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Community Corner

Look Out For Lyme Disease

Don't drop your guard as the kids get older.

When my kids were younger, we were avid tick hunters. Each night we’d thoroughly check each kid and for extra measure, make sure they had a bath and scrub them with a soapy washcloth. But now they’re 16, 14 and 11 and I admit it — I don’t check anymore. In fact, the whole tick thing totally left my mom-radar.

So when my 11 year old, Eric, got in my car last week and said, “Mom, my face feels funny when I smile,” I was pretty taken aback to see the whole right side of his face drooping. I didn’t panic but did call in the troops—making information-seeking phone calls to our friend who is a nurse, another friend who is a physical therapist, my sister-in-law who is an infectious disease specialist and our pediatrician. Eric’s dad is a doctor, but as luck would have it, he was at the hospital and of no help for my urgent inquiry. All of my phone consultants said the same thing — it sounded like a Bell’s palsy and was most likely something tick related. I knew this was the case, but couldn’t help worrying about the more serious possibilities, including stroke.

All of this was settled when my husband got home, had Eric strip and we found the bull’s-eye rash. Yep — he had Lyme.

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When I would mention Eric’s Lyme disease to people, it felt like almost everyone had someone in their family who has had Lyme. It is everywhere in Rockland County. People asked me where Eric got the tick and it’s an impossible question. It could have been on a baseball field, in the Berkshires or, just as likely, on my front lawn. We have often seen deer hanging out in the neighborhood and while they are beautiful, I can’t help but feel their main purpose in life these days is to get hit by our cars and give our children Lyme disease.

One of the often-repeated themes of my friends’ Lyme stories is the difficulty in diagnosis. We caught Eric’s early (I never thought I’d be grateful for a Bell’s palsy), but he had symptoms the week before that were brushed off. I brought him to the pediatrician when he was complaining of a stiff neck and headaches. Our friend had meningitis last year and the stiff neck was a real alarm bell to me. Our usual MDs weren’t available so Eric saw the nurse practitioner. She told me he had a cold/virus and he should rest for a few days. I figured if she wasn’t concerned with the stiff neck, then maybe I shouldn’t be. When I pushed for a vision test to possibly explain the headaches, we found out his vision was uneven and she suggested we see an ophthalmologist. The next week, we did and Eric reported a twitching in his eye. The ophthalmologist said it was unrelated to the vision problems and didn’t give it a second thought.

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Both the nurse practitioner and the ophthalmologist are smart women and very good at what they do. But there’s a part of me that feels like in Rockland County, medical personnel should be acutely aware of Lyme and its many symptoms and if any patient presents with these, it should be one of the first things they consider.

There’s a fine line between vigilance and Lyme paranoia, but here are some things to look out for with Lyme: Bull’s-eye rash, stiff neck, headache, facial palsy, fatigue, joint pain, chills or fever. It’s very easy for these symptoms to be explained by some other cause, but if you are concerned, there’s nothing wrong with asking for a Lyme test. Unfortunately, sometimes the test yields false results, but better to test and hopefully get an answer.

I have heard of too many cases, in both children and adults, where the symptoms were vague and doctors missed the diagnosis. Don’t be afraid to push for the test, even if your doctor tells you he or she doesn’t think it is Lyme. At the worst, you’ll be wrong, but there’s a good chance you’ll be correct. The sooner a patient gets on antibiotics, the better their chances of eliminating the disease.

Left untreated, Lyme can be debilitating and can affect you for years. Eric’s illness has reminded me of how important it is to do tick checks (even on the big kids) and to not brush off certain symptoms. I feel horribly guilty for telling him that he probably pulled a muscle and that’s why his neck was stiff and that I get twitching in my eye every once in a while and it’s no big deal. The night before he was diagnosed, he had his favorite spicy tuna salad from New City Sushi and told me that “it just didn’t taste like it usually does.” It turned out losing ability to taste is a sign of a Bell’s Palsy, too. I had no idea and just thought he wasn’t in the mood for the salad. Hopefully, Eric will be okay but I will certainly look at things differently now.

Here are a few resources for information on ticks and Lyme disease:

Rockland County Department of Health: http://www.co.rockland.ny.us/health/CD/td.htm

American Lyme Disease Foundation: http://www.aldf.com/index.shtml

Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/

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