Lyme Resilience Collective

10/13/2026

⚠️💫Living with chronic illness can make staying connected feel harder, but connection doesn’t have to look the same for everyone.

When someone is living with chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease, or another chronic illness, even the simplest plans can take more energy than people realize. Limited energy doesn’t mean someone wants to be forgotten or left out. Sometimes, it just means we need to find different ways to show up. 🫂

Here are 3 practical ways to stay connected with someone you care about, even when their health challenges limit what they can do.

✨ Small gestures can make a big difference. A little flexibility, understanding, and consistency can remind someone that they still matter, even when they can’t show up the way they used to.

💌 Share this with someone who might need these ideas, or save it as a reminder that connection is still possible, even when chronic illness changes what it looks like.

10/12/2026

🏡⚠️ Be informed!

Stay and fix it, or start over somewhere new?

If you've dealt with mold in your home, you've probably asked yourself this. Nik and Olivia Stophel did too.

It started on moving day. The movers pulled out the fridge without fully turning off the water line, and within 24 hours, water had spread under the floors, behind the cabinets, and past the living room.

That leak was only the beginning. As they opened up walls, they found more water damage, other problem areas, and mold in places they never expected. They had every reason to walk away.

For them, the deciding factor was knowing what's behind the walls.
A different house might look perfect, but you won't know what's hiding in it until you look.

Today, Nik is a certified mold inspector, and his advice is the same no matter which home you choose: get a thorough inspection, even if you think you've already found every problem.

Have you ever had to decide whether to stay or move? What helped you decide? 👇

▶️ Watch or listen to the full interview at the link in the comments.

10/08/2026

JOIN TODAY! There’s still time to register & join the Tick-borne Illness, Global Summit! 💻🌎
This amazing virtual event has started and everyone attending is in for a treat with all the amazing guest speakers! ✨💚💫

Come learn, invite family and/or friends, and see what resources are available for our community.

You aren’t alone.

The Tick Chicks 📢📢

09/28/2026

💚 In Loving Memory of Michelle DuBois 🕊️

Our Lyme Resilience Collective community is heartbroken over the sudden and tragic loss of our fellow Lyme warrior, Michelle DuBois.

Michelle and her husband, Scott, were tragically killed in a head on crash in Reno after being struck by a wrong way driver who was driving under the influence. Their beloved dog, **Kimba**, who Scott had rescued, also lost her life in the crash. Their other dog, Lyka, survived.

Michelle was a beloved wife, mother, friend, and fellow Lyme warrior. While we mourn the loss of Michelle, we are also holding so much love for Scott, their two children, their family, their friends, and everyone whose life was touched by them. The loss of two parents and Kimba in such a sudden and devastating way is an unimaginable heartbreak.

Tonight, Lyme Resilience Collective will be holding a moment of silence for Michelle, Scott, and Kimba, as well as everyone grieving their loss. 🕊️💚

To Michelle’s family, their children, their friends, and all who knew and loved Michelle and Scott, we are sending you so much love. We hope you can feel the embrace of this community surrounding you during this incredibly painful time.

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️Their family is also facing the immediate financial burden of funeral expenses and other costs following this devastating loss. If you are able, please consider supporting their GoFundMe or sharing it with others. Every donation and share can help Michelle and Scott’s children as they navigate the uni[GoFundMe for the DuBois Family](https://gofund.me/22b266d9f

Thank you for taking the time to read this and honor the lives that were taken too way soon.

09/27/2026

Aligned, not rushed. 👀

I’ve been thinking a lot about how easily we can move through life in a constant state of hurry.

I eat fast. I talk fast. I walk fast. I clean my house fast. I connect with people fast.

And sometimes I realize I’m doing all of it while my body is tense and I’m barely breathing.

I’m practicing something different.

Slowing down enough to notice my breath.
Slowing down enough to actually feel where I am.
Slowing down enough to let my body know there is no emergency.

For those of us navigating chronic illness, stress, trauma, or simply a very full life, slowing down can be more than a mindset. It can be a daily practice of reconnecting with ourselves.

So this is my mantra right now:

Aligned, not rushed.

Not everything needs to happen faster.
Not every moment needs to be productive.
Sometimes we just need to breathe and be where our feet are.

I’ll be practicing this one daily.

Do you find yourself rushing through life too?

09/25/2026

Sometimes the hardest part of healing comes after your body has started to recover.

For E., even as the bulk of Lyme treatment was calming down, the fear, hypervigilance, isolation, and depression remained. After years of illness and 12 years of traditional talk therapy, E. knew there were deeper pieces of their experience that still needed attention.

And then, things started to shift. ✨

Through Brainspotting and parts work, E. began feeling lighter and more hopeful. They started saying yes to more social events, feeling less triggered in relationships, and approaching the future from a more grounded and confident place.

Not because everything suddenly became easy—but because they felt more connected to themselves again. 🤍

E., we're so proud of the work you've done and the courage it took to keep looking deeper. Watching you move from feeling stuck and isolated toward feeling more hopeful, grounded, and connected has been such a beautiful part of this work.

If you've been living with the lasting effects of chronic illness, trauma, or nervous system dysregulation—you don't have to figure it all out alone.

📩 Reach out to [email protected] to learn more about Brainspotting and Wellness Consulting.

09/03/2026

📣💚 If you’ve ever wished your Lyme story could reach the people who have the power to create change, this is your moment.

👀If you want to help support the mission I started in 2024 this is also your moment!

We hear patients’ stories every day, from the clients we work with one-on-one to people around the globe who share their experiences through comments, videos, messages, and conversations within our community.

And we hear the same thing again and again:

Lyme doesn’t just affect the body.

It can affect your mental health, relationships, social life, identity, spirituality, sense of purpose, independence, and hope.

These parts of illness are real. They matter. And they deserve to be part of the conversation about the future of Lyme care.

That’s why we’re so excited that Lyme Resilience Collective submitted an idea to the LymeX Healthathon. 🧠💡

This is a national, patient-centered opportunity to bring lived experiences and actionable ideas forward to help improve the lives of people affected by Lyme and tick-borne disease.

🎥 We submitted both a 3-minute video and a 2-page proposal outlining what we believe could meaningfully change life for Lyme patients today.

💻A quick note about accessing our submission: We’ve noticed that some people are having trouble accessing the video portion from their phones. If you’re having trouble but would still like to view our submission, please message Lyme Resilience Collective. We’re happy to send you the official documents we submitted so you can see exactly what we submitted.
If possible, we recommend using a computer or laptop to view the submission.

Our submission is rooted in something we deeply believe:

🩺Medical treatment is important. AND people also need support navigating everything illness can take from them.✨

But we don’t want this conversation to only be about what we have witnessed. One of our main values at LRC is COMMUNITY.

We want them to hear from YOU.

💚 How has Lyme affected your mental health?
💚 What has it done to your relationships or social life?
💚 Have you experienced isolation or loss of community?
💚 Has Lyme changed your identity, your hope, or your vision for your future?
💚 What kind of support do you wish existed?

You don’t have to tell your whole story. Share only what feels right for you.

But if you have ever felt unseen, unheard, misunderstood, or alone in what Lyme has done to your life, this is an opportunity to let your experience be part of something bigger.

📢Please read our submission, vote if you feel our idea deserves to move forward, and share your experience in the comments underneath it.

Your voice matters.

And the future of Lyme care should be shaped by the people who are living it. 💚

09/01/2026

💚📢Voting is now OPEN for the LymeX Healthathon, and I’m asking our community to help amplify an issue that deserves to be part of the future of Lyme care.

The LymeX Healthathon is a national, patient-centered initiative that invited people affected by Lyme and tick-borne disease, including patients, caregivers, clinicians, and advocates, to share their lived experiences and identify ideas that could **improve the lives of Lyme patients now.**

For my submission, I was asked to consider:

What is ONE thing that could change the lives of Lyme patients now?

My answer was: mental health support. 🧠✨

Because the impact of Lyme and tick-borne illness reaches far beyond physical symptoms.

Marriages fall apart. Friendships change. People become isolated. Doctors dismiss patients. Careers and finances are affected. And after years of illness, uncertainty, and not being believed, the emotional toll can become overwhelming.

These aren't simply “side effects” of being sick. They can become a huge part of the patient experience, and I believe we need to do more to address them.

Through the Lyme Resilience Collective, I’ve had the honor of supporting people across the country living with Lyme, tick-borne disease, mold illness, and complex chronic illness. Again and again, I’ve seen how deeply the mental and emotional impact of chronic illness can affect someone's ability to cope, connect, and keep moving forward.

So when I was asked what could change patients' lives **now**, I chose to speak about something that is often overlooked:

Mental health is healthcare.

My submission calls for greater attention to:

💚 Patient su***de prevention
💚 Accessible mental health support for people living with chronic illness
💚 Recognition of the psychological impact of prolonged illness and medical dismissal
💚 Research and programs addressing the mental health needs of the tick-borne illness community
💚 A healthcare system that sees the *whole person*, not just their physical symptoms

🎥 I’m sharing a 60-second SNEAK PEEK of my 3-minute video submission here. 👀

If this issue matters to you, I would be incredibly grateful if you would:

1️⃣ Watch the FULL video
2️⃣ Vote for our submission
3️⃣ Share the video with your friends, family, and the Lyme and tick-borne illness community

👉 WATCH + VOTE:
Direct link is in the first comment!
⬇️⬇️⬇️

And please share this video, even if you’ve already voted. Getting this message in front of more people is part of the impact. You never know who in your own network has been affected by Lyme, knows someone who has, or simply believes patients deserve better support.

You don't have to be the person living with Lyme to help amplify this message. You might be a spouse, parent, friend, caregiver, clinician, advocate, or simply someone who believes people living with chronic illness deserve better.

One vote may seem small. One share may seem small. But collectively, our voices can help bring greater attention to what patients are experiencing and what needs to change.

Our community deserves to be heard. 📢

Thank you for helping amplify this conversation.