A LaSalle woman is back from home after travelling to Florida for intense and invasive treatment to treat her Lyme disease.
Monique Hachey has been fighting the debilitating ailment from a tick bite that causes paralysis for three years, and paid more than $200,000 for treatment at the Spinaugle Clinic in Florida.
Hachey's treatment comprised of day-long sessions of saline fluids, drips, colonics, and a steady cocktail of antibiotics. At one point, she was taking 64 pills a day.
The 37-year-old mother of two also suffered side effects, including daily seizures, as the treatment took hold.
"It was a walk on the wild site, it was not a fun journey for me. It was rough... it took a big toll on my body, a huge toll," says Hachey.
At times, she could hardly walk. But Hachey says Dr. Spinogle saved her life, and she doesn't regret to seek treatment outside of Canada. "That was one journey I never expected in my life I would have to go through. If I would have stayed here, I probably wouldn't be here today," she says.
Hachey says he travelled to the U.S. because the Canadian government doesn't recognize her condition. Her positive test result came from a clinic in the U.S.
Hachey tells CTV Windsor she still wants the government to help cover her medical costs. "I am still fighting for the cause to get the government to recognize that chronic lyme is out there and there are a lot of people that are out there suffering that can't afford treatments and can't afford everything that needs to be done," says Hachey.
She is now pill free and cane free, and she is training to crack an hour in the 5K run in Detroit this October with her father by her side.
In 2017, there were seven confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Windsor-Essex. That's the highest on record.
The number of ticks being submitted to the health unit for testing has shot up 900 per cent since 2014.