Lyme disease is a tick borne illness, that means you get it by being bitten by a tick. A lot of people are aware of this, and if you're not you should be. Lyme is now considered to be an epidemic, with over 30,000 confirmed cases in North America last year, and unconfirmed or improperly diagnosed numbers estimated to be closer to 100,000. That's a seriously large number, and while most people I talk to think you can only get it on the east coast, Lyme is also become very widespread on the west coast as well. If you spend much time outside chances are you might run into a tick, and it you get bit odds are about 50/50 that you'll get some sort of tick borne illness. Ticks carry a plethora of different bacteria and parasites that they pick up from other animals, most of which seem to be harmful to us.
Unfortunately even if you know that you've been bitten by a tick, Lyme diagnoses can be very difficult. The symptoms can be quite varied and are often symptoms of other illnesses as well. Also there is no foolproof way to test for it, at the best of times lab tests are only about 70% accurate, so Lyme is a clinical diagnoses based on history, tests and symptoms. I'll leave the politics and other issues behind it out of this blog, but if you want more information you can go to any of the Lyme Disease websites including
The Lyme Disease Association and
The California Lyme Disease Association or check out
Under Our Skin, an excellent award winning documentary on Lyme Disease and the health care system.
What this means for you?
If you're outside a lot, and most mountain bikers are, be very aware of ticks. If you've been bit by a tick chances are about 50/50 you might get some sort of bacterial, viral or parasitic infection. Signs and symptoms are posted on the various Lyme websites. Be careful, and if you think you might be sick from a tick bite or have any of the symptoms make your doctor listen to you or search for one that will. If you've had it for more than a few days there's a good chance the requisite 4 weeks of antibiotics may not be enough. The medical system in most places still thinks Lyme and other tick borne diseases are rare and many doctors will not take you seriously. If you have any doubts please consult one of the websites above for more information.
What this means for me?
I received what is considered by most doctors to be an adequate treatment, 2 weeks of IV antibiotics followed by 2 weeks of oral antibiotics. However Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria) is a very advanced bacteria and all the antibiotics did is cause the bacteria to change form and go into hiding, so my symptoms went into remission for several years. Over that last 2 years I have had various recurring symptoms that have been undiagnosed and my last Lyme test (2008 ) came back negative. But remember that Lyme tests are 70% accurate at best and it's very easy to get a false negative. The stress of this summer's work schedule ran my immune system down and gave the bacteria a good opportunity to attack again. I won't go into involved details, but based on my symptoms I made an educated guess and have now managed to be diagnosed by a specialist as having chronic Lyme. I started a number of antibiotics 2 weeks ago and expect to be on them for at least a year, possibly two, trying to kill this thing. I'm also taking a large number of other supplements and trying to live a stress free and restful life right now to improve my overall health and boost my immune system to effectively fight this.
The whole process has made it difficult to work lately, and it's going to cost me a fair bit. To help offset the cost I'll be selling prints and several photo books online as well as selling off all the bike parts I have lying around. The first book, a portfolio of select images from 2010, is already for sale online through
Blurb and standard high quality photographic prints are now available
here through my website.
If you have any questions about Lyme please don't hesitate to ask me or check the websites above.
, take care of your old body (sorry bro haha) whatever you feel is needed to get back on track. Most of all, enjoy life and love, it are those little things that matter. You know.
