When it comes to understanding the impact that Lyme Disease has on the lives of individuals and families, there’s no better source of reference than going straight to the proverbial horse’s mouth. That’s why in October of 2014, we launched “The Big Green Heart Tour” – a campaign to bring awareness to the eight hundred and twenty-two people diagnosed with Lyme Disease every single day.
In thirty days we traveled over 10,000 miles and interviewed more than seventy Lyme Fighters in over twenty states. And that was just our first trip! We hope to do many more. In fact, our goal is to show people the impact that one single day has on the lives of eight hundred and twenty-two people, which is why we’re going to keep planning trips until we’ve met and interviewed eight hundred and twenty-two Lyme Fighters.
Check out the gallery below to learn about the Lyme Fighters we’ve met so far (more pictures coming soon!)and subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to know when we’ve started posting the interviews (coming May 2015).
Rachel
October 29, 2014: Wrapped up our Northeast excursion on Roosevelt Island in NYC where we met Lyme Warriors Rachel and her five year-old son, Cayce. Rachel's first known tick bite was in the early 90s, but due to a lack of awareness about Lyme Disease, she simply removed it and went about her young-adult life. Bitten again in 2004, Rachel began experiencing many GI symptoms as well as chronic sinus infections for which she was often prescribed antibiotics which saw her feeling better until her prescription ran out. Shortly after giving birth to her son, Rachel began experiencing fatigue, joint pains, spontaneous bruising and even more GI issues. She would later find a third embedded tick on herself after a family vacation during which her son was also bitten and soon after began experiencing fevers and loss of balance. Her symptoms progressed further in 2013 including anxiety, insomnia and neuro-cognitive impairment and in November of 2013, after a three month wait, Rachel and Cayce were finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease and began seeing almost immediate improvements on antibiotic therapy. Rachel now follows a strict diet and does her best to keep her son gluten-free. The two continue to take antibiotics and Cayce remains a trooper when it comes to taking his medicine.