How we discovered my 9 year old had Lyme Disease

June 2015 after a family trip to Pittsburgh,  we came home to find my daughter, Ryan, only a few weeks later was sick.  It started with flu like symptoms and she would spend days of her summer vacation feeling lethargic and on the couch. One day she would have energy and the next day she just would not be herself.  Two weeks later, we headed to our lake lot and Ryan got covered in a bulls-eye rash.

We took her to see our family doctor and he diagnosed her with ring worm and gave us a topical cream. The rash got worse covering not only her legs and torso but her face. We took her back to the DR and got the response that she had a fever and ringworm. Finally, the rash faded however she still spent every other day on the couch. My usually vibrant and smiling Ryan was gone.  We continued with the ups and downs of her illness through the remainder of the summer. This included constantly taking her in to the Dr’s and getting misdiagnosed.

September arrived and Ryan’s joints started swelling.  The swelling began in her elbow and she could not move her arm. It then went to her wrist and finally her knee and she could not walk. To this point,  we had done multiple blood tests which ruled out cancer among other things but we still had no answers. The doctors then sent us to the Children’s Hospital for rheumatoid arthritis testing. After telling the doctors her symptoms and informing them that I had done some research and found similar symptoms to  Lyme disease, the Doctor agreed to do testing on her (only after hearing we were in the states the June prior).

After a month of waiting, the test finally came back positive for Lyme disease. We were then sent to the Children’s Hospital Infectious Diseases Clinic. The clinic put her on a month round of oral antibiotic with hopes that this would help. We got the sad news a month later there was still swelling in her joints (the antibiotics were not working).  We were forced to move forward with intravenous antibiotic treatment. Ryan got a stint put into her arm that runs the treatment to the main artery in her heart.  We do the treatment at home, daily and are praying for this to work. One more week left and we will know!

I would like to share this story to others in hopes it may save someone else’s suffering. To learn more on Lyme disease go to www.canlyme.ca or watch the documentary called “Under our skin”

Share this story and help us spread the word about Lyme disease and the warning signs you or a loved one might be effected.