Tick Boot Camp

Jim Miller is a 38-year-old professional mixed martial arts athlete from Sparta Township, New Jersey. He currently holds the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) records for the most wins, most bouts, most submission wins, and most fight time (6:03:59) in the lightweight division. He has been awarded Fight of the Night 7 times and Fight of the Year. In 2016, after losing a unanimous decision, he decided he would announce his retirement after a final bout at UFC 200. Because he believed that 11 years of MMA had taken a physical toll, he planned to stand in the middle of the Octagon, “thank his fans, and call it a career.” Prior to his retirement bout, he visited his doctor and described the ever-widening array of symptoms that began in 2013, the same year he suffered a tick bite. His doctor diagnosed him with and began to treat him for Lyme disease. Initially, he treated with 6 months of doxycycline and followed a disciplined exercise, diet, and mindset strategy he developed for MMA bouts. When his symptoms returned, his doctor prescribed an additional 2 years of antibiotic treatment. After treatment, Mr. Miller returned to the Octagon and defeated Ultimate Fighter Champion Joe Lauzon on Fox in Vancouver and then put on his best performance of the year by defeating Thiago Alves at UFC 205 in New York. If you would like to learn how Lyme disease landed a near career end blow to a UFC mixed martial arts legend, then tune in now!

Kayla Stevens is a 27-year-old woman from Atlanta, Georgia. She has a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Health Sciences from the University of Maine, a Master of Health Administration (MHA) from Georgia State University, and she’s currently finishing up her Integrative Health Practitioner (IHP) certification. Prior to contracting Lyme disease, Ms. Stevens worked for a local hospital, was known as the “party girl,” and traveled frequently. At the age of 25, Ms. Stevens quickly fell ill from Lyme disease the day after a tick bite with flu-like symptoms and a bullseye rash. Within a week her symptoms rapidly progressed and included severe psychiatric symptoms she’d never before experienced, such as suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, severe depression, a constant feeling as if she were dying, seeing shadows, and feeling schizophrenic. Ms. Stevens went to the Emergency Room (ER) 3 times, saw an infectious disease specialist, rheumatologist, and Lyme literate doctor before she was diagnosed with Lyme disease through IGeneX and muscle testing a few months after getting sick. Her infectious disease doctor said she “couldn't possibly have Lyme disease” while all the ER doctors suggested it was a mental health disorder or Lupus. Ms. Stevens first treated using antibiotics for 16 months in combination with a mix of herbs. She then went on to treat at LymeStop in Idaho for 4 months. If you would like to learn how Lyme disease inspired a western trained medical professional to study and utilize integrative medicine, then tune in now! PS Kelsey Watkins special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!

Leanne Pearson is a 32-year-old Country Rock singer songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She has written and produced several popular songs including “Miles Away,” “Little Man,” and the TikTok famous “Caturday.” Ms. Pearson’s professional and personal life plans were more times than not rejected by her family, friends, and teachers. She was told she could not be a professional singer/songwriter and she was told she was not sick during her lengthy Lyme diagnostic journey. “No” was a constant theme in Ms. Pearson’s early life. Despite all the naysayers in her early life, Ms. Pearson has become a highly regarded singer/songwriter and she overcame 25 years of medical misdiagnosis by locating and working with a naturopathic doctor that tied together her migrating/random symptoms and diagnosed her with Lyme disease. If you would like to learn more about how a Country Rock singer/songwriter moved from “No” to personal and professional success, then tune in now!

This week Tick Boot Camp and special co-host Nicole Bell interviewed the charismatic Founder and CEO of HatchPath.io: Jordan Dunin. Mr. Dunin’s Lyme disease journey inspired him to build built a platform designed to match patients with vetted professional health and life coaches. Mr. Dunin was diagnosed with Lyme disease at the age of 20. Prior to the diagnosis, he was an elite Canadian Jr hockey player in high school and college. His path to professional hockey was interrupted by multiple short-term illnesses and then a traumatic brain injury. When Mr. Dunin’s brain injury failed to respond to treatment, his doctors began to suspect that his immune system was compromised. He was initially tested for Lyme with a traditional western blot and then eventually tested positive on the German ArminLabs test. Like many Lyme patients, Mr. Dunin was forced to abandon the western medical system to rebuild his health. Utilizing Rife therapy, “completely changing [his] diet,” and changing his mindset and lifestyle, he overcame debilitating Lyme symptoms. If you would like to learn more about how former elite athlete found health and happiness by completely changing his mindset and lifestyle, then tune in now!

Laura Perry is a 37-year-old myth busting Integrative Health Practitioner from Richmond, Virginia. Despite suffering from unwellness for most of her life, she succeeded in securing a very stable and lucrative job in corporate America. During her lengthy diagnostic journey, she treated with 15 allopathic doctors who misdiagnosed her “over and over again.” In 2019, she abandoned the western medical system and utilized Bioresonance testing. She tested positive for “Borrelia, Babesia, Bartonella and Rickettsia.” Finally securing a diagnosis permitted Laura to treat her “own Lyme by addressing immune system dysregulation.” First, she remediated mold contamination in her home. Next, she had to address parasites and cell danger response. Thereafter she moved “on to treating with things like the parasite zapper and CellCore IS tinctures” for Lyme disease and co-infections. After much trial and error, Ms. Perry developed a “muscle testing method that provides the ability to hone in on what is driving symptoms very quickly.” With the support of her entrepreneurial husband, she left corporate America to share her method by building Revealing Healing. Revealing Healing is a program designed to help “those who want to heal and to do it themselves” with gentle guidance from Ms. Perry for the first few months. If you would like to learn more about how the 12 week Revealing Healing program can provide you with the tools and information required to foster self-healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!

This week Tick Boot Camp interviewed the dynamic mother daughter founders and operators of Eco Laboratory. Karen Weeks is an internationally recognized Lyme disease pioneer who has been at the forefront of Lyme research since the early 1980s. While supervising the Virology Department at the Department of Public Health for Massachusetts, Ms. Weeks worked directly with Dr. Allen Steere (the physician researcher recognized for detailing the clinical symptoms and naming Lyme disease). At that time, Ms. Weeks developed the Antibody Capture Immunoassay, which remains the most sensitive test available for Lyme disease. In 1990 she co-founded IMUGEN Inc, the premier laboratory for the diagnosis of Lyme disease, and many other tick-borne diseases. Ms. Weeks co-authored several publications pertaining to tick-borne diseases in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, The New England Journal of Medicine, and many others. Anna Roberts is following in her mother's large footsteps and manages Eco Laboratory. Because Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are spreading at an alarming rate, Ms. Weeks decided to re-enter the testing arena after merging IMUGEN to a national testing company. She understood that quick diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illnesses is vital to treating tick-borne pathogens. To support early intervention, she set up a testing system that quickly processes the tick and provides patients with accurate timely results. Today, Eco Laboratory offers 5 highly regarded tick testing panels including, a Lyme Disease only panel, a Blacklegged Deer Tick Panel, a Lone Star Tick Panel, an American Dog Tick Panel, and a Customized Tick Panel. If you would like to learn more about tick testing and the virtues of working with a laboratory built by a Lyme disease pioneer, then tune in now!

Miranda Holder is a 46-year-old fashion stylist, TV stylist, college lecturer and animal rescue philanthropist from Hampshire, England. Her entertainment portfolio includes number one girl band Little Mix, music icon Boy George, and Hollywood actress Vanessa Williams. She is a regular TV Stylist on QVC, and she hosts her own highly regarded fashion podcast. Ms. Holder’s life and entertainment career were stalled by injuries and illness following a near fatal auto accident. Shortly after suffering traumatic injuries to her lower legs, she also began to suffer from low energy, the flu, body aches, rashes, memory loss, insomnia, and hyper mobility. Unfortunately, the traumatic injuries consumed her doctors’ attention and her classic Lyme symptoms went ignored. She was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease “by accident via a kinesiologist” who was treating her daughter. Because she tested negative for Lyme on traditional tests administrated by her “GP in the UK,” she was “shocked” when she tested positive by the muscle testing followed by blood tests from Armin Laboratory in Germany. Utilizing herbs (Klinghardt protocol), ozone therapy, a nutrition protocol, bioresonance, an infrared sauna, yoga, IV glutathione, IV vitamin C, and CBD Ms. Holder took control of her health and returned to a career in the entertainment industry. If you would like to learn more about how an acclaimed fashion stylist overcame life threatening injuries and chronic Lyme disease to rekindle her love affair with fashion, the tune in now!

Kim Director is a Carnegie Mellon University educated TV and film working actor from New York City, New York. She has starred in HBO’s “The Deuce,” Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black,” “Queens,” “Blair Witch 2” and several Spike Lee films including “He Got Game,” “Summer of Sam,” “She Hate Me,” and “Inside Man.” Ms. Director’s Lyme disease journey began 18 years before her diagnosis. She visited with over 60 doctors on both the east and west coasts of the United State. Despite presenting her doctors with classic Lyme disease symptoms, she was regularly failed by the medical community. She was misdiagnosed with “tired woman” syndrome, “aging” and “still beautiful” (when she presented with facial paralysis). Her success as an actor required her to learn how to be gritty and to process grief quickly. These emotional skill sets allowed her to fight for a diagnosis and move through the medical trauma induced grief cycle to begin treatment almost immediately after securing a proper Lyme disease diagnosis. If you would like to learn more about how to manage the sadness and loss caused by medical trauma in a way that will propel you forward on your healing journey, then tune in now!

Kate Petrie is a 54-year-old classically trained actor, voice actor, drama teacher, and makeup artist from Morayshire, Scotland. Drama school and stage acting offered her the opportunity to travel across the globe residing in France, England, and Spain. Ms. Petrie spent her childhood in rural Scotland where she “was bitten by ticks many times.” She “had lots of health issues when [she] was younger,” but suffered severe symptoms including rashes, swollen glands, loss of voice, and “horrendous fatigue” after a tick bite at the age of 17. Her doctors diagnosed her with “ringworm” and “the kissing disease” and urged her not to “kiss too many boys.” Despite growing up in a tick endemic community and suffering from classic migrating Lyme disease symptoms, she was not accurately diagnosed until she was 50 years old. Doctors misdiagnosed Ms. Petrie with Endometriosis, Graves’ disease, and arthritis. Finally, she hired a “private doctor in London” who sent her blood work to Armin Labs in Germany. Today, Ms. Petrie has become a Lyme education advocate because she believes that if she had “known about Lyme” and had received early “treatment” her “life would have been very very very different.” If you would like to learn more about how education can protect you and your family from Lyme disease, then tune in now! PS Children’s Lyme author Alex Castellanos served as a special guest co-host with Rich for this interview.

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 center for almost 2 decades. She loved traveling with her husband to places like Hawaii, Bali, Spain, Ireland, and London and was an avid hiker. At the age of 35, Ms. Wijegunawardena first began to exhibit symptoms which she later learned were caused by Lyme disease. Some of her symptoms included migraines, insomnia, UTIs, Interstitial Cystitis (IC), edema (swelling caused by fluid in your body tissue), worsening allergies, rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis (inflammatory skin disorders that cause redness, lesions, and itching), and joint issues. Ms. Wijegunawardena saw 45 healthcare practitioners over 7 years before finally receiving a proper Lyme disease diagnosis. She treated with IV Rocephin (Ceftriaxone) and oral Tindamax for 1 year until more recently when she used Supportive Oligonucleotide Technique (SOT) which got her into remission 6 weeks post-SOT. If you would like to learn how a determined nurse refused to give up and used a new treatment modality that’s been borrowed from the Cancer world to reach remission, then tune in now! PS Jenny Buttaccio special guest co-hosted this interview with Matt from Tick Boot Camp!