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The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections.
The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website.
Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect.
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Lyme Disease a reality for three Huron families
Clinton News-Record
Sept. 29
There may be only one confirmed case of Lyme disease in Huron County,
but it’s a reality that at least three Huron County families deal with
every day.
Receiving word he could return to a modified work week after more than
two years off, Clinton resident Lyn Jerome recently took a huge step in
his ongoing fight against Lyme disease.
“It really plays a mind game with you. It’s the toughest thing I’ve
had to do,” the 63-year-old said.
“Some days you just want to give up and then you look at a couple of
photos of your grandkids and say, ‘yeah it’s worth it.’
“There’s a reason for this, but what that reason is I’m not sure yet.”
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection (Borellia burgdorfer), spread by
ticks. Symptoms can be as mild as fever and chills and as serious as
muscle paralysis, severe arthritis, or heart and neurological disorders.
According to the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, most disease
transmitting bites occur from a tick in the nymph stage, when ticks are
only the size of a poppy seed. Many victims do not recall a bite, and
only a minority, about 30 per cent will get a ‘bull’s eye’ rash.
Linda Stobo, of the Huron County Health Unit, said only one Huron
County resident has been reported as having Lyme disease and that case
was reported in 2004.
“We can only report what we know is confirmed from the public health
laboratory,” she explained, adding that as a reportable disease, Lyme
disease cases are recorded on a provinical data base.
“Our job is prevention and surveillance, so we encourage people to get
their doctors to test for Lyme disease if they think they have it. And,
we’re here to support doctors as well if they’re not sure about the
disease.”
Jerome was bitten by a tick while retrieving his radio controlled
airplane from a bush area during an excursion just south of Goderich in
October 2003. Thinking it was a black fly bite, he forgot about it
until more than a month later when the skin tag changed colour.
Identifying the lesion as a tick bite, Jerome’s doctor removed the
insect and threw it away.
After a bite, the Lyme bacteria spreads into the blood system quickly
and can be found within the central nervous system as soon as 12 hours
later.
Over the next few months, Jerome began experiencing a variety of
symptoms that ranged from extreme fatigue and irregular blood pressure
to heart palpitations. After being admitted to the hospital, tests
indicated Jerome’s body functions were beginning to shut down.
Recalling the tick bite, Jerome shared his history with the doctor in
charge and was soon tested for Lyme.
Results from the ELISA test were negative, but as his condition
continued to deteriorate, Jerome and his family went through a number
of medical hoops before pushing their new doctor in Toronto for the
more expensive Western Blot Test in California.
The second test – an out-of-pocket expense for the Jeromes – came back
positive and nearly one year after the initial tick bite treatment for
Lyme disease began.
The Western Blot Test is also used to detect West Nile Virus.
If caught early, Lyme disease can effectively be treated by
antibiotics. However, because symptoms differ from patient to patient,
diagnosis of Lyme disease is difficult.
Early symptoms are flu-like, but if left untreated the infection may
develop into a chronic disease.
Common incorrect diagnoses include: fibromyalagia, arthritis, chronic
fatigue, heart disorders, lupus, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), psychiatric
disorders, early Alzheimer disease, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel
syndrome and many other non-descript illnesses.
While she has suffered from many of the symptoms of Lyme disease for
the past 15 years, Scarlett Swan, of Seaforth, has never received a
positive diagnosis.
But, after two and a half years of being shunted from specialist to
specialist and being tested for everything from lupus to MS, she
finally saw a Lyme disease specialist who decided to treat her as if
she had the disease and she began to improve.
“I was at the point of total collapse. All the doctors kept saying it
couldn’t be Lyme disease because it (the disease) wasn’t in Ontario.
And, then they asked if I’d been to Long Point or Point Pelee and said
I couldn’t have it because I hadn’t been there,” she said.
“So many of us fall through the cracks. People need to know that Lyme
disease is here and they have to insist on being tested.”
Working as a veterinary technician in Zurich, Swan believes she was
bitten by a tick while walking along a roadside ditch during her lunch
hour.
She never found the tick but had the typical rash. She also ended up
developing arthritis and heart beat problems, all symptoms typical of
Lyme disease.
While she doesn’t want to look back at the “what ifs,” Swan said she
wishes she’d pushed harder for the blood test for Lyme disease since
she now has permanent damage.
“They call Lyme the great imitator and I was tested numerous times for
other conditions. You start to think you’re crazy. To me, I had Lyme
disease and I started asking to be tested six weeks into it,” she said.
The diagnosis process for Londesboro-area resident Ray Biesinger and
his family was also a challenge.
Developing symptoms in the fall of 1988, Biesinger and his two
daughters, Aliecia and Uneeta, were not officially diagnosed until 1991
by their doctor in Ajax, Ont. One of Biesinger’s two sons also
experienced symptoms, but was labelled ‘indeterminate’ in the last
stage of the three-tier testing process.
“I used to take my kids back to the river east of Londesboro a lot to
check out the wildlife and that's where we were bitten,” Biesinger said.
Like Jerome, Biesinger sought out specialized help outside of the area
when local doctors had no answer. The family went through an internal
specialist in London, a psychologist and many others before reaching a
diagnosis.
And while a series of antibiotic treatments have made Lyme more
manageable, Biesinger finds himself depending on a number of coping
strategies to deal physically, mentally and emotionally.
“One of the chronic problems is Lyme arthritis, which attacks all
joints in your body. As long as I keep moving I’m okay, but if I sit
still too long I really seize up,” he explained.
“Memory is also an issue. If I don’t write things down I forget, so I
have a notebook with me all of the time.”
As for his daughters, the oldest, Aliecia, has experienced difficulty
with fatigue and premature births of her three children, while Uneeta
endured vision problems as a child. As women they continue to cope with
daily struggles, but Uneeta’s eyesight has greatly improved to the
point where she no longer needs glasses.
The Ontario Ministry of Health encourages prevention of tick bites by
wearing long pants, long sleeved shirts, fully closed shoes or boots
and tucking pants into socks while walking in grassy or wooded areas.
DEET products also act as a repellant.
The primary carrier of the corkscrew-shaped Lyme bacteria in Ontario is
the black-legged tick. Both birds and mammals can serve as hosts.
Warmer than usual winter temperatures are in part responsible for an
increase in the local tick population, because they don’t die off in
the cold, Biesinger added.
Infection is unlikely to occur before 36 hours of attachment, so in the
event of a tick bite the Lyme Disease Association of Ontario recommends
removal with fine-pointed tweezers and cleansing the area with
antiseptic.
Once removed, the tick should be sent away for identification and
tested for Lyme disease if it is a black-legged tick. Notes on the
location, date and area of the body should also be sent.
At the end of 1999, 294 cases were reported to the Ontario Ministry of
Health. The first published case of Lyme disease was diagnosed in a
13-year-old girl from Chatham in 1977.
Both Biesinger and Jerome agree there is a common misconception that
Lyme disease does not exist in Huron County.
“The government knows it’s here and they know it’s prevalent. In the
U.S. they track it much better,” Biesinger explained. “When the
migratory birds are in the states the tick get on and when the birds
fly to Canada the ticks get off.
“The government has spent a lot of time on the veterinary side of it,
but there are still a lot of doctors that are uninformed.”
Jerome said he has contacted Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell and MP Paul
Steckle to express his concerns with the current testing system.
“All of the Canadian health system needs to understand that this is
happening because not only is it costing me money, but it’s costing the
government money as well,” Jerome commented, adding his personal costs
have topped $8,000.
“We need to be more aggressive. If you have a tick removed, make sure
that it gets sent in for testing. If your doctor won’t do it, take it
to the health unit yourself.”
For more information on Lyme disease check out the national foundation
website at canlyme.com.
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