A Year Ago I Climbed
by Nancy Oace

A year ago I climbed mountains.
I'd climbed Mt. Rainier
With forty-eight pounds in my pack.
Almost hit by rockfall, I lived to tell it.
This year I climb nothing.

A year ago I saw friends
Three times a week, sometimes four.
We chattered up and down the trails,
Scrambled up rocks, slid down scree.
This year it's only me.

A year ago I had plans.
Going to the cross-country ski class.
Going to climb in Mexico.
This year I can plan on one thing only:
That I will be doing what I can
To regain my health.
This year I have Lyme disease.

The wrong tick bit in May.
I was out for the day.
I was so strong!
My legs pumped up hills,
I breathed deep and full.
It felt good to use my body so.
These days it is hard
To make it around the block.

I haven't hiked since May.
Canceled all my climbs.
I've born aches and pains,
Weakness and malaise
With rather singular stoicism,
I'd say.
But today I cried,
Because I'd realized,
My body won't carry me
Up those mountains now.
If not now, when??
Won't know, don't know.

July 22, 1998 - I live in Portland, Oregon, and am usually hiking and mountain climbing this time of year, but I am not doing either of these activities this summer. Why? Because I found a tick in the back of my left arm late on May 5th and became ill a week later with Lyme disease, but getting doctors to diagnose and treat this illness in a way that will get me well has been almost as painful as the illness itself.

I did two hikes the weekend previous to discovering the tick: Saturday in the Columbia Gorge at Franklin Ridge and Sunday in the Coast Range at Elk and King Mountains. Since there are more ticks carrying Lyme disease in the Coast Range than in the Gorge, I would guess that I got the tick bite on Sunday. The tick was embedded two days, possibly three.

I didn't take the tick bite too seriously. I knew about Lyme disease, but, like many people, thought it was rare here in Oregon and I wasn't likely to get it. I was not in the habit of checking myself for ticks after hiking unless I had seen them on someone during a hike. Mistake Number ONE. Also, like many people, I did not know that removing a tick using a hot match can make a tick disgorge more infection if it is carrying bacteria. (Apparently the doctor I talked to on the phone didn't know this either unless he had it in for me.) Mistake Number TWO.

My neighbor removed it for me. We giggled nervously. I kept saying, "Don't talk about the legs!" My neighbor has since told me that she doesn't remember being able to see the legs, the tick was swollen up like a little ball. I didn't see the tick until it was removed and in a jar, when it looked as normal as I think of ticks looking, smallish but not too small. From my reading, I figured it was an adult female. My arm had a red stripe across the whole back that evening - probably Lyme rash.

The bite area was clear the next weekend (when I did do my tick check) except for a little hole where the tick had inserted its nasty head. I forgot to check my arm for a rash for a couple of days, and on Wednesday, May 13th, found a red bump instead of the little hole where the tick had bit. I called my doctor's office. The advice nurse said, "That is the start of the Lyme rash." That was the last time that the doctor's office and I concurred about my disease.

Within two hours, I was sick as a dog. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. My throat hurt and my head hurt and my ear hurt and my stomach felt upset. You get the picture. I was dozing in a chair at Urgent Care, soon to be arguing with a doctor who said I didn't have the Lyme rash. From May 13th through July 6th, I endured incredible ignorance and prejudice against Lyme disease from six doctors who apathetically gave me prescriptions for the disease I didn't have, while I spoke angry and sometimes tearful words about why I did have it. I told them about research concerning higher dosages and longer term treatment with antibiotics which might get me well - which only the sixth doctor was prepared to do. Two titer tests were negative for Lyme, which did not surprise me. I have since had Western blot tests to ascertain whether I have had Lyme for a longer duration. This was suspected because of a history of prior tick exposure and a number of symptoms compatible with the disease. The tests were negative, but I know that how I respond to therapy is the most important thing.

I met a support group leader named Rita Stanley in June. As of July 4th, I began taking 300 mg./day of Doxycycline, and in two weeks I made more progress than in two months of conservative therapy.

Since I have been actively involved with a climbing and hiking organization, the Mazamas, I have spread the word about Lyme disease by writing an article for their newsletter that will go to 3000 people in the Portland area. I also am collecting signatures for the Lyme Alliance petition and handing out informative brochures. I hope this will help others so that they may be able to avoid this disease, or at least have an easier time acquiring competent help

For more information on Lyme disease see: Lots Of Links On Lyme Disease

Last updated on 29 December 2000 by
Art Doherty
Lompoc, California
doherty@utech.net

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