Then

Dr. Kristen HoneyI suffered from undiagnosed Lyme disease and debilitating coinfections for nearly ten years. Throughout my illness, I managed to complete a master’s degree, hold prestigious fellowships, and begin a PhD at Stanford University. But in 2009, the final year of my PhD program, the disease progressed and became neurological, and I collapsed completely. I finally received a positive diagnosis, and I embarked on a two-year recovery plan with immense support from my Mom, who had been a nurse and could provide emotional support and love as well as medical support.
One year into that plan, my beloved Mom took her own life by suicide, and grief overwhelmed my recovery plan and tore my family apart. I was left alone to navigate myself back to health, amidst a medical community divided on how to treat or acknowledge Lyme disease. I was nearly homeless, unable to function as I used to, on food stamps, on medical leave from Stanford, and suffering daily debilitating pain and neurological effects of the disease. I was falling through the cracks, as so many Lyme patients do.

But I was lucky to have the professional scientific network and confidence to find a team of doctors who were willing to help me try experimental new treatments. Along with a change in diet and lifestyle, and holistic mind-body-spirit healing, I used an uncommon treatment for Lyme — oligotherapy, which restores essential trace minerals in bioavailable form to the body, plus IV nanosilver and nanogold. The bioavailable trace minerals, coupled with nanosilver and nanogold that had antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, provided support for my compromised immune system. It saved my life. Unfortunately, this treatment is not yet commercially available, so I was my own guinea pig in an off-the-books pilot experiment. University researchers today are studying this potentially promising treatment. As research and more scientific understanding becomes available, I plan to provide more details on those treatments on this website.

I found myself in a desperate situation, facing a lifetime of pain and symptom management without quality of life — or, alternatively, I could try something different (IV nanominerals) and face unknown risks without any guarantee that it would heal late-stage Lyme. It was an untenable situation, especially for someone bed-ridden and as ill as I was with “Lyme brain” and pain. Based on limited scientific information and guided by my own personal tolerance for the unknown and risk (and after six months of FDA-approved antibiotics/antifungals failing to work), I ultimately chose the unknown. I went outside the bounds of FDA-approved treatments and self-administer intravenous injections of nanominerals. No patient should ever have to self-treat like this.

Fortunately, the treatments worked, and my Lyme healing journey has a happy ending. Today, after two and a half years (from 2009 to 2012) of hard-fought treatment, I am symptom free and 100% Lyme free.

My story is one of inspiration, hope, courage, and new scientific thinking about comprehensive, integrative medicine for mind-body-spirit wellness and healing on all levels. I am living proof that late-stage Lyme disease and autoimmune disorders associated with Lyme disease are reversible and curable — even after over ten years of misdiagnoses, neurological damage, and years of disability.

Lyme disease infects an estimated 300,000 Americans every year. We have to do better for those who are affected, and I started Honey2Healing to honor the contributions my Mom made to my recovery, and to use my knowledge and experience to help others recover and to show that 100% recovery is possible.

Read more about Dr. Kristen Honey’s journey from Stanford PhD to food stamps … and back!


Now

I am a Senior Policy Analyst at the White House, Office of Management and Budget, in Washington, D.C. My portfolio in previous roles at the Office of Science and Technology included open data, My Data (e.g., Blue Button My Data health IT interoperability, Green Button My Data energy), and data-driven innovations for invisible illness, mental health, and the President’s policy priorities. Recently, I gave a talk, Healing Beyond Labels, at the 2017 benefit, LymeAid.


Rest. Breathe. Sleep. Pray.
Accept. Surrender.
Heal.