Lou’s Story

I spent a winter on Galveston Island some years ago.  This was during an extended camping trip that included northern California where I was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme Disease and Babesia.  But didn’t see the tick and the rash was not an EM, so didn’t suspect anything.  Knew almost nothing about Lyme anyway at that point.

About three weeks or so after the CA visit, I was on the island and developed a swollen knee and strange intermittent nerve irritation at one place on my back.  When I checked with two doctors, neither had a clue. The second one was downright rude.  Told me the knee was same as the other one, not swollen.  But I could hardly bend it.  So, after that I just waited for these things to go away.

2 years later, back home in Maryland, an antibiotic for a dental procedure caused a Herx.  I thought it was an allergy or reaction to the dental material.  Less than a year after that, the roof fell in on me.  Multi-system symptoms, including heart, joints, skin, hearing and eyesight, nervous system, brain, etc.  Had a seizure.  Could not read at one point.  So, all of this, is to show that Texas doctors did not suspect Lyme, and when I later wrote to one of them explaining the diagnosis, no answer.

It also shows that Lyme can be rather dormant for a long time.

And finally, the diagnosis resulted from my library search for something that would explain multi-system symptoms, and found it in a book donated by the local Lyme Support Group.  Another support group helped me find a doctor and get testing, and the results proved Lyme and Babesia.  I hate to think where I would be now without the help given by support groups and try to help others when I can.