Lyme disease a crushing blow

"I ended up with so much pain in my spine and glutes that I couldn't sit up at all and within chronic pain in my whole body all the time. I couldn't read and had trouble thinking. It was about a year and a half ago when I really hit bottom, but with treatment I've been slowly cli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRocky Mountain Outlook
Main Author Alexander, Rob
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Canmore, Alta Postmedia Network Inc 15.05.2014
Subjects
Hutchinson, Sarah
BOW VALLEY
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Summary:"I ended up with so much pain in my spine and glutes that I couldn't sit up at all and within chronic pain in my whole body all the time. I couldn't read and had trouble thinking. It was about a year and a half ago when I really hit bottom, but with treatment I've been slowly climbing out of that. And now I'm at the point where my spine is a lot better. I can lie on my back, but I still have difficulty sitting up," she said. "The noise sensitivity has certainly improved and my thinking and concentration has improved a lot. I can read as much as I want now." In an article on her website, May wrote: "It breaks my heart to see families struggle with the costs of going to the U.S. to get treatment for family members with Lyme disease. Even worse is hearing from people suffering from Lyme who cannot afford treatment in the U.S. and are unable to find care in Canada. Many doctors are working hard, as are many provinces. Surely sharing best practices to decrease the extent of Lyme, the reliability of diagnosis and the research work toward improving treatment regimes is in all of our interests." Alberta Health initiated a tick surveillance program in 2013 to encourage the public to send in ticks they find, whether on themselves or outside for testing for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Ticks found on pets can be taken to most veterinary offices for testing. Alberta Health suggests calling local vets to confirm this first. According to Alberta Health, 32 cases of Lyme disease were reported between 1998 and 2012. Alberta Health indicated that in all of these cases the individuals contracted Lyme disease while travelling outside of Alberta, however, "there is a possibility that the ticks that carry Lyme disease may emerge in Alberta" but "the current risk of being bitten by a tick infected with Lyme bacteria is believed to be very low."