Love, happiness, sun, and fun

Going home tomorrow after nine glorious days at the beach with Heather.  I will write more later, but I just wanted to share a picture of Heather.  More to come....

"Summer's Unwanted Guests" - the TICK

The front page of the NY Times Thursday Style section has a great article about "Summer's Unwanted Guests", the tick.  


In addition, CBC news posted the following article "Lyme disease is vastly under-reported, CDC says."  


FINALLY - indepth articles and and facts about this awful disease.   

Please read and share.

An inch a month

Hair growth?  A babies growth in height?  Regenerating Nerves?  They say the average growth is an inch per month.

One of the Lyme Disease struggles that Heather is still overcoming has to do with the nerve damage in her feet.  In December 2014 the doctors performed an electromyogram (EMG) on her legs and feet to measure the electrical activity of muscles at rest and during contraction. Nerve conduction studies were also conducted to determine how well and how fast the nerves can send electrical signals.

At that time, the doctors were able to determine that she had nerve damage from her toes to the top of her calves. Not fun tests - but she was a trooper.

These tests were repeated again in March 2015 and fortunately the nerve damage was improving in her calves.  There isn't a time table for nerves to heal - except that it takes time.  The best advice we heard was to expect the nerves to regenerate at a rate of an inch per month.  What does this mean for my long legged beauty - well, we were told that a year was a best guess.

As I have mentioned several times on this blog, her loss of sensation now is pretty much confined to her feet.  Her right foot is worse than her left foot.  The stabbing pains that shoot up her calves are better than they were 7 months ago.  She can go a few days without severe pain, then for no known reason, she is awakened in the middle of the night in excruciating pain.

All diseases suck and it is frustrating to not have a cure or a guaranteed treatment plan - but it still blows my mind that one tiny tick can cause so much damage.  The bacterium from the deer tick is absorbed into the blood stream within 48 hours of attaching.  Forty Eight hours.   I am not saying that if you are bitten that you need to rush to the doctor.  Just be informed and aware.  But if you see a bulls-eye rash GO TO THE DOCTOR.  Quick and easy treatment, if detected early, is a two week course of antibiotic pills.


It saddens me that Heather didn't show any of the earlier warning signs and that by the time her symptoms appeared, she was in the late stages of Lyme Disease.  However, Heather was "lucky" to get a quick diagnosis and they were able to start treating her with the IV antibiotics.  It breaks my heart to hear about so many chronically ill patients that don't get the Lyme diagnosis until they have been ill for years.

What are Neurological Complications of Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial organism that is transmitted to humans via the bite of an infected tick. Most people with Lyme disease develop a characteristic skin rash around the area of the bite. The rash may feel hot to the touch, and vary in size, shape, and color, but it will often have a "bull's eye" appearance (a red ring with a clear center). However, there are those who will not develop the rash, which can make Lyme disease hard to diagnose because its symptoms and signs mimic those of many other diseases. 

Anywhere from 7 to 14 days (or in some cases, 30 days) following an infected tick's bite, the first stage of Lyme disease may begin with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain. 

Neurological complications most often occur in the second stage of Lyme disease, with numbness, pain, weakness, Bell's palsy (paralysis of the facial muscles), visual disturbances, and meningitis symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, and severe headache. 

Other problems, which may not appear until weeks, months, or years after a tick bite, include decreased concentration, irritability, memory and sleep disorders, and nerve damage in the arms and legs.