SYDNEY – Rock climbing is one of Melissa Boutilier’s favorite hobbies these days.
But it wouldn’t be if the Lyme disease she had, which led her to be in a wheelchair in a year, wasn’t detected.
“I will always have too high a heart rate because of what happened. Only for when I got sick and had pericarditis. It will always be too high, so I still take a pill,” the 33-year-old said. old man who is originally from Port Caledonia.
“Other than that, I don’t even think about being sick. It’s not even on my radar, which is amazing because I was told several times that this wouldn’t happen.”
Now living in Halifax, Boutilier was 25 when he contracted Lyme disease in 2015. He was then happy in his career, about to close his first home, doing triathlons and cycling on the Cabot Trail.
A year after his symptoms began in August 2015, Boutilier needed to use a wheelchair. In addition to suffering from extreme fatigue, he also had intense joint pain, brain fog and painful rashes.
ROOT CAUSE
As reported in the Cape Breton Post, Boutilier spent two years trying to get help locally. Although his family doctor was compassionate and did what he could, Boutilier felt that the five specialists were despised and not interested in determining the root cause and focused on treating one symptom at a time.
Because Lyme disease was an autoimmune disease with multiple symptoms, this approach did not work. None of the medical professionals were able to reach the root cause. Some were despised. Something she believes happens to other people who suffer from chronic illnesses.
“My rheumatologist locally in Sydney, he told me to take a holiday,” Boutilier said.
“I was covered from head to toe by these burning, growing eruptions. They were throbbing, they were so hot and sore, and I was covered from head to toe with them and their response was ‘take a vacation.’ .
After connecting with Dr. Robert Dubocq of Maine in 2017 at a Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation conference in Halifax, Boutilier began his recovery. Dubocq accepted her as a patient and, after a year of the treatment plan he created, Boutilier was 95% symptom-free and walking again.
When Boutilier found out that if he had not found Dubocq, he could still be ill because he had fallen through cracks in the medical system. Five years later, he wonders if there are still others.
IGNORED SYMPTOMS
As part of many social media groups for people with Lyme disease or who think they might have Lyme disease, Boutilier sees many people struggling for a diagnosis in Nova Scotia like her.
“Lyme disease is such a weird thing in Canada. In the United States, it’s totally recognized that there are ticks around, that carry disease and can get sick. And we’re supposed to be watching for certain things,” Boutilier said.
“In Canada, when they tell you to go to the doctor, the first thing they tell you is, ‘Do you have a bull’s eye rash?’ And if you say, “No,” they’ll tell you, “Well, we don’t have the kind of ticks that carry Lyme disease here, so don’t worry.”
A Nova Scotia Health spokesman provided information to the Post by email.
“According to the IDEG (Infection Disease Expert Group) guideline, for early Lyme disease, testing doesn’t necessarily help,” said communications advisor Brendan Elliott.
“It’s a clinical diagnosis and treatment is started based on the doctor’s clinical diagnosis.”
Boutilier did not have a bull’s eye mark, like many others who contract the disease or are not seen because it is in their head hidden by their hair or missing when they seek medical treatment.
According to the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Welfare, the symptoms of a tick bite infected with the bacterium that causes Lyme disease are usually three to 30 days. Severe symptoms usually take weeks to months.
RISK THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE
The first confirmed case of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia was in 2002 and the first confirmed case in Cape Breton was in 2014. Proponents believe there have been unconfirmed cases years before.
A 2012 report from the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Welfare on the epidemiology and surveillance of Lyme disease said there had been a total of 120 cases across the province since the first 10 years earlier.
According to the Department of Health and Welfare, there were 830 confirmed or probable cases of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia. They were unable to provide the numbers for 2020 and 2021 before the time of publication.
Nova Scotia Health was able to collect data on confirmed or likely diagnoses of Lyme disease at the end of emergency room visits in different areas. They are:
East Zone
2020-9
2021-10
2022 – 0
North Zone
2020-48
2021-144
2022-10
West Zone
2020 – 324
2021-886
2022-23
Central Zone
2020-78
2021-158
2022-45
Nicole Sullivan is a reporter on diversity and education, who sometimes covers the pace of health, in the Cape Breton Post.