May is Lyme disease awareness month. Don’t you just love her lime sunglasses, lime nail polish, and lime wine glass? Based on this happy face, nobody would know that she has Lyme disease – my brave Lyme warrior. She certainly has attracted attention with her green nail polish and it has allowed her to share her story, our blog, and tell people about the importance to check for ticks. This whole blogging thing is new to me and sharing private information in a public forum is challenging. I want to be honest, yet stay positive. By sharing our blog we hope to educate people about the necessity to prevent, detect, and and treat Lyme disease. Much of the information that I share is obtained from the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) website (http://www.ilads.org).
To update on Heather’s progress, the warm weather has certainly helped with her nerve pain. Her body is adjusting to the new nerve medication. She still has some loss of sensation in her feet, but it won’t keep her from sinking her toes into the sand at the beach. Hard to believe that 6 months ago she was working 10+ hours a day which included 8-10 miles of walking each day. One stinking bug bite was life altering. I really really really don’t like ticks. On a positive note, Heather is healing.
Ticks can vary in size from a poppy-seed size nymphal tick to a sesame-seed size adult tick. The ticks can carry other infectious agents besides the spirochete that causes Lyme disease, including Ehrlichia, Anaplamosis, Babesia, and Bartonella. Lyme disease can sometimes be hard to cure if these other infections are not treated at the same time.
