Our sassy-sweet dancing darling Sara Tobin is extremely ill with severe chronic Neurological Lyme Disease.

It's been such a long road of seeing multiple general and nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, a cardiologist, a urologist, a neurologist, a rheumatologist, ear/nose and throat specialist in addition to multiple ER visits - 6 times just since last October. She finally sought out a Lyme Literate Naturopath and after months of testing she received her diagnosis of Lyme Disease. She was told she likely would have been misdiagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson's as well as other diseases and syndromes before the necessary tests were finally ordered to discover what has been making her so sick. Sara has been suffering debilitating symptoms of this little understood disease for years - decades.

Now having her diagnosis Sara will finally be able to access the medical treatment that she desperately needs, but this fight could go on for a long time. Lyme patients must pay out of pocket (OOP) for long term treatment. Since the CDC denies the existence of Chronic Lyme Disease, insurance companies are not required to cover costs related to the disease. Patients spend an average of $53,000/year OOP for tests, doctor visits, pharmaceuticals and supplements. Protocols are varied and layered. Lyme disease is like an onion because it's never JUST Lyme Disease. There are co-infections that must also be addressed and treated. Because of this there is no "one size fits all" routine Lyme protocol. There is no timeline for when she will get better. The most one with Lyme Disease can hope for is achieving remission. It often takes years to find the treatment sweet spot, changing it up several times due to the ever changing bacteria becoming resistant. A combination of multiple oral antibiotics, anti fungals, herbals, homeopathy, IV antibiotics and nutritional support therapy, immune support therapies, multitude of vitamins and supplements, physical therapy, emotional healing and support, and a special organic and non gmo diet. These evidence-based medicine treatment protocols and other expenses for her late-stage Lyme could cost over $100,000.

Sara is much too sick to work at this time and has been out of work for over a year. She currently has no income and no health insurance. Medicaid has not been expanded to Georgia where she is currently residing. There is a small chance she will be approved for disability, but the process is long and tedious, often taking years. The state of GA doesn't include Lyme Disease for assistance eligibility.

Here are just some of the symptoms Sara is suffering from that prevent her from pursuing her career and living a normal life:
chronic pain, nausea and vomiting, seizures, muscle and joint pain, muscle atrophy, tremors, vertigo, chronic fatigue, paresthesia (numbness), TMJ, tinnitus, sensory processing disorder, visual disturbances, IBS, migraines, interstitial cystitis, depression and anxiety.

Sara is a wonderful mommy and despite being so sick she is raising the absolute best darn kid! She focuses all of the energy that she has on Eli, and it shows. He is a beautiful child on the inside and out. Sara fights every day to do the very best she can for herself and li'l Eli, but it's a painful struggle.

Sara has so much love to give and is so supportive of others. She has always been an advocate for those in need. We hope to be able to be here for her in her time of need and provide her with the love and financial aid she needs to get well.

Please consider donating. Any amount you are able to give can make such a big impact. All donated funds will go directly to Sara and will be used for her medical and life expenses.

Sharing this fundraiser on social media (using the hashtag #SaraFightsLyme) would be an enormous gift!

Sara thanks you from the bottom of her very big heart.

*If you would like to continue reading we have helped Sara put together her own plea and detailed version of her story. Thank you for reading!*

****************READ BELOW FOR SARA'S STORY****************

Hello, my friends. Many of you remember me as a lively and sassy young woman during my days in the NoVA and DC area. I was passionate about dancing, was always on the go, and lived life to the fullest. Sadly, that girl is gone. After many, many years of illness, I was recently diagnosed with chronic late stage neurological Lyme disease. Lyme disease, and the co-infections that came with it, have robbed me of all that I once held dear - my health, my social life, my job, most importantly my ability to be the Mother that my son deserves. But, I won't give up without fighting with everything I have left. I want and need my life back and I need your help. My son, Eli, will be five next week and he needs and deserves a healthy Mommy. As of now, I am anything but healthy. This disease has stolen precious memories from us: baseball and soccer practices and games, me in the crowd cheering him on at his Pre-K graduation, playing tag and hide and seek in the park. Even simple games, like pretend play, are difficult for me due to the the brain fog, chronic fatigue, nausea, seizures and bone deep pain. I do as much as I can to have fun with him on my good days, but those days are few and far between now - all too often, I don't have the ability to even get out of bed because I am too sick and too exhausted. I have become so sick I have had to let my son go spend much of his time with his father because I am not capable of being the mom he deserves and the mom I long to be. This has affected not only my custody, but the time I spend with him. The moment I feel well enough we are at the park, or going to get ice cream, playing games and doing crafts. But most of our time is spent on the couch watching TV and playing games on the iPad. My son sees me sick, shaking and crying from pain and seizures. It kills me that he has to witness his mommy suffering, feel worried for my wellbeing and be the one to comfort me and tell me "mommy it's going to be ok."

https://themighty.com/2017/02/what-its-like-being-a-parent-with-a-chronic-illness/

As I mentioned my illness resulted in the loss of my very fulfilling and much needed FT job at Whole Foods Market 3 yrs ago. For a time I was able to do some administrative work from home, but I cannot even do that now. Then with the divorce I was left completely uninsured. Not having insurance has been devastating and living in Georgia means I do not qualify for the ACA or Medicaid. Believe me, I have looked down every rabbit hole to get some assistance and it just isn't there right now. My mom has helped me to qualify for a couple of minor grants to help with the initial diagnostic testing, but there just isn't much help out there for victims of Lyme disease. Lyme patients must pay out of pocket (OOP) for long term treatment. Since the CDC denies the existence of Chronic Lyme Disease, insurance companies are not required to cover costs related to the disease. Patients spend an average of $53,000/year OOP for tests, doctor visits, pharmaceuticals and supplements. Protocols are varied and layered. Lyme disease is like an onion because it's never JUST Lyme Disease. There are co-infections that must also be addressed and treated. Because of this there is no "one size fits all" routine Lyme protocol. There is no timeline for when I will get better. The most one with Lyme Disease can hope for is achieving remission. It often takes years to find the treatment sweet spot, changing it up several times due to the ever changing bacteria becoming resistant. Treatment for Lyme kinda looks like this - Combinations of multiple oral antibiotics, anti fungals, herbals, homeopathy, IV antibiotics and nutritional support therapy, immune support therapies, multitude of vitamins and supplements, physical therapy, emotional healing and support, and a special organic and non gmo diet.

In addition to the negative effects on my general health, it has been at least 2 years since my last visit to a dentist and the Lyme Disease has taken a terrible toll on my teeth and gums. I don't smile much anymore because I am embarrassed of a smile that I once flashed proudly and often. My illness is rapidly progressing and the situation is becoming desperate.

As I have not worked for close to 2 years, I am just continually adding to my credit card debt as that is the only option I have to pay for medical costs, my daily living expenses and giving Eli what he needs. At this rate I will be forced to file for bankruptcy.

Please know that I will be forever grateful for whatever help you can give me to continue this journey to get my life back and be the mommy Eli deserves. I want him to see that I'm a fighter, that I didn't give up when life got unbearably hard, and that it's also ok to ask for help when you need it. Many of you know my passion for holistic health and I'd love to become a health coach as well as an advocate for others suffering from Lyme disease. No matter how sick I get, my dreams still persist. I want a life where I can play with my little boy, make amazing memories with him, and never again miss another milestone. When he looks out in the crowd to find me, I'll be there, smiling and strong.

If you care to learn how this all came to be, We have a put together a rather long and detailed timeline below.

I am finding out through my research that I have been struggling with this illness for most of my life. This may all go as far back as age 5 when I first began experiencing these symptoms. I was seen by a doctor because my cholesterol had shot up which is very unusual for a young child. From there I experienced an abrupt onset of numerous psychiatric issues including OCD, insomnia, depression, anxiety and anorexia which have waxed and waned to this day. 1994 I was diagnosed with mono at the age of 14. At the time I had unrelenting fatigue, severe mood swings, severe insomnia and I began to have migraines. My grades really suffered because of learning disabilities/ADD that we now realize were overlooked by professionals. In high school I also noticed it was becoming hard for me to read (this has gotten much worse recently to the point that I can really read now). The OCD anxiety and depression escalated rapidly. The fatigue became so bad I would fall asleep driving, in class - I was so exhausted I just couldn't keep my eyes open. This is also when the visual snow and other disturbances started to get bad. I also would wake up vibrating, but I never told anyone this. I was repeatedly told by medical professionals that all of my problems were psychological and to take medication, which only made me worse.

The summer after high school I came down with "summer flu", which kicked the fatigue up. I developed random seasonal allergies and allergies to medications I had previously taken without issue. I began having sciatic pain and pain in my feet that would come and go. The visual disturbances really became an issue. I developed burning mouth syndrome, brain fog and the migraines continued, as did the fatigue. I knew something wasn't right. These things waxed and waned for years and years.

In 2007 the insomnia was raging, I was having chest pain and heart palpitations, the foot pain was so bad I could barely walk in the morning, I had horrific face pain and the anxiety and OCD returned. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me. I felt like I had chronic flu. The symptoms seemed to wax and wane. I even turned to drugs for a time in order to mask the pain I was in. I did seek help for my drug use and completed rehab in July 2007. But my symptoms continued unrelentingly. In 2010 I saw a doctor who said maybe it's Lyme or fibromyalgia and she said she tested me. However, I was never provided the results of this test, nor proof that it was even done. So I just kept going. I was even running 6 miles/day when I was up to it.

In 2011 just before I found out I was pregnant I had an ear infection and bronchitis. My cough was so violent that I broke a rib, and I never really recovered from it. The stress of a very scary pregnancy had me sick with bronchitis again which resulted in another cracked rib. After I had Eli, I was exhausted like any new mom. I also had an awful period of postpartum depression and OCD. Then in 2012 I had my one and only flu shot and that sent me into a downhill spiral. I began to experience numbness and tingling all over. The face pain was almost debilitating. I had excruciating leg and pelvic pain - pain that migrated all over. The migraines worsened and changed. I was experiencing problems swallowing, extreme fatigue, trouble breathing and nausea. The visual disturbances became much worse. In the spring of 2013 I had a nervous breakdown of sorts and had to take time off work and eventually had to go part time. In the early summer 2013 I saw a neurologist who told me I was just an "anxiety riddled new mother". While under his care I had a few neurological episodes - I lost control of my body and had vertigo that put me in the hospital. They told me maybe it's MS and to let my neurologist know. I begged him to do MRI's which he begrudgingly did. He told me nothing was wrong and refused to give me a referral for a rheumatologist and prescribed numerous medications.

In the Fall 2013 I was finally given a referral from my PCP for a rheumatologist who ran several tests which she said included Lyme. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was getting much sicker and I asked her to do another Lyme test to which she told me "you don't have Lyme". And that was that. I stopped seeing her because I decided to wean myself from the medications she was prescribing as I wanted to see if I felt any better off of them. In late April of 2016 I was bitten by something on my foot and days later I had 2 infected eyes, swollen glands, low grade fevers, extreme fatigue and increasing pain, nausea and vomiting, extreme sensory disturbances/sensory processing issues, the visual disturbances were getting worse and I was forced to stop driving at night. That's when I began to think this really was Lyme Disease and whatever had bitten me had - like the flu shot - triggered the Lyme disease. In addition I was also now dealing with co-infections. I had been told by so many people over the years - this sounds like Lyme disease - and now I believed them. I just continued to go downhill. By the end of the summer I was having serious psychiatric issues, and by October I was having neurological episodes along with severe muscle atrophy that has left certain places on my body deformed. I have been and out of the hospital ER since October 2016 for a nervous breakdown, seizures (3 times), and stomach/pelvic pain twice. Each time I thought I was dying and every time I was told they couldn't find anything wrong.

Finally in early spring 2017 with the help of my mom I was able to see my Naturopath and after a couple months of testing I was diagnosed with chronic neurological Lyme disease. Misdiagnoses that he says I could potentially receive are ALS, MS and Parkinson's. I have seizures everyday - sometimes all day. I have lost most of my ability to read. I cannot write with pens or pencils and I have a very hard time writing at all. The cognitive impairment has been disabling. I have trouble speaking and walking. I always wear sunglasses because of sensitivity to light and I cannot listen to more than one thing at a time. Many days I can't walk without falling over. I spend most of my time in bed or on the couch with my son when he is with me. He sees me have seizures and comforts me when the mental and emotional pain is too much to bare. He worries about me constantly and wants his mommy to be healthy and happy. This is a burden NO child should have to bare. The guilt I live with because of this has been unimaginable and completely suffocating.

I just want to get better.

Thank you for reading. Much love to you all <3

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