Donna Hamilton Shares Her Story Of Getting Lyme Disease
POSTED: 4:33 pm EDT July 8, 2009 UPDATED: 4:47 pm EDT July 8, 2009
BALTIMORE -- While Lyme disease is on the rise
in Maryland, it has struck close to home with
one member of the WBAL TV 11 News team.
News anchor Donna Hamilton had planned to report
on the disease this month but was unexpectedly
diagnosed with it shortly beforehand.
Hamilton said on the morning of her son's
wedding in New York, she woke up to something
rather startling.
"It was just a round, kind of oval red spot and
it was on my chest, under my arm and back
around, and I thought, 'That is the oddest thing
I have ever seen,'" she said.
With her son's big day ahead, Hamilton said she
put the rash out of her mind, and it was also
hidden by her dress. But as soon as she got back
to Baltimore, she called her dermatologist.
"She took one look at it and said, 'Lyme
disease.' I was like, 'Really?'" Hamilton told
fellow co-worker and I-Team reporter Deborah
Weiner.
Lyme disease comes from the bite of an infected
black-legged tick and is carried by deer and
mice. According to the state Health Department,
the disease is up more than 100 percent in
Maryland from about 1,200 cases to more than
2,500.
"The huge increase is probably a result of a
true increase in disease ... but it may also be a
reflection that doctors are more aware of the
disease and therefore more likely to diagnose
it," said Katherine Feldman of the state Health
Department.
Hamilton said she could have been bitten in her
backyard because she loves to garden. The ticks
hang out in places with tall grass looking for
their next meal.
When asked if she remembered seeing a tick, she
said no.
"I really don't know if it was here. I remember
I was picking up trash along the roadside, which
did kind of get me into the woods a bit more a
few weeks back," she remembered.
The tiny ticks are very hard to spot, doctors
said.
"The stage of the tick that transmits disease
can be no bigger than the period at the end of a
sentence on a printed page," Feldman said.
Hamilton said she did have some vague symptoms,
including some fatigue, aches, and before the
wedding, an unexplained two-week bout of
diarrhea.
Other early symptoms can include fever, chills
and headaches. Hamilton said she wrote hers off
to a busy schedule and pre-wedding stress.
"I had stuff to do, people to see, places to go
and promises to keep," she said. "I didn't
really think about it. I just kept moving
forward."
Like Hamilton, many people develop a rash that
may appear three to 30 days after the tick bite.
It may resemble a bull's eye and it's usually --
but not always -- at the site of the bite,
doctors said.
"Unfortunately, only 70 to 80 percent of people
are going to have that sign," Feldman said.
"If you don't have that really interesting,
smooth-edged rash, then you just think, 'I'm
tired, I don't feel so great.' It's so vague,
how do you know that you have it?" Hamilton said.
Left untreated, Lyme disease can be serious and
cause severe headaches, shooting pains, heart
palpitations, dizziness, short-term memory loss
and muscle and neurological problems.
According to doctors, not all ticks cause Lyme
disease. Only a small percentage are infected
and experts said they have to be attached to you
for at least 24 hours to transmit the infection.
If caught early, the disease is easily treated
with antibiotics. Hamilton said she immediately
started on doxycycline. She had to take the
antibiotic for a month but was feeling more like
herself in just a couple of days.
"I'm good today. I feel really lucky, honestly,
that it was caught," she said.
Hamilton's blood test did not indicate Lyme
disease, but doctors said that is common. In its
early stages, Lyme disease often does not show
up, so doctors make the diagnosis based on
symptoms and the rash.
To prevent Lyme disease, the state Health
Department recommends people:
Wear long pants and long sleeves to keep ticks
off skin in the woods or any area with tall
grass.
When hiking, walk in the center of the trail
away from brushy areas.
Spray insect repellant containing 20 to 50
percent DEET on clothes and exposed skin.
Use up to 30 percent on children older than 2
months old.
Check for ticks after being in their habitat.
To find out more about the disease, click on the links made available above
Posts: 571 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2008
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lymemomtooo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5396
posted
I am sorry she or anyone gets this Hell but I hope the publicity causes some to wake up..She is pretty well respected in Maryland so many should take note of this.
I did not read the email until today so missed the news. Did see where someone that appears to be a lyme expert had been talking to her on her blog. Hope she has a llmd in the wings in case the abx was not sufficient.
No one is immune..Slowly even politicians are discovering this. May they all wake up..lmt
Posts: 2360 | From SE PA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I hope someone with stats on the % of ticks infected with lyme in Maryland addresses the "small percentage" statement in that article.
I heard that the infection rate is as high as 80% there although I don't have the actual stats.
Posts: 571 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2008
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Leelee
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19112
posted
Hmmmmm. I have mixed feelings. I am glad she is doing better and glad she told her story b/c that serves to make more people aware of Lyme, but I have to company with the statement that only a small percentage of ticks are infected in Maryland.
I confess to not being too savvy when it comes to all the abx treatments one should take, but from what I have read I don't know if one month of abx was enough to fully eradicate the disease. Of course, I hope so, but I don't think so.
-------------------- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King,Jr Posts: 1573 | From Maryland | Registered: Feb 2009
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
It was a decent presentation I thought, except for the stats they used... which made me cringe.
They were direct from the Health Department website and their old, outdated info.. which we all know is not accurate.
I too hope she improves with her months worth of antibiotics.
If not, we may see another segment called, "What they didn't tell me about ticks and Lyme disease".
I hope that does NOT happen!!
She seems like a nice enough lady... but... we sure don't need more members here.
Last year I noticed a significant increase in the tick population compared to 2007 (when I noticed none). Not scientific, but significant to have 4 ticks in my house in the city. The weather was damp. ____________________________________________
During a CDC funded study conducted at 21 sites in nine different states, 1,799 ticks were collected and tested for the presence of Lyme disease (Bb).
An astounding 81% of the ticks from the Maryland were infected with Lyme. .
There are a higher number of infected ticks in Maryland than at any other site in the United States, including what were thought to be the most endemic counties in NY, CT, PA and NJ.
The rate of Lyme infected ticks in Maryland is two times higher than the national average.
Posts: 571 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2008
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
22..
Yes, I do stats, as able. That is what the "officials" want to hear, no matter if they are wrong (reported case numbers) or right.
Keep in mind that study was from YEARS ago, so the infection rates have most likely gone up in Maryland as they have in most every place I've heard about.
And Lou is right. Weather plays a role and so do other factors.
This is the worst year I can remember for ticks in a LONG time.
And snakes.
For some dumb reason I have seen several snakes a week for the past month.
Big ones, medium sized ones, weird ones I've never seen before and even one curled up in a kitchen silverware drawer.
Lots of snake sheds too.
And mice are acting strange too. Saw a couple recently that were like none I've ever seen before.
Leelee
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19112
posted
quote:Originally posted by Tincup: other factors.
Big ones, medium sized ones, weird ones I've never seen before and even one curled up in a kitchen silverware drawer.
Tincup,
I would just keel over and die if I saw that! What did you do?
-------------------- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King,Jr Posts: 1573 | From Maryland | Registered: Feb 2009
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lymie_in_md
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14197
posted
The problem is more then just the infection rate, it is the evolution of the disease which may even be more disturbing. The organism isn't static, it changes and reacts to its environment just like all creatures. It pathogenicity is becoming more severe and only an illuminated society will come to grips with this threat.
So I agree, the nature of this disease and our own environment is changing. Public officials need to listen to the lyme community more closely to better understand the threat to the community at large. I pray they will do so!
Weather is a large factor in the spread of any disease (remember the black plague and all the rain). You can just feel this year is much different then any other. Hopefully it is much ado about nothing, but I too have a feeling this year the statistics are going to be far more alarming since they've been tracking them.
For my part it isn't just myself (i'm the only one who has had lyme), but my whole family I'm concerned about and the general population as a whole.
Tinnie -- as far as the snake is concerned, I would look upon it as providence. A tasty snack for the barbie. A little grilled snake might be therapeutic.
-------------------- Bob Posts: 2150 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
What surprised me was that a dermatologist apparently recognized lyme even though her rash was not typical. This did not happen to me when I consulted a derm at a famous medical institution. Was told it definitely was not lyme because it was not a bullseye. Was told it was an "actinic keratosis" which is precancerous and here, use this cream for a month and it will go away. It didn't. And it wasn't skin cancer.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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