Worn down by Lyme - MO

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[RLL] Worn down by Lyme - MO

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2006/Jan/20060121News005.asp

Worn down by Lyme

Family says disease caused death at 37.

By GREG MILLER of the Tribune's staff

Published Saturday, January 21, 2006

Although Kym 's autopsy says she died of natural causes, her family

believes her death Monday while she was sleeping was a product of Lyme

disease, an illness she struggled with for eight years.

" Anybody is going to wear down, " said Adam Boster, 's brother-in-law.

" I don't think we're meant to go forever in that stage. "

lived with the severe pain and fatigue that accompanied the disease

she contracted in 1998. She detailed her physical torment and battle with

doctors who didn't understand her sickness in a 2001 letter her mother found

three days after her death at age 37.

" This came from Kym, " said yesterday, showing the letter to a

reporter. " There were just so many people who couldn't understand how a tick

made her this sick. "

In the United States, ticks are responsible for more human disease than any

other insect, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says.

Lyme disease is just one of several illnesses that can result from a tick's

bite.

The disease is caused by a bacterial agent, Borrelia burgdorferi. Symptoms

include fever, severe headache, muscle or joint aches and a red rash around

the site of the initial bite.

Kym had worked as an activities director for a Fayette nursing home.

After she was bitten by a tick in 1998, she just picked it off and kept

walking, sister Steffany Boster said. It's unclear whether the bite occurred

on a trail in Boonville or in Columbia.

" I don't think she ever gave it any thought, " Boster said.

A few days later, a red rash developed around the bite.

A Boonville doctor advised to apply an ointment and forget about it.

But she then began to experience extreme fatigue and had trouble walking and

speaking.

" I knew something was really wrong, " wrote in the 2001 letter.

's Boonville doctor then diagnosed the problem as a stress disorder.

But as 's health declined, another doctor referred her to Gordon

Christensen, a physician and professor at the University of

Missouri-Columbia. Nearly a year after the bite occurred, Christensen

diagnosed with Lyme disease - something he's only diagnosed three

times in his career.

" It's a real challenge, " Christensen said. " We don't know a lot about this. "

In Missouri, there were 15 cases of Lyme disease reported in 2004, said

Yates, the vector-borne diseases program coordinator at the Department

of Health and Senior Services.

" We really have a hard time tracking that, " Yates said yesterday. " We

suspect that there are other people who do become ill and are not being

counted. "

Some cases of Lyme disease are incurable, but there is no diagnostic test to

determine the presence of the disease.

For Christensen to make a strict diagnosis, he had to follow a strict set of

questions and symptoms laid out by the federal Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention. Making matters even more complicated, Borrelia burgdorferi

has never been isolated in a patient from Missouri.

" By that definition, there's never been a case of Lyme disease in Missouri, "

Christensen said.

To test for Borrelia burgdorferi, a blood sample must be taken to see

whether blood reacts to the illness's genetic material, but other things can

cause a reaction.

" It's a big mess, " Christensen said of efforts to make such a diagnosis.

Christensen said these unknowns have divided most physicians into one group

that doesn't believe Lyme disease has occurred and treats the symptoms and

another group that aggressively treats the disease with antibiotics.

" I'm kind of right in the middle, " Christensen said. " I don't think either

group has got it right. "

Confusion like this drove to type a one-page letter.

" If you run into a doctor that says Lyme disease doesn't exist, it's time to

find another doctor, " said Adam Boster, 's brother-in-law.

Yates said that of Missouri's 15 cases of Lyme disease in 2004, three

affected residents of Boone County. The state department of health says the

incidence of the disease was 2.21 per 100,000 in Boone County, compared with

the state average of 0.46 per 100,000.

No confirmed Lyme disease case has been fatal.

" It's a chronic illness, but it's not considered to be lethal, " Christensen

said. " It's the complications. "

The CDC lists several tips to protect against ticks: Avoid tick-infested

areas, wear light-colored clothing, use tick repellent and perform daily

tick checks.

If someone finds a tick embedded in his or her skin, the CDC Web site

recommends using fine-tipped tweezers to grab the tick close to the skin and

gently pull it straight up to keep its head intact with its body. After

handling the tick, wash hands, clean the bite and watch for signs of

illness.

As 's family members mourn, they are preparing for a service at 2 p.m.

tomorrow at Memorial Funeral Home. They have asked for donations to the

National Lyme Disease Association because they know - through 's

letter - how important Lyme disease education can be.

" I hope that whoever reads this letter will have better understanding of

what it is like to live like this, " wrote. " Please, I need all the

support I can get because I am not getting better only worse. "

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Reach Greg at (573) 815-1723 or gmiller@....

Copyright © 2006 The Columbia Daily Tribune.