Our Journey/nightmare began in April 2015. Kate and I were visiting my mother for her 75th birthday. We were on the beach in Florida, and Kate could not open a water bottle.
Later, she could not open the sunscreen. She was exhausted; we chalked it up to stress, work, flu. Kate saw a Dr. when we returned to NJ. The first diagnosis, anxiety due to stress.
The Dr. said it was all in her head, and with rest, she would be fine. Didn’t happen. The next Dr. had blood drawn. There were only 2 bands positive for Lyme. He said that it meant she had had a Lyme event.
Lyme exposure can present 2 or 3 bands positive. We begged him to do further testing, my husband followed him all the way down the hallway of the hospital. The doctor did no further testing. The next Dr. we were referred to was a neurologist. The did an MRI and EMG. An EMG is the most barbaric test imaginable. I will leave it at that. He determined it was not MS but could be ALS. It could be a neurodegenerative disease. At 28 years old, to hear that death sentence is unimaginable; forget about being the parent. We were referred to a nutritionist to get Kate as healthy as possible at this point. Upon meeting this woman, our focus changed. The office included PT, OT, an acupuncturist, an MD, and a nutritionist. Once the MD saw Kate, she immediately said this woman needs to be treated for Lyme. It is such an advanced case that you need to find someone immediately. Kate went home to her house, and we waited for an appointment. Finally, the Dr. had a cancellation, and Kate Ubered her way to the office. They took 21 vials of blood, and she was clinically diagnosed with Lyme. We waited to hear if there were any co-infections. All I can say is an entire year wasted on wrong diagnoses and failure to diagnose. The rheumatologist ordered a pic line. We began infusing doxy and vitamins. By the 4th month, Kate had 12 bands positive. We did this for 14 months. Kate did get somewhat better. We tried addressing the Bartonella, but all of the six were so damaging that we ended the pic line and looked again for another protocol. At this point, we found an herbalist. He was great. He addressed many other issues. Kate was gaining a bit of weight. We went from 86 pounds to about 94. At one point, she had been diagnosed with POTS. The herbalist healed the POTS. He healed many things, but at this point, Kate was so weak she was in a wheelchair and had a myriad of issues, and chronic fatigue remained. With a dead-end once again, I went to the internet. I needed a support group. I was a 53-year-old wife, mom, math teacher trying to take care of a very sick daughter. I was tired, depressed, and looking for a cure. I needed to find people who understood what we were going through. My husband was accommodating and understanding, but he was in the same boat, tired, depressed, and looking for a cure. At this point, we tried everything money could buy. We saw many a Dr. in NY, NJ, TX, PA; finally, we began researching stem cell therapies. Those events took us to Texas, Mexico, etc. Back to the internet…I found the Bee Venom Therapy group. At this point, we had spent approximately $300,000 out of pocket. To continue teaching, my mother had lived with us for 4 months to help Kate. When she went back to Florida, my sister-in-law drove an hour each day to help Kate care. Then eventually accompanied us internationally to take Kate for treatment. Various family members cooked to help out. Then my Dr. diagnosed me with exhaustion and so much stress I was bound for a stroke. I was sitting in his office in a snowstorm, clogs and no socks. He took one look at me and put me out of work. I took a medical leave. I had time to read. Time to research. Time to heal and rest and think clearly. This is when I found BVT. This was when I presented all of my findings to my husband and Kate. We decided to sting. That was Summer 2018, three years after symptoms began. September 26, 2020, was our 2nd anniversary at 10 stings, five years after symptoms began. Slowly all of the tissues are healing. Slowly fatigue lifted. Slowly, from the inside out, Kate is healing. The muscle wasting was so bad that Kate is in a wheelchair. She cannot walk. She has no use of her hands or arms. Her chewing and swallowing have gotten better; no choking anymore. There are some pills she can now swallow. At one point, everything had to be ground up, or capsules opened into her shake. No bowel or bladder urgency. NO POTS! Her thyroid is healing. No more hair falling out. Skin is beautiful and clear. Her body temp has regulated as well. No more absorption issues. Other issues have been healed, but they do escape me, and sometimes it is better to move on. Kate is gaining weight and muscle mass. The muscle strength is returning but very slowly. Kate’s speech is a bit better, and we have a way to go. There is a fascinating theory that healing occurs in the reverse order of onset. It is true with Kate. The very last onset of symptoms is healed. The early symptoms are not. She began with hand weakness and then drop foot and walking issues; they are still a problem. I was recently talking with a friend, and it hit me. You know, I always knew God was steering this ship, but, wow… It hit me like the bible verse…The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. My come to Jesus moment! God is working through us. God gave us the bees. God will heal her. Bee well. Laurie Klink