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TICK TOCK
Tony Felice’s road to Lyme Disease and beyond BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ PHOTO BY MARK MORGAN
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n 2011, Valley brand consultant and LGBTQ rights champion Tony Felice came down with a terrible flu after a trip to Cape Cod – or so he thought. For the next two years, Felice’s symptoms lingered, and worsened. “The pain became so intolerable in 2013 that I found myself about to take my life,” says Felice, who, by then, was unable to control his muscles or barely stand upright. “But I couldn’t bear to leave my husband Tim.” After 24 months and 15 specialists, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis MS, an incurable disease that attacks the central nervous system and appeared to be in its advanced stages. “I was just days from beginning aggressive treatment when a naturopathic doctor agreed to test me for Lyme Disease,” Felice recalls. He was not only tested conclusively positive for Lyme-induced MS, which is common after having the disease for so long without treatment, but so was a friend and his dog who were with him in Cape Cod. “We remembered a lot of bugs, and the way to contract Lyme is through ticks,” he says. The past five years, fighting the disease and going back and forth between remission and flare-ups – including hospitalizations – have been filled with IVs, pain and lots of tears, but also hope – and inspiration.
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How did your journey inspire you to get involved with Lyme Disease advocacy? In 2015, I met Focus on Lyme founder Tammy Crawford, whose daughter lives with the disease and symptoms mirror mine, and joined her leadership team. Our goal is to help develop and bring to market the first most truly accurate test for Lyme. How can readers get involved? Readers can visit www. focusonlyme.org and donate to the cause at any time, but especially now as it is Lyme Awareness Month. We also have our Flagstaff fundraising golf tournament in July – and are taking players and sponsors right now. UPTOWN |
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| MAY 2017