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Log inBeware bites of ticks
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Beware bites of ticks
by Outspoken on Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:48 am
Beware bites of ticks
BY LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
The annual number of Lyme disease cases has more than doubled since 1991. With last winter especially wet with snow, the conditions are ripe for the deer-tick tally to soar, warns the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now through August is the time for extra caution, according to Dr. Dora Anne Mills, agency director. The best defense? Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants when going into wooded areas or areas with thick grass or brush piles.
Sometimes, ticks are tough to avoid.
Linda Chapman was vacationing in just such an area 20 years ago when she came in contact with a deer tick that radically changed her life. Chapman, 55, had to quit her job with the U.S. Postal Service, and suffered terribly for years afterward.
She contracted Lyme disease.
"My husband, John, and I had gone on vacation in Vermont," Chapman recalled. "I came back with what I thought was a spider bite. I had that bull's-eye rash, and by the time I got treatment two or three years later, it was too late."
The tick bite took six years to affect her health, she said.
"I really didn't feel sick and I forgot about it. Then I came down with bad joint pain. I had memory problems, and heart problems. I literally collapsed. I had to quit my job."
John Chapman then remembered she had been bitten. His wife had diagnostic tests that confirmed Lyme disease.
Antibiotics were not working.
"I was so sick," she said. "I was down to 96 pounds. I was just too weak to fight for myself. I knew it was going to be up to God whether I lived or died."
Losing hope, Chapman had a chance meeting two years ago with a pastor from Kenya who was touring area churches.
"He prayed over me, and I'm a lot better than I was," she said. "I needed a miracle."
Today, Chapman is back up to 133 pounds. But the disease still worked its poison. She still has problems with fatigue and some joint pain, and has not gone back to work.
Living on a rural road, Chapman is vigilant now regarding ticks.
"I just came home with one on me the other day, and I got rid of him right away," she said. "It's something that everyone should learn about."
Ticks aren't fussy about the source of the blood the live on.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5200593.html
Staff photo by Jim Evans
Staff Photo by David Leaming
BY LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
The annual number of Lyme disease cases has more than doubled since 1991. With last winter especially wet with snow, the conditions are ripe for the deer-tick tally to soar, warns the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now through August is the time for extra caution, according to Dr. Dora Anne Mills, agency director. The best defense? Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants when going into wooded areas or areas with thick grass or brush piles.
Sometimes, ticks are tough to avoid.
Linda Chapman was vacationing in just such an area 20 years ago when she came in contact with a deer tick that radically changed her life. Chapman, 55, had to quit her job with the U.S. Postal Service, and suffered terribly for years afterward.
She contracted Lyme disease.
"My husband, John, and I had gone on vacation in Vermont," Chapman recalled. "I came back with what I thought was a spider bite. I had that bull's-eye rash, and by the time I got treatment two or three years later, it was too late."
The tick bite took six years to affect her health, she said.
"I really didn't feel sick and I forgot about it. Then I came down with bad joint pain. I had memory problems, and heart problems. I literally collapsed. I had to quit my job."
John Chapman then remembered she had been bitten. His wife had diagnostic tests that confirmed Lyme disease.
Antibiotics were not working.
"I was so sick," she said. "I was down to 96 pounds. I was just too weak to fight for myself. I knew it was going to be up to God whether I lived or died."
Losing hope, Chapman had a chance meeting two years ago with a pastor from Kenya who was touring area churches.
"He prayed over me, and I'm a lot better than I was," she said. "I needed a miracle."
Today, Chapman is back up to 133 pounds. But the disease still worked its poison. She still has problems with fatigue and some joint pain, and has not gone back to work.
Living on a rural road, Chapman is vigilant now regarding ticks.
"I just came home with one on me the other day, and I got rid of him right away," she said. "It's something that everyone should learn about."
Ticks aren't fussy about the source of the blood the live on.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5200593.html
Staff photo by Jim Evans
Staff Photo by David Leaming
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
