Tick Boot Camp

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...

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 an...

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...

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 h...

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...

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 sufferin...

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 ch...

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’ sympto...

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 th...

Madi Peters is a 22-year-old medical school student from Canada training to become a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). Her Lyme disease experience has shaped her life, values, and passions. She soon will be helping others suffering from chronic Lyme disease once she completes medical school. Prior to getting sick, Ms. Peters was a very active teenager engaged in competitive dance, teaching gymnastics, par...

Liz Campbell is a 23-year-old Health Coach residing in the shadow of South Carolina’s storied Clemson University. She is working to enhance her coaching skill sets by enrollment in a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) course of study. Ms. Campbell’s Lyme disease experience began with a month-long flu followed by severe fatigue. Weight gain, joint pain, and insomnia were added to her fatigue sympto...

Crystal Hefner is a multi-talented 35-year-old artist, model, entrepreneur, philanthropist and travel blogger from Los Angeles, California. The foundation for Ms. Hefner’s chronic Lyme disease journey was built on the footings of the iconic Playboy lifestyle. While married to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, she resided in a mold infested mansion surrounded by emotionally unhealthy people. In 2015, Ms...

Julie Yakunich is a 40-year-old Integrative Health Practitioner and Certified Health Coach specializing in Lyme disease from Chicago, Illinois. She has her own private practice, Get Well with Julie, and sees Lyme and chronic illness patients at Case Integrative Health . Ms. Yakunich’s battle with Lyme began when she was 29 years old after living a very active and high functioning life while workin...

Elected officials from around the United States joined leading Lyme disease advocates to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Advocacy Express which flipped over 40 representatives to now support Lyme legislation! Tune in to listen to Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (Long Island, New York), Brookhaven Town Councilman Kevin LaValle (Long Island, New York), New York State Assemblyman Steve...

Amanda Rojas is a 31-year-old medical collections supervisor. She is planning on continuing her college education soon and wants to help others navigate through the craziness of Lyme disease. Ms. Rojas’ battle with Lyme began at Christmas time when she was 25 years old. She visited over 30 doctors, specialists, urgent care facilities, and hospitals, but none of them could discover the root cause o...

Julie Comble is a 23-year-old student and online tutor from Paris, France. She is studying English and Modern Literature at Sorbonne University, Paris. Ms. Comble’s Lyme disease journey began with severe fatigue in her early teens. Three months after her parents terminated an unstable and often volatile relationship, she suffered a rapid acceleration of symptoms. She lost 17 pounds, suffered sever...

Hana-li Pendery is a 33-year-old entertainer, public speaker, business owner and entrepreneur. Her artistic parents named her in homage to the Peter, Paul & Mary classic song Puff the Magic Dragon. Ms. Pendery’s battle with the Lyme dragon began when she was “about 16 years old." She managed her symptoms for over a decade until she lost the ability to sleep. Eventually her sleep disorder...

Liz Walcott is a 36-year-old MBA/ CPA and serial entrepreneur residing in New York City, New York. Ms. Walcott’s Lyme disease journey began in 2012 when she was “burning the candle at both ends” while working at a top US accounting firm In New York City. For several years she excelled in a demanding corporate culture with a code of conduct that required spin/workout classes before breakfast, long...

Dr. Timothy Haystead is a UK-educated Doctor of Biochemistry, University Professor, entrepreneur, and world-renowned scientific researcher. Dr. Haystead graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Biochemistry from Cardiff University (United Kingdom) and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee (United Kingdom). He and his wife (a medical doctor) immigrated to the US to “seek adventur...

Brianna Marie is a 39-year-old Holistic Doctor, athlete, and mother. She is the creator of the Holistically Fit Protocol and the @HolisticallyFitMomma and @HolisticallyFitBabe social platforms. Dr. Brianna Marie grew up in a tick endemic community and suffered from classic Lyme symptoms since early childhood. Despite growing up the child of a medical doctor and treating with “dozens” of “allopathi...