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Family puts out call to help daughter

After learning their daughter contracted Lyme disease, a former GF couple reach out.
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Rose Schwartz

It’s been awhile since the band has been together, but Dr. Fun and the Nightcrawlers are looking at getting back together for a special fundraiser.Gary Gilbert (aka Dr. Fun) spends less time playing music these days and more time supporting his stepdaughter Rose, who has recently been diagnosed with Lyme disease.Gilbert and wife Tani Schwartz lived in Grand Forks for many, many years before moving to Sechelt six years ago. Gilbert’s Dr. Fun and the Nightcrawlers were very well known around the Kootenay-Boundary. “Gary was there (in Grand Forks) for 30 years; I was there for 10,” said Tani. The Schwartzes moved to Grand Forks when Rose was 11 and Tani met Gilbert shortly after.Growing up, Rose went to Perley Elementary and then graduated from Grand Forks Secondary. She started to get sick when she was 14, starting with heartburn and acid reflux. Rose eventually had trouble keeping food down and was labeled as anorexic, said Tani. “During this time she was, of course, losing weight and we took her to various doctors and specialist and she had numerous medical tests, which showed nothing was physically wrong with her.”Rose did test positive for gastroparesis, which is a condition where the muscles in the stomach don’t function normally, preventing a person from emptying the stomach properly (Mayoclinic.org). But the family didn’t know what caused the gastroparesis.Rose managed to graduate from high school, but, of course, college and her other dreams were out of the question, wrote Tani on their online Fundraiser page. “Her weight plummeted to as low as 71 pounds (32 kg) and none of the specialists we saw knew much about gastroparesis let alone how to treat it, and didn’t seem to take it seriously.“I thought it might be Lyme disease back about five years ago now,” Tani told the Gazette. “She dug a tick head out of her leg. I did some research—I had already been doing a lot of research trying to find out what caused the gastroparesis because nobody could tell me—I found out that Lyme disease can cause a lot things including gastroparesis.”Rose was tested for Lyme disease in Canada five years ago using what is called the ELIZA test but the results were negative.Following the lead of a family friend, Tani and Gary had Rose tested by a private lab in California at their own expense.“It’s the western blot test,” she said. “It’s the one they do in Canada if you get a positive result with the ELIZA test, which is rare. So I just skipped that step. I went directly to that lab.”Rose’s result were 100 per cent positive for Lyme disease, said Tani.To help with the cost of treatment for Rose, Tani started an online fundraiser page at fundrazr.com/campaigns/8ifec. They have set a goal of $20,000 and are 80 per cent of their way there.Gilbert is also hoping to get Dr. Fun and the Nightcrawlers back together soon for a benefit concert in Grand Forks.“My husband’s trying to get all the guys together,” said Tani. “We just wanted to update everyone in Grand Forks that we now know what caused the gastroparesis. Now we can treat it. We’re just looking into what our treatment options are. We know none of it will be covered by B.C. Medical. We may have to travel (for treatment).”