Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 5 · column 3 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
Lyme
From Page A1
are tiny—about the size of the head of a pin—and often go unnoticed by their host.
In most people, the first sign of Lyme is a bullseyetype rash accompanied by flulike symptoms such as fatigue, muscle and joint pain and fever. In some instances, the rash does not appear, and if untreated, the disease moves on to affect the heart and nervous system. A 10 to 30 day course of antibiotics— the most popular being doxycycline—is used to treat the symptoms.
The disease is most common in the spring and summer months when people tend to be outdoors more often and have a greater chance of coming in contact with an infected tick. Dr. McCue noted, however, that he has seen cases all year.
“Whenever people are outside hiking or gardening, they should check themselves thoroughly when they are finished,” he stated emphatically. “We need to be very aware of this disease.” Residents affected
Rappahannock residents Betty Hutcheson of Sunset Hill Farm, Sperryville, and Pete Jenkins of Flint Hill are more aware of the disease than they ever cared to be. In fact, each can name several more people that they know who have the disease as well.
Hutcheson formed her own Lyme network, where she chats with others afflicted with the disease. She also spends time on the computer researching the latest information about Lyme. “You should hear some of these stories,” she sighed. “It is so sad what this disease can do to people.”
Her illness was not diagnosed early enough, and she traveled from Virginia to Maryland to Pennsylvania to get it under control. “I was on so many medications, I can’t even tell you what they all were,” she said. “I took everything.”
Hutcheson reported a terrible rash, chronic fatigue and severe leg and joint pain. “I did not feel well at all,” she said. “I could hardly lift one foot in front of the other.”
For the last two years, she has been on medication to help her manage the disease.
She said of the ticks that bit her, “those things are hardy little creatures. They are so small you can barely even see them. You might just think it’s a freckle until it starts to itch.”
She thinks that when she found the tick and attempted to pull it off, she didn’t get it all. “I took what I had of it to Fauquier Hospital and had them test it. It came back pos
96.9%