Claeren Smets is a 33-year-old holistic life coach, pain reset therapist, yoga and meditation docent from Antwerp, Belgium.

Ms. Smets was an internationally ranked combat athlete excelling in Judo and boxing. She studied sports education and fitness instruction in university and worked as a high school teacher upon graduation.

At the age of 27, the uber fit Ms. Smets began to feel fatigued and suffered numerous sports injuries. Her energy levels continued to decline and she felt like she “had the flu all the time.” Her swiftly declining health caused her to suffer job loss and loss of independence requiring her to move “back to [her] parents’ home.”

She was diagnosed with Lyme disease after she followed an acupuncturist’s recommendation that she explore a Lyme disease diagnosis. She tested positive for Lyme disease in testing prescribed by her family doctor.

If you would like to learn how a combat athlete had to abandon her warrior spirit and discover a growth mindset before she could heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!

Nicole Oliveira is a 35-year-old marketing, advertising and brand professional from Charlotte, North Carolina. She lived and worked for most of her life in the eastern US Lyme belt states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The Oliveira family’s Lyme disease journey began with a “bullseye rash” discovered by Nicole’s mother at the age of 4. Ms. Oliveira was treated with a short course of antibiotics and remained healthy until the age of 11 when she developed chronic migraine headaches.

Ms. Oliveira’s Lyme disease relapse went undiagnosed for one year because her pediatrician dismissed her symptoms and accused her of “making it up… [due to the] anxiety of attending a new school for 6th grade.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time she was “dismissed by a healthcare professional.”

At the age of 27, she again began to suffer a health decline. Trained and empowered by her parents, who had been her “biggest health advocates” during her childhood, Ms. Oliveira listened to her body, took control of her doctors, and rebuilt her health and her life.

Today, Ms. Oliveira is working, engaged to be married and “preparing [her] body to be as healthy as it can be to hopefully have a baby in the near(ish) future”. If you would like to learn more about how a young woman overcame childhood Lyme disease and medical gaslighting by becoming the CEO of her health, then tune in now!

Laura Arnal is a 47-year-old Lyme disease health coach, author, patient advocate, and co-founder of the PREFACE group (Patient Resource Facilitator Europe). She is the author of the French language book titled “I Overcome Lyme Disease” (J’ai sumonte la Maladie de Lyme - Editions Odile Jacob).

Ms. Arnal was born, raised, and educated in France. In 2009, she, her husband, and their 3 children moved to Germany “to discover another culture.” Shortly after the move to Germany, the Arnal family “decided to take a trip from New York to Boston with an RV. An extraordinary adventure for Europeans!”

During the tour of the northeastern US, they “visited friends living at Yale” University, located near Lyme, Connecticut. The day after spending an afternoon in the friends’ Connecticut garden, Ms. Arnal felt “strange and tired.” She initially attributed the symptoms to “jet lag” and when the symptoms persisted for several days and then weeks, she concluded she “caught a virus” on the flight from Europe.

Ms. Arnal’s health steadily declined for 5 years resulting in visits to 69 doctors in 3 countries before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease by a German Internist. “This doctor made this diagnosis by my detailed medical history …[and] by listening precisely to my symptoms.”

After securing a diagnosis, Ms. Arnal joined several Lyme disease social media groups to seek advice about how to find a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). After building and sorting the list of social recommended LLMDs, she treated with the famous Lyme pioneer Dr. Daniel Cameron (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 233).

If you would like to learn more about how a French patriot living in Germany crossed international borders in 2 continents to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!

Lauren Kingsly is a 21-year-old author, speaker, and student at the University of Chicago. She was born and raised on the American east coast in Morristown, New Jersey.

By the age of 15, her physical, neurological, and psychological symptoms were cataclysmic. She was wheelchair bound, unable to form clear sentences, and suffering from hallucinations.

Ms. Kingsly was such a “train wreck” that her hallucination experience became “oddly comforting” to her. She was consistently visited by a “man [with] a youthful glow… [and a] slender build… that reminded [her] of someone [she] used to be close to, whose name [she] couldn’t recall.”

To add insult to injury, Ms. Kingsly was misdiagnosed with “psychological issues,” Schizophrenia, IBS, SIBO, and psychosomatic disorders by 7 doctors from New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Finally, she was diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease by her “superhero” Doctor Kristine Gedroic whom she credits with saving her “from the yard of sleeping souls.”

If you would like to learn more about how a young woman utilized her antifragile mindset to overcome life threatening Lyme disease and swap a wheelchair and hallucinations for authorship and acceptance to one of the top colleges in the world, then tune in now.

Christa Nannos is a 31-year-old American author, actor, writer and Lyme disease educator from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Nannos was bitten by a tick when she was 9 years old. Her Lyme disease remained mostly dormant until she was exposed to parasites while on a mission trip to Guatemala.

Ms. Nannos was misdiagnosed with mental health illnesses, Candida, SIBO, Overactive Bladder Syndrome, IBS and more over 10 years. Christa was finally properly diagnosed with Lyme disease a few years ago and after various treatments she is now close to remission. See Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 135 for Christa's full story.

This week, Christa dropped a #1 Best-Selling book on Amazon titled Tick Tock, It's LYME O'clock: A Warrior's Guide to Reclaiming Health & Happiness. This book can help you in your Lyme healing journey and it also provides guidance to caretakers, family, friends, and colleagues of Lyme warriors!

If you would like to learn more about how a young woman wrote a #1 Best-Selling book while battling chronic Lyme disease and how it can help you, then tune in now!

PS Tick Boot Camp is hosting an exclusive virtual behind the scenes launch party for Christa on Thursday, February 10, at 8:00 pm EST (NY time). Stay tuned and follow us on social media for more information.

Dr. Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH is an internationally recognized Lyme disease pioneer with over 30 years of medical, epidemiological and research experience from Mt. Kisco, New York.

Dr. Cameron is a board-certified internist and epidemiologist that opened a private medical practice in 1987. Almost immediately after hanging out his shingle, he began to treat patients from the local community suffering from persistent, recurring symptoms, including neurological manifestations caused by Lyme disease. He has since diagnosed and treated thousands of adult and adolescent Lyme disease patients from around the globe.

Dr. Cameron is the past president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) and the lead author of the ILADS evidence-based treatment guidelines.

He has become one of the Lyme communities most recognized experts and educators through his utilization of a wide variety of publication platforms. He has authored books, blogs, vlogs, podcasts and social media posts and has been interviewed by mainstream media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, the Today Show, NPR, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

If you would like to learn more about how a farm boy from Minnesota grew up to become a superhero known as the “Fearless Pioneer” and co-wrote the widely utilized evidence-based Lyme disease treatment guidelines, then tune in now!

Jessica Smith is a 30-year-old local director with Child Evangelism Fellowship, a Bible and Theology student at Shasta Bible College, and a student at Trinity School of Natural Health.

In 2014, Ms. Smith moved from Oregon to Missouri to attend ministry vocational school. Despite growing up on a farm with a general awareness of ticks and Lyme disease, she was not taught to take steps to avoid or check for ticks. While taking a hike on the 600-acre school campus, she discovered a small tick on her arm. Shortly thereafter, she exhibited acute Lyme disease symptoms such as fatigue, flu symptoms and brain fog.

Her acute symptoms dissipated in a few weeks and she “did not notice any decline in her health” until 3 years later when she again suffered flu symptoms, lost an “alarming amount of weight,” followed by severe joint pain, mental struggles, and heart palpitations.

The debilitating symptoms sent her to a Naturopathic doctor who diagnosed her with Lyme disease after she tested CDC positive on a Western Blot blood test.

For the next several years, she battled through a grief cycle and both sides of the pride and imposter syndrome coin before learning to become a good steward of her life and health. Today, she is “105%” healthier than before she suffered the tick bite.

If you would like to learn more about how chronic Lyme disease sent a minister on a “New Path” for healing and a school to study natural health, then tune in now!

Lauren Less is a 29-year-old Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), real estate broker and nutrition enthusiast.

While attending summer camp at the age of 13, she was bitten by a tick that she removed without adult assistance. After returning home from camp, she began to suffer classic acute Lyme disease symptoms including fatigue, joint pain and brain fog.

For the next 15 years, Ms. Less’ symptoms progressed and became chronic. She sought answers for the cause of her illness from “many doctors,” all of whom told her she was “fine” and not in fact ill.

Unfortunately, these 15 years caused her to suppress and lose touch with her body signals. Fortunately, she located an Integrative Medical Doctor that utilized blood testing to diagnose her with Lyme disease.

Through her research Ms. Less determined that she would need to prepare herself physically, emotionally, and socially to battle Lyme. Additionally, she recognized that becoming reacquainted with her body signals was vital to successful healing.

If you would like to learn how a young woman from the mid-west is using Oura Ring technology to validate her body signals and to support her healing journey, then tune in now!

Adina Bercowicz is founder and executive director of LymeTV. She is a 44-year-old tick-borne illness advocate, wife, and mother living in Portland, Maine.

Prior to getting sick, Ms. Bercowicz was working full time as an executive leader for a nonprofit in India, regularly attended yoga and martial arts classes, had an active social life, and traveled frequently for work. She was “active and at the top of [her] game, life was perfect.”

Ms. Bercowicz became sick with Lyme disease when she was 36 years old shortly after a tick bite during her pregnancy. Some of her early symptoms included chronic fatigue, sharp joint pain, memory loss, cognitive decline, phantom smells, dizziness, and chronic migraines.

Once diagnosed with chronic neurological Lyme disease, she was mistreated with oral antibiotics and her health continued to decline. She kept fighting for her health and found a doctor that helped her get on a 90-day course of IV Rocephin (Ceftriaxone) for Lyme disease, Malarone (Atovaquone / Proguanil) and Mepron (Atovaquone) for Babesia, and a bunch of supplements.

Ms. Bercowicz is currently working with a team of specialists and dealing with damage to her body and secondary diseases that were triggered from her late-stage tick-borne illnesses, such as Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), small fiber neuropathy, and dysautonomia. She is treating with Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) to address these 3 degenerative nervous system disorders.

If you would like to learn more about how a dedicated professional who has given back to the community since she was a child is now giving back and inspiring great changes in the Lyme disease community, then tune in now!

Ally Lopes is a 24-year-old National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and kindergarten teacher from the New Jersey Lyme belt.

Ms. Lopes’ Lyme disease journey began with severe vertigo and flu-like symptoms the day before she flew to Walt Disney World for her high school senior class trip. She was initially diagnosed with a stomach virus and a sinus infection.

During the following 2 years, her symptoms progressed forcing her to seek treatment from so many doctors she finally lost count. She was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease using a Western Blot blood test by the doctor that diagnosed her mother with Lyme disease one year earlier.

Ms. Lopes treated with her mother’s practitioner for 1 year and then decided to take responsibility for building her own treatment team. Blazing her own trail introduced her to eastern and western treatment tools and practitioners resulting in Ms. Lopes making sufficient health gains to allow her to complete her undergraduate degree in elementary education.

Inspired by her health journey and a desire to assist others overcome chronic Lyme disease, Ms. Lopes studied Wellness Coaching at the prestigious Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development.

If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired an elementary school teacher to diversify her professional skills to bring her lessons from her personal journey to other people battling Lyme disease, then tune in now!