In this testimonial video, Dr. Diane Mueller of MyLymeDoc recounts the story of Sarah, a patient who arrived in a wheelchair due to severe joint pain caused by a combination of Lyme disease, mold toxins, Bartonella, thyroid imbalance, and gut infections. After extensive lab testing identified these multiple underlying factors, targeted treatment was initiated. Over months, Sarah progressed from being unable to walk without pain to walking a mile pain‑free, eventually regaining a normal, energetic life as a mother. The clinician reflects on personal experiences of misdiagnosis and the emotional toll of being told symptoms are “all in the head,” emphasizing the importance of empathy, validation, and finding the right clinician who addresses the full root cause. The narrative serves to illustrate MyLymeDoc’s mission to help chronic infection patients receive comprehensive, compassionate care and to inspire hope for those feeling isolated and misunderstood.
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Mold and Lyme is no match for you. This is the story of Sarah and how she battles Lyme disease. The first time I saw Sarah, she showed up in a wheelchair. She was not disabled due to a trauma. She was in a wheelchair simply because of the crippling pain in her joints. Walking the long hall of that office was too much for her. Sarah explained to me that every day was such a fight to survive. Some days she would wake up and even the thought of making it to the bathroom seemed impossible. Scared and frustrated, she told me her story of how she had seen more than a dozen doctors and no one could figure out the cause of her crippling symptoms. After doing lab testing, we discovered mold toxins, Lyme disease, Bartonella, thyroid imbalance, and gut infections. Once we found those causes, we began treatment. Like it was yesterday, I remember the moment when Sarah walked into the office. She was not in her wheelchair. Chair. My eyes filled with tears. While she was quite exhausted from just walking down the hall, she did it and did not suffer pain from the movement. Through the months that we worked together, Sarah became stronger and stronger as she ascended the steps to wellness. There was a day when she told me she was not getting tired from walking down the hall anymore, and there was also the moment she told me she walked a mile without any pain. The last time I saw Sarah, she was living a normal and healthy, happy life. She was full of energy, pain-free, and able to really show up as the mother to her children that she wanted to be. Stories like that are part of the premise for what my team does at My Lyme Doc. Stories like that are the motivation and the vision for this book. Many times we are told that there is nothing that can be done when we are suffering. And so many times, that advice occurs because someone has not found the right clinician or the full root cause of the picture yet. If you are one of the many people suffering from diagnosed or undiagnosed Lyme disease, mold illness, or another chronic infection, then you may have been told at some point by somebody or several somebodies that it is just in your head. If this resonates at all, I feel for you, and I empathize with the intensity of this sort of invalidating response. Many of the patients we treat at My Lyme Doc come into our office struggling not only with an illness, but with the intensity of feeling completely and totally alone in their struggle. Because someone has been told so frequently that it is just in their head, they often begin to distrust themselves and their own intuition. I know firsthand what it is like to be misdiagnosed, underdiagnosed, and told that everything is fine when it most certainly is not. At one point in my medical history, as I mentioned, I thought I might be dying. I was thinking of finding a small island where I could live cheaply and peacefully on a beach while I lived out the remainder of my life. During that time, while part of me feared that I might be dying, another part of me was questioning if what I was experiencing was even real. On the one hand, I was making end-of-life plans because I knew so strongly that what I was experiencing was real and that the pain was so intense. On the other hand, I found myself doubting my own sensations and inner knowledge. Sometimes I would question myself and think my intense pain and suffering was just in my head. I would sometimes ask myself whether everyone felt that way. After all, I did look fine from the outside. Does this sound familiar to you yet? This ability to understand and empathize with mold and Lyme patients is a huge part of how I built and continue to build my team at MyLymeDoc. The need to feel understood is essential in working with chronic diseases such as these. Clinicians on my team are all able to report stories of how they or their loved ones overcame major health issues.
