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Looking In The Window: When A Bug Bite Means More

Thirteen years ago this month I contracted Lyme disease, but I didn’t receive treatment until November that year, so I have Chronic Lyme disease. I wish no one else ever would get it. There are ways to prevent it.

When outdoors one should wear protective clothing, bug and tick spray, and keep hair away from leaves, foliage and grass. At the onset of a bite that looks as though it’s not an ordinary run of the mill spot, see a physician. For instance, if it’s unusually large or red, or if there’s anything that would make one suspect it could be a problem. If illness, such as chills and fever, appear about the same time as the bite, definitely see a physician.

For those who find treatment for Lyme disease while it still exists as a spot or localized bite on the skin, the entire situation soon becomes a non-event. If one isn’t sure whether or not the bite might be serious, and he or she decides to wait to see about it, that’s not a huge problem as long as it’s tended to while the bacteria, parasites, and other diseases the bug was carrying are still in one’s bloodstream. IV’s given in the hospital will take care of it. However, if one waits until the spirochetes, or Lyme disease bacteria, have burrowed into the body tissue, he or she embarks on a long, difficult road paved with much suffering and few answers.

Here are a couple of myths about Lyme disease. 

Only ticks carry it, and most of those are in the Northeast. 

Any insect that bites, especially mosquitoes and spiders, as well as ticks can carry Lyme disease, and there are many cases in parts of the country other than the northeast.

If it’s Lyme disease, one will see a bull’s eye rash.

Some people see a spot only; others, a rash different than a bull’s eye, and a few, no rash at all.

Enjoy this wonderful summer weather, but while outdoors be safe!

Fortunately, I was led by divine intervention to David Lee, Ph.D, D.C, C.AD. In 2016, I published Barely Above Water, a novel about a young woman who suffers from Lyme disease. The romance and fun kids’ swim team in the story are made up, but the symptoms and treatment for the illness are real. In the back of the book Dr. Lee and another expert Raphael D’Angelo, M.D., share information about this little-understood malady.




About Barely Above Water

An illness comes out of nowhere and strikes Suzie Morris. Her boyfriend dumps her. She has no living family, and her physician can’t diagnose the malady. Suzie relies on her Christian faith as she faces the uncertainty of the disease, and turns to a renowned alternative doctor in Destin, Florida. She takes a job coaching a county-sponsored summer swim team. She’s determined to turn the fun, sometimes comical, rag-tag bunch into winners. Her handsome boss renews her belief in love, but learns of her mysterious affliction and abruptly cuts romantic ties. Later he has regrets, but can he overcome his fear of losing a loved one and regain Suzie’s trust?

Buy Barely Above Water on Amazon
Pelican / Prism Book Group
Barnes and Noble (paperback)

Comments

Miss Mae said…
I'm so sorry about your contacting Lyme's, Gail. I think of you when I'm outside and try hard not to brush against anything. Reading that even mosquitoes and spiders can spread Lyme's is brand new knowledge. I had no idea!

Thank you for sharing, and I'm so glad you found Dr. Lee. :)
Gail Pallotta said…
Hi Miss Mae,

Thank you! Yes, there are lots of myths about Lyme disease. The more I hear of people who have problems with it, the more I want to share. I'm fortunate, no blessed, to have gotten the help I have. Some people can be bitten even by an insect carrying it, and their immune system fights it off, but that's certainly not true for everyone.

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