Would you like to know for certain if a bite from a tick in Australia could lead to serious long term illness?
My Name is Michelle. Doctors in Australia have diagnosed me with CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Fibromyalgia. I was constantly deteriorating with these extremely painful and debilitating conditions. I have not been able to work since January 2012 and started using a wheelchair. My husband, Steve became a full-time carer. Prior to this, Steve and I were very active. We loved the great outdoors and were involved in hiking and cycling amongst many other outdoor activities. We both worked full-time. Recently, I suspected that I may have tick borne infections. Australian testing indicated no infections. However, testing in America has shown 3 possible infections.
The existence of these conditions in Australia remains controversial and testing methods in each of these countries are often disputed and considered unreliable by each other.
In October, 2012 we decided to trial the antibiotic therapy recommended for these infections...... Nine weeks on and I have had some good results. I still have a very long and expensive road ahead.
During our past 3 year journey my health continued to decline and in 2012 that rate of decline increased. Going through this and having no answers and no clear treatment options made our journey feel like a living nightmare. During the past 6 months we have explored Lyme Disease and we have come across many others going through very similar journeys.
For these reasons, Steve and I are now keen to raise awareness and get some answers about these conditions.
in Australia controversy appears to be around.....
1) The existence of Lyme in Australia and
2) The Idea that chronic manifestations of these infections can occur.
THE REASON OFTEN GIVEN IS THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE:
while we agree that this would be a good reason to be cautious,
we also believe it should not be the reason to take an exclusionary approach......
AND WE ASK THE QUESTION.....IS THERE NO EVIDENCE SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN VERY LITTLE RESEARCH?
Cases of a very similar debilitating illness in Australia seem to be growing and combined with my own reaction to the recent antibiotic therapy, I feel strongly that Tick Borne Infections warrant more investigation. In the very least, people who have been infected by ticks abroad need to be medically treated and supported in Australia.
* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE IN-DEPTH RESEARCH EXPLORING THE EXISTENCE OF TICK INFECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA.
* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A MUCH CLEARER UNDERSTANDING AROUND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LYME DISEASE AND OTHER SIMILAR PRESENTING CONDITIONS SO THAT MISDIAGNOSIS CAN BE LIMITED.
* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE CLEARER INFORMATION THAT WILL ASSIST PEOPLE TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS, ACCESS SMOOTHER PROCESSES FOR MEDICAL CARE AND MORE AFFORDABLE TREATMENT FOR LYME AND TICK INFECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA..
FOR THESE REASONS:
Steve and Michelle are walking from Sorrento to Melbourne on
9th April - 13th April 2013.
They will be covering a distance of about 100kms over 5 days
(for Information on how Michelle will do this....read her note below)
Donations:
During our walk we will be asking the Australia public to consider donating to
The Karl McManus Foundation (KMMF)
KMMF works as an access point for Lyme education & research in Australia........
Click on the tab at the top of this page to visit the KMMF website. You can read about Karl's Story, see what the foundation is involved in & make donations.
You can also click on the "walk aware blog" tab on this page to read the updates we will post while we prepare and during the walk. regular updates, photos and relevant information will be posted and you can make comments or read comments made by others.
A NOTE FROM MICHELLE:
I am in the very early days of my treatment and I still require a very paced approach to the level of activity in my life and especially in regard to this event. For this reason, I plan to walk for about 10 minutes every hour (this will have an accumulative effect on my fatigue that we will have to monitor). I will then be pushed in my wheelchair by Steve for the remaining time. I will also need to take the third day off as a rest day. While it will be hard for me to not participate on this day, it will be essential to avoid the risk of my recovery going backwards. We cannot afford to risk this at any cost, so we will be closely monitoring my progress and symptoms everyday. Steve would like to walk the third day alone and to shed a more positive light on this day, we have decided to dedicate this day and pay tribute to carers.......
Steve's enormous support and dedication has been an inspiration and has helped me far more than I can convey. I obviously would not be doing this walk without him and he makes so many things possible everyday. Like all carers, Steve has lost a lot because of my illness. So the third leg of our walk will be to say thank-you to all the great work and sacrifices made by carers of a person who has Lyme Disease or Tick Infections.
Perhaps he should be having the day off for that reason??
My Name is Michelle. Doctors in Australia have diagnosed me with CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Fibromyalgia. I was constantly deteriorating with these extremely painful and debilitating conditions. I have not been able to work since January 2012 and started using a wheelchair. My husband, Steve became a full-time carer. Prior to this, Steve and I were very active. We loved the great outdoors and were involved in hiking and cycling amongst many other outdoor activities. We both worked full-time. Recently, I suspected that I may have tick borne infections. Australian testing indicated no infections. However, testing in America has shown 3 possible infections.
The existence of these conditions in Australia remains controversial and testing methods in each of these countries are often disputed and considered unreliable by each other.
In October, 2012 we decided to trial the antibiotic therapy recommended for these infections...... Nine weeks on and I have had some good results. I still have a very long and expensive road ahead.
During our past 3 year journey my health continued to decline and in 2012 that rate of decline increased. Going through this and having no answers and no clear treatment options made our journey feel like a living nightmare. During the past 6 months we have explored Lyme Disease and we have come across many others going through very similar journeys.
For these reasons, Steve and I are now keen to raise awareness and get some answers about these conditions.
in Australia controversy appears to be around.....
1) The existence of Lyme in Australia and
2) The Idea that chronic manifestations of these infections can occur.
THE REASON OFTEN GIVEN IS THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE:
while we agree that this would be a good reason to be cautious,
we also believe it should not be the reason to take an exclusionary approach......
AND WE ASK THE QUESTION.....IS THERE NO EVIDENCE SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN VERY LITTLE RESEARCH?
Cases of a very similar debilitating illness in Australia seem to be growing and combined with my own reaction to the recent antibiotic therapy, I feel strongly that Tick Borne Infections warrant more investigation. In the very least, people who have been infected by ticks abroad need to be medically treated and supported in Australia.
* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE IN-DEPTH RESEARCH EXPLORING THE EXISTENCE OF TICK INFECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA.
* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A MUCH CLEARER UNDERSTANDING AROUND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LYME DISEASE AND OTHER SIMILAR PRESENTING CONDITIONS SO THAT MISDIAGNOSIS CAN BE LIMITED.
* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE CLEARER INFORMATION THAT WILL ASSIST PEOPLE TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS, ACCESS SMOOTHER PROCESSES FOR MEDICAL CARE AND MORE AFFORDABLE TREATMENT FOR LYME AND TICK INFECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA..
FOR THESE REASONS:
Steve and Michelle are walking from Sorrento to Melbourne on
9th April - 13th April 2013.
They will be covering a distance of about 100kms over 5 days
(for Information on how Michelle will do this....read her note below)
Donations:
During our walk we will be asking the Australia public to consider donating to
The Karl McManus Foundation (KMMF)
KMMF works as an access point for Lyme education & research in Australia........
Click on the tab at the top of this page to visit the KMMF website. You can read about Karl's Story, see what the foundation is involved in & make donations.
You can also click on the "walk aware blog" tab on this page to read the updates we will post while we prepare and during the walk. regular updates, photos and relevant information will be posted and you can make comments or read comments made by others.
A NOTE FROM MICHELLE:
I am in the very early days of my treatment and I still require a very paced approach to the level of activity in my life and especially in regard to this event. For this reason, I plan to walk for about 10 minutes every hour (this will have an accumulative effect on my fatigue that we will have to monitor). I will then be pushed in my wheelchair by Steve for the remaining time. I will also need to take the third day off as a rest day. While it will be hard for me to not participate on this day, it will be essential to avoid the risk of my recovery going backwards. We cannot afford to risk this at any cost, so we will be closely monitoring my progress and symptoms everyday. Steve would like to walk the third day alone and to shed a more positive light on this day, we have decided to dedicate this day and pay tribute to carers.......
Steve's enormous support and dedication has been an inspiration and has helped me far more than I can convey. I obviously would not be doing this walk without him and he makes so many things possible everyday. Like all carers, Steve has lost a lot because of my illness. So the third leg of our walk will be to say thank-you to all the great work and sacrifices made by carers of a person who has Lyme Disease or Tick Infections.
Perhaps he should be having the day off for that reason??