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Louise O’Sullivan from Tralee is hoping to raise €29,000 to get treatment for Chronic Lyme disease in Germany.
A GOFUNDME page, set up by a Tralee woman in a bid to get life-saving treatment in Germany, has already raised over €20,000.
Louise O’Sullivan from Tralee, now living in Galway, has been suffering with Lyme Disease for almost two years and says her only hope is to visit St Georges Clinic in Germany to receive three weeks of intense treatments so she can fully recover.
Louise (37), who has been living in Galway for the past 16 years, said she contracted the disease on December 8, 2019, after she was bitten at a sports ground in Galway.
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“I was given the devastating news by my G.P. that my results for Lyme disease were positive,” said Louise on the gofundme page.
Since the diagnosis, she described the last two years as “a living hell for me and my loved ones” and has gone on to develop Chronic Lyme Disease.
“They’ve watched me go from a busy, happy young woman who would love to train, walk, play with my best friend /dog Alfie, sing and work a full-time job to become bed bound, unable to move with crushing fatigue,”she said.
Louise is currently taking 25 pills a day along with many other herbal protocols and tinctures. For the past two years basic medicine for Lyme has cost her a minimum of €800 per month, every month.
Louise says Chronic Lyme disease is not recognised in Ireland and therefore there is no public treatment available bar private treatment.
Dr Jack Lambert, infectious disease consultant is the only person in Ireland treating people presenting with chronic Lyme disease.
“I have been under the care of Dr Lambert for 14 months taking treble antibiotics daily along with multiple other supplements and medicines,” added Louise. “However, unfortunately this has not worked for me.”
“The only hope I have to recover fully from this disease is to travel to a clinic in Germany namely ‘St Georges Clinic’, where I will receive three weeks of intense treatments including hyperthermia, which is where they heat the body up to 42 degrees, this kills the bacterium borrelia burgdorferi which causes Lyme disease,” she said, adding the cost of the treatment is €29,000.
“I’m a very happy, positive person with a loving family, partner, and friends, however when faced with the notion that literally no one in the country could help me with this illness, all hope disappeared, and the depression took over. Many nights I literally wailed in my mother’s arms and prayed I wouldn’t wake up in the morning,” she said.
“Germany for me is getting my hope back, I have read countless stories of men and women like me, getting their life back from doing this treatment. I need to get to Germany ASAP as unfortunately Lyme has now, after two years, reached my brain and is causing neurological symptoms such as memory loss, cognitive and sensory problems.”
“If nothing else, I hope to raise awareness that this can happen to anyone and I would encourage people to become tick aware particularly in Galway where it has been noted to hold the highest number of infected ticks of any city in Europe,” said Louise.
If you would like to contribute to Louise’s campaign, please click on the following link https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-louise-travel-to-germany-for-treatment?qid=c79c28a8a5a307680a5a943f744a39bc
