Since launching in 2015, the Ticked Off Foundation has helped hundreds of Lyme patients all over the United States with grants, counseling and treatment education. Many of them were on the edge of crisis and had nowhere else to turn. Here are some of their stories…
Feel free to write your own review of the Ticked Off Foundation, especially if you’ve had personal, positive experiences with the organization and its members:
Before I came across the Ticked Off Foundation my son and I were struggling with chronic Lyme. I had tried every antibiotic under the sun to no avail. I tried every treatment out there, even the strange sounding ones. Nope, none worked. My son, was diagnosed at 2 years with congenital Lyme, and he refused to take any antibiotics. I was desperate to find treatment for us both but the Cowden Protocol was just out of our reach due to cost. When I met Gregg Kirk and found out about the grant, my prayers were actually answered. Gregg is such a supportive man. He has encouraged both my son and me. The Cowden Protocol has helped to quell my son’s aggressive behavior and acting out. It has helped me to improve my cognitive functioning and has given me more energy. If you are thinking about applying for the Ticked Off Foundation grant, just do it. Don’t think about it. DO IT! There is no time like the present to beat Lyme.
Robyn Wilkins, Cordova, TN
My name is Amy and I have a family full of Lymies! I have 8 children and fear that they may all have been born with it. After 8 years struggling, my 17 year-old son is finally getting treatment he needs. And after 5 years of me struggling I am doing amazing after just a few months on Cowden protocol!! I have my life back… no, not really. This is such a better life than I even dreamed of when I was bed-bound for years and unable to even care for my children. Thank you so much, Gregg Kirk for all you have done to help us be able to afford the Cowden Protocol. Without you we would have never been financially able to try it. Having been so debilitated by this disease, our income has been drastically reduced because my husband had to stay home to take care of me and our children. With my recent improvement he has been able to go back to work part-time so that we can catch up on some bills. The Ticked Off Foundation has done something for our family that none other as been able or willing to do. This place of helplessness and hopelessness is such a dark place. But the sunshine from receiving a grant from somebody we don’t even know… totally restorative!
Amy Sizemore, Liberty, KY
After trying many things and going broke — and after even having written a will — I gave it one last shot and reached out to Gregg Kirk at Ticked Off Foundation. He enrolled me in the Cowden support program from Nutramedix. It took six months to see any results, and I stayed on the program a little over nine months.
It brought me from death’s door into a state where I’m able to function again. I can now live a some what normal life. I am very grateful for the help Gregg provided me. He gave me back my life. Thank you!
Mario Limonciello, Norridge, IL
I have had Lyme for most of my life, 40 years. Thanks to The Ticked Off Foundation, Gregg Kirk and team, I have a chance of a new beginning. No doctor in my entire existence linked Lyme with my illnesses. I’m finally relieved to get to the root of the emotional, mental, physical issues I have struggled with, because my system has been fighting this systemic infection. Blessings and prosperity to this foundation. With deep heartfelt gratitude!
Michelle Buckley, Greenport, NY
My name is Elaine and I have Lyme disease. It is debilitating, painful, and has completely put my life on pause. It is a long, lonely journey. But sometimes you meet angel helpers such as Gregg Kirk along the way. In truth, folks like Gregg are the only thing that keep you going! He has offered support to our low-income family as we try to get a grasp on this illness. He has spent time speaking with me and giving me emotional support. He has been through this and he knows deep down how this disease scars you physically and mentally! I am so thankful that Gregg offers his gift of empathy and sincere caring to help Lyme patients who are in great need of support! Blessings to you Gregg and your foundation. May it get all the support it can!”
Elaine Kaple, Moline, IL
Help seemed nowhere. I couldn’t afford an LLMD or the treatments others were discussing. My body had been sick with Lyme disease for almost 20 years, but my spirit (and children) had kept me going. However, in March of 2017, I couldn’t hold on any longer. Physically and mentally, I was utterly and completely broken. I wanted to check out. Then, I saw a post where another sufferer said she was getting financial help from Gregg Kirk and the Ticked Off Foundation to take the Cowden Protocol. Dare I even care enough to try? Too many disappointments already. Besides, it’s really hard asking for help. I decided this would be my last, best effort. After talking to Gregg, I realized (remembered) people do care! I very quickly received my first month of the Cowden Protocol and began. After one month in, I’m seeing some change. I’m sincerely grateful for Gregg and The Ticked Off Foundation. There IS still hope and healing… hang on. We need each other.
Dawn Reis, Oxford, MI
Without the help of Gregg Kirk and the Ticked off Foundation many others and I would be financially unable to afford the Cowden Protocol for addressing Lyme disease. Lyme decimates so many things. The added stress of financial strain at barely being able to make ends meet without having any funds left for Lyme treatments can be a tremendous burden to try and weather. I am so thankful for people like Gregg who climbed out of the trenches of Lyme disease himself and has turned around to lend a helping hand and a compassionate heart to the many people still searching for healing from Lyme. He could’ve just gone on about his life, but instead he made it his mission to help others with Lyme disease. Thank you for your support to this worthy cause. You are making a difference in many people’s lives, mine included. It’s not a short journey to overcome a complicated illness like Lyme disease, but there is hope! Without the Ticked off Foundation’s help and support, which is often a last resort for any sort of viable treatment for those of us with severe financial strain, these treatments would be out of our means. I still need treatment. I don’t want to quit in the middle of treatment just because the funds are short. Please consider donating. Your help makes a difference! With much gratitude.
Carrie McKinney, Montgomery, AL
My daughter MaryJane used to be an all around champion for the USA gymnastics junior Olympic program. She was 11 years old when she came in second at her first state competition. We all thought she would grab that state champ title, but she was sick at the competition and so her beam didn’t go as well as usual. That was in May of 2016 and during the following summer and fall MaryJane’s health was dwindling. By November I had to take her out of gymnastics because she was just not well and had suffered injuries in her sport. Three days later I took her to the ER and the cardiologist found she had Mobitz 1 heartblock, but no diagnosis was present so we were sent home. And that’s how it went for the next few months. Many doctors and specialists and months later and still no diagnosis. So I sat back and cleared my head and compiled her symptom list which was pages long. I researched her symptoms and then one day I had my aha moment and said, “MaryJane, I’m pretty sure this is Lyme disease.” Basically when my daughter became sick I put everything to the side to try and save her, and when I did that I discovered that the twins and I all had Lyme disease. And we believe my sister and her son has it too. We all contracted it when we were staying with my sister one summer when she lived down the road from a wildlife reserve; her dogs were covered with ticks.
I always tell my daughter that she saved our family’s lives. If she hadn’t of been so sick, we may have never known what was causing all of the health problems in our family. I was relieved at the time and then came the realities of Lyme disease. I soon realized that I was not able to afford her treatment, or my son’s or mine. I watched my daughter become so sick, she lost the ability to walk and she was developing scoliosis and what looked like brain damage. I felt lost, hopeless, and really scared. I was crying so much that I almost killed myself from crying, and my son begged me to stop. I was so sad and lost that I didn’t care what happened to me. It was so painful to watch MaryJane suffer and dwindle away. I finally found the Ticked Off Foundation and Gregg Kirk replied to me so fast. He was our family’s beacon of hope. His generous donations to our family helped us bridge gaps and made it possible to keep all 3 of us on treatment. I don’t know where we would be without him and the foundation. He empowered us and gave us hope, and it kept us alive. He is helping the people who really need help — people who have lost hope and have already lost so much of their lives. Gregg Kirk and The Ticked off Foundation are life savers!
Laurel Brooke Miller, Spokane, WA
My name is Michelle and my son Scottie is 14. I have been battling Chronic Lyme for around 19 months and sick for at least 4 years now. I haven’t been able to work for over 2 years at all and we were already living paycheck to paycheck before I got sick. Then when I found out I had Lyme I had no idea what I was in for, physically, mentally and financially. I began with out-of-pocket testing through IGenex and the past 18 months my protocol and supplements, doctors, meds and Lab bills have been a constant $500-$800 a month, some months more.
Then 14 year old son Scottie started having fatigue in 7th grade but I changed his diet, he started LDN (low dose Naltrexone) and a supplement schedule before bed, which I thought stabilized him. He was scared and asked me many days if he was going to die. I kept taking him to the ER and the Dr but they just kept prescribing more meds and releasing him. Even with an abnormal heart rate and EKG! Basically Western Medicine has been useless so I knew I had to go out of pocket to a Lyme Literate doctor. I had no idea how I would afford it.
I began reaching out to Lyme foundations, putting in applications. Finally I found the Ticked Off Foundation and applied. Gregg Kirk answered my email right away and I called the number and we discussed my situation. He was so kind and patient with me. He said he would try to help pay for the appointment I had booked April 24th. I thanked him and really didn’t expect anything since I know there are so many of us in need. Well I heard from him and he said he had some to donate and help us pay for this doctors appointment! At this point I was neglecting purchasing much needed supplements, food, gas and my own medicines to try to save the money. What a relief and I just cried happy tears! I am really hoping for answers, as I sit here and write this my son’s appt is tomorrow am!
This is a foundation for the patients! Gregg was himself a Lyme sufferer so he really understands and his heart is in the right place with this. He helps the people who need help.
I hope no matter how bad our circumstances everyone would consider even smaller donations to Ticked Off when able to. I hope to pay this forward and thank you so much, Gregg!! We are so grateful there’s no words I can write to really express it. How do you thank someone for this help? Hopefully my testimony helps a little. 💚
Michelle Pasquale-Dubois, Reno, NV
I’m on day 47. I am doing the Cowden protocol plus other supplements I custom formulated, specifically for me based on Genova testing I have been using for years on my patients. So ordered it for myself. So far, one big thing is I am getting better with reading. I was struggling with that and couldn’t even read my own book. I can run a 5k in around 35 minutes if I push it. I have energy more days, and I haven’t been in the hospital at all since starting all of these regimes. As long as I run, I find it combats the chronic fatigue I have gotten used to. I’m drinking a ton of water (normally do that anyway). I watch inspirational videos everyday, and have been able to to do more with my son. I’m disabled, but “working” at my practice some days. Four years ago, I was 70 lbs, bed-bound and had a terminal diagnosis. I haven’t had a seizure since I have been on this protocol. My tremors haven’t gotten out of control since starting the program. Shall I go on? My diet is based on wild caught seafood, lots of fruits and veggies. I have a joke bucket list and love when I can cross something off of that list. Next adventure: Zip lining!
Christie Korth, Mastic Beach, NY
I was diagnosed with Lyme disease in October 2017. My daughter found the Ticked Off Foundation online. After emailing Gregg and then speaking to him on the phone, I felt cared about. I started on the Cowden protocol and started seeing a difference in about 5 months. So many symptoms started going away. With all of Gregg Kirk‘s knowledge and support I would say I am 90 percent to wellness. I don’t know where I would be without the Ticked Off Foundation. I will be forever grateful. God bless Gregg and all he does for people he has never met!
Thank you for everything!
Kim, Indiana
At this point in my journey I met with my first LLMD (Lyme Literate MD) who was lovely and validating but wanted to put me on antibiotics for what seemed like an indefinite period. After speaking with my PCP and learning about the potential risks involved in this approach, I declined the antibiotics. But this left me with no option….. until I found Gregg Kirk and the Ticked Off Foundation online.
When I learned about Ticked Off Foundation, I was initially very interested in the Cowden Protocol as a treatment for Lyme. I was excited by the fact that it treats not only Lyme, but other viruses and Lyme related maladies like mold, yeast and parasites. I had been reading about these co-occurring ailments and was overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to address all at once. The idea of taking one protocol was very exciting. I was very worried about the cost though. I read that receiving financial aid was a possibility, so I decided to apply, though I was skeptical. It sounded too good to be true that with so much need out there, that I could be helped.
Well, I was so surprised because Gregg reached out to me the same day! He was kind and straightforward. He told me that recovery was possible. I would have to be patient, take suggestions and work at it, but it was very possible! He was very knowledgeable about this disease. I was to later learn how truly knowledgeable he is. I was found eligible for the grant and I was thrilled and full of hope to be able to order my first month of supplies. I was also invited by Gregg to join his online support group on Facebook. I had checked out a few other Lyme recovery support groups online at this point in my journey. It was immediately clear that this group was different and that though this was a safe space to share my worry and concerns it was also a place that balanced those worries with hope, accountability and testimonies of success, some small and others big.
Over the past year of treatment, I have returned to Gregg and this group countless times with new treatment roadblocks as well as my own testimonies of success. Gregg has repeatedly offered me his time, expertise and care. He has always provided practical suggestions and stressed the importance of a strength-based recovery mindset. I have learned so much from him. He and the group have kept me sane this year. I have had some very hard days and I have had some great, symptom-free days. I have so many tools in my toolbox that my well-meaning PCP would never be able to provide for me. I did not take a single prescribed medication today. I have many diagnoses from my practitioners, reflecting the best of what Western Medicine has to offer. I have been offered many different medications, but I have not felt it necessary to take them. From Gregg, I learned the importance of eating clean, taking care of my gut health and the overall well-being of my immune health as well as properly detoxing. These are the golden standard of recovery from Chronic illness as far as I can tell. I return to them over and over again. I will always be grateful to Gregg and Ticked Off Foundation for giving my children back their mother and for giving me hope.
Lorrissa, Massachusetts
This foundation was a godsend to me in time of need. My health took a big hit earlier this year, and I was feeling kind of hopeless and didn’t really know what to try or where to turn. Then I came across the Ticked Off Foundation and was approved to try this treatment at a greatly reduced cost which is so important for me because this illness has put a huge strain on me financially, and of course, physically, and emotionally. It’s been a rocky road for sure, but I have seen benefits from the protocol. I have gained more energy than before and have been able to exercise more, which I’m so happy about. And I even look healthier. I have a really long way to go in regaining my health, but I am happy to have seen some benefits and anyone dealing with chronic illness knows that any bit of hope is huge. The support and help from all the people in the group and from Gregg Kirk has been such an amazing part of it as well.
Andrea, Minnesota
“Empowerment” is the word that fills my heart and mind when I think of what Gregg Kirk and members of the Ticked Off Foundation support network have gifted me. From the very moment I reached out to the foundation, I was met with an outreaching of hope and assurance that helped to create a shift in my beliefs about my experience with Lyme disease and in my overall being.
Beginning the Cowden Support Protocol opened my mind to the idea that I could restore healing and wholeness to my body and spirit rather than spending a lifetime of managing misery. I am grateful to Gregg and all of the support group members for being open and willing to offer guidance and encouragement throughout the course of my journey with Lyme. The collective sharing of knowledge and personal experience has given me the opportunity to embrace the set of experiences that led me here.
The support of the Ticked Off Foundation has empowered me to understand that perhaps Lyme disease did not happen to me, but rather for me. In retrospect, I clearly see that I have gained so much more than I thought I had lost. I am healthier one year after connecting with the Ticked Off Foundation in many ways than I have ever been, and for that, I am so very grateful!
Jessica, Georgia
During this extremely challenging year, Gregg Kirk and the Ticked Off Foundation have truly been a blessing. Offering financial assistance and critical resource support during this costly and difficult time of treating Chronic Lyme Disease has enabled me to begin the Cowden herbal protocol, my best option for treatment (and one that I was unable to pursue without the foundation’s assistance). I have also benefitted greatly from the community Gregg has created, sharing important information on symptoms, treatments and building a support network. I cannot thank Gregg and the foundation donors enough for the generosity and care in helping each of us seek treatment for this completely life-altering disease.
Pete, North Carolina
Before I found the Ticked Off Foundation, I lived in a pure hell convinced that the only hope I might have with severe chronic Lyme disease was to leave this world. I was alone & hopeless for almost 33-34 years. I was 9 years old when I first contracted Lyme disease, and there was no one to talk to and no one to advise me. I was continually misdiagnosed and then at the age of 14, I was covered in Lyme ticks. My misdiagnosis continued, and I was treated from everything from leukemia to mental illness. When I was between the ages of 17 and 18, I was treated with strong antibiotics orally for two years and then finally received six months of IV antibiotics. But I knew nothing about holistic care and nothing about herbs. So I went on to get sicker. To have a lot of my colon removed and to be told it was my own fault. I never felt well, and I knew nothing about how to get better. I never worked on fixing the intestinal flora from taking all the antibiotics, and I went on being treated for all different types of things from fibromyalgia to rheumatoid arthritis.
Then I met Gregg Kirk and the Ticked Off Foundation, and in a short time I started to read stories that were so similar to mine with so many people who understood what I experienced. I began speaking up and asserting myself and finding that every doctor agreed with me. I continue to take herbs and natural supplements and started to see a difference in my colon. I went from using a cane to slowly walking freely and for fun on a nice day. I’ve been wanting to go away or even go just a little further from my house south or north, but I haven’t because I was so scared and weak. I’ve been learning so much from Gregg, and his Ticked Off Foundation has been helping me to have more life, energy and hope to take care of my children better. I’ve learned so much about treatments that are helpful and affordable. Gregg uses every penny of donations to give back to others and help us so we can continue getting treatment IVs, holistic therapies, herbs and whatever it takes so that we can get up each morning to take care of our children or just to start being productive and having a normal life. Lyme disease is hell, but with the Ticked Off Foundation you find hope and one day a cure. I am so grateful to be alive now and I fight for each day because I’m not going anywhere. I know there’s hope now. Every day of my life can only be better than the last.
Sophia, New Jersey
When I found this foundation I was at my wit’s end, but the application began a healing process as I began to describe my challenges and how they affect my life. It really made me look at myself.
I was well aware that suicide was the leading cause of fatalities from this devastating disease, so I reached out to Gregg Kirk, and he treated me like family. Although the foundation has limited funds and often not enough for everybody, he has always had some form of support, even if it’s knowing that I’m not alone. The dollars that he’s helped me with have made the difference between choosing medicine or food. Being part of his Facebook group has been a safe shelter where I can ask questions from like-minded people and also be supported by people who understand what I’m going through. This is more than a foundation — it’s more than money; it’s a support system and has been invaluable and life affirming for me.
Chana, California
Gregg Kirk and the Ticked Off Foundation came into my life when I was at my lowest. I felt alone in the world and felt like nobody could understand what I was going through. I was also thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Gregg welcomed me into a community of people who could support me, while also enabling me to get on the Cowden protocol, which otherwise would have been financially prohibitive. I’m a year into my healing journey, and I’m so grateful to know that Gregg and the rest of the Ticked Off community will be with me every step of the way.
Fatima, Washington DC
I have had Lyme and everything else that comes with it for the last 17 yrs. During one of my many insomnia nights, I got online and was looking for any inexpensive treatment that I could do on my own at home. Up to that point, no one had any answers, and the doctors I had encountered seemed uninterested in the mystery of my continuous and ever-changing illness. That one night 18 months ago I stumbled on the Ticked Off Foundation website, and to my surprise there was help available for someone like me. It was a time of my life when close friends walked out on me because I was too sick for their comfort or understanding. I had been emotionally burnt out, often extremely depressed and had pretty serious doubts if I could ever get out of bed. Even though I was raised in a Christian environment, the life I was living wasn’t worth living and some negative thoughts had crossed my mind. I had lost interest in life, in my family and in my future. Things were black.
Ticked Off and Gregg Kirk with his charisma and caring and his abundance of love provided me with hope, with reassurance that maybe I can get better. He believed what I was going through. He understood when others who knew me for decades didn’t. I felt his determination toward a better future and with resources he made possible for me to participate on the Cowden protocol. I could have never financially supported it on my own. It was because of his vision and kind donations from donors. I know people donate to a cause and don’t know for sure if their donations have been used as intended, or if they have actually made a difference in someone’s life. I am here to tell you that donors have made a difference. I am living proof that without your donations I would have never gotten in the place, physically and emotionally that I am now. I am not cured but I have something better. I have hope for a better quality of life. I have a few good days and my mental state is more balanced and better because of your help. Being affected by Lyme in many ways is worse than the most dreaded disease because it is in plain sight but disguised at the same time. It is cruel, brutal, unfair and psychologically the fight of a lifetime for some of us. It pushes you to be the worst you can be or the best you can be.
I respect what Gregg does and I consider him a gift from God. For me, his foundation is and has been a lifeboat in the midst of an ocean. Because of Gregg’s knowledge and understanding I was given a chance to be me again. I am not Lyme. Lyme is not defining who I am. Lyme is just a boulder in my path. The most important thing anymore is not what limits me but all the things that I can do. I now have new possibilities, something that wasn’t possible before for someone in my condition. Please, accept my gratitude. Thank you.
Oursoula, Indiana
The Ticked Off Foundation has been a big help to me with treatment for Lyme disease and other health issues. I also have POTS and Ehler-Danlos Syndrome, and the foundation helped with these treatments, too. The Ticked Off Foundation has helped financially by paying for doctor’s visits and supplements, too. Also, their support group has helped me a great deal. I am thankful for the foundation for being the support that helped me to heal and manage my health issues. Because of their help, I was able to be a part of my sister’s wedding recently! I am thankful for holistic health treatments and Gregg Kirk (the founder). The foundation has helped with giving my life back to me.
Jessica, Texas
Dear Mr. Gregg Kirk:
Thanks so much for your support of Lyme patients in times of crisis. Your foundation’s generosity has made it possible for low income patients like me to get financial assistance in getting medicines for European Borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis and other tick-borne diseases. You are only one of two U.S. organizations that I know of that provides assistance for patients of chronic illness in crisis.
With the medicines Samento and Banderol, I am able to wake up in the late morning instead of the middle of the afternoon. I sleep better at night, too. My concentration and memory are also better after a vigorous die off. Skin complexion is better and overall outlook on life is improved, too.
I hope that in the future, there will be more foundations that will make it possible for those patients who truly need help to cover the expense of long-term herbal and/or antibiotic therapy. As this pandemic continues to spread throughout the U.S. and the world, there will need to be more healers and less of those who stand to profit from the suffering of patients. As the current model is now in the U.S., the medical industrial complex is misdiagnosing patients with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Autism, myalgic encephalomylitis, chronic inflammatory disease, depression and other undefined and unexplained illness when the root cause are chronic infections that are hard to diagnose and treat.
With advances in medical technology and medical diagnostics, there hasn’t been progress made on the advancement of training of physicians in diagnosing and treating vector-borne disease and Lyme disease in the U.S. The ignorance of this disease is especially pronounced in the southern states such as Georgia, where physicians receive little to no training in evaluating suspected cases. As a result, patients like me stand to suffer incredibly disabling conditions that make it nearly impossible to work and to contribute to society in times of illness. Instead of being able to live, most patients like me try to survive day-to-day because of lack of family support, lack of physician support, loss of finances, lack of support from employers, lack of assistance from social welfare agencies, etc.
You should be especially proud of your achievements in helping out others in times of need. You’re a true American and a great humanitarian.
Sincerely,
Paul Harmsen
Peachtree City, GA
Jenn Hyla, Bainbridge Island, WA