Lyme sufferers push for better care
Ulster Legislature hears of treatment shortfalls
KINGSTON — The disease hit Geri Tresvik like a boulder.
The
Ulster Park resident had a college-level vocabulary by the sixth grade.
But once the symptoms hit, Tresvik could barely put together a sentence
or have others understand her.
Her body began to fade as well. Tresvik began falling, knocking things over and nodding off during conversations.
Watch that rash
Early symptoms of Lyme disease may be mild and easily missed. In 60-80 percent of cases, the first symptom is a rash that:
Occurs at or near the site of the tick bite.
Is a “bulls-eye” circular patch or solid red patch that grows larger.
Appears between three days and one month after the tick bite.
Has a diameter of 2 to 6 inches.
Lasts for about three to five weeks.
May or may not be warm to the touch.
Is usually not painful or itchy.
Sometimes leads to multiple rashes.
Source: New York State Department of Health
And the pain?
It's been nearly unbearable.
"I frequently pray to God that I don't wake up tomorrow morning," Tresvik said.
The
source of Tresvik's suffering is Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness
often resulting in a circular skin rash, achy muscles and flu-like
symptoms.
Some 60 long-term victims of Lyme filled the Ulster County Legislature chambers Tuesday to lament inadequate medical support.
"This is way past the time where ignorance is acceptable," said Andi Weiss Bartczak of Gardiner.
She would like to see study of tick-borne illnesses become a larger part of continuing education programs for doctors.
Medical
professionals need to consider Lyme even when it's not readily
apparent, said March Gallagher of Rosendale. Gallagher, for example,
wasn't able to drive after the illness hit, but the problem didn't
actually stem from her eyes.
"Prevention is not sufficient," she said. "We have tons of people who are sick in Ulster County and don't know it."
Dan
LeFever of Shokan has spent $500,000 on Lyme-related medications since
the illness cropped up in 2000. But every time he needed treatment, he
would travel all the way down to New Jersey.
"Ulster
County does not have any true Lyme-literate doctors," LeFever said. He
believes local doctors are 12 to 15 years behind their peers in
Connecticut, New Jersey and in Westchester and Rockland counties.
Barbara
Joyce-Lambert of Hunter spent 45 years as a nurse. But she was shocked
at how doctors treated her once she began complaining of mysterious
aches and pains.
"My suffering from the past
three years has come almost as much from the medical and insurance
industry as from my illness,' said Joyce-Lambert, who said she has spent
$15,000 on diagnosis and treatment.
Jill
Auerbach's teenage son would go home and cry into his pillow as his
mother spent month after month struggling with the debilitating disease.
"Lyme disease affects families financially and emotionally, breaking up marriages," the LaGrange resident said.
She
finds it unconscionable that, it the nearly three decades since Lyme
first became identified, no highly conclusive testing for the disease
exists.
"Children should be able to enjoy our beautiful environment ... as easily as they were once able to," she said.
