Episode 255: Squishy Samm - an interview with Sam Chocano

Samantha Marie Chocano is a multi-talented 25-year-old entrepreneur, graphic artist, YouTuber, gamer and glass ceiling breaking athlete from Fresno, California. She is vlogging and publishing her “entire treatment” journey to expose the reality of Lyme disease.

Ms. Chocano’s childhood garnered her the opportunity to “do many out of the box things.” She was the sole female wrestler on her high school and college teams, moved to different parts of the county each year as the child of a military family and “was even featured on [an episode] of MTV Catfish.”

Ms. Chocano’s nomadic childhood exposed her to new experiences and unfamiliar perils. At the age of 12 she moved to Virginia and was bitten “by many ticks.” Her parents would remove the ticks “with a hot needle” and told her the worst that would happen is she could “get a flu for a couple of weeks.”

The tick bites provoked sleep paralysis, extreme fatigue, gut inflammation, anxiety, depression and “a slight Bell’s Palsy.” Unfortunately, the symptoms were written off as emblematic of transitioning “into a typical teenager.”

By the age of 23 she became chronically ill, despite treating with over 20 doctors. She finally located a global diagnosis after she was tested for Lyme disease by a Naturopathic Doctor.

If you would like to learn more about how a young woman came to learn that she “had no other options but to do research [herself] and save [her] own life,” then tune in now!

PS Jessica Snajder from Partner In Lyme special guest co-hosted with Rich!