer Buttaccio remains so driven despite being at war with Lyme Disease, tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Natalie Sayre and Will Fleming. Natalie and Will were recently engaged to be married after an 11-year romance that began when they were 16 years old. The relationship survived many bumps, including Natalie’s chronic Lyme Disease that began to limit almost all social activities starting in the couple's junior year in college. If you would like to learn more about how a young couple continued to grow a romantic relationship in the middle of a Lyme and tick disease battle, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Leah Spears-Blackmon. In late 2017, Leah Spears-Blackmon suffered three progressively serious allergic reactions after attending a wedding in Colorado. The third and most serious allergic reaction occurred while in the middle of a lake in rural Northwest Arkansas. Thanks to the quick action of a local friend and doctor, Ms. Spear-Blackmon’s potentially life-threatening allergy was prevented from progressing to anaphylactic shock. If you would like to learn more about how a woman from Arkansas has changed her diet and her life to protect her health from an allergy caused by a tick bite, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Joanna Petrakis from Toronto, Canada. After suffering a tick bite that developed into Lyme Disease with classic symptoms, her illness went without a diagnosis despite treating with 18 of Canada’s top doctors. Joanna Petrakis’ healing journey began with a diagnosis from a team of Toronto’s best doctors lead by the famous Dr. Ho Ping Kong and concluded when she and her friends attended Lyme Disease seminars and symposiums for the purpose of “stalking” the renowned American Lyme Disease expert: Dr. Richard Horowitz. If you would like to learn more about how a Canadian communications professional used grit and determination to win her Lyme Disease battle, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is the International racing champion Angelica Fuentes Garcia. After contracting Lyme Disease, the woman credited with breaking through professional racing’s gender barrier was forced to resign from her race team. Her illness became chronic and career threatening because she was misdiagnosed by 22 separate doctors, on two continents, over 3 years. If you would like to learn more about how a woman broke gender barriers in racing and medicine to regain her health and her career, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Dr. Veronica Leslie, a United Kingdom (UK) educated Naturopathic Medical practitioner from Cucamonga, California. During her youth, the self described “farm girl” estimates that she was bitten by hundreds of ticks. Not until the age of 33, after a trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming, did she begin to exhibit the symptoms of a tick disease that developed over 7 months to a full borne disability. If you would like to learn more about how the former farm girl treated her vector diseases and regained 100% of her health, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is speech language pathologist and actress Lauren Friedwald. Ms. Friedwald’s acting career includes acting parts in various shows such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, White Collar, Royal Pains and the Michael J. Fox Show. For over 15 years, Lauren Friedwald was ill from Lyme Disease before she was properly tested and diagnosed by her 21st doctor. During her chronic Lyme Disease journey, she became fully disabled and unable to work for over two years. If you would like to learn more about how a speech language pathologist and actress overcame Lyme Disease to regain her life, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is nurse practitioner Lindsay Tuttle. For over 2 years, Lindsay Tuttle was chronically ill from Lyme Disease before she was properly tested and self-diagnosed. During her 2 year diagnostic journey, she was treated by medical colleagues in various sub-specialties including neurology, rheumatology, naturopathy and primary care. Her primary care physician dismissed Lyme Disease from consideration because “people do not get Lyme disease in Florida.” If you would like to learn more about how a nurse practitioner overcame the limits of traditional medicine and then turned her Lyme Disease pain into her platform, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Claire Dalton. Claire Dalton is a 22 year old woman from Utah. For most of her life, Claire’s mother was chronically ill from late stage Lyme Disease. It never crossed Claire’s mind that her mother’s illness was something that would impact her as well. Unfortunately, at the age of 17, Claire began to exhibit the symptoms of a tick disease that progressed to a chronic stage and forced her to leave college before the end of her first semester. Claire runs three blogs on her Chronically Beautiful platform in addition to the Chronically Care Project. If you would like to learn more about how a family from Utah worked together to overcome multi-generational Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Mitch Webb. Mitch Webb was living the American dream. He was married, working in corporate America earning a substantial income and he was being groomed to take over a successful family business. His dream life quickly turned into a nightmare when he began to exhibit the symptoms of a tick disease. Today, Mr. Webb describes himself as 100% healed from Lyme Disease and he credits his tick disease journey with allowing him to find his passion and his purpose: helping others through health coaching. If you would like to learn more about how the founder of Primal Life Health Coaching (MitchWebb.com and Instagram @kMitchWebb) won his personal tick disease battle, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Courtney LaMastro. Mrs. LaMastro is a married mother of two young children from New Jersey. Her life came to a halt after the birth of her 2nd child. While many of her peers were returning to their normal life within days of giving birth, she struggled to leave her bed for almost 3 months. Today Courtney LaMastro describes her health as much better. If you would like to learn more about how a mother of 2 young children is protecting her family from the challenges she faces while fighting her tick disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Maria Mooney. Maria Mooney is a dynamic 34 year old marketing director from Cleveland Ohio by way of the New Jersey Shore. Her tick disease ended her division one athletic career, forced her to become bedbound and almost ended her life. Maria is fighting back and winning the battle against Lyme disease! If you would like to learn more about how a former division one college athlete and her close knit Italian American family fought through a tick disease battle and located a Lyme Literate Doctor to save and then re-build her life, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Christina and Lisa Kassatly from Quebec, Canada. Christina is a 17 year old young woman suffering from chronic Lyme Disease. Lisa Kassatly is her mother. Christina and her family are dedicating their entire lives to finding a healing path that will allow Christina to regain her health. Recently, Christina has treated with an experimental nebulized iodine protocol named “Lyme-N” that is showing early positive results. If you would like to learn more about how a Canadian family is dedicating their lives to securing a treatment plan for a young woman suffering from chronic Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Yanin Ruibal. Yanin Ruibal is an internationally recognized artist from Mexico City, Mexico. Her art has been featured in Mexico and in several major US cities including Miami, Florida, Austin, Texas, New York City, New York and Denver, Colorado. Ms. Ruibal’s art graphically portrays the symptoms and pain of her chronic illness through powerful images that includes cactus, scorpions and snakes. If you would like to learn more about how an artist from south of the boarder has used her pain and experience with chronic illness to transform her artistic expression, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Doctor Bill Rawls. In this final episode of a three episode marathon, inspired by the life changing impact that Dr. Rawls had on Scottish guest Donna Grant (episode 31), he discusses autoimmune symptoms caused by the Lyme bacteria, hyperthermia therapy, the potential dangers of steroid therapy, the pot boiling over theory and the opportunistic nature of Lyme Disease. If you would like to learn more about Dr. Rawls’ thoughts on autoimmune symptoms caused by the Lyme bacteria, hyperthermia therapy, steroid therapy, the human immune system and the opportunistic nature of the Lyme bacteria, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Doctor Bill Rawls. In this second of a three episode marathon, inspired by Scottish guest Donna Grant (episode 31), Dr. Rawls discusses alternative immunotherapies, PEMF technology, the diversity of treatment protocols among Lyme-literate doctors, and the Johns Hopkins University research findings regarding essential oils and combination antibiotic therapies to treat Lyme Disease. If you would like to learn more about when and how to use antibiotics, IV and other alternative therapies, including essential oils for Lyme Disease treatment, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Doctor Bill Rawls. In this first of a three episode marathon, inspired by Scottish guest Donna Grant (episode 31), Dr. Rawls discusses the difference between acute and chronic Lyme Disease, antibiotics, the human immune system and the use of CBD oil. If you would like to learn more about when and how to use antibiotics, immune system enhancing herbal therapy and CBD oil, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jolynn Desch. Jolynn Desch and 2 of her children have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Unfortunately, she had to visit with 15 doctors over the course of 6 months before she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Ironically, the first doctor to suspect and test for Lyme Disease was the doctor that delivered her children: her OB/GYN. If you would like to learn more about how a family worked to endure the challenges presented by the tick diseases that attacked the health of a mother and her children, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Donna Grant, a 32 year old woman from Scotland. She is an artist, writer and University educated therapy dog trainer. Ms Grant is also a Lyme Disease social media activist with 2 instagram accounts: Febstarsblog and Febstarsart. If you would like to learn more about how an artist and writer utilized the Vital Plan herbal therapy created by American Doctor and author Bill Rawls and her attendance at the Infusio clinic in Germany to secure a life saving tick disease healing and treatment plan, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is the talented creator of a social network for people suffering from chronic illness and disabilities. Elizabeth Tikoyan has suffered from chronic Lyme Disease from the age of 14. She employed the life lessons she learned from Lyme Disease as inspiration to create the Riley.co social network. If you would like to learn more about how a young entrepreneur overcame long odds to study at 2 of the top universities in the US and then created a social network to connect people that understand disability and chronic illness, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Ryann McIntire, a 24 year old woman from Cape Cod (aka the Lyme capital of the world), Massachusetts. She is also the creative force behind the Lyme Disease awareness and advocacy Instagram @lyme_inda_coconut. If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme Disease social media activist and her family overcame the incompetence of 21 doctors before securing a tick disease diagnosis, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is the dynamic Lyme Disease awareness advocate Jacqueline Sposito. Jacqueline Sposito is a model, college student and social media influencer from New York City. In 2016, Ms. Sposito began to grow increasing ill. She obtained an early Lyme Disease diagnosis despite the failures of the medical community, because her mother became Lyme symptom literate through following the plight of “House Wife” and activist Yolanda Hadid. If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme Disease activist’s advocacy resulted in an early Lyme diagnosis that may have saved a young woman’s, life then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Melissa Labak, an education marketing professional, Certified Nutritionist, and model from Raleigh, North Carolina. Inspired by her personal battle with Lyme Disease, she began to share her healing journey through blogging and Instagram platforms. In her blog entitled The Path to Healing Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease she shares the 10 steps she took to heal from Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how model Melissa Labak is sharing her journey to inspire healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Randi Goodman, a Marketing Executive and Manager that has developed programs for several of the largest companies in the US. After a personal battle with Lyme Disease, she leveraged her marketing skill set and launched the platform “Think Lyme” to advocate for advancing physician and patient awareness for early Lyme Disease diagnosis. If you would like to learn more about how Randi Goodman is sharing her journey to inspire doctors and patients to pursue early tick disease diagnosis and treatment, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Julie Richard, a chemical engineer from southern Louisiana. Ms. Richard battled Chronic Lyme Disease for over a decade and discovered that her gut was actually the most reliable indicator when it came to healing from Lyme disease. Her healing journey took focus when she exited from the “doctor hamster wheel” and focused on nutrition and gut health. If you would like to learn more about how this chemical engineer used her gut to heal from Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Taylor Brune, a 28 year old blogger, Instagram curtor, author and aspiring medical student from San Diego, California. Ms Brune’s Lyme Disease journey has transformed her into the “girl with the heart that yearns for other people to be healed” which has inspired her Instagram and her blog. If you would like to learn more about how Taylor Brune is sharing her healing journey to inspire people suffering from chronic illnesses, then tune in now!
In this brand new interview, Tick Boot Camp and Sarah Sheneman discuss the life altering impact of the Alpha-gal meat allergy. In August of 2018, Sarah Sheneman was bitten by a Lone Star Tick that caused a severe allergic reaction to contact with mammal products. If you would like to know more about how to protect yourself and your family from the little known and misunderstood Alpha-gal tick bite allergy, download this episode now to get started!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Dr. Thomas Mather, PhD., Professor of Entomology and founding Director of the University of Rhode Island’s Tick Encounter Resource Center. The Tick Encounter Resource Center is an internationally recognized institution for its’ tick research and outreach programs that include the Tick Smart and Tick Spotter programs.
If you want to learn about Dr. Mather’s programs that include a focus on tick ecology, tick control strategies, tick bite protection and tick disease protection, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Erika Schlick who will share a chronic Lyme Disease journey that resulted in her regaining 99.9% of her health. Ms. Schlick is an architect, co-founder of a user experience design agency, certified health coach, Blogger, Instagram curator and author of a cookbook. Her work has been featured on network television and radio affiliates from around the country (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) and the Netflix original series Afflicted.
If you want to learn more about how a Renaissance Woman overcame her chronic Lyme Disease and the actionable steps she recommends to protect and heal your family from tick diseases, then tune in now!
Here's what every Parent needs to know about Tick Testing! In this brand new interview, Tick Boot Camp and Tick Testing expert Professor Morgan Wrobleski show you how Ticknetics is utilizing unique scientific protocols that will provide parents and health care providers with an actionable tick testing report within 24 hours. The information will allow parents and health care providers to make more informed treatment decisions.
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Kelly Bibza, a fashion and wellness influencer from suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To share her tick disease story, spread awareness and to fill others suffering from chronic illnesses with hope, she started her fashion and wellness blog “Dress Well, Be Well.” If you would like to learn more about how Kelly Bibza is combining fashion and wellness to inspire people suffering from chronic illnesses, including Lyme Disease, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Taylor Scott from San Diego, California. In 2017, Ms. Scott began to grow increasingly ill. She began to feel symptoms that graduated to lengthy periods of the flu, fatigue and anxiety. Her symptoms grew to include hair loss, sensitivity to light, ringing in her ears and full body paralysis. Eventually Ms. Scott was diagnosed with tick diseases including Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how to use alternative therapies to treat tick diseases, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is a nurse, mother and wife from Santa Barbara California, Ashley Marba. Ms. Marba, her husband and two of her children have all been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Ms. Marba believes her children contracted Lyme Disease in utero. Ms. Marba and her family have shared their tick disease experience on Instagram and Facebook. Ms Marba does not want her family’s experience to be repeated. If you would like to learn more about how to help your family avoid the Marba’s tick disease nightmare, then tune in now!
Here's what every tick disease patient needs to know about medical billing advocacy services! In this brand new interview, Tick Boot Camp and Medical Bill Gurus co-founder Daniel Lynch show you how to make sure your insurance company pays for necessary diagnostic testing and treatment for tick diseases. Download this episode now to get started!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is a west coast tax accountant and CPA candidate suffering from Lyme Disease and Babesia. Ms. Buff’s experience with the pain and darkness of her tick diseases inspired her to share her experiences on various social media platforms; including her beautiful Instagram @LymeWithSalt. Her goal is to reach out to people feeling isolated by their illness to let them know that “the diagnosis that feels like a death sentence” is not so. If you would like to learn more about how to help your family avoid the taxing experiences caused by Lyme Disease and Babesia, then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is a young woman from Australia who believe she contracted Lyme Disease in vitro. Since birth Zara Toohey has managed Lyme Disease symptoms until the chronic disease finally stole her childhood and forced her to give up dancing, spending time with friends and attending school. To show others suffering from chronic diseases they are not alone, Zara Toohey started an Instagram entitled Lyme Life (@Lyme__Life). If you would like to learn more about the inspirational young woman who lives by the mantra “for every fall there is a rise,” then tune in now!
This is the first segment of Tick Boot Camp’s three-hour interview with Dr. Bill Rawls. Dr. Rawls is a Medical Doctor and author of a ground breaking book entitled Unlocking Lyme. If you would like to learn about how a 4th generation medical doctor and graduate of one of the top medical schools was failed by his own professional community on his Lyme Disease journey, then tune in now! You can contact Dr Rawls at his web site at RawlsMD.com, or his Instagram, Facebook or Twitter accounts at @Rawlsmd.
Tick Boot Camp’s guest is Lyme Disease Blogger, Instagram Influencer and Student TED Talk presenter Kelsey Hawkins. If you want to follow the story of a young woman who has spent most of her young life as a passenger on a Lyme Disease train that made stops at over 35 separate doctor’s offices and multiple misdiagnosis then tune in now!
Tick Boot Camp’s first European guest is Dutch Eating Disorder Recovery and Invisible Chronic Illness Coach - Danielle van Kalmthout, also called Danie van Kay. If you want to learn about a young woman who has dedicated her life and career to serving people suffering from Lyme Disease, Eating Disorders and Invisible Chronic Illnesses then tune in now! You can contact Danie via email at DanielleVanKay@hotmail.com or via Instagram @DanielleVanKay
Jackie Shea is a professional health, life and business coach in Lyme disease remission. She also hosts the "Healing Out Loud" podcast to provide hope, guidance and education to the community. In this interview, Jackie walks through her Lyme disease journey and will show you how to better understand and communicate with a chronically ill loved one.
Richard Johannesen’s and Matt Sabatello's guest today is graphic artist Lauren Walters, founder of Life in Lyme Light, who will show you how to share your Lyme disease journey story and help other people.
What every Parent needs to know about Lyme Disease! In this brand new interview, Richard Johannesen and Matt Sabatello and Lyme disease education expert Dr. Nancy Fox reveal everything you need to know about educating children on ticks and Lyme Disease. Dr. Fox is the founder of the Lyme Education Awareness Foundation (LEAF). Download this episode now to get started and learn more about Dr. Fox and LEAF!
A photograph sent to the University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Program can help you identify the potential health risks associated with your tick bite. You can access this free service at TickEncounter.org.
Join our journey by listening and subscribing to our podcast and help us develop tools to protect our families from Lyme Disease through avoidance, detection and early intervention.