Nothing — Not Even Lyme Disease — Can Keep This Couple Apart

With an estimated 300,000 annual diagnoses in the United States alone, Lyme disease has quickly become one of America’s most common — and least understood — infectious diseases.

Earlier this year, reality TV star Yolanda Foster made waves when she discussed her struggles with Lyme, first on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills and then in a post on her blog. “I have lost the ability to read, write, or even watch TV, because I can’t process information or any stimulation for that matter. It feels like someone came in and confiscated my brain and tied my hands behind my back to just watch and see life go by without me participating in it,” she wrote in January. She’s since posted hospital photos to Instagram and spoken out about her recovery, all in the hopes of drumming up support to find a cure.

In this new video for the Weddings section of The New York Times, newlyweds Elisabeth Hall and Matthew Danzig share how their relationship grew around Elisabeth’s Lyme disease diagnosis. In 2011, after a few months of dating, Elisabeth, a Columbia University graduate student, began to feel fatigued and struggled to form sentences. She was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease and learned that she’d been infected for eight years. In the video above, see how Elisabeth and Matthew were able to support each other — and keep their love alive — through the hardships of Lyme.

Up Next: Yolanda Foster: With Lyme Disease, ‘I Have Lost The Ability To Read, Write, Or Even Watch TV’