Lyme Disease: Hard To Diagnose, Harder To Shake Chameleon like And Unpredictable, This Ailment Has No Foolproof Test.
But, Angela Yeager of Falls Township, suspected Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted through the saliva of infected ticks.
Yeager took her family to scores of skeptical doctors who rejected her self-diagnosis even though Yeager, her two daughters and her husband all exhibited classic Lyme disease symptoms: stiff necks, joint pain, visual problems, swollen glands and unrelenting, overwhelming fatigue.
Yeager's husband, Bob, was the only family member with a skin rash, but it was not the textbook bull's-eye rash usually attributed to Lyme disease. Hardest hit was their younger daughter, Jennifer, 9, who had a constant low- grade fever and swollen knees.
"When you consider that we were campers, and all had similar symptoms, it just makes sense that we all had Lyme disease," Angela Yeager said.
When the last in a long line of doctors could not definitely match a malady to the family's symptoms, Yeager refused to leave his office until he tested the family for Lyme disease.
Only Jennifer tested positive.
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://articles.philly.com/1992-08-20/news/25989867_1_lyme-disease-rash-doctors
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