<A Story About Lyme Disease

By Jon Davis

Six inches of snow covered the Ohio ground that December day in 1995. I hit
the woods and found some very big tracks. I followed them and within a few
yards found a "dead deer" lying at the treeline. Its ribs and spine were
showing, and its eyes were sunken. I decided to continue to my stand and
return later to investigate.

After about an hour of hunting, I walked up again on the buck and was
surprised to find that it wasn't dead. It had merely been sleeping or
"playing possum." The buck rose and was obviously in bad shape. Its back
right leg was dragging above the knee, and its left was not looking good,
either. Still, the buck managed to run.

I followed it into the open field and found it standing broadside. The
decision to put the buck out of its misery came quickly, but I had no idea
how tough this task would be. It took five arrows and a pursuit that
stretched the better part of a mile. But finally, the determined monarch was
down for keeps. In fact, as the buck expired at 5 p.m., the local church
bells rang out "Joy to the World."

The next day, I found out that someone I knew had wounded the deer during
the shotgun season. It's an incredible 13-pointer that misses the BTR
minimum by less than an inch.

These days, I don't chase deer. Even a foot race would be impossible. I have
late-stage Lyme Disease and can hardly walk. There is a lot of confusion
clouding the diagnosis of this debilitating affliction, proper treatment and
cure.

Three ticks have bitten me - in 1991, 2000 and 2002. The third came after
I'd been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, and was told I would
be
dead in three to five years. Then in July 2002, I tested positive for Lyme
Disease. All three tick bites had been on my scalp at the back of my head. I
did not think to look for the telltale bull's-eye rash, but it might not
have mattered since only 50 percent of infected people get the rash.

We've all heard of Lyme Disease, but not many people know of the 40-plus
symptoms of this tick-borne ailment. Patients diagnosed with many other
ailments exibit the symptoms of Lyme Disease. These illnesses include ALS;
multiple sclerosis; Parkinson's; gout; carpal tunnel syndrome; hepatitis;
Epstein-Barr virus; ADHD; TMJ (jaw pain); Crohn's disease; Alzheimer's;
fibromyalgia; chronic fatigue syndrome; Bell's Palsy; lupus and some forms
of arthritis. And Lyme Disease is present on every continent except
Antarctica.

My first symptoms were tiny muscle twitches in my legs. These twitches would
cause a single muscle strand to contract. Eventually, the twitching spread
over my entire body. My legs began to feel weak and heavy, and I became
clumsier. Now, I never was what you'd call graceful, but this was
ridiculous.

In November 2001, I was helping to erect a pole barn as part of a church
project. Climbing around in the rafters, nailing and screwing down the sheet
metal roof, I became very aware of how my legs were weakening. Climbing the
treestand ladders also was difficult. By the late-January bow season, I had
to pull my legs up to get my feet on the next step.

Throughout the next year, it was apparent that I was in trouble. People
asked if I'd hurt my back or legs. My walk was different. I developed a
double-foot droop. The Lyme Disease was into my nervous system,
deteriorating the signal from my brain to my muscles. In December 2002, I
forbade myself from driving for safety's sake. I could no longer move my
foot from the gas pedal to the brakes without lifting my leg with my hand.
And getting up a tree was out of the question.

So we improvised. We bought an ATV and set up a ground blind so I could try
to continue my hunting passion. I had been lucky to take a deer each of my
first 14 seasons, but I had not shot one in the last two years. However, my
cousin, Dave, called in to 22 yards a jake that I shot in Miami County last
May. (Thank you, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, for repopulating
those beautiful birds!)

Lyme Disease can do more than take away your motor skills. You can lose
eyesight, hearing, speech and even the ability to swallow and breathe. If it
goes undetected for too long, you could die. The Lyme symptoms closely
resemble those of ALS and MS. Lyme can cause mental anxiety, depression,
weight loss or gain, sleepless nights and drowsy days. It is the "great
imitator" of other diseases.

The most common Lyme test, the ELISA, is only 10 percent accurate. Others,
like the Antibody Capture, IgC and IgM Western Blot, are about 65 percent
accurate within the first 4-12 weeks of infection and less than 50 percent
accurate through the next two years. These tests are also known for showing
false positives and false negatives. The most accurate tests are the Lyme
Culture and the PCR test, which checks for actual RNA/DNA of live bacteria.

The Lyme bacteria are in the spirochete family and are possibly sexually
communicable. Since the microorganisms are present in most bodily fluids,
they can be spread through blood transfusions and have the potential to be
passed from mother to child at conception or through breast milk.

The scariest part of all this is that the medical community treats this
potentially fatal disease with just 4 to 6 weeks of antibiotics. But mature
bacteria can go into cyst form for 6 months or longer and reemerge,
according to Lyme expert Dr. Greg Bach of Colmar, Pa.

In severe cases, it takes several months and, in some cases, years of
rotating different antibiotics at high doses to control the disease. Last
June, I had a Mediport installed so I can take 2-gram shots of IV Rocephrin
per day for 3 to 6 months. Needless to say, this can create problems with
insurance companies.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms, especially if you know a deer
tick has bitten you, contact a Lyme Disease website listed below. If you do
have Lyme Disease, you cannot afford to let it get out of control. Take it
from me. I'm 43 and can barely walk around my own home. My wife's symptoms
include panic attacks and headaches. But she has been terrific throughout
this terrible ordeal.

Don't let your family doctor be the only source for accurate diagnosis of
this disease. I urge you to seek a professional who is familiar with Lyme
and similar diseases. Just be thorough and persistent in your treatment
options. I must thank my friend, Jack Miller, who sent us in the right
direction. He once had a customer who had been diagnosed with ALS and was
found by Dr. Bach to in fact be suffering from Lyme Disease. Thank God we
didn't settle for the death sentence.

Get the Facts

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would provide crucial
funding for education and research on Lyme Disease. Please contact your
congressmen and state senators in Washington, D.C., and ask for their
support of the bill. The medical information presented in this article is
supported by Dr. Gregory Bach D.O., P.C., a congressional consultant on Lyme
Disease. A brochure on Lyme is available by calling (610) 388-7333. For Lyme
Disease resources on the web, visit the following sites:
. ilads.org (medical/professional org.)
. lymenet.org (general info., with many links)
. lymediseaseassociation.org (Lyme-literate doctor referrals)
. [email protected] (e-mail)

Jon Davis - [email protected]

copyright � 2004 Buckmasters Whitetail Magazine>>