Local mother battles Lyme disease
Posted at: 08/17/2012 3:51 PM
| Updated at: 08/17/2012 6:12 PM
By: Joangel Concepcion | WHEC.com
By: Joangel Concepcion | WHEC.com
A woman in Canandaigua is battling a disease that may have been caused by a bug bite years ago.A local doctor says Lyme disease is a delayed phenomenon. He says anyone in our area can get the disease by just one tick bite. That’s what doctors are saying happened to 42-year-old Melissa Simmons, a mother of five in Canandaigua. She still isn’t quite sure when she was bitten, but she says the disease has taken over her life.
The disease was named after where it originated from, a town called Lyme, Connecticut. Over the years, it has spread west and into this area.
Specialists say they have occasionally treated people for the disease, but that may change within the next decade. They admit there is still so much to learn about it and how to properly diagnose it. A woman in Canandaigua says she's been fighting this disease for years and now her family hopes her story can increase awareness for others.
Melissa Simmons was diagnosed 18 months ago, but she believes she’s been living with the disease for almost seven years.
Bill Cass, Simmons’s brother, said, “She got told by multiple doctors that there was nothing wrong with her. That got very frustrating.”
Melissa was unable to speak, but her brother, Bill Cass, gave News10NBC an inside look at her life.
Cass says the origin of the disease remains a mystery for Melissa. She doesn’t remember being bit by a tick.
He says she experiences daily fatigue and facial spasms. Family members say they have also witnessed incidents of dementia. Local specialists say those may be symptoms of a long road ahead.
Dr. Edward Walsh said, “The bacteria can disseminate, causing meningitis for instance. It can involve the heart. It can involve the joints.”
Dr. Walsh is the head of infectious diseases at Rochester General Hospital. He calls it a delayed phenomenon and agrees the research is a work in progress.
Dr. Walsh said, “Not the perfect laboratory test to diagnose the infection and so this has led to some controversy as to whether people are infected or not.”
Discovering what was wrong with Melissa has been half the battle. Cass says all she wants is for her life to get back to normal and to be the mother she’s always wanted to be to her five children. In the meantime, all her family can do is spread the word and remain hopefully that too much damage hasn’t already been done.
Cass said, “There's so many of us that could be walking around with it like she was. As the symptoms approach, then you start getting worried but by then it's too late.”
The disease is difficult and expensive to treat. Melissa has to travel hundreds of miles away to see proper specialists for ways to help. Melissa has five children. Her family has set up several websites and a special fundraiser is scheduled for next weekend. The family is holding a golf fundraiser for Melissa and her family at Reservoir Creek Golf Course in Naples on Saturday August 26. For more information on the event and more on Melissa, click here.
For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website www.whec.com.
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