The last two years have been very intense for friends and neighbors getting Lyme disease. All are friends I hunt and fish with.
Here is a link to an excellent article that all of us outdoors-type people should read. It very well discusses the issues my friends and I have seen first hand.
Be Very Afraid of Lyme Disease My first encounter with Lyme disease was shortly after it was first discovered in Lyme, CT. My wife's family lives in that part of NY state and CT. Deer run rampant in that area. It is suburban, and with a lot of wilderness in between.
About 10 years ago, my father-in-law thought he had rather suddenly developed really bad rheumatoid arthritis. He felt awful. He was told that he may need hip and knee replacements. He was a retired state trooper who still swam and worked out seven days a week. He also spent a fair amount of time in his garden. He had to give all of that up, that summer.
This went on for a number of months before he was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. At that time he lived in Mt. Kisco, NY, very near to where the author of the above cited article lives. Because it had gone undetected for so long, it took quite some time to get it under control.
Since last fall, about when deer season started, we've had at least 10 friends contract Lyme disease. Only one was quickly diagnosed when his doctor saw the "bullseye" and my friend told him it was where he had removed a deer tick. It was very possible that it was from a deer that I butchered. I removed two deer ticks on the evening after skinning and quartering a deer from this friend.
Four friends have gone through hell in about the last two months because of misdiagnosis, and unwillingness by their doctors to test for, or believe in, Lyme disease. All were initially diagnosed with unidentifiable illnesses. One was diagnosed with a kidney problem and another with a prostate problem and arthritis. The other two were basically undiagnosed for anything identifiable, except for fever and aching bodies.
All have recovered after the Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment. In the meantime, three of them missed many days of work. The fourth is retired.
The deer ticks are very small.
I check myself fairly closely each evening before my shower. I've got chickens and I've got guinea fowl which may also help keep the population down on our property.
If you find you've got a fever, very achy joints, and feel just awful -- push hard for a Lyme disease test.
