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The Daily News
Kamloops, B.C. Canada
June 1, 2006
Lyme disease likely behind girl’s tired condition
By Michele Young Daily News Staff Reporter
Joann Bone and her boyfriend were hiking in the hills behind Westsyde near Deep Lake in mid-March. He found three ticks right after; she found one quite a while later embedded behind her right ear.
He was fine. She had her lymph nodes swell; then she got progressively sicker.
She quickly went from Grade 10 honour-roll student who fished at every opportunity to an exhausted, ailing 15-year-old with symptoms that were a mystery to local doctors.
Her mother, Niki Bone, said she turned over every stone she could think of to find out what was making her daughter sick.
“The doctor couldn’t figure it out,” she said. “She’s sleeping upwards of 18 hours a day.”
“I feel really needy. I don’t like being like this,” said Joann. “I can barely pick up my math book.”
Bone said Wednesday she began to suspect her daughter had Lyme disease, which is commonly carried by ticks. However, local health officials have said there is no Lyme disease in this area.
A frustrated Bone contacted the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation and its president, Jim Wilson, in Westbank
From there, she was referred to Dannie Cade, a Kamloops woman who had Lyme disease for four and a half years before being diagnosed and getting help. (Dannie’s story is featured in the book, Confronting Lyme Disease: What Patient Stories Teach Us by Karen Yerges and Rita L. Stanley, Ph.D.)
Cade told about her own struggle at a meeting of the city’s Chronic Pain Association Wednesday.
“I went from working two jobs to not being able to lift a box of Kraft dinner,” She said.
Initially diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Cade said her illness and search for answers eventually led her to look into Lyme disease. There are strong similarities between Lyme and many other illnesses, including some types of arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis, she said.
The symptoms can include unexplained fever, sweating, chills or flushing, unexplained weight loss or gain, swollen glands, sore throat, fatigue unexplained hair loss, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, chest pain or rib soreness, muscle pain and stiffness of joints, neck or back.
“The doctors are just not knowledgeable about this disease,’ said Cade.
“You lose your self-esteem. You lose your memory.”
The tests used in Canada aren’t very reliable, either, she said.
Eventually, Cade found a doctor in Hope who helped her and many others, including Joann Bone.
She took antibiotics and supplements for two years and while she still has some lingering effects, she is active and busy again. She’s also advocating for others with Lyme disease or who suspect they have it, saying she knows personally of at least 12 other people in Kamloops living with it.
“I’m one of the success stories, and I’m grateful for that. I was sick for a long time.”
Joann is eager to get back to her studies, but the doctor in Hope has said she’ll probably need to be on antibiotics for about six months. She tried returning to school earlier this week to get some books and quickly became dizzy.
Her mother said if she hadn’t found the Lyme Disease Foundation and Cade, she’d still be struggling to help her daughter.
“I would still be fighting,” she said.
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