Lyme
disease
WTIC—TV FOX 61
Hartford, CT
by Tom Misczuk
30 Apr 2004
Susan: A doctor
who specializes in treating patients with Lyme disease says warm weather
has more people than ever calling his office! These are people who fear
they might have already contracted Lyme disease! FOX 61’s Tom Misczuk
reports on how possible victims and doctors can do everything they can to
try to ensure proper treatment.
Tom: Deborah
Dufel of Danbury says she lived a nightmare. The agony brought on by a tick
bite and the Lyme disease she contracted, but that went undiagnosed for
7 years.
Deborah: “When
I came here originally in 1997 I was in a wheelchair, I had seen approximately
40 doctors....”
Tom: Deborah
was finally diagnosed correctly in the office of doctor Steven Phillips
of Wilton, who treats Lyme disease patients almost exclusively. Doctor Phillips
says now the “International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society”
has published guidelines in an effort to encourage doctors to take a closer
look at symptoms like headache, fatigue, and joint pain. Symptoms such as
those Deborah Deful had.
Dr Phillips:
“And I would just encourage physicians to take their patients seriously,
listen to what they have to say, and don’t discount when someone comes
in and has a history of being quite healthy, and all of a sudden it seems
like they’re falling apart. It could be.... These type of multi-system
presentations can be compatible with Lyme.”
Tom: It’s
the time of year when people go where ticks are, and Deborah says anyone
who even thinks he might have Lyme disease should get tested. Recovery is
slow!
Deborah: “Yes,
I have it. Hopefully some day I won’t have it at all; but while I have
it, I’m going to live the fullest possible life.”
Tom: She is
able to, she says, because she was finally diagnosed properly.
Susan: The latest
statistics for Connecticut run from 1998 to 2002, when an average of almost
ten thousand cases of Lyme disease were reported each year.
Tom Misczuk, FOX 61
News at 10
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