Range of responses

[cjsmith]

When I tell people I have been diagnosed with Lyme disease and am under treatment for it, I get basically one of two responses:

1) Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I hope they're wrong. Maybe they're wrong?

2) Oh.

It's pretty clear who does and doesn't know what this disease can do. (I stress again here that I am one of the VERY LUCKY ones.) People who have known someone with Lyme are in category 1. My immediate family and most of my coworkers fall into category 2. My teammate E went home and looked stuff up, and the next day she was in category 1, and she and her husband are now in major panic mode that they or their son might ever have had a tick bite. A few of my LJ friends are in category 1, along with a good cross section of square dance friends (especially those who know a mutual friend from NJ, because his case is quite a bit less lucky than my own, except for being diagnosed within the first 15 years).

There is also a very rare third category:

3) I had / I have Lyme! My symptoms were / are _______! Let me tell you how I treated it!

So far I have gotten response 3 from two doctors (one human doc, one veterinary doc). One LJ friend is also fighting this disease. But really, mostly I get category 2, and occasionally a 2 comes back and turns into a 1 after some web research or something.

Is it wrong of me to be just basically amused by all this? I guess it's better than being basically frustrated or annoyed by it. (I deliberately did NOT write "ticked off". No applause, just throw money.)

Comments

[eeyore-grrl.livejournal.com]

I moved here from Dutchess County, New York, which isn't far from Lyme, Connecticut. Half the people I know have had Lyme's to one degree or another... It's just much more rare out here.ll

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yikes. :-(

[eeyore-grrl.livejournal.com]

however! out there it is one of the first things they check, as it is so common. so it doesn't *tend* to get out of hand once someone complains of something weird...

the weird rash i have (pityriasis rosea)-- i wasn't soooo worried, figured it was jsut stress reaction. then my mom pointed out i had been out there and walking in the woods and they have lymes and rocky mountain spotted fever...

i totally choose my basically benign disease (with some fatigue and nausea) over lyme's anyday.

are you noticing any getting better???

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's the good side of the coin: where Lyme is common, it is better-diagnosed and more rapidly treated.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe getting a tiny bit better. Hard to say yet. I'm logging everything :-) and will hand it all over to my doc on June 30. She might say "This isn't working, forget the Lyme concept," she might say "This isn't working, let's try a different antibiotic," or she might say "This is good, let's keep going." I have no idea which.