Lyme Disease, The Hidden Epidemic

Unfortunately, I developed Lyme Disease before anyone knew it even existed. I moved to Northern California in the early seventies. I brought my Labrador Retrievers with me, and they spent a lot of time outside. When I found ticks on them, I would pull them off and squish them between my fingers. I also spent as much time as I could outdoors. Consequently, I probably got bitten by ticks twenty times before I tested positive for Lyme Disease in the mid-eighties. By then I was no longer able to do an overhead serve or spike while playing volleyball. In other words, by the time I was in my mid-thirties, I no longer had full rotation of my shoulders. That was a big deal for me, considering how I was very athletic. Many people suggested that I was just getting old.

Lyme disease is being called a “hidden epidemic.” The Ixodes pacificus (tick) that can carry Lyme has been found in all but two counties of California. Infected ticks have not been found in that many, but then no one is looking, either. Where ticks are, infection could be.The incredibly small poppy sized nymph, which causes most cases of lyme disease makes it all the more difficult to detect. Lyme Disease Awareness Week is May 4-10. For more information, visit the California Lyme Disease Association website.