Sam Lesch is a 20-year-old student originally from Auburn, New York currently residing in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Her Lyme disease journey began during her senior year of high school when she suffered migrating symptoms that included the loss of the use of her right leg, the use of her hand and fingers, brain fog, fatigue, and facial drops.

Although suffering from classic migrating Lyme disease symptoms, the confirmation of her family’s suspicion that she was suffering from Lyme was delayed due to the failure of the standard Western Blot testing. Ms. Lesch tested negative for Lyme on 4 separate LabCorp Western Blot tests. Finally, a family friend recommended a superior DNA ConneXions (Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode 168) urine test and her diagnosis of Lyme disease and co-infections was confirmed.

After her diagnosis, Ms. Lesch’s parents and siblings studied Lyme through course work and built a team of medical professionals to treat her disease. The treatment team included a kinesiologist and an out-of-state Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD).

Ms. Lesch’s age and illness forced her to rely on her family and medical team to establish a treatment plan that included 5 antibiotics, probiotics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, IV Meyers’ Cocktail, yoga, and glutathione. Her treatment protocol was so rigorous that she began to feel what she called “pill fatigue.”

If you would like to learn more about how a young woman on the cusp of adulthood refused to allow Lyme disease to prevent her from transitioning to college and independence, then tune in now!

Madeline Castellanos is a 9-year-old actor, student and author from Los Angeles, California. Her Lyme disease journey began 4 years ago when her mother, Alexandra, took her to an urgent care facility when she noticed the child had an “alarming rash."

After being dismissed by the urgent care doctor, the formerly energetic Madeline began to nap frequently, fall asleep during car trips, suffer daily migraine headaches, and fall behind her classmates academically in school. The developing symptoms and a new “bullseye” rash caused her mother to schedule Madeline for an examination by her primary care physician.

Madeline’s primary care doctor diagnosed her with Lyme disease after she tested positive on a Western Blot test. Sadly, Madeline’s doctor acknowledged that he did not have the experience or training to adequately treat her disease, so he urged Alexandra “find a good doctor” for her daughter.

Alexandra’s quest to find a “good doctor” required the pair to travel across the country from California to the birthplace of Lyme disease: Connecticut. There, Madeline treated with the famous Dr Jones of New Haven Connecticut for “10 months nonstop” before she achieved symptom relief. Today, Alexandra helps Madeline to prevent symptom flare ups through diet, limiting direct sun exposure, and avoiding stressful situations.

The Castellanos family’s Lyme journey taught the mother and daughter many powerful lessons that they wanted to share with other parents and children. Their first outreach project was to co-author a children’s book about a young child’s Lyme disease journey titled “Mylie’s Lyme Story.” Mylie’s Lyme Story is now available wherever books are sold including Amazon and ironically Target.

If you would like to know more about how Lyme disease inspired a mother and child to share their journey through a child friendly medium, then tune in now!

Kaitlyn Oleinik is a 27-year-old psychology student, musician and equestrian enthusiast from Orange County, California. Ms. Oleinik is also the daughter and granddaughter of WWII era Jewish resistance fighters.

Starting at the age of 10 years old, Ms. Oleinik began to treat with medical doctors for Lyme disease symptoms including severe fatigue, knee pain, and joint pain. Despite visiting “dozens of doctors,” her symptoms did not result in a diagnosis until she and her parents watched a television show that profiled a young woman’s Lyme disease journey.

The parallels between Ms. Oleinik’s symptoms and those of the television heroine inspired her to take control of her childhood diagnostic journey. First, she researched and located the CanLyme symptom guide. When she discovered that she exhibited the overwhelming majority of the traditional symptoms listed in the guide, she petitioned her parents and her doctor to treat her for Lyme disease. She achieved remission with antibiotic treatment prescribed by her primary care physician.

Several years later, during her senior year of college, she suffered a series of traumatic events while at the same time residing in mold infested student housing. The combination of immune disrupting events caused her to suffer a Lyme relapse that was misdiagnosed by doctors as mental illness. Realizing that her symptoms were potentially indicative of Lyme disease, she ignored her family, friends, and doctors and took control of her second diagnostic journey by locating a Lyme literate medical doctor (LLMD) who diagnosed her with Lyme disease.

Ms. Oleinik and her LLMD utilized IV antibiotics, IVIG therapy and stem cells to treat her Lyme disease relapse. Ms. Oleinik described the $30,000 stem cell therapy as “lifesaving.”

If you would like to learn more about how a young woman tapped into her resistance fighter spirit to overcome the doubts of family, friends, and doctors to take control of her Lyme disease diagnostic journeys, then tune in now!

Gina Valles is a 33-year-old personal trainer, exercise scientist, gym owner, and entrepreneur from South Windsor, Connecticut. Ms. Valles was an elite nationally ranked high school and college athlete who discovered that over training could inhibit her game day performance.

Ms. Valles’ Lyme disease journey began in 2017 after she discovered 3 attached ticks after returning home from a walk with her dog. Shortly thereafter, she began to suffer flu-like symptoms, insomnia, neurological pain, and breathing problems. Despite residing in the shadow of Old Lyme, Connecticut, her classic symptoms went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed by 5 Connecticut based medical doctors.

Her health improved vastly after locating a Lyme literate medical doctor (LLMD) who diagnosed her with Lyme disease and treated her with an aggressive antibiotic protocol.

When Covid mandated gym closures and suspended in-person training, Ms. Valles pivoted to online training. The online model required her to lead several Zoom classes per day, causing her to suffer physical exhaustion and a relapse. She discovered that the physical stress from over training disrupted her immune system causing a Lyme disease relapse.

The relapse experience inspired Ms. Valles to return to her exercise science roots. She studied over training and immune disruption. The research coupled with her second Lyme healing journey inspired her to build “Immune Warrior,” an online information/education business. Immune Warrior offers cutting-edge eBooks, subscriptions, and products to help folks in the community “find [their] inner warrior.”

If you would like to learn more about how too much of a good thing taught a fitness professional the importance of balance and immune health and inspired a new online business, then tune in now!

Dr. Janice Iannucci is a Nurse Practitioner and lifelong resident of tick endemic Long Island, New York.

Dr. Iannucci studied and earned her nursing degrees, LPN, RN, NP, and Doctorate from the top universities located on Long Island, while working in hospital systems in the region.

As Dr. Iannucci was climbing to the educational pinnacle of her profession, she felt but could not see “something on the back of her leg while she was driving” that resulted in a rash and chronic “flu-like syndrome that would put [her] down for months.”

Unable to self-diagnose, she began to share her puzzling symptoms with hospital colleagues who were also unable to help her locate a diagnosis. Desperate for a diagnosis, Dr. Iannucci became a patient and visited over 10 doctors in search of a diagnosis where she was misdiagnosed with MS and depression.

Finally, she visited the famous LLMD, Dr. Raxlen, where she tested positive for Lyme disease on an IGeneX lab test.

The failure of her own education and training, the education and training of her hospital colleagues, and the education of her 10 medical doctors reset the concentration of Dr. Iannucci’s doctorial education. Additionally, the challenges she faced on her healing journey caused her to study traditional eastern herbal tools to supplement the tools she had utilized during her career.

If you would like to learn how Lyme disease changed the educational and career paths of a western-educated Doctor of Nurse Practitioner, then tune in now!

Megan Bradshaw is a 28-year-old fashion industry professional and Lyme disease policy activist from Waxham, North Carolina. Since childhood, she has answered the call to public service. She volunteered for church clothing drives, served families at the Ronald McDonald House, and assisted breast cancer survivors during her time managing a lingerie business in the fashion industry.

Ms. Bradshaw’s professional and health journeys kicked off at the same moment in time. While she was blessed with rapid advancement in her career, she was forced to manage the curse of rapidly declining health.

Ms. Bradshaw sought treatment for her failing health at the leading medical institutions in the United States, including the Cleveland Clinic, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Vanderbilt University. Unfortunately, a misdiagnosis resulted in a treatment prescription “that opened the flood gates” for Lyme disease to cause orthopedic injuries requiring multiple joint replacement surgeries.

Ms. Bradshaw’s painful journey has caused her to earn superhero status in the Lyme disease community. By overcoming medical trauma to become a more effective and focused public servant, she has become affectionately known as the Bionic Woman of Lyme.

Today, Ms. Bradshaw is using her time on medical leave to focus on tick-borne disease advocacy and fundraising. She is also preparing for an educational and career pivot to public policy and administration in the health care/disability industry.

If you would like to learn more about how a benevolent spirit used Lyme disease to build the Bionic Woman of Lyme, then tune in now!

Nic Turinski is a 39-year-old data analyst and artist from Eugene, Oregon. He is the creative force driving the Chronic 2 Wear brand. Mr. Turinski was an uber athletic 18-year-old basketball player when he began to suffer classic Lyme disease symptoms. The then undiagnosed disease restricted his athleticism eventually stealing his athletic gifts entirely. At the height of the disease, he lost all mobility, suffered seizures, and required the assistance of an electric wheelchair to experience the outside world. His eight-year diagnostic journey was checkered with medical incompetence caused by “doctors trying to validate themselves by invalidating [him].” Before he could locate a path to healing, Lyme disease required him to learn two life lessons: treatment must be slow and steady and healing requires you to locate a passion outside of Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how the creative force behind the Chronic 2 Wear brand is using slow and steady progress and artistic passion to heal from Lyme disease, then tune in now!

Debbie Nichols and Candice Matthis are the charismatic co-founders of TwoAlphaGals, an Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) health and wellness community. Ms. Nichols’ Alpha-Gal journey began when she realized that red meat consistently made her stomach hurt. Ms. Matthis’ journey began with GI issues that presented shortly after she discovered a tick attached to her toe. Their paths crossed and their relationship was born out of a realization that they shared similar dietary restrictions when meeting at a social gathering. As the relationship grew, they realized they were travelling on parallel medical journeys later resulting in a joint diagnosis of Alpha-Gal Syndrome. Together, they developed a support system that allowed them to improve their own lives, the lives of their families and the lives of people in the tick-borne disease community. If you would like to learn more about how the bond between two women from Virginia manifested into an advocacy, health, and wellness community, then tune in now!

Katie DePaola is an entrepreneur, author and the creative force behind a globally recognized education and training program. She is the founder of Inner Glow Circle, a company dedicated to training and certifying woman as life coaches. Ms. DePaola’s Lyme disease experience began with a tick bite suffered the summer before she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend the elite Vanderbilt University. For the 9 years following her tick bite, the formerly energetic young woman suffered declining health with symptoms that included extreme fatigue, constant pain, mood swings and paralysis to her hands, feet, and face. Despite consulting and treating with over 30 health care practitioners, her mysterious illness went undiagnosed until she visited the famous LLMD Dr. Joseph Jemsek, MD. Between 2014 and 2017, she treated with several well-known Lyme disease specialists where she learned how to rebuild her health and, in the process, discovered her life’s purpose! Ms. DePaola’s spiritual journey laid the foundation for her to build and run a successful business and in 2020 to publish the acclaimed book “At Least You Look Good: Learning How to GLOW Through What You Go Through.” If you would like to learn how a young entrepreneur discovered her Greatest Level of Want (GLOW); i.e., want for herself, for others and for the world, then tune in now!

Dr. Leo Shea is a neuropsychologist, Lyme disease pioneer and polymath with offices in Boston and New York. Dr. Shea began his professional career as a successful international business consultant where he developed a passion for identifying and developing human resources. Provoked by his passion, he returned to academia to earn dual PhDs in psychology. In 1995, while serving as the Assistant Director of the NYU Brain Injury Day Treatment Center, he began to treat patients with Lyme disease who were exhibiting classic brain injury symptoms. Today, Dr. Shea is the President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation (ILADEF), the Immediate Past President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), staff psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Rusk Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Principal of Neuropsychological Evaluation and Treatment Services (NETS). If you would like to learn more about how a Lyme disease pioneer is constructing customized psychological care for patients with neurological disorders, traumatic brain injuries, Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, then tune in now!