Please Help Courtney

Hi my name is Courtney. Im 27 years old and have been sick for 4 years with both Lyme disease/co-infections and Mold/Environmental illness. It started when I first moved to a new apartment in 2008. I began noticing that my memory was getting really bad. In fact it was so bad I started to think I was getting early Alzheimers Disease. I had little to no recollection of my past or childhood. Then came the brain fog, severe constant fatigue, respiratory difficulties, anxiety/depression, sleeping 18 hours a day and many other very debilitating symptoms that continued over the course of the next four years. I had to quit my job in February 2009 due to all of this and over the course of the next two years I went to at least 20 different doctors. All of which were absolutely no help to me at all, some even were abusive and degrading towards me.

Eventually in August 2011 I came across a website of a woman in Johannesburg, South Africa that believes that chronic fatigue is caused by tick borne infections and uses long term high dose antibiotics to treat it. I emailed her and she referred me to a PA here in the states that might be able to help me and was a patient of hers. I ended up speaking with both her and her mother and they determined that I must have Lyme disease. Not one doctor in the 20 I went to ever suggested that this may be what was making me sick. I found a specialist in my area and sure enough it came back positive. This was in September 2011. I have been in treatment since then and was only making minimal progress when I started to realize that when I would leave my apartment for long periods of time I felt much better, but then when I would return I’d immediately get sick again. I decided to get my apartment tested for toxic mold and sure enough 3 different species came up- Aspergillus, Clodsporium and Penicillium.

It was at this point that I knew I had to take drastic measures if I ever wanted my health to return. So last month I went to stay with a friend and my mother and I threw out $20,000 worth of our belongings and started completely over from scratch. Renters insurance did not cover any of this. We did not want to take the chance of contaminating the new place due to how severely ill I was and also how very sensitive I was to the toxins in that apartment. Unfortunately my mother ended up accidentally cross contaminating her new car and now we are being forced to start over once again. She is going to put me into an apartment by myself and go live with my dad who she is divorced from to prevent anymore cross contamination so that I can heal properly.

Its rather unfortunate that throughout all this time we have had no help from family or friends. I feel awful that this financial burden has been put all on my mother. If it wasn’t for her I would probably be out in the streets. She does not make a lot of money and now with the costs for treatment for both Lyme Disease and Mold Toxicity as well as all new furniture and belongings we are overwhelmed and are feeling the need to ask for help.
My goal is to be able to return to work and use my nursing degree that ironically I obtained when I was my sickest. It is by the grace of God I was able to push myself through that program. There were many days I could barely keep my eyes open or my head up but I pushed through with a lot of prayer regardless and somehow managed to be on that stage with everyone else during graduation. Unfortunately after graduation that is when I received my diagnosis and have been in treatment since and unable to work. It is my goal to help others one day who also suffer from chronic illnesses.

If you can help Courtney please Click Here.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and God bless you, Courtney