Touched By Lyme
By Dorothy Kupcha Leland
This blog has several goals. First, to explore the personal side of Lyme disease and how it affects individuals and families. Second, to highlight useful information for people seeking answers about this complicated illness. Third, to help foster a sense of unity and shared purpose among the many diverse members of the Lyme community. Dorothy, who serves as President of LymeDisease.org, has a family member with Lyme disease. She is co-author of a book called When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide.
Dr. Dave Martz overcame an ALS death sentence with Lyme treatment
As Dave Martz lay dying, an idea serpentined around his mind and would not loosen its grip: Despite the absolute diagnosis and the insistence of…
The thorny question of persistent Lyme, or rather “Lyme IACI”
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (known collectively as NASEM) are private, nonprofit institutions that examine challenging issues and offer advice to the…
The strong voice of a teenager with Lyme disease
When my daughter Rachel was 13, she suffered a seemingly simple injury that led to an outbreak of inexplicable, debilitating, body-wide pain. This left her…
Seeking better treatments for those who get Lyme and stay sick
In June 2023, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) held a game-changing workshop in Washington DC that introduced the term “infection-associated chronic…
A commitment to educating about tick bite prevention
LymeDisease.org recently received an unexpected donation—$4886 from Greenix Pest Control. Headquartered in Utah, the company serves clients in 15 states, generally in the eastern half…
Can public meetings replace the TBD Working Group?
When the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group ceased to exist at the end of 2022, some people wanted to keep it going. Although the Lyme community…
Having different Lyme reporting rules for some states makes no sense
I delivered these comments at the Tick-Borne Diseases & Associated Illnesses: National Community Engagement Initiative public meeting in San Francisco on June 11. I’m Dorothy…
With ticks and other vectors, can we turn “bad” to “getting better”?
In a recent interview about burgeoning tick populations in the US, the CDC’s Sue Visser bluntly told the Associated Press, “It’s very bad and has…
“Sensitive Patient’s Healing Guide” offers hope and a game plan
People coping with Lyme disease and co-infections are often plagued with a host of additional complications. For example, they may be suddenly hypersensitive to smells,…
LymeDisease.org’s 35 years of advocating for you
In 1989, Phyllis Mervine published the first issue of the Lyme Times in Ukiah, California. It was two legal-size sheets of paper, folded in half…
“Long covid looks exactly, and I mean exactly, like chronic Lyme.”
MIT Technology Review is a bimonthly magazine owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It focuses on science and technology. Its latest issue features the work of…
Her art reflects long-term struggle with unrecognized Lyme disease
Emily Bromberg is a painter and ceramic artist based in Seattle, Washington. She’s struggled with unexplained chronic pain for much of her life. Things dramatically…