My May Lyme Disease Awareness giveaway is finally here! I am late in launching it as my health has recently taken a downturn and I’m struggling to get any clear thoughts. This current health dip makes my giveaway so much more important to me. I will give you a quick background story about Lyme Disease so that you know what this giveaway is about.
1) Repost this picture using the hashtag #LymeGiveawayAus if you live in Australia or #LymeGiveawayIntl if you are in an eligible international country. Eligible international countries are: Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, South Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and USA.
Don’t forget to do a green mani during May with the tag #LymeAwarenessNails to raise awareness for Lyme Disease.
Lyme Disease is a spiral shaped bacteria (Spirochete) called Borrelia that is transferred to humans, most commonly through a tick bite. It is also believed to be transferred by mosquitoes, flies, fleas and mites but no studies have been done on this yet. Many patients report that they have passed Lyme Disease onto their partners through sexual contact and to children in utero. Small studies have started to gain evidence on the sexual transmission of Borrelia; it is a cousin of Syphilis after all.
The symptoms of Lyme Disease are wide ranging. The initial symptoms soon after infection are similar to the flu. Some people develop a bulls eye rash but many do not. If Lyme Disease goes untreated for a long period of time, then the bacteria is able to spread causing symptoms related to multiple organs in the body. You can see a list of symptoms here and read about my daily struggles with Lyme Disease in my ‘A Day In The Life Of Lyme‘ post.
Lyme Disease is referred to as the great imitator as the symptoms can mimic many other diseases. People with Lyme Disease can be mis-diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia (FM), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), ALS, Alzheimer’s and many other illnesses. Lyme Disease testing is notoriously inaccurate so it is hard to get a diagnosis.
The Australian Government refuses to acknowledge that Lyme Disease exists in Australia. This means that many people are denied diagnosis and treatment, and are therefore condemned to a life of suffering. Some people in Australia have even died from Lyme Disease because they were unable to access adequate treatment. If you happen to get bitten by a tick overseas then you may be eligible for three weeks worth of antibiotics to treat the bacteria, but that is nowhere near enough treatment to kill Lyme. A large amount of cases in Australia are now classified as “Late Stage Neurological Lyme Disease” as they have spent so long without diagnosis and treatment that the bacteria has been able to infect the brain as well as many other organs. I am classified as a Late Stage Neurological Lyme Disease patient and have very few options for treatment. Borrelia releases toxins when it is killed off that cause a Herximer (Herx) reaction in the patient. If the bacteria load is high in the body then the Herx reaction from antibiotics can be deadly.
My recovery chances aren’t great at this stage as I was bitten 15 years ago, but I’m not doing this giveaway for me. I am doing this giveaway to raise awareness for this horrible disease so that others can be diagnosed early and get the treatment they need, and therefore not suffer the way I and many others have. I need everyone out there to talk about Lyme Disease, tell everyone you know. If there is enough public backing, surely the government will have to admit that it exists here.
Now onto the giveaway information. There are two prizes, one for Australian residents and one for residents of select international countries. This is an Instagram only giveaway but please share this blog post so that the information gets out there.
Prize 1 – Australia
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| Prize 1 – Australia |
Prize one consists of a one of a kind Grace-Full Polish custom called Lyme For A Cure as well as Navy. Two Emily De Molly polishes, You’re Not That Great and Queen Of The Sea. Three EP Polishes Lahni, Waverley and SPF + Sparkle Holo Top Coat. Powder Perfect Addictive Personality, Four Poster Bed and Christmas In A Tropical Climate. Furless Cosmetics Princess. Ulta3 Galaxy, Ulta3 Moon Dust and Ulta3 24 Carat Gold. Three Emily de Molly stamping plates, EDM06, EDM10 and EDM12. Three Nailed Kit decal sets, a powder perfect cuticle balm, a Two Birds cuticle oil, Peita’s Polish cuticle remover and other little nail art bits and pieces.
Prize 2 – International
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| Prize 2 – International |
Prize two consists of a custom Lyme Disease Awareness polish from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer (not pictured). Three polishes from EP Polish, Waverley, Lahni and SPF + Sparkle holo top coat. Grace-Full Dusty Pink, Emily de Molly Enchanted Isle and Powder Perfect Hidden Well. Three Ulta3 watercolour polishes, Seeing Red, Cello Yellow and Marine Blue. She Sells Sea Shells UK have donated a great bundle of nail vinyls and stencils. Plus there is a Powder Perfect cuticle cream and any other nail art things I can fit in a 500g package.
The Rules
Read the rules very carefully. This is an Instagram giveaway being run through my account @alintamcmurdo.
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| Re-post photo |
1) Repost this picture using the hashtag #LymeGiveawayAus if you live in Australia or #LymeGiveawayIntl if you are in an eligible international country. Eligible international countries are: Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, South Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and USA.
Please do not enter if your country will will destroy polish parcels.
Prize will not be sent to someone who will forward it on (a mule).
2) Must follow me and all contributors for a valid entry. Do not unfollow after the giveaway or you will be disqualified from future giveaways. Contributors to follow are She Sells Sea Shells, EP Polish Company, Grace-full Nail Polish, Emily de Molly and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer.
3) Do not tag me or the contributors in the repost.
4) One entry per person. You may repost more than once to share the information but only use the hashtag on one photo.
6) If tracked post to you exceeds $20 then you must pay the remainder by PayPal before the parcel is sent. You are responsible for any taxes your country imposes.
5) Your account must be public. No giveaway accounts. Must be 18 to enter.
6) Winners will be drawn randomly. Winners have 48 hours to respond to my message. If the 48 hours expires then a new winner will be chosen.
7) Giveaway ends on the 24th of May at 6pm Melbourne time 2015.
Don’t forget to do a green mani during May with the tag #LymeAwarenessNails to raise awareness for Lyme Disease.
Edit – I forgot to mention that the awesome Lyme Awareness ribbon image in the giveaway picture is from Twist Of Lyme Decals who sell some great Lyme awareness products.
9 Comments
I finally managed to work out how to repost on Instagram and finally entered the giveaway. It's an awesome giveaway, and I'm also promoting Lyme on my Facebook to try and encourage people to support it. All the best, and thanks for having such a wonderful prize. Good luck to all the entrants.
I can't get the #LymeGiveawayAus tag to work in the Repost app. Can you tell me how I can repost the photo on Instagram, please?
You did it right 🙂 I normally just take a screen shot on my phone and then upload that like a normal photo and add the hashtag myself. Thanks so much for helping!
Thanks for the chance, Alinta! I had no idea, not only that Lyme disease was so serious, but that it's so hard in Australia to get proper treatment for it. I will definitely be sharing my green mani. Thank you for enlightening me and sharing your struggle, and I'll keep you in my prayers. xx
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your support 🙂
Even in parts of the US it's almost impossible to get good treatment. I had a doctor tell me that it flat out doesn't exist in my state, so he refused to even TALK to me about it.
Do you see a LLMD? I'm sure there aren't many in Aus (if any?), but it may be worth the long expensive flight to get to a doctor who knows what they are doing. I would gladly donate if you had a gofundme or something set up so you could come to the US to get treatment! It's a long hard road, but I don't think you should feel hopeless.
I don't know when I contracted Lyme, but it could have been 3 years or 20 years, but I ended up seeing an amazing doctor (who is about an 8-hour drive from me), and that has made all the difference. It's been amazing to see someone who understands and knows what they are doing. And someone who doesn't make me feel crazy or like they think I'm making it all up. I'm finally getting better, and it's been amazing to have "normal" days where I'm not in pain or exhausted or nauseous.
Even though I don't know you, I am with you. There are many of us with you who are hoping you can find the right treatment to recover. <3
I do have a doctor but my bug load is too high for antibiotics so I'm trying an alternative route with diet, bioresonance, laser acupuncture and reiki. Many Aussies have go fund me accounts to raise money to go to Germany as they have a great treatment centre here but I don't know anyone who has been able to raise the $40,000 to do so. I still have some hope but I've also been told by doctors to be realistic about the chances of a full recovery.
It's great that you have seen improvement, there are lots of people who have, I know. But I don't seem to get better doing the exact same things that they did. Different bodies and bacteria intensities or something. Hopefully I will find a way soon. Thank you for your support xx
Who won the prizes, please, Alinta?
Check my new post 😉