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Tick Boot Camp

@tickbootcamp

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The purpose of Tick Boot Camp is to help you liberate yourself and others from suffering caused by Lyme disease.

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Lyme friends are a special kind of friend. They greet you with the biggest smiles, the warmest hugs, and sometimes even molecular hydrogen tablets when you need a boost. I loved the opportunity to catch up with @alitmoresco, @jenniferlyynn, @tickbootcamp, @bruzzesemedical, @rawlsmd, @timyarborough, and so many others who I don’t have photos with (this time). You all made our first trip to @ilads.lyme extra special! 💚

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My favorite medical conference of the year is the ILADS annual conference. It’s a place where I feel seen, heard, and safe. Yes, safe. Once you become a patient with Lyme and chronic infection associated illness, you quickly realize you’ve been engulfed into a gray area of medicine. The average clinician isn’t trained to diagnose and treat properly, so you drift through the system. You experience trauma. As a patient first and a researcher second, this is something I aim to change. By working with the world’s experts to put solid science behind our understanding of how infections impact people from birth to advanced age, we can change the future for others. It can be a future free of misdiagnoses and gaslighting. So, I leave with a heart full of hope, new collaborators and friends, and an everlasting promise to let my patient experience drive the change that needs to happen. #IACI #AlzPI #PatientAndResearcher

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This week was one of my favorite weeks of the year….the annual ILADS scientific conference!! Connecting with familiar faces and meeting SO many new ones- from all over the world (Switzerland, France, Germany!) was such a joy.

I kept getting asked how I ended up working in healthcare PR. I started my career in entertainment PR, then became a patient myself, sick and searching for answers. As I got better, I realized I could bring what I’d learned into healthcare to help modernize how we communicate and get factual information to the people who need it most and build the individuals that are leading their specialty to the forefront of global conversations.

Every day, I feel so fortunate to do meaningful work at @morescopr alongside a team and partners who care so deeply. There’s a reason you’ll often hear me say “partners” when talking about our clients: we’re working together to move an entire industry forward. No easy task but 100% worthwhile!!!

ILADS always leaves me feeling hopeful, and this year was no different- new research, new findings, new treatments…all benefitting patients!!

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NYC, FINALLY! 🗽It only took me forever to start posting these pictures, but consider yourselves warned. There are LOTS more coming! 😂 Day one: we flew and we were safe and we landed. Flying has become so difficult for me but each time is getting a bit better. Thankful my sweet boy will still hold my hand!!

But first, coffee! We took a 45-minute Uber ride to go SIX miles to SoHo so Whitman could meet up with some friends from home. 😂 After experiencing NYC traffic firsthand, we decided to brave our first subway ride back to the hotel. Terrifying, but we survived thanks to our subway “angel” who told us which stop to get off on.

The subway is so nostalgic in books and movies…

Then it was off to the Hard Rock Cafe for the GLA Junior Board’s pre-gala event! We loved catching up with some of our favorites, @powerangergreg and @hannah_elizaaaaa and meeting their sweet girl who had just been born when we first met Greg!!

@bugbitething was well-represented at both events 💚

@christina_kovs did an amazing job putting on this event and nothing could happen without @tickdontkillmyvibe 😘

We saw our “social media friends” in person, met new friends, so many wonderful and inspiring Lyme warriors! 💚

And in true Spires fashion, we were nearly the last ones to leave! 😂

What a group of warriors! We met Dr. Bruzzese from @bruzzesemedical. You may recognize him from @thequietepidemic. Fascinating to talk to him and I’m so thankful he went on to become a doctor. Not only does he understand the medical side, he’s lived it and understands the patient side. What more could you ask for?! If you need a Lyme doctor in NY or CT, he’s taking new patients! We became fast friends with @blairezra who invited us on a VIP tour of the jewelry store she works for (more on this later!) and I loved meeting Matt from @tickbootcamp in the flesh. Such a good first day/night in NYC.

We decided to walk back to our hotel with a quick detour by Sephora just “for fun.” 😂 As always, Whitman was a good sport.

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spooky szn. 👻

#spookyszn #foodsystems #supportlocalfarms #publichealth #seattle

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Momentum is building for the Lyme and tickborne disease community—but momentum alone isn’t enough. We need to turn it into meaningful change.

When patients and caregivers share their lived experiences, advocates organize, organizations unite, and we bring our collective voice to policymakers, we become impossible to ignore.

Join Center for Lyme Action for our 2027 Virtual Advocacy Day on Wednesday, February 17! Together, we’ll build on our recent policy victories, push for stronger federal action, and make it clear that our community cannot wait any longer for answers, treatments, and care.

You shouldn’t have to fight this hard for the care you deserve. But until the system changes, we need YOUR voice to help change it.

We’re not going to stop at momentum. We’re going to keep pushing until that momentum becomes meaningful change for the people who need it most.

📅 Save the date: Wednesday, February 17, 2027

📣 Join us. Help shape what comes next.

🔗Registration and additional event details will be shared soon. Subscribe to the CLA newsletter at centerforlymeaction.org to stay updated.

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About a week ago, @lymelnk held a concert event at Summerstage in Central Park bringing awareness of Lyme and Tick-borne diseases to the masses. I was honored to have attended! Thank you @lymelnk for putting the spotlight on Lyme and to all the organizations that supported this event!
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#summerstage #centralpark #lymedisease #lymediseaseawareness #lyme

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GLA turned up the volume on tick-borne diseases during #climateweeknyc !

On September 22, Global Lyme Alliance staff, ambassadors, and supporters gathered in New York City’s backyard to see @youngthegiant @stlucia and @dreeemy —all while raising awareness about climate change and the subsequent increase in tick-borne diseases in city parks and urban areas.

As a community sponsor and partner for Music for Action, A Climate Week Concert, hosted by @capitalone @cpfnyc and @summerstage and presented in partnership with @lymelnk , GLA was proud to help educate New Yorkers on how to stay safe while enjoying the outdoors.

From the music to the mission, go behind the scenes of GLA’s night in Central Park with reflections from our CEO, Jennifer Katritos, and the people that made it possible.

Read the full recap at the link in our bio.

#SummerStage #globallymealliance #lymediseaseawareness #Lymedisease

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Brush against the wrong blade of grass and you may have hundreds of microscopic ticks crawling up your leg, whose bites can trigger alpha-gal syndrome: a potentially life threatening allergy to red meat and animal products. It sounds like a horror movie, but TICKING POINT, my feature documentary in production, is a film about solutions.

—>Why are there suddenly so many damn ticks?
Is the question that got this project started, as the aggressive lone star tick has expanded north from Southeastern states to New England, where it is changing daily life in some communities. From Cape Cod and the Islands, to Suffolk County on Long Island, the tick is spreading new illnesses and threatening to change our relationship with the outdoors.

I spent much of my summer traipsing through tick habitat, filming “tick bombs” and following folks on the front lines who are seeking to learn more about alpha-gal syndrome and grappling with what we can do to stop it.

Follow along or support the film with a tax-deductible donation today: check out the link in my bio.

📸 BTS @domaprile
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#TickingPointFilm #AlphaGal #tickborneillness #documentaryfilm

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If Lyme disease patients want gold star behavior from their specialists, they need to give gold star behavior back. 💜

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Last September, I went to a Lyme gala in NYC and knew hardly a soul. I stood somewhat warily at the edge of the room, found an empty spot at a table, and started taking notes.

On Monday night, I knew some two-dozen people there. A good number I’ve interviewed for TICK BOOM — some are in the book, some shaped how I understand the disease without ever appearing on the page.

What I didn’t expect was how much I’d come to care about these people and the bonds we had formed, many of whom I had only met via Zoom. The scientists who let me into their labs. The clinicians who gave me hours they didn’t have. The families who told me about the worst years of their lives because they wanted it to mean something.

A whole lot happens in twelve months.

A massive thank you to @alitmoresco for inviting me and for connecting me with so many dedicated people in this space. And a huge congratulations to @projectlyme on ten years. Watching that room raise $120,000 in 20 minutes was a reminder of what this community can do when it assembles.

I left feeling not only connected but optimistic. These are the people who, together, are going to figure out the next chapter of this disease.

Never to worry: I also still brought my notebook. Old habits.

TICK BOOM is out next April c/o @zandoprojects. Pre-orders are available wherever books are sold, and in my link in bio.

#tickboom #lymedisease #projectlyme #journalism #behindthebook

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It was an honor and a privilege to attend Project Lyme's 10th Anniversary Gala! Thank you @tickbootcamp for making this possible, and thank you @projectlyme for having me! There's a much brighter future on the horizon for patients with Lyme and Tick-borne disease thanks to Project Lyme!
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#lymedisease #projectlyme #lyme #lymediseaseawareness

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