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The Lyme Light

By: Amanda Leela

“You don’t look sick” is one of the most common statements I have heard… but what does “sick” look

like?

My name is Amanda Leela, I am 27 years old and I discovered that my neurological pain was a

result of Chronic Lyme Disease three years ago. However, it took over a year for me to know why I was

ill. “Chronic” is the key word I will refer to when speaking about the Lyme I have been faced with.

Chronic Lyme means if you are not able to be treated within the first 72 hours of a tick bite for example,

the Lyme and co-infections then implant and infect your blood. Most people with Lyme Disease have

Chronic Lyme because unless you are aware that you got a tick bite or have the bull’s eye rash it can

take months or even years before you feel the neurological affects of Lyme Disease. I wanted to share

my story with Chronic Lyme because there really is not enough research out there on it, especially here

in Canada to determine or otherwise diagnose people who have unfortunately been infected.

Now, as we know it, Lyme Disease comes from a tick bite right? Well it can, but it can also come

from any insect it comes in contact with such as deer flies or mosquitos as well as viruses. People who

have Lyme disease will also present symptoms of Epstein Bar Virus (EBV), Chronic Fatigue, Mold Toxicity

and the two most common co-infections, Bartonella and Babesia. But there is more and everyone’s

journey with Lyme is different.

For me, it was Spring time, when the weather was getting nice outside, and family walks in the

evening are a ritual for the Leela’s. If you know me, you know I LOVE to walk, and it was during one of

my walks where I noticed a change in the movement of my legs. Each day I could not finish our usual

hour long walk. I kept having to turn back early because I felt a sudden weakness in my legs. Over the

course of four weeks, I went from walking normally to working solely from a chair as I taught my

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students attempting to put on five school plays. I brought this to my parent’s attention once my mobility

became more and more limited, and we all figured maybe my muscles were extremely over worked as I

also workout intensely. The weakness in my legs turned to numbness, which turned to burning and

resulted in my inability to walk or stand for longer than 2-5 minutes. I was absolutely terrified.

I KNEW there was something really wrong with me besides sore muscles. I couldn’t feel the

sensation of my legs, but I could see them and feel a fire-like pain, which is when I needed to find some

answers. My family doctor thought I was imagining it all as my blood work did not raise concerns, but

she did say if you do really have this pain let’s get you into testing for MS with a neurologist just to be

safe.

I did not know much about MS at the time, therefore, I google searched it and that is when I got

mad. I got angry because I had finally finished my fight with Ulcerative Colitis and was getting my life

back to a place where I felt like a had a hold on my health and here was another curve ball thrown at

me. While I was waiting to receive my MRI, my symptoms worsened. I got vision loss, blacked out in the

middle of teaching, and lost control of my thoughts. I physically felt like there was something crawling

around in my head. I became very negative, impulsive and angrier because I did not recognize myself

anymore and did not know how to fix it. I thought I was losing my mind. I finally went for my two MRI’s,

one of my brain and one of my spine and both showed no lesions, which meant it was not be MS. I was

relieved but also felt defeated because I still did not know what was wrong with me. The neurologist

tested my reflexes and said there is something wrong with them, but your MRI is clear so I am not sure.

At this point, I had enough with mainstream medicine constantly failing me with regards to chronic

health issues.

I remember speaking to one of my best friends who is in the medical profession and she said:

“Have you ever considered Lyme Disease?” I did not know much about Lyme Disease except for the fact

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that a few celebrities have it, and they became ghosts in their industries after their diagnoses. I did

remember getting a nasty bite a year prior while on a hike with my students during summer camp. I

showed my mom the bite, but it wasn’t the bull’s eye rash, which is what let’s you know if you got bit by

a tick or not. The biggest problem is more often than not, the rash does not appear and for those who

do get the rash, consider yourself one of the lucky ones because your diagnosis and treatment can begin

immediately. You have a 72 hour window to get yourself on antibiotics so that Lyme Disease does not

become a chronic and debilitating issue. It wasn’t until my mom also mentioned Lyme Disease to me

that I started doing some research and bought this book called Lyme Madness. I thought, sure, we might

as well rule it out. My mom knew of a doctor who use to treat Lyme in a non-conventional sense. This is

where my Lyme journey began. I got myself tested – and no, it wasn’t done in Canada as there is no

proper or accurate testing for Lyme here yet, even though the M.D.’s will tell you otherwise. To this

day, I still have no clue how or where I got my Lyme; I’m thinking it was from the nasty bite at one of my

summer camps, but I cannot confirm this conclusively.

My mom is in the health and wellness field, and she introduced me to a Lyme Specialist (he was

previously an MD but chose a more holistic approach to healing people) and his daughter who

administers my treatments. I am still undergoing those treatments three years later. They use a special

machine to initially test you for Lyme, and the way it works is non-conventional. Lab work was done and

sent to a special lab in California, which confirmed my Chronic Lyme. Unfortunately, Canada is behind in

their ability to test for Chronic Lyme accurately through mainstream medicine, and, therefore, holistic

medicine has been a life saver over the last three years.

Some of the most insane but interesting findings were the two parasites that had been living in

my brain for over a year - spirochetes, which caused the lack of mobility in my legs - Bartonella causing

my heart to race and giving me rash marks all over my body. Babesia, Micro-plasma and the list of co-

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infections goes on. The point is, Lyme isn’t Lyme, it is an umbrella term for so much more, which is why

it affects the entire neurological system. Once your Lyme is Chronic as I mentioned earlier, antibiotic

treatment is often not effective, and thus, your Lyme is no longer curable. The goal becomes reaching a

state of remission where your symptoms are more manageable, but it does not mean they cannot come

back. Treatments like O-Zone therapy, Bee Venom Therapy, and Bio-Resonance have become popular

ways of helping relax symptoms, but each treatment does come with its own rules and protocols.

I have been undergoing Bio-Resonance treatments for three years, and the journey has been up

and down based on certain activities I do. Firstly, I want to give a quick overview of what and how this

treatment works. Your spine rests on an electromagnetic wire at all times and additions to the hands,

stomach and head area are used for more targeted areas. These wires are finding energy frequencies in

your body, healing those frequencies that are not in harmony. The treatment does require lymphatic

drainage prep and does have some side effects for 24-48 hours following the treatment, but the actual

detoxification occurs for up to two weeks and you may notice shifts in your body, which I often do.

Environmental factors play such a huge role on your health as well as chemicals that are used in many

brands we use on our skin. Our skin (our biggest organ) is very absorbent of these chemicals as they get

into the tissues of the body. Treating Lyme involves an entire lifestyle change.

I have always been a believer that each day is a blessing because you’re never guaranteed

tomorrow. I try to LIVE my life as best as I can, while listening to my body and taking care of it with love.

I don’t attempt to do things that are of higher risk, but I also have developed more fears as my health is

constantly challenged. That’s just me being honest. For example, I am fearful to go up to cottages with

more exposure to bugs, but this year I tried for the first time again in years and was so proud of myself.

That being said, I’ve adapted. I went from travelling to both France and Spain with what I thought were

controlled symptoms, but the extreme heat caused the spirochetes in my legs to enlarge so severely

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that my calves were the size of snow shoes, my head felt like it was going to erupt to the point where I

was bed ridden and missed our flight. I’ve been carried through Gaudi’s gardens when my legs could not

function anymore, but it is through all these obstacles where I found my support systems who are

always there to pick you up when you fall. As much as I wish I was done with having to sit in a chair and

go for hours of treatment with all the pre and post responsibilities, I still consider myself one of the lucky

ones because I am getting better and better everyday and that is something I couldn’t fathom as

possibility three years ago.