Lyme Disease, I had heard about it but did not know much about it. That Changed. I was on a date with Michelle, who would eventually become my wife, in 2006. We went for a walk in a wooded area of a park in Eastern Pennsylvania. We stopped to sit down and talk for a while, it was very nice and I certainly enjoyed our time together. When it was over, I headed home and to bed getting ready for Monday morning going to work.

When I got up and went to the shower, I noticed a tick attached to my left side upper chest. I was quite surprised as I had never gotten a tick before in my life. Then I did some research on how to remove it and I eventually did, saving it in a sandwich bag.

At that time I did a little research on Lyme Disease so I’d know what to look for. One of the common indicators is a bull’s eye type rash around the bite spot. This never appeared, so I thought I was clear. Then over the next couple weeks, things started happening. I started to get spots and rashes all over my body. My joints started becoming stiff. I was becoming very tired, my head was getting foggy. Eventually I got so I could hardly open my mouth to eat, I literally had to pull open my mouth with my hands in order to put food in. Not only was I feeling tired all the time, it got to the point that it was all I could do to go to work during the day, I had to go to bed to sleep as soon as I got home. Then my thinking got really foggy and I was becoming unable to focus and concentrate at work. This was getting bad, I knew something was really wrong. I must have Lyme.

In my research I had not yet read the horror stories of mis-diagnosed and unchecked Lyme in people. I made an appointment to go to the Dr.’s office and got in pretty quickly. I saw a Physician’s Assistant, Kim, who I told my story to and she looked me over to see what was going on. Then she brought some of the other doctors in to look at me. After drawing some blood and giving me a prescription for antibiotics I was on my way. I drove straight to the pharmacy to get the medicine. Within just a few hours of taking the first pill, I could feel a difference in what was going on with me, it was all starting to go away that fast. I did not miss even one pill and went through the full course of the prescription. I was well again, what a relief! I thought it was simple.

Then after a while I started seeing the stories about people who had been mis-diagnosed, or the condition went unchecked for months or years. All kinds of people. Kids, adults, and older folks. The mis-diagnosis ranged all over the place from being called some kind of psychological condition, ALS, MS, or many other fatigue or immune diseases, many with either no treatment at all or expensive misdirected and ineffective treatments. Stories of people going from doctor to doctor being told it is all in their heads. Being told it is an extreme degenerative disease, or there is nothing that can be done. I can testify, these symptoms are not all in ones head after getting Lyme. It is very real. Now I read about many more success stories but even just one that is handled ineffectively is too many.

This was very close for me, and every day I am thankful that Dr. Kim got it right on that day and that the medicine to cure me was available. I often wonder why, if it is so simple, that when there is even a possibility of it being Lyme, that a round of antibiotics such as I had would not at least be tried? Given I could tell a difference in just a few hours, and the cost of the prescription is so low compared to the alternative which is a severely compromised life and even the possibility of ending ones life.

I am glad that there is much more awareness about Lyme disease now than there was then, but there is certainly a long way to go. I hope the medical community is able to take it much more seriously so that everyone who is affected by it can have an outcome as I did. It has been over 10 years now in 2017 and I am completely free of Lyme and it’s effects on me. Everyone, when spending time in the woods or outdoors, check yourself for ticks or take a shower before going to bed, just these small actions can prevent this from happening to you in the first place.