That is my old dog, Coffee, he passed way from complications of Lyme disease. I love walking in the woods. In the Augusta area we have some AMAZING places to walk.  But I have become overcome by fear. I am scared of ticks and Lyme disease.

Ticks are just the nastiest little things ever. They are blood suckers that attach and feed. Even as I write this, my skin in crawling. But is it is the Lyme disease that come ticks because that is of concern.

Lyme has affected my world in that in the summer of 2006 I had to put down my dog, Coffee, because of the effects of Lyme on his body. He was 13 and had a wonderful life, but to see him in such pain because of it was heart breaking.

I have a friend who has Lyme as well. But being a human, able to say what she feels and being one the most persistent person &patient you might ever meet, she was able to get a correct diagnosis. This after being told it was not Lyme.  And she had to keep up the first for a year.  She works hard physically and mentally to keep it from dragging her down.

My other experience with Lyme is a little more removed, but really made an impact on me.  Musician Bill Chinnock also had Lyme disease.  He was in the station years ago and I did an interview with him about his music, his life and his disease.  He was a nice man.  We lived in the same town; my nephew took guitar lesion from him and I would see him in the park riding bikes with his kid.  Bill Chinnock died in 2007. His manager said he committed suicide. He was disabled with crushing fatigue, burning, body pain, brain fog, and other symptoms. His had gone untreated for a long time before diagnosis. Did all of that lead to his choice? I don’t know, but it sure makes an impact on quality of life. So, I have to wonder….

All of this is why I am scared of Lyme disease. But I miss the walks in the woods. More to come. Now I have to do the research to see who I can REALLY protect myself and ShadowDog from the nasty little blood suckers.

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