Lyme is a terrible disease that is not well understood locally. When these two local residents passed on we just did not have the knowledge to understand this disease as a treatable bacterial infection.

Both these persons lived within 5 miles of where I live and as we all became ill in the mid 80's, I visited both.

One person described to me a circular rash on his stomach that appeared in 1985. I showed him a picture of a Lyme rash in Scientific American, and he said, "yes", that was the rash he had and then he lost my magazine. We now know that this bullseye rash means a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease. His health declined to the point of attempted suicide. I myself spent several years where few days went by that I did not plan suicide if the pain and mental confusion got worse. This resident did not have any travel history in 1985. The common belief is that he passed on from dementia. It is also very important to note that around the same time, his three dogs had to be put down because of symptoms similar to the disease my dog had when I got sick. The dogs were all off their food and had arthritic symptoms.

The other resident and I both had travel history, as we were prospecting 100 miles to the north. This infers a tick-borne disease. He went to a rheumatologist and asked if he might have Lyme disease. He was told no; he had a roaring case of arthritis. I know the pain of untreated sudden onset of Osteoarthritis and know he went through hell before he succumbed. When he was wounded in the war he told me that the padre came in to give last rites and asked if he could write a letter home for him. He said, "Yes, Tell them I am doing fine and will be home soon." He spent almost two years in the hospital before going home. Post 1985 he tried to fight arthritis by riding a bike, but he fell off and broke his arm. When he went to the doctor, he said his horse had bucked him off. I don't know how he even got on a bike because he was pretty crippled. This is why Lyme is not recognized. People are tough and have no recourse but to trust our broken health care system with regard to the emergence of new knowledge of an old disease.

Both these gentlemen saw action and were wounded in WWII fighting for democracy. I believe the lack of democracy in our socialized health care system caused their demise. Here is a sentence from a personal letter from the US doctor who treated me. We were talking about WCB making me pay into their scheme and then not paying me when I became ill on the job. "Your letter of 5/30/90 made me realize that the more socialistic a nation is, the more effective is the bureaucracy in suppressing its subjects." This is so true with Lyme.

Canada could get away from the stigma of being a follower by actively becoming a leader towards understanding Lyme disease.

A democratic socialistic health care system will work. We need our doctors to listen to us and be remunerated; our stories are long and complex.

Please get involved with your local government to understand this disease we call Lyme.

Do not let people die for naught, thanks,

Ron Gerhardi, June 6, 2006

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