Tick Boot Camp

Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Taylor deRegt. Taylor deRegt is a 28-year-old woman from Carmel Valley, California. After overcoming chronic Lyme Disease that plagued her childhood, she developed dual careers as an event planner and a professional rodeo athlete. Unfortunately, illness caused by a second tick bite forced her to shelve her dual career paths. If you would like to know more about how a professional Cowgirl is cutting short her long ride with Lyme Disease, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Jeanette Blackwood. Jeanette Blackwood is a 57-year-old native of Colorado now residing in Southern California. After discovering, removing and disposing of a large tick, she began to suffer flu and increasingly debilitating symptoms including vertigo, memory loss, balance issues and paranoia. After divorcing her husband, leaving her church, losing her ability to remember how to get home from a shopping trip and then contact with the police, she turned to the naturopathic medical community for help. If you would like to learn more about how a woman from Southern California rediscovered her health and faith, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Amy Rogala. Amy Rogala is a 29-year-old woman from Mackinaw City Michigan. She grew up on her family owned campground in the rural northern lower peninsula of Michigan. After graduation from school, she suffered flu symptoms that were followed by headaches, loss of balance, seizures and suicidal ideations. The failures of the traditional medical community forced Amy to visit a holistic doctor where she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. If you would like to learn more about how an outdoor enthusiast from rural Michigan won a tick disease battle, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Maribeth Lacy. Maribeth Lacy grew up in the Mennonite community of Guys Mills, Pennsylvania where she estimates that 1 of every 3 people are suffering from a tick disease. After making the decision to leave her Mennonite community and culture to attend college in California, her tick disease related illnesses caused her health to decline and forced her to leave college before graduation. If you would like to learn more about how a former member of the Amish community is fighting a tick disease battle that began during her childhood, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guests today is Dr. Rachel Long. Dr. Long is a Naturopathic Doctor, the author of the book “Living in the Lyme Light: The Challenges and Triumphs of Living Life with Chronic Lyme Disease” and a sought-after public speaker. At the age of 16 after a Lyme Disease diagnosis, she had to travel 6 hours per day, 5 days a week for treatment. Because her parents could not maintain their jobs and take off the time that the treatment protocol required, her community came together to drive her to and from each of her doctor’s appointments. If you would like to learn more about how a community came together to help a family win a tick disease battle, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Mikayla Vacher from North Scituate, Rhode Island. Despite never seeing a tick in her life, Mikayla started to develop weird symptoms around the age of 12. She had migraines, anxiety, panic attacks, and a feeling of “overall doom.” By her junior year of high school, she had to give up playing competitive ice hockey, and couldn’t hang out with friends. Not only was her social life struggling, but her family life began to fall apart as well. Mikayla Vacher visited countless doctors with her mom, but none of them could properly diagnose her, and her dad didn’t believe that she was truly sick. He often told her to suck it up, or claimed that she wanted attention. The sole focus of Mikayla’s mom was making sure that her daughter got better, and her parents ended up separating. She then got her Lyme Disease diagnosis and has received various treatments since then. If you would like to learn more about how this brave young woman learned to trust herself and is now tackling Lyme Disease head on, then tune in!

Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Jennifer Buttaccio from Chicago, Illinois. Before becoming sick, she led an active life that included teaching kickboxing, doing pilates, and making DVDs. Then, after she had surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, Jennifer Buttaccio’s Lyme symptoms started to reveal themselves, and her life was never the same. She had to give up all of her hobbies that required her to be physically active, and could no longer work as an occupational therapist. She was bed bound for almost two years. Despite not even feeling 50% back to her old self, Jennifer Buttaccio started writing, eventually becoming an editor for Dr. Bill Rawls’ website. If you want to know how Jennifer Buttaccio remains so driven despite being at war with Lyme Disease, tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guests today are Natalie Sayre and Will Fleming. Natalie and Will were recently engaged to be married after an 11-year romance that began when they were 16 years old. The relationship survived many bumps, including Natalie’s chronic Lyme Disease that began to limit almost all social activities starting in the couple's junior year in college. If you would like to learn more about how a young couple continued to grow a romantic relationship in the middle of a Lyme and tick disease battle, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Leah Spears-Blackmon. In late 2017, Leah Spears-Blackmon suffered three progressively serious allergic reactions after attending a wedding in Colorado. The third and most serious allergic reaction occurred while in the middle of a lake in rural Northwest Arkansas. Thanks to the quick action of a local friend and doctor, Ms. Spear-Blackmon’s potentially life-threatening allergy was prevented from progressing to anaphylactic shock. If you would like to learn more about how a woman from Arkansas has changed her diet and her life to protect her health from an allergy caused by a tick bite, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Joanna Petrakis from Toronto, Canada. After suffering a tick bite that developed into Lyme Disease with classic symptoms, her illness went without a diagnosis despite treating with 18 of Canada’s top doctors. Joanna Petrakis’ healing journey began with a diagnosis from a team of Toronto’s best doctors lead by the famous Dr. Ho Ping Kong and concluded when she and her friends attended Lyme Disease seminars and symposiums for the purpose of “stalking” the renowned American Lyme Disease expert: Dr. Richard Horowitz. If you would like to learn more about how a Canadian communications professional used grit and determination to win her Lyme Disease battle, then tune in now!