Erin Scott talked about what it is like to live with Lyme Disease. Growing up in Norfolk County and playing in the fields she was exposed to ticks and developed a range of symptoms that went undiagnosed as Lyme Disease for many years. Doctors were unable/unwilling to accept that the symptoms were Lyme Disease. When she was finally tested for Lyme using US testing the symptoms made sense as a cluster of symptoms. She became an advocate for testing and getting the disease recognized in Canada.
Treatment for Lyme Disease is a course of antibiotics for 14-21 days and it may take many months for the symptoms to show up after encountering a tick with the parasite carrying the disease. There are also several related diseases that may accompany the parasite.
Climate change has expanded the range of ticks which allows the tick population to thrive and more northward in Canada. The disease is not recognized by Health Canada and the lack of recognition makes data collection and treatment difficult.
Erin urged us to contact our local Health Authority, the Province of Ontario, and the Federal Government to fund research and provide kits for testing.
For more information go to Erin’s website https://movingupandon.com/ Or lymehope.ca