My name is Jill. I was bit by a deer tick in 1998. It needed to be surgically removed. I was joints. I could no longer run and it was almost too painful to walk.
I was so fatigued that I sometimes confused to be safe at work. I spent almost a year in bed. My husband had to do most of the cleaning, cooking and
taking care of my three very young daughters.
During this time there were many trips to the doctors to try and find out why I was so weak and had numbness and tingling all over with shooting pains in
my arms and hands. It hurt to be touched. I lived like this with sometimes stronger and sometimes not so good times.
By 2001 I had gotten enough strength back to work part time. The pain would come and go but Mostly was there.I started to have seizures in 2001  
although I didn’t know that is what was happening  at the time. Nor did any Doctor.
By 2006 the pain in my feet was so bad I could barely walk. The Doctor thought it was planter fasciaitis. I got inserts for my shoes. Nothing helped. I was
also experiencing severe bouts of confusion and memory loss.
I was fortunate enough to run into a Doctor that I had graduated from high school with. She had been diagnosed with Lyme the year previously. After
describing my symptoms to her she strongly encouraged me to get tested for Lyme. I had been tested previously and had always been negative. She
told me about another lab in California. I got tested through them and it came back positive. It took me 3 months to get in to see a Lyme specialist. The
road to antibiotics started. I”ve been on antibiotics since March of 2006.
I am able to walk without terrible pain. The pain in my feet is gone.  My fatigue is 80% better and my confusion is much better also.  I’ve been  on
antibiotics for over one year and will probably be on for another six months. I’m told I will get 85% back of what I had lost. But I’m working, thinking again
and able to be awake all day long.
http://health.discovery.com/convergence/mystery-diagnosis/fein.html  click on the link to see one of the many online stories about Lyme Disease.
It is so important for people to understand that not all people develop the bulls-eye rash. Also, that obvious symptoms sometimes do not appear for
months, even years after exposure, and not everyone has classic symptoms. I was bit by two deer ticks in the early 90’s. They were very small and deeply
imbedded.  I never developed the bulls-eye rash. I did develop a small hard lump at the site of one of the bites that would come and go, itching like crazy
for at least three years. At the doctors office I was told it was okay. Many years later I found out how not okay it really was. My symptoms started slowly,
not very obvious, and continued this way until early 2003 when symptoms started appearing left and right. I had multiple symptoms including involuntary
movements, tremors, numbness, twitches, muscle tightness, chest pain, and many, many other symptoms that would come and go. I spent close to two
years visiting various doctors, and undergoing many tests. I was never diagnosed with anything. No one could explain my strange symptoms. After about
1 ½ years and much research, I started to suspect Lyme. I had been tested for Lyme a number of times and the results had been negative. I now know
that the tests are not always accurate. Finding a doctor that would treat my Lyme without a positive test led me to an out of state doctor that specializes in
Lyme disease. With the help of this doctor I have improved greatly and would say that I am 95% back to normal. As I was once told by my primary care
physician, “The trouble with Lyme Disease is that there is no standard test, no standard diagnosis, and no standard treatment”. I am grateful to the
doctors that continue to learn about Lyme disease and treat patients that would otherwise be lost.  

Lila