Seriously ill woman suffers another setback during treatment in States
A seriously ill young woman who is in America receiving treatment has suffered another setback as she was too ill to attend a vital doctor’s appointment.
Kirsty Keep, 23, of Mangravet, was diagnosed with autoimmune disease lupus seven years ago. but earlier this year she discovered her chronic pain, fatigue, vomiting and fitting are actually caused by something else.
Suspecting she had Lyme disease, contracted from a tick bite when she was 12, Miss Keep’s family launched a fundraising campaign to pay for assessment at a specialist lab in Germany and treatment at the Sponaugle Wellness Institute in Florida.
But last Thursday, a month into her US trip, Miss Keep missed a doctor’s appointment that would have told her whether the treatment was working.
And with the cost of American medical care so high, the £55,836 raised by more than 1,500 donors is fast running out.
Mum Theresa Keep, who has travelled with her daughter from their home in Camp Way, said: “Kirsty is having some good days. They are controlling the pain well here and on bad days when she really would have been rushed into hospital at home they have dealt with it and settled her really quickly.
“I just wish this treatment was available at home, I hate being away like this, it’s such a worry.”
Miss Keep has been receiving antibiotics intravenously twice a day to break down groups of bacteria in her body, which could be the result of Lyme disease, that are affecting her immune system.
As the toxins are released into her blood, ready to be flushed out of her body, it causes her immense pain.
Miss Keep only has a threemonth tourist visa for the United States but met one patient who needed six months of treatment meaning she may have to return at a later date.
Posting on her Facebook account from Florida the morning after a particularly painful treatment session, Miss Keep said: “Thank you all for finally getting me to this amazing place. They’re so good at their job and I’m so grateful. I’d give everyone of you a cuddle if I could.”
Donate at tinyurl.com/ KirstysFund