Tick Boot Camp

Gabriela Wijegunawardena is a 43-year-old mother living in the Washington metropolitan area, originally from San Francisco, California, where she contracted Lyme disease. She is a food blogger and has helped countless individuals in the Lyme disease and tick-borne illness community. Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Wijegunawardena worked as a NICU nurse at a level III NICU/Regional surgical...

Stacy Johnson is a TV and film working actor, singer, director, producer, and stunt woman. Her acting career began at the age of 4 on Sesame Street and has blossomed to include high profile projects like “ Heroes ,” “ Ozark ,” “ The Greatest Showman ,” “ Halloween ,” and “ Iron Man ” movies. She has produced and won awards for her documentary films "Hursit" and “The Sun Sets.” As a succe...

This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed the Director of Integrative and Interventional Pain Management at Case Integrative Health : Dr. Deepti Agarwal, MD . Dr. Agarwal is a double board certified and fellowship trained Pain Physician and Anesthesiologist. She served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois where she presented and published on a wide range of scholarly research on Anes...

This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed writer Frances Cecilia and Director Tony C. Silva, the power couple that created one of this year’s finest full-length feature films. By turning the camera towards themselves, they show the intimate side of our modern era's most misunderstood chronic illness: Lyme disease. In The Monster Inside Me, Frances and Tony take the viewer on their journey of researchin...

Kelsey Wenburg is a 39-year-old woman from Anchorage, Alaska. She’s on a health journey healing from Lyme disease and mold. Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Wenburg was working full-time and ran weekly workouts. She then became a health coach and helped others heal their bodies from a variety of ailments. At the age of 29, Ms. Wenburg first began to exhibit alarming symptoms that she later l...

This week Tick Boot Camp invited Lindsay Mitchell, founder and CEO of Vital-Side , to discuss the membership program that empowers people suffering with chronic illness and limbic system impairment to retrain their brain out of the chronic stress response to gain relief from their symptoms. In this comprehensive interview, Ms. Mitchell discusses: Her experience of having recovered from Lyme diseas...

This week Tick Boot Camp invited Robert Miller , a Certified Traditional Naturopath and founder of the Tree of Life Naturopathic practice , NutriGenetic Research Institute, and Functional Genomic Analysis, to discuss the relationship between genetic variants and Lyme disease. In this comprehensive interview, Mr. Miller discusses: The origin stories of the 3 companies he founded The virtue of genet...

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 scho...

Dani Tygr is a 34-year-old hair stylist from Los Angeles, California. In addition to film and television, her work has been featured in music videos, red carpet events, music tours, music festivals, editorials, runway events, and more. Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Dani traveled all over the world working in the beauty industry serving as an executive global platform artist and technical educ...

Hayden Crook is a 28-year-old youth pastor from Bend, Oregon. He graduated from the elite University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree majoring in Psychology and Business. After college, Pastor Crook was appointed Youth Pastor for one of the largest churches in the State of Oregon. In this capacity, he supervised youth mission trips, including a mission to cut firewood for a Native American reser...

This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed Certified Trauma Coach and entrepreneurial founder of EmotionalHealthAccelerator.com : Ali Kates . Ms. Kate’s is from Sonoma County, California. In the comprehensive interview, Ms. Cates shared how she endured a series of traumatic childhood experiences that included chronic illness caused by Lyme disease, emotional pain brought about by parental philandering a...

Samantha Perry is a 23-year-old graduate of Penn State University. She is currently working as a traveling yoga teacher in Costa Rica. Next year she will move to Spain to commence a graduate studies program in Doctor of Chiropractic. Samantha’s Lyme disease journey began during her junior year of high school. The life of the “super active, ambitious and social teenager” was halted by flu-symptoms...

This week Tick Boot Camp invited the "Core Four" of Generation Lyme , Brooke Stoddard , Jennifer Hoffmann , Jesse Ruben , and Haley DiBiase , to discuss the services the not-for-profit organization offer to the Lyme disease community. In this comprehensive interview the board of directors discusses: The origin story of Generation Lyme The relationship between Project Lyme and Generation...

Amanda Tiberi is a multi-talented 33-year-old clinical nutritionist and founder of the Amanda Nova Wellness community. Ms. Tiberi is from Westchester County, New York. Ms. Tiberi’s journey with chronic illness, triggered by Lyme disease, began when she “got sick in 2018 and never got better.” Her symptoms initially presented as chronic back pain then migrated to “brain fog, full body muscle and jo...

Gretel Adams is a 36-year-old small business owner from Columbus, Ohio. She has owned and operated Sunny Meadows Flower Farm since 2006 with her husband Steve. Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Adams worked very hard and had to perform both physical labor and intense decision-making. While not working, she enjoyed socializing with friends and attending music festivals. At the age of 33, Ms. A...

This week Tick Boot Camp invited Stuti Vora, customer service supervisor of IGeneX , to discuss how and why IGeneX has become the laboratory most trusted by patients in the Lyme disease community. In this comprehensive interview Ms. Vora discusses: The IGeneX origin story Blood, urine, and miscellaneous testing options available through IGeneX The new IGeneX Tick-Borne Disease Test Directory built...

Gabriella Bordonaro is a 21-year-old student majoring in Marketing at Le Moyne College located in Syracuse, New York. She plans to continue with her studies by attending graduate school in the fall. Ms. Bordonaro spent her childhood in the rural central New York region where she enjoyed a life filled with outdoor activities. Hailing from a family of athletes, she followed in the footsteps of her u...

Dr Richard Horowitz is an internationally recognized Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD), author of 2 New York Times bestselling books and co-author of the 2018 Housing and Human Services (HHS) Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) report to Congress. He has treated more than 14,000 Lyme disease patients earning him the reputation as the LLMD to the stars. During his career, Dr. Horowitz has le...

Jody Levy is a 42-year-old artist, designer and serial entrepreneur from Detroit, Michigan. She is the founder and co-founded of several successful businesses, including LabElymental, The Milk Cleanse , NeuroPraxis and WTRMLN WTR . Ms. Levy’s Lyme journey began when she heard the call to leave Michigan to attend college in upstate New York. A tick bite during her freshman year transformed her life...

Grace and Jessica Snajder are the dynamic mother-daughter founders of Partner in Lyme . The Connecticut based non-profit organization offers financial, emotional, and spiritual support to people diagnosed with Lyme disease. The Snajder family’s journey with Lyme began when Grace suffered “headaches, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and loss of the ability to read and do math” after falling wh...

Kelsey Watkins is a 28-year-old wife and mother on leave from her career as a utility company office manager. She and her family reside in Meyersville, Maryland. Ms. Watkins’ health challenges began with fainting spells when she would “go from sitting to standing.” At the age of 19, she would faint “upwards of 5 times per day.” Her primary care physician and cardiologist diagnosed her with POTS, p...

Peter Owen is a 63-year-old geologist, photographer and entrepreneur from Melbourne Victoria, Australia. He is a founding member of the TICNA (Tick-Borne Community Network Australia) public education group and President of the Conquering Chronic Illness patient support group. While recovering from a badly broken leg from a fall at his home, Mr. Owen began to feel incredible pain all over his body....

Jessica Jensen is a 31-year-old alternative and holistic health services teacher/ coach from Hillsboro, New Hampshire. Ms. Jensen’s Lyme disease journey began while she was working to “coordinate chaos” as a preschool teacher. Her initial symptoms included migraines, body pain, stomach pain and fatigue. She sought treatment from 20 doctors over 6 years before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. T...

Kirstan O’Neil is a 24-year-old small business owner from Northwest Florida. She runs an RV resort with her family and helps manage the day-to-day operations of the business. Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Kirstan had a very active and enjoyable life. She regularly went to the gym, enjoyed cooking and gardening with her grandma, and started working with her family at a young age. At the age of...

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 suf...