Episode 34: Caring for a Child With Lyme Disease

Cindy Kennedy, FNP, talks with Dorothy Leland about her struggles to find the support she needed as the parent of a child with Lyme disease. Leland, an author, blogger, and vice president at LymeDisease.org, sheds light on how she became an advocate for her child.

Leland fell into the world of Lyme disease when her then-13-year-old daughter became mysteriously ill and disabled in 2005. Eventually, she figured out that her family was part of a growing yet invisible group of people grappling with a disease that is ignored by the government and the medical establishment.

Soon, she became a local support group leader in northern California and is now vice president of the national advocacy organization LymeDisease.org. She writes the blog “Touched by Lyme” and has a special interest in how Lyme disease affects the whole family — not just the person with the illness. She is co-author of the book When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide.