A tick bite stole my dreams. But, with determination and a steadfast spirit, I found a new dream in Beauty & The Brave. My name is Andrea Marie. I am the creator and developer of Beauty & The Brave but I am also fighting two tick-borne infections - Borreliosis (Lyme Disease) and Babesiosis. The idea of an online store was conceived after the resulting severe symptoms began to prevent me from attending high school. (I will be forever grateful to my school for allowing me to continue online and graduate with my high school class.) By the time I completed high school, I was physically unable to attend college, hold a job, or even volunteer. Beauty & The Brave became my reason to survive. More urgently, it is my vehicle to provide information and increase awareness of these awful tick-borne diseases.

Unfortunately, after multiple misdiagnoses (tickborne infection symptoms can mimic many other disorders) I was finally accurately diagnosed several years after I had been bitten. Because of that delay, the many medications, IV administrations, and other treatments tried have not helped me and my symptoms have continued to worsen. Unfortunately, I fall into the percentage of people living with tick-borne infections who are in what is called “post-treatment" or "treatment resistant" status. 

There are several tick-borne infections but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme Disease is the most common vector-borne (vectors are mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas that spread pathogens) disease in the United States. Ticks can transmit Lyme Disease but also other tick-borne diseases too, including Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Fever, and Tularemia. Sometimes the same tick can cause more than one of these diseases in a single bite. That's what happened to me. The same infected tick that "gifted" me with Lyme Disease also infected me with Babesiosis. 

Based on insurance records, the CDC estimates more than 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme Disease alone each year. In addition to these alarmingly high numbers, the areas where Lyme Disease is common are expanding. The CDC points out that if left untreated, infection transmitted by an infected tick can become increasingly more serious as it spreads to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. I live this fact all too well.,

I have learned so much over the years about tick-borne infections and feel the urgency to provide information and increase awareness. This resource page is designed to help our customers learn more about these invisible illnesses and perhaps find support if they or someone they know becomes infected. I will provide additional information regularly but want to begin by including the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Resource Center which has been most helpful to me as I fight these insidious, life-altering infections. I am also including links from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which is continually gathering data and providing information about tick-borne infections. Again, if a tick bite happens to you, please seek medical attention before it becomes life-altering.