VanLaanen back from Lyme disease with eye on Sochi

Rachel Axon | USA TODAY Sports

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — Freeskier Angeli VanLaanen traveled to Russia to shoot a film in 2008, skiing not far from where the Sochi Olympics will be held in 56 days.

When she returned to the region a year ago for a test event on the halfpipe, it looked completely different. Then again, VanLaanen was different too.

In the time that the Russian coastal city was being transformed to host an international event, VanLaanen took a three-year hiatus from the sport to get treated for Lyme disease, something that went undiagnosed for 14 years and could have ended her pro career. Now in remission, VanLaanen hopes for another trip to Sochi as part of the U.S. team.

On Wednesday, she qualified first in the event with a score of 89.60 at the Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships, which is serving as the first of five selection events for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. VanLaanen will compete in the finals on Friday. Up to four women will be selected to the team, which will be announced Jan. 18.

"It felt amazing to have everything come together on my first run and go big and get my grabs and land clean," said VanLaanen, 28. "It definitely gives me a lot of confidence in being able to handle the pressure and still have fun and do well.

"On so many levels, this is awesome. But also the journey's awesome. Being an Olympic hopeful, I want to enjoy this time as much as I want to enjoy Sochi."

Sometimes misdiagnosed

For more than a decade, VanLaanen suffered often debilitating symptoms of the disease – extreme fatigue, vertigo, muscle spasms, fainting, and pain in her joints, neck and back. It would flare up throughout her teens, and at times during her 20s the fatigue or the pain was so great she couldn't get out of bed.

Left untreated, Lyme disease can lead to serious long-term issues in the nervous system, heart and joints. Because it can mimic a variety of other illnesses, and because the test for it can produce a false negative, it is often misdiagnosed.

In 2009, the year VanLaanen was diagnosed, the Centers for Disease Control reported 29,959 confirmed cases.

VanLaanen, a native of Bellingham, Wash., turned pro in 2005, unaware at the time that the fatigue and pain were a health issue. Sometimes during the course of a contest, a flare up would impact the way she competed. While she might be fine one day, she might develop vertigo during her run.

Soon she developed a reputation of being mentally weak, something she dealt with by seeking out sports psychology books that she is grateful for now.

"I questioned that at times and was very hard on myself," she said.

By 2008, the flare ups were more common and more debilitating.

"It was just outwardly obvious that there was something up," she said. "One of my fellow athletes explained it as though it looked like I lost where I was in the air and I just fell out of the sky."

VanLaanen thinks she was bit when she was 10 years old when her family lived in Wisconsin, but the disease was misdiagnosed for years. Initially, doctors thought she had a sinus or inner ear problem. As a teen, she was told she had mononucleosis.

She was 24 when her aunt watched a documentary – "Under Our Skin" – and suggested she get tested for Lyme disease. It came back positive, but having an answer wasn't the relief she'd hoped it would be – at least not initially.

She began researching outcomes online only to find the outlook was grim. If caught early, the disease can be treated in a matter of weeks or months. For someone who had the disease as long as she did, it was not promising.

"The relief didn't come until treatment was far enough along that my symptoms started to go away," she said.

A long recovery

Doctors told VanLaanen the disease was in remission in Feb. 2011. To get to that point took nearly three years and a lifestyle change. For two years, she took antibiotic pills. VanLaanen also changed her diet, cutting out processed sugars, caffeine and alcohol. Instead, she ate whole foods – meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Despite that, things got worse before they got better. The treatment worsened her stomach aches.

After two years of taking pills, VanLaanen endured six months of IV treatment. For 4-7 hours every day, her body was pumped full of antibiotics. During that time, she wasn't allowed to be active – a first for her.

Another athlete inspired her to focus on getting back on skis. Australian tennis player Samantha Stosur was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2007 and missed much of that year while undergoing treatment.

In 2011, she won the U.S. Open.

"That's the kind of success story I was looking for," VanLaanen said.

Now VanLaanen's is one of those success stories she hopes others can learn from.

When her symptoms subsided enough, VanLaanen focused her energies elsewhere. Still unable to compete, she started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary about her journey and raise awareness about Lyme disease.

She raised more than $18,000 and the film, "LymeLight," has been shown at Harvard and Stanford.

She realizes how fortunate she is to get to this point. Remission is not always a likely outcome after having the disease as long as she has. Most insurance plans cover only a few months of treatment for the disease. By her estimate, 70 percent of the cost of her treatment came out of pocket, something she was able to afford after competing at the highest levels of her sport.

Once her doctors declared she was in remission, VanLaanen was eager to return to the mountain. A skier since she was 8 years old, she didn't know if she would compete again.

In her first event back, she placed second.

"I always saw myself coming back to this," she said. "I never let go of that.

"It's been my outlet. I was very shy growing up and skiing gave me a place to feel confident and connect with friends and express myself."

Now in her second season since her return, she's learning what it means to compete as a healthy skier for the first time in her life. She doesn't compare what she's doing now to what she could do before her break from the sport.

While it took time, and the assistance of coach Luke Allen, she has re-learned the tricks she could land before her diagnosis.

"She's worked her butt off over three years just to get healthy and being back on top after three years, it's hard to do just because the progression of skiing is so fast," said American freeskier Devin Logan, a favorite to make the Olympic team. "She's an awesome skier to watch. She's so good at halfpipe skiing. Can't wait to see what she brings to the finals."

VanLaanen is now working on perfecting her dream run. The one she put down in qualifying wasn't too far off. Even on days that are frustrating, VanLaanen remains positive.

"I was just so grateful to be on the mountain," she said. "It's a pure sense of joy."

It's within that competitive framework – finding positive in the improvement she makes each day, no matter how incremental – that VanLaanen sets her sights on Sochi.

The competitive skier in VanLaanen didn't go anywhere as she fought to return to the sport she loves, but now that she's back, she's come with a positive perspective and a healthy appreciation of what it means to her.

"It is a success if I put my all into this year no matter the outcome," she said. "The Olympics is a dream. It's been my dream since I was a kid. As much as I really, really want that to happen, I realize all I can do is do my best."