My child 8 year old was diagnosed with Lyme disease last week. Here is a brief history of events.
He got his initial Lyme symptoms two and half years ago. He had Rashes, Lymph node swelling and fever at that time and was given cefdinir antibiotic. The symptoms gone away at that time.
However we observed that his joints were weak since then. When we pull he used to complain it pains. Other than that he was perfectly normal until recently.
A month ago he had an injury at school on his left knee. We suspected of muscle sprain and it got better in next few days. Afterwards, we found his left knee was swollen. X-Rays came good. Orthopedic asked to take Rest, elevation, Motrin and Cold packs and given Knee Immobilizer.
After couple of more weeks it improved but other Knee started showing similar symptoms of swelling. He can't walk or stand. Took him to ER and was diagnosed with Lyme.
Western Blot result shows IGG positive and IGM negative, which was interpreted as infected in the past. Igg/Igm Index is 7.17. He was given Amoxicillin 3 doses/day.
Right now, his right knee shows improvement after 7 days of antibiotics. He started walking today, limping though. Our PCP asked us to go to Infectious Disease doctor and we scheduled an appointment next week.
But after reading more about Lyme we feel an LLMD is preferred. Please suggest which LLMD to choose, because I understand LLMD can have various specializations such as Rheumatology, Pediatric, Infectious Disease, Ortho etc...
If you know any good doctor in around Central New Jersey that will be helpful. We are worried whether he can fully recover and prevent it happening in future. Does this rhyme with anybody? Is it curable?
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Breaking up the post for easier reading for many here -
[ 07-16-2015, 12:42 AM: Message edited by: Robin123 ]
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I sent you some names of pediatric LLMD's in CT .. I don't know of any in NJ.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
Welcome to Lymenet! PM sent for VA & PA.
The bacteria which cause Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, like connective tissues, so it is not surprising they get into joints, etc.
Your dear son needs to be evaluated and treated by a Lyme-literate doctor (LLMD). Non LLMDs have no clue about this horrible disease or its complex treatment!
Stay away from Infectious Disease doctors. Read the following link about the controversy surrounding Lyme:
A LLMD is one who has treated Lyme disease and the co-infections which come with it for many years and has gotten patients well. A good one will follow Dr. B's Guidelines, the "gold standard" for Lyme treatment.
Unfortunately, LLMDs are far and few between. You need to go where they are.
Also most LLMDs do not accept insurance due to the politics surrounding this horrible disease. Read poster TF's explanation, "Why Lyme Doctors Don't Take Insurance":
Btw - please break up your posts into 2-3 sentence paragraphs, as there are people on Lymenet who cannot read large blocks of text due to due to neurological problems from Lyme. Thanks.
Posted by dmassiNJ (Member # 46326) on :
I am in need of a pediatric lyme doctor in central NJ. If someone knows of a doctor please email me. Thank you.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
What is the age of the child? Different doctors have different age limits.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
dmassiNJ - Welcome to Lymenet! PM sent for VA & PA.
You should write a new post instead of adding on to an existing one. That way, more people will see it and respond, because most don't re-read old posts.