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Grandpa's Lyme Story
Grandpa has always been a sturdy, hardworking man, even now, in his sixties. He loved to work outdoors, whether it was gardening, walking boundary lines, setting posts, cutting firewood, ... But around 1988, he had to slow down. He had been removing plaster from a ceiling in an old house when he suddenly blacked out. He was admitted to the hospital with irregular heart beat and was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse. It was odd that this was not diagnosed until he was over fifty years old. Anyway, he was put on medication for that and on went life, only a bit slower now, as his medications seemed to reduce his stamina. In the spring of 1995, Grandpa woke up with a rash on his arm, feeling like he had been hit by a truck. He's always been the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" kind of guy, but he turned to my mother and said, "I'm not sure life is worth living!" My parents were well aware of the symptoms of Lyme disease, especially since I got it diagnosed earlier. My dad had the routine bloodwork done for Lyme disease, but was not started on medication until the test results were back per his doctor's routine, despite the fact that he had the classical rash & illness. (Added 3/2004: My father had not been tested for ehrlichiosis. His severe symptoms may have been indicative of co-infection, however, the treatment for ehrlichiosis is the same as for Lyme disease.) He was treated for four weeks with amoxicillin, which his doctor felt was adequate for Lyme disease, at which time he felt better. For a while! Following that treatment, his neurologist for Parkinson's disease said, "Whatever you're doing, keep it up!" His Parkinson's symptoms were barely noticeable anymore. (He later found out he did not have Parkinson's, but benign familial tremor.) However, he began to slip over the months, healthwise that is. Well, he did have a couple spills, too, unlike him. But then my mom at the time assumed that was due to Parkinsons disease. (We thought it ran in the family and knew it can be exacerbated by Lyme. Turned out his mom was also misdiagnosed and she really had benign familial tremor also known as essential tremor.) He started to get more easily fatigued, irritable and forgetful. His arm began to ache as with carpel tunnel syndrome. But then he spent hours each day at work using a computer mouse to do cad design. Then his knees started bothering him. He attended a Lyme lecture in June, 1998 in Easton Connecticut which featured Dr. Sam Donta of Boston University Medical Center. After a good dose of that, he was really wondering if he could still have Lyme disease. Just a couple weeks after that, he developed a sore throat and fever for which he was given antibiotics (Dimox) due to his heart problem. Low and behold, his knees started to feel better! Needless to say, Grandpa went to a new doctor, one on the cutting edge of Lyme detection & treatment. His progressing Lyme disease was affirmed by the doctor but Dad opted to not have treatment at this time. His knees got worse so he could barely hobble around. He tried colloidal silver and thank God, his arthritis reversed over just a couple weeks! His color is better now, and he says he's feeling great! Grandma tagged along to the Lyme doctor to make sure she didn't have a bacterial reason for her arthritic aches and pains, creaks, forgetfulness, shortness of breath and other symptoms that all increased over a three year period following a tick bite without rash. She was found to be infected with Lyme herself and has been on antibiotic treatment for just over a year now. Her memory and arthritis have improved greatly however she finds the symptoms come back within a couple weeks if she stops taking the antibiotics. Update 07/29/2002 Grandpa had a little trouble with his knees here and there since he stopped taking anything for the arthritis. But not like it had been. (Earlier, he could barely get up and down a few steps at his worse.) In July, 2002, he had a new tick bite with the hallmark bull's eye rash. He was started on oral Amoxycillin 875 mg twice a day immediately and is feeling much better since the first few days of treatment. He finished his prescription and had no recurrance of symptoms. Grandma has been off treatment for Lyme disease for some time now, probably a couple years. She was tested for rheumatoid athritis; unfortunately, she has it. Some of her knuckles are swollen from it. She is doing well otherwise as far as Lyme goes, though she has a problem with mild forgetfulness and an occasional swollen knee. She does not want to go back on antibiotics at this time. She has self-medicated with colloidal silver to ward off bronchitis many times.
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"Never give up. Never surrender." (Galaxy Quest)
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Grandpa's Lyme Story
