[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I’ve read that many people carry Lyme for years before symptoms set in — up to 15 years is some cases. And living in the NE, I knew people who had Lyme and was treated myself more than once. In some cases Lyme can be quite bad, even fatal, and supposedly the number of very bad reactions is increasing, but by and large it’s not the next Black Death as the author would have you believe. And furthermore, every time I went to the doc and had had a tick on me, even for less than 24 hours, they preemptively treated me for Lyme, so the medical people are definitely aware of Lyme and take it seriously.

[Smokin' Joe]

I think the trick is catching it at all. The disease mimics many others, and the symptoms may not appear until long after the tick bite is forgotten along with any bullseye rash--which may not develop.

Because of this, it is either caught very early by a physician, or very likely only at the end of exhaustive and frustrating testing which is more likely to end with a person being branded as a hypochondriac or treated for the wrong thing.

This guy had credibility because he was a medical professional. How many laymen will be greeted with anything but contempt for their internet search medical efforts?

[wintertime]

We lived in the Upper Eastern Shore of Maryland. A son of a good friend lost a testicle due to Lyme Disease.