Tick Boot Camp

Christa Nannos is a 30-year-old American actor, writer and Lyme disease educator from Los Angeles, California. Ms. Nannos was bitten by a tick when she was 9 years old. Her Lyme disease remained mostly dormant until she was exposed to parasites while on a mission trip to Guatemala. During the following 10 years, she was misdiagnosed with mental health illnesses, Candida, SIBO, Overactive Bladder Syndrome, IBS and more. Despite being mistreated by the medical community and suffering from debilitating physical symptoms, Ms. Nannos focused on maintaining a positive mindset and used laughter as a healing tool. If you would like to learn more about how a comedic actress and writer is using laughter as a Lyme disease healing tool, then tune in now!

Christine Lydon is an Ivy League educated American Medical Doctor (MD), Author and Attorney (JD) living in Rossland, British Columbia, Canada. Ms. Lydon moved to Canada, with her son, to attend law school. Both Ms. Lydon and her son began to exhibit classic symptoms and were diagnosed with Lyme disease by the well know Lyme Literate Doctor (LLMD) Daniel Cameron. Unfortunately, Ms. Lydon’s Lyme disease diagnosis was questioned by the Canadian medical and legal communities and her son was temporarily placed in the Canadian foster care system which prevented him from receiving Lyme treatment. If you would like to learn more about how a doctor-lawyer suffering from chronic Lyme disease was failed by the Canadian medical and legal systems, then tune in now!

Brianna is a 26-year-old digital media content creator and the curator of the Official Green Soup platforms. Brianne began her Lyme disease journey when she was bitten by a tick while participating in a school trip to the East Coast. Despite suffering classic Lyme disease symptoms, she was not correctly diagnosed or treated until 3 years after her tick bite. Brianna’s doctors treated her with antibiotic cocktails, herbal tinctures, and supplements. If you would like to learn more about how Lyme disease inspired Brianna to build a chronic illness awareness and education platform, then tune in now!

Chris Kontopidis is a 32-year-old person living a nomadic life in New Mexico’s desert. After suffering a tick bite in 2017 and discovering mold at their home, Chris began to suffer progressive Lyme disease symptoms including severe fatigue, hair loss, bone pain and finally extremely progressed dementia. After treating with rotating antibiotics and heavy supplements, Chris Kontopidis detached from traditional social, emotional and housing boundaries to overcome healing plateaus. If you would like to learn more about how Chris Kontopidis established firm non-traditional boundaries to promote healing from Lyme disease, then tune in now!

Christina Ricucci is a 22-year-old American actor, musician and dancer. Ms. Ricucci won national recognition when she was named “Teen Best Dancer” at the age of 14. Soon thereafter, she began to feel sick, but was not diagnosed with Lyme disease until 2 years later. Unable to perform at an elite level, Ms. Ricucci abandoned her dream to dance professionally and discovered a larger reservoir of performance artistic talents. If you would like to learn more about how a chronic Lyme disease journey revealed Christina Ricucci’s acting and musical performance talents, then tune in now!

Kobra Paige is a 32-year-old touring musician and recording artist from Calgary, Canada. The lead vocalist for the band Kobra and the Lotus began her Lyme disease journey when she suffered facial paralysis at the age of 12. She suffered fatigue, memory loss, joint pain and depression, but went undiagnosed until the age of 25. Ms. Paige, her sister and her mother were all 3 diagnosed with Lyme disease and treated in the US at the Envita Medical Center. If you would like to learn more about heavy metal vocalist Kobra Paige’s Lyme disease journey, then tune in now!

Dr. Tiffany Brown-Bush is a 41-year-old Naturopathic Doctor, Certified Mental Health professional, creator of the EAT-FIT safe weight control program and co-creator of the CRAVE DETOX allergen free protein bar. She began her personal Lyme disease journey in 2016 and after treating with 5 doctors for over 2 years, she was diagnosed with several Lyme infections; including, Borrelia Burgdorferi, Babesia and Ehrlichia. Since her diagnosis, Dr. Brown-Bush has managed her symptoms with herbal protocols, the Freemedica Wave wearable frequency emitter for cellular and immune health, cold laser treatments, sauna treatments, QNRT and EFT. If you would like to learn more about how Dr. Tiffany Brown-Bush is using a diverse set of diagnostic and treatment tools to manage her own symptoms and the Lyme disease symptoms of her patients, then tune in now!

Emily Strauss is a 28-year-old native of New York City, New York. At the time Ms. Strauss began to exhibit the symptoms of Lyme disease, she founded a nationally recognized company: Mural Painter, Inc. Ms. Strauss’ Lyme disease symptoms began as small aches and pains and then developed into seizures and fatigue rendering her bedridden for over one year. Despite the challenges presented by her developing Lyme symptoms, Ms. Strauss found the internal resources to build a business that was recently featured on the network television program Shark Tank. If you would like to learn more about how Emily Strauss became a nationally recognized female entrepreneur while battling chronic Lyme disease, then tune in now!

Tick Boot Camp’s guest today is Alexis Najarian. Ms. Najarian is a fitness trainer, Ms. Nebraska USA ’19 and Lyme advocate with the Twin Cities Lyme Foundation. Ms. Najarian, her brother, and her mother became extremely sick when they moved to Tick endemic Connecticut. Ms Najarian is the granddaughter of one of the country’s top medical doctors and the daughter for former NFL linebacker, entrepreneur, and television personality. Despite the resources available to the Najarian family, their collective diagnostic journey was painful and lengthy. Fast forward to the 2019 Ms. Nebraska USA pageant, Ms. Najarian dedicated her pageant platform to Lyme disease awareness and advocacy in collaboration with her family and the Twin Cities Lyme Foundation. If you would like to learn more about how Ms. Najarian is humbly advocating for the Lyme community, then tune in now!

Leeann Escobar is a lifelong resident of tick-endemic New Jersey. She began to exhibit the symptoms of Lyme disease during her early childhood but was not diagnosed until one year after developing “mysterious symptoms” as an adult. Despite a lengthy diagnostic journey, Ms. Escobar maintained a positive mindset. Utilizing her grit and IV treatment, Ms. Escobar achieved symptom relief and recently celebrated the birth of her second child. If you would like to know how Leeann Escobar utilized a positive mindset and IV treatments to gain Lyme disease symptom relief, then tune in now!