November 14, 2009
Sara Marie’s Lyme Disease Story
November 6, 2009
Sarasota, Florida Man Received Rocky Mountain Spotted from Tick
A tick carrying a rare disease infected a Sarasota-area man while he was clearing brush in the southern part of the county, spreading the first case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever seen here since 2005.
The man, who is 52 and lives in Sarasota County, was sick for more than a week but has fully recovered. He did not realize he had been bitten until he came down with flu-like symptoms and went to see his doctor, said county epidemiologist Scott Pritchard.
Although he was bitten in September, health officials did not announce it until Tuesday. Testing to confirm the case took several weeks.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, usually signaled by high fever and a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the hands and feet, is the worst of all tick-borne bacteria illnesses. If not treated with antibiotics, it kills 20 percent of people who contract it.
While named for the Western mountain region where it was discovered, more than half of cases occur in the Southeastern United States. Even so, only 19 cases were reported in Florida last year. And only 70 percent of those involved bites that actually occurred in the state.
That someone in Sarasota came down with the illness is not a sign it is suddenly prevalent here, Pritchard said. Data show that ticks across the state are carriers, and infections are as constant as they are varied by location.
To transmit the fever bacteria, the ticks must hang on, sucking blood, for six to eight hours — longer than it takes to transmit the more common Lyme Disease.
But once a tick has grabbed hold, the kind that carry the fever, mostly dog ticks and wood ticks, may be difficult to spot. They are tiny, some stretching only a millimeter long. Pritchard says they can be as small as the letter D on a dime.
“Most people think of big nasty ticks they can feel or detect,” Pritchard said. “The ticks that transmit this disease can be very small.”
It is mostly children under 15 who contract the disease, although the previous reported case in Sarasota involved a 50-year-old man.
More than 90 percent of those who get it are infected between April and September. Suggestions for avoiding ticks include using a repellent with DEET; wearing light-colored clothing, so ticks are easier to spot; and tucking pant legs into your socks.
March 3, 2009
Under Our Skin Discussion on Oprah.com
We’ve sent Oprah Winfrey our Lyme troubled Health Insurance stories and we’ve sent in over 275 stories to her forum in the past. Now Oprah has started a Lyme Disease Message Board at www.oprah.com. She want to hear more stories from us. I recommend that everyone registers on her website and publishes their Lyme story.
HarpoBear, Oprah.com Community Producer, states that she doesn’t have the time to read all of the post on her forum. HarpoBear has also suggested that if you really want to get her attention you should email her or if you want to suggest a idea for The Oprah Winfrey Show you can click here.
January 11, 2009
Joe the Tick’s Lyme Success Story
“I beat Lyme. I’d like to share my story,” wrote Joe. To someone hurting with Lyme symptoms, could there be any sweeter words than those?
Joe’s story filled me with inspiration. “Don’t give up hope,” he says, and he should know.
Although he now resides in Europe, he grew up in a region of the US where ticks are a part of everyday life, especially for a kid with a dog. Sick during his childhood with mysterious symptoms that he was eventually told he had outgrown, he struggled with chronic pain many years later. After a vacation in Barcelona, he became very ill and dragged himself from doctor to doctor, as one after another refused to treat him for Lyme. He was desperate and suicidal during the roughest period, which lasted six years. At the end of that time he discovered a newly established Lyme treatment clinic in Germany, the Borreliose Centrum Augsburg, and his life took a dramatic turn for the better.
At the clinic, his recovery from Lyme officially began. He was placed on three months of IV antibiotics, but not a “cocktail” blend that some US Lyme doctors use. Immediately, he began feeling better. In addition to antibiotics, doctors at the clinic engaged him in several types of the supporting therapies, including infrared and oxygen treatments. He also uses the powerful herbal therapies from Stephen Buhner’s book, Healing Lyme.
Today, Joe has returned to the working world. The terrible six year period now seems surreal to him. “It’s an intense pain that doesn’t go away, and nobody can understand it,” he says. “It’s confusing for the person who has it, trying to explain it to their friends and their employers.”
Joe feels strongly that people who heal from Lyme should follow up with their doctors, so medical professionals can better track which Lyme treatments are working, and which are not. He has talked to doctors who tell him that often patients leave their care and never update the doctors about their condition. Unfortunately, it’s easy to find stories of people suffering from Lyme disease, yet less common to hear about those who are healing and engaged in vital and productive lives again. There’s plenty of bad news on the web. This is why we collect and share success stories.
September 4, 2008
Lyme Disease Clinic in Augsburg, Germany
I completed a 3 month intensive antibiotic treatment at the new Lyme Disease Clinic in Augsburg, Germany earlier this year for my Chronic Lyme Disease.
The treatment went well and I’m feeling great. It’s been 3 months since I went off the infusion. Returned to work which has been interesting and rewarding.
Pain free and mentally fit creates a different world 
Here are some photos of Augsburg, Germany.