Just a Thought Here....

January 23, 2003

I was thinking about my own situation while reading about everyone

else's personal battles with Lyme. I remember reading sometime back

that Sen. ph Lieberman CT (who just announced his run for

president in 2004,) is a Lyme advocate. Maybe we should all think of

giving his campaign a letter or call and ask about his support for

Lyme patients if he becomes President. Wouldn't that be ironic if

all Lymies voted for Lieberman maybe then the government could get an

accurate count of Lyme cases in the US! Well here is the contact

info if anyone is interested:

To contact Joe Lieberman's Senate office in D.C:

706 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

(202) 224-4041 Voice

(202) 224-9399 TDD

and in Connecticut:

One Constitution Plaza, 7th Floor

Hartford, CT 06103

(860) 549-8463 Voice

(860) 522-8443 TDD

(860) 549-8478 Fax

(800) 225-5605 Toll Free in CT

To contact his campaign office for Presidential Election 2004:

Joe Lieberman for President, Inc.

236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Suite 203

Washington, DC 20002

http://www.joe2004.com/index.jsp

info@...

(202) 543-6121 (Phone)

(202) 543-5274 (Fax)

January 23, 2003

From:

Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne

Disorders

Vanderhoof-Forschner, 1997

AFTERWORD

A Special Message from The Honorable Senator ph I Lieberman

Vanderhoof-Forschner is a constituent of mine, but we did not first

meet in our home state of Connecticut. In 1989, shortly after I was sworn in

as a senator, I happened to be having lunch in the Senate Dining Room when

was introduced to me. After a brief conversation, I asked her to let

my office know if there was anything we could do for her while she was in

Washington. 'As a matter of fact, there is..., " she said. And so began a

long and fruitful friendship... and partnership in the battle against Lyme

disease.

Because of her own family's devastating encounter with this disease,

was inspired to help make the public, the government, and the medical

community itself more aware of Lyme disease-so that citizens could take

steps to avoid it, doctors could know how to recognize and treat it, and

government and researchers could find new ways to combat it.

Vanderhoof-Forschner is the perfect person to bring us Everything You

Need to Know about Lyme Disease. Written by a parent, the book comes at a

time when so many parents have concerns about what to do when they spot a

tick on their child's body. We've all heard something about Lyme disease -

thanks in large part to 's remarkable public education efforts

throughout this decade-but we're still largely in the dark about the

practical steps we should all take to protect our families.

That's where this book comes in. You've just come home from a hike in the

woods with your kids, and while undressing, you see a tick attached to the

area behind a knee or underneath a sock. You look at the tick ruefully, with

a foggy awareness of Lyme disease, but no notion of what to do next. Do you

burn it off or use nail polish or tweezers? How quickly should you act? What

are the symptoms of Lyme disease? Should you call the doctor?

This book answers those questions and does so in what I would call " plain

language. " It includes everything from the names and addresses of companies

that make special tweezers that remove ticks, to government public health

agencies around the world that are in the forefront of the fight against

Lyme disease. Along the way those interested can learn a lot about the

history of the disease, medical treatment, and preventive measures that can

protect you and your children.

Ticks are commonplace, and when I was young they were considered little more

than an itchy nuisance. Yet, today infected ticks harbor bacteria in their

guts that can be injected into the victim. Once there, the bacteria cause a

wide variety of symptoms developing over time-from flu-like symptoms and a

rash to severe headaches, arthritis, and even cardiac abnormalities.

Recent research has indicated that quick action to remove the tick can ward

off much of the danger. But diagnosing the disease and treating infection

once it occurs remain difficult. We have made great strides in our

understanding over the last 10 years. The Lyme Disease Foundation, created

by and her husband, Tom, has made a great contribution to that

advance. This book is a valuable contribution that I believe will be useful

to parents and health care professionals alike.

Lyme disease is a real, national health threat. From 1982 to 1994 over

seventy thousand cases of Lyme disease in forty-eight states were reported

to the Centers for Disease Control. In 1994 there was a 58 percent increase

in the number of cases over 1993. A study conducted by the Lyme Disease

Foundation and the Society of Actuaries determined that Lyme disease could

be costing this country as much as $1 billion a year in health care costs

and lost productivity.

I have worked with to improve awareness of the disease by sponsoring

Lyme Disease Awareness Week each year. And we've lobbied, with some success,

for funding of Lyme disease research and education. But the Centers for

Disease Control estimate that thousands of Lyme disease cases still go

undiagnosed, unreported, and untreated. That's why efforts by individuals

and private organizations like the Lyme Disease Foundation are critical. And

that's why Everything You Need to Know about Lyme Disease is so timely.

I wish this book could be supplied as a gift to every parent leaving a

hospital with a newborn child - or, better yet, to every man and woman for

their library shelf. But for now, read and learn, and buy a copy for someone

you love... because there may well come a day when they'll be happy to have

it on their shelf.

-Senator ph L Liebernan

Connecticut

[ ] Just a Thought Here....