As the founder of TRAGIC (Teachers Rally to Advocate Georgia Insurance Changes), Ashley Cline has fought tirelessly for changes in the SHBP Georgia insurance options for the last year. Her relentless resolve and the strength of her group helped drive the additional options offered all teachers and state employees for 2015. Now, Ashley is embroiled in a new battle, a very personal battle: Lyme Disease. Ashley was there for the teachers, now lets be there for her. Please read her story from todays Cherokee Tribune below and find it in your hearts to donate to her cause at: gofundme/ashleyvslyme ********************************************************** A woman who began with a mission to fight for better state employee health insurance options for teachers across the state is now fighting another battle for herself. Ashley Cline, the wife of a local teacher, started a statewide group to fight for better state employee heath insurance plans last year, but as 2015 begins, she has another battle to fight — one against Lyme disease. “Our 10-year wedding anniversary was on January 1st, and I can’t say that this is the way I wanted to celebrate our first decade of marriage. However, we have now experienced ‘in sickness and in health,’ and I couldn’t have a more supportive husband,” Cline said Friday. Cline, 32, started the group TRAGIC (Teachers Rally Against Georgia Insurance Changes) with her young daughter in mind.Her child needed therapy, and the cost would be huge with the offered State Health Benefit Plan for 2014, Cline said. “I knew hundreds of thousands of other Georgians were in the same boat as we were, and I was determined to do something about it. I never dreamed that I would encounter a devastating health crisis myself during the course of this year. Sadly, it is a pretty ironic situation,” Cline said. But despite working for a year to improve state employee insurance plan options, Cline said her work with TRAGIC hasn’t helped her with her own health needs. “Most insurance companies do not cover long-term antibiotic therapy, which is critical in the treatment of late stage Lyme disease,” Cline said. “I was told I have 28 days of coverage with intravenous antibiotics, while my doctor has recommended several months of IV treatment.” The antibiotics cost more than $50 per day, or more than $1,500 a month, Cline said.“We have had an outpouring of support from friends and family members. Many TRAGIC members are not aware of my struggle, as I have kept my battle this year very private until recently,” she said. But because of her own struggle, Cline decided to share her story about fighting Lyme. “I finally realized that people need to know about this disease and need to be aware of its symptoms. Doctors also need to be aware of Lyme disease in Georgia. It is critical that Lyme is treated immediately in order to avoid the complications that I have faced this year,” she said. Cline was bitten by a tick in October 2013, and she watched for a “bulls-eye” rash, though none appeared. Instead, a migrating rash appeared on both of her forearms and stayed for four weeks, later disappearing. “I had no idea the two could be related,” she said. “I began having abdominal pain in late January (2014), and doctors could not figure out the source of the pain despite numerous tests. It was actually nerve pain, which we found out much later in the year.” Ashley’s husband, Nate Cline, said the pain intensified over the months, and nothing seemed to help. “The only positive test that we ever had was for Lyme, which was ignored. Ashley made the discovery of this positive test after requesting her paperwork to send to a doctor in North Carolina,” he said. “It’s really just a helpless feeling, seeing her go through all of this and not being able to take the pain away.” Because it was nerve pain, no regular pain medicine could help. “The nerve pain she gets is not dulled by any painkillers, so it’s not like I could just go grab a bottle and give her a pill with some water. With Lyme, it doesn’t work that way,” he said For Cline to finally get a diagnosis, it took 40 doctors and specialists, several tests, exploratory abdominal surgery, x-rays, six MRIs and six CT scans, eight visits to the emergency room, hospitalization, two spinal taps, nerve biopsies and “endless” lab work. “To this day, many doctors do not know what to do with me,” she said. “Of all of these tests and visits, I have had only two positive results: a positive Western Blot Lyme test and confirmed nerve damage.” Cline tested positive for Lyme during a visit with her primary care doctor, but since Lyme is rare, the doctor said her symptoms weren’t related, Cline said. “Unfortunately, many doctors are not aware that Lyme exists in Georgia. An ER doctor at Emory told us we should travel out of state for treatment because so little is known about Lyme here. This has been a maddening and frightening experience,” she said. “I grew severely ill in the following months and finally saw an infectious disease doctor who took my test very seriously and began treating me immediately with oral antibiotics.” Ashley’s husband said the experience has been terrifying. “The last few weeks have been really hard. I am constantly worried about her and trying to figure out who we can go see to get help for her,” he said. “The ER visits usually last several hours and we are treated and discharged very late at night with no answers. It’s an exhausting and disheartening process, especially when doctors have more questions than answers.” The difficulty getting a diagnosis has been one of the toughest aspects of the battle against Lyme, he said. “If someone is bit by a tick, they should immediately seek treatment for the bite, regardless if they see a bulls-eye or not. We did not see this rash on Ashley. If a person is treated immediately, it will only take a few weeks of oral antibiotics to kill off any of the Lyme bacteria and save them from going through the anguish so many others do,” he said. Cline also said he believes there are probably many people misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, lupus, fibromyalgia or some other form of auto-immune disease, when they may actually have Lyme. “We’ve had doctors try to diagnose Ashley with each of these diseases even though they saw no proof in any of the tests or scans,” he said. Ashley Cline said all of her symptoms have been neurological, but they’ve shown up in different ways. “I was diagnosed with inflammation of my spinal cord once a neurologist figured out the source of my abdominal pain,” she said. “It is well known that Lyme can penetrate into the central nervous system if not treated immediately.” She also has nerve damage in her extremities and migrating sensory nerve pain across her entire body. “Most recently, I have experienced debilitating facial nerve pain that sent me to the ER five times in December with one hospitalization after stopping a round of antibiotics for 48 hours,” she said. For those who can’t get a diagnosis, but think they may be suffering from Lyme, Cline said, “you aren’t alone.” “I implore you to ask for a Lyme disease test from your doctor. Lyme can cause an array of misleading symptoms, and is often referred to the ‘great imitator’ of other diseases,” she said. “You must be your own health advocate, and most importantly, never, ever give up.” Nate Cline said at points, getting the correct diagnosis seemed impossible. “When I asked one doctor if he could test Ashley for Lyme, he flat out said no. He absolutely refused to even entertain the idea of Lyme and told her it was just a strained muscle,” he said. Ashley Cline said the entire experience has been horrifying for her family, but their appreciation for life has grown immensely. “We have had family coming to help from other states, and my husband has been my caregiver and ‘nurse’ at home, literally. He gives me my IV medication,” she said. “I thank God for him daily.” The couple’s daughters, Selah, 8, and Avery, 5, are used to seeing their mom come to help their classes in school, Nate Cline said. “Selah is very observant and knows her mom is sick and not feeling well. It’s been pretty obvious these past few weeks,” he said. “Ashley usually helps in our daughters’ classrooms several times a year, but has not been able to do that this year. I know Ashley was very upset that she wasn’t able to go to any of the girls’ parties, and I know they missed having her there as well.” But the 32-year-old Canton mom is starting to show signs of healing, her husband said. With IV antibiotics and vitamin injections, Nate Cline said he’s seeing some improvements. “The hard part with treating Lyme is that the bacteria are very tricky and can hide in the body where they are not affected by antibiotics,” he said. “The hyperbaric treatments will help in combination with the antibiotics to treat the bacteria.” The treatment isn’t easy, and neither is the cost, he said. “We hit her out of pocket max in August. If we had an accurate diagnosis then, when we had the positive Lyme test, we most likely could have cured it quickly with a couple months of oral antibiotics,” he said. “It probably cost the insurance an additional $150,000 in ER visits, CT scans, MRIs and doctor visits. It would have also prevented the progress of Ashley’s symptoms and kept her from experiencing so much pain.” From this point on, Cline said, most of Ashley’s treatments will be paid out of pocket because the State Health Benefit Plan offered to teachers does not cover the treatments or doctors needed to help Ashley’s Lyme. “I am anticipating between having to pay out between $15,000 to $30,000, possibly more, this year for tests and treatments that the insurance will not cover. It will cost us even more because Ashley will not be able to work,” he said. “She was completely debilitated, and could not even get out of bed for more than two weeks over the holidays. She has not driven her car in almost a month because of the medication she has been taking to treat the pain.” A fundraising website was started to help the family raise money for Ashley’s treatment, and has already garnered $9,500. “The $30,000 estimate was based on the doctor’s plan of using hyperbaric oxygen treatment five days a week for several months, he said. “This did not include the antibiotics that most likely will not be covered after the initial 28 days. ”Specialists and additional treatments also weren’t included in the initial cost estimate, Cline said. For anyone interested in contributing to the Cline’s fundraiser “Ashley vs. Lyme,” donations can be made through the website at gofundme/ashleyvslyme
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 17:29:34 +0000
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