Topic: More Lyme education needed at the ground level
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
How many BILLIONS of dollars do the health departments get of our tax money... and where is the Lyme money going?
NOT to education!
I stopped by an old familiar place today where I know the ticks have Lyme- a high rate- and other infections. There was a young girl.. in her 20's.. working at the outdoor facility that is famous for it's nasty tick populations.
Just this summer.. her first year... she said she has had at least 30 tick bites so far.
She said she would get a Lyme rash after many of the bites.. but they always went away on their own... so she didn't do anything.
She said a couple of times after being bitten she would get "a whole bunch of rashes all over."
Trying no to panic her, I asked casually if she ever felt sick.
She said she has always been healthy but for some reason she was feeling really tired lately.. and she looked like she was.
She was planning to make an appointment so she could stop in some doctors office and get a Lyme test to see if she might have Lyme... because she just got insurance.
She didn't think she needed to be treated if the rash went away on its own. She didn't know if you have the rash, you've got Lyme. She didn't know the tests weren't always accurate.
WHERE ARE THE HEALTH DEPARTMENTS AND WHERE IS OUR TAX MONEY GOING?
posted
Isn't it amazing, TC, and you live in an endemic area. Education MIA!
It's my opinion that health depts are standing down. They have posters up about other infectious diseases, like AIDS, TB, STDs, etc, but none about Lyme. One city dept even said "there's not much tick habitat here".
So it may be up to us. I try to build in educating throughout the day - handing out brochures, flyers, communicating. It's generally still a big surprise out here.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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The lack of education is negligent to a criminal extent.
How lucky for that girl that you could give her some good advice.
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Yes, BG... it's enough to make us all angry!!!!
Hey 1234567...
Good to see you!!!
You said... "So it may be up to us. I try to build in educating throughout the day - handing out brochures, flyers, communicating. "
Bless your heart! That is exactly what is needed. Nothing more valuable than getting to others one on one.
Each one, reach one... and in your case... sounds like you've reached a bunch!!! Thanks for doing that!
Keep up the good work!
Keebler...
You said.. "The lack of education is negligent to a criminal extent."
ABSOLUTELY!!!!
And another thought is...
Sometimes I wonder if we DO want them to be responsible for educating people.
The BAD literature is almost as bad as NO literature. Maybe even more so. I shutter when I hear Hopkins is planning to do some duck educating. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
I think it is a fine line to push them or not... and we must do the work until we totally shoot holes in their theories. THEN we can maybe get ahead in this situation?
posted
The hardest part for me is when people I know and know what I have been through with Lyme disease get ticks bites and won't do anything about them.
I have one friend who does nothing about her bites and smothers the ticks with citronella oil instead of removing them correctly. She claims there is no Lyme disease in Australia even though I have told her there is and sent her proof. I recently received this alarming email from her:
``Judy was bit by a tick and her whole face swelled up. She had to go to the emergency ward.. They put her on a antibiotic drip. She said she feels fine now a week later. She is doing a cleanse (detox) just to make sure.''
When I wrote back that I was concerned that Judy needed to see a LLMD and get more antibiotics I got this reply. -- ``I don't know what all was up with Judy. all I know is she got a tick bite and started swelling up in the eye area.. it happened on Saturday and on Monday she went to the emergency ward because her doctor told her if she didn't get there she could die..''
I also have a friend here who had two infected tick bites and just received a third. She puts bleach or peroxide on her skin after she removes them and will not get medical help of any kind.
posted
I think it is more like trying to hold a whales head under water.
The person with the three tick bites seems to have neuro issues too yet she thinks it is post traumatic stress. She seems constantly depressed and has a hard time with crowds of people.
I made her read the brochure What Psychiatrist's Need to Know About Lyme Disease.
We were at a tiny beach the other day and two other people at the beach just happened to be lymies and she knew one of them. You would think she might wonder why 3 out of a handful of people at the beach had chronic Lyme.
When I was concerned about her latest tick bite she received from laying on a lawn she gave me the old wives tale "Well I found it that night so it probably was not attached very long."
The day I first met this person I spied an adult tick walking on their boot. She thinks I am tick crazy because I backed away and started to take off.
Because she is so mentally blind to ticks and Lyme disease I almost do not want this person coming in my home. I am afraid she will drag ticks in. She thinks simply shaking out ones clothes is good tick prevention yet it obviously is not working for her.
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posted
Angelica, I wouldn't want a person with that kind of attitude coming in my house either!
TC, thx for your response! Yes, I reach a bunch most days. Most people don't know what I'm talking about here. Then once in awhile I get the person who says "It's ok, I'm from Connecticut", meaning I can stop explaining what a tick looks like. lol.
You raised an issue in responding to Keebler, about how no info is better than bad info. Here I keep thinking I see no public gov't warnings, yet I have excellent state literature and my flyers have it right, of course, so do we really want the public gov't literature or not?
What's amazing to me is reading how much you still have to educate folks in endemic areas.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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I agree, it's really up to us at this point. I am not in an endemic area, people are completely clueless here, including most docs.
I did just contact 2 other people I know who have LD. I asked them if they would be interested in helping me host a screening of "Under Our Skin;" I think they are up for it!
I probably won't get this rolling for a few more months as I try to get my symptoms under better control as stress just makes everything worse.
But, I am hopeful that this will come together. I'll keep you posted. I plan on contacting the newspaper, flyers all over town - concentrating on doctor offices, health dept, naturopaths etc., along with general community to get the word out about the screening. TS
Posts: 566 | From West Coast | Registered: May 2008
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