Nov. 11, 2008

In the fall of 2006, Julie Finley, of Collins, Ohio (Western Reserve H.S.), enrolled at Malone College (now University) and began a very fine Pioneer volleyball career.  A 5’7” setter and defensive specialist and now in her third season at Malone, Finley’s first two years at the school were what one might consider “normal”.  Her health was fine and she was enjoying life as any typical college student would be doing.  But that all changed in November of 2007 when she began to notice that her health was starting to decline.  And the bigger problem was that she had no idea why.

One of the first things she noticed was that her right arm was starting to feel funny.  It felt like something was wrong with the nerves.  Sort of a tingly feeling.  Then, she noticed some red dots on her right hand and that she couldn’t move her middle finger.  So she took some medicine that a doctor prescribed and it went away.  Temporarily.  Then her right eye started drooping.  Then she got pink eye.  And she started getting severe headaches.

“I started to get these insane headaches but only on the right side of my head,” said Finley.  “I went to the doctor and then went through all kinds of tests, MRI’s and even specific tests for headaches.  But they couldn’t give me any answers.”

Finley then went to an eye doctor.  But still nothing could be determined as to the cause.  Another doctor who looked at her thought she might have Bell’s palsy.  She started to feel sick all the time and fatigued. 

”I started to sleep all the time,” said Finley.  “But the problem was that I had restless sleep and my muscles ached most of the time.  This past spring (2008), I was so tired all the time that I didn’t do any working out with the team.”

She then went to a neurologist and an infectious disease specialist.  Numerous tests were again done.  “They tested a lot of stuff,” commented Finley.  “They did some more nerve tests and even a spinal tap.”

Her many blood tests were then sent to a lab at University Hospital in Cleveland.  Then came the first semblance of an answer, or even possible answer, to what was wrong with Julie.  One of the blood tests came back as her being borderline for something called Lyme Disease, a rare disease that is not very prevalent in Ohio, but rather usually only seen in eastern states such as Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York.

Once she found out that she might have this unusual thing called Lyme Disease, one of the first people she told about it was her coach, Tanya Hockman.  And unbelievably, Hockman had heard of the disease.  Even more incredibly, Hockman had not only heard of it but was, in fact, personally touched by it herself.

“Once I was told that I might have Lyme Disease, I told coach,” Finley recalls.  “I was surprised to hear that she had heard of it.  She immediately recalled that her college roommate at Malone, and her teammate on the volleyball team, also had Lyme Disease.”

“As soon as Julie told me that she might have Lyme Disease, I immediately remembered that my roommate and volleyball teammate Wendy (Smucker) Breneman was going through the same thing in college,” said Hockman.  “But she wasn’t diagnosed until after college.  Wendy went years without an accurate diagnosis.  It was a confusing and frustrating time in her life.”

After learning that Julie might have Lyme Disease, Hockman immediately went into action.  “Out of concern for Julie, I spent hours on the phone with Wendy, gathering information about the disease, talking through symptoms, and treatment options,” stated Hockman.

Hockman then got Julie and Wendy connected by way of email.  Wendy gave Julie the name of a doctor in Pennsylvania who would definitely be able to let Julie know for sure if she had the disease.  After Julie visited the doctor, he sent some tests that he did on her to California.  Days later, the confirmation came that Julie indeed had Lyme Disease.

“Even though I still didn’t know exactly what it was,” said Finley, “I was so relieved that I was starting to get some answers to all the crazy things that had been happening to me.”

Finley found out that Lyme Disease was something referred to as “the imitator disease” because it imitates so many diseases and is so difficult to diagnose.  Symptoms for Lyme Disease change all the time and they are very random.  Specifically, the disease comes from a tick that lives on deer, again mostly in Pennsylvania and several other eastern States. 

“My family has enjoyed camping all my life,” said Finley.  “While we’ll never know for sure, I guess, how I got the disease, that’s a possibility that it happened while I was camping.”

Once she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, her doctor has had her on plenty of antibiotics, since May, and she is doing much better now with all of the symptoms that were causing her to feel so terrible.

“I’ve started to have a lot more energy since then,” commented Finley.  “There are still days, though, when I have flare-ups.  But the doctor said that he should be able to cure me.” 

Finley is more fortunate than most according to doctors.  Because she is so young, she will likely be cured.  Hockman’s friend in Smithville, meanwhile, will not be able to be cured completely since she did not get diagnosed until later in life.

Finley now sees a Lyme Disease specialist in Sharon, Pennsylvania every month.  And while she is indeed feeling much better, there are still physical signs left behind that may remain for a while. 

“Even now, just touching the right side of my head, it feels different than the left,” said Finley.  “I’m not totally better yet, but a lot better since finding out that I had Lyme last May.  Before, I was taking 10 pills every day and now only four.”

Despite missing months of conditioning since the conclusion of the 2007 season, Finley has been able to catch up since then and has had another solid season in ’08, seeing plenty of time on the court.

“As a testament to Julie’s character, she’s battled through some difficult physical symptoms including short term memory loss and chronic fatigue,” Hockman said.  “I’m relieved and excited to see her contributing to our volleyball team and excelling in her academic major.”

Perhaps without Hockman’s deep connection, through her college roommate who actually had the rare disease, Finley may not have soon, if ever, found out that this was the disease that she indeed had.  “I don’t believe in coincidence,” commented Hockman.  God’s plan is perfect and his resources are limitless.  My faith has been bolstered through this entire experience.”

“I know God sent me to Malone for a reason,” Finley stated.  “It was down to Mt. Vernon Nazarene University and Malone.  I just felt that Malone was the place for me.  And now I know the biggest reason why.”