Madison Area Lyme Support Group

Your Labs Are Normal is a powerful autobiographical short film highlighting one woman’s struggle with chronic Lyme disease, a widely misunderstood and politicized illness that affects thousands of people every year.

When Rhisa, an otherwise healthy woman in her 20s, falls ill with debilitating headaches, fatigue, and chronic pain, she and her loved ones search New York for a diagnosis. Even as Rhisa’s health deteriorates, doctors insist that her lab tests don’t indicate illness. Wracked with pain and dismissed by healthcare professionals, she falls into despair until a chance encounter with a nurse finally gives Rhisa her answer: for years, she’s been suffering from undiagnosed Lyme disease.

The story is only made more compelling by the fact that it’s completely rooted in personal experience— writer/director Rhisa Parera bares her soul as she recounts her own decades-long battle with chronic Lyme, and the result is a subtle, delicate, and moving story of chronic illness, endurance, and the complex failings of our healthcare system.