Sheri Souch of Kaleden was making plans to enter Ironman last year.

The 38 year old Kaleden woman was a marathon runner and had participated in some local half Ironman triathlons.

One day in May of 2007, Sheri was running along the KVR in Kaleden, something she did as part of a daily routine.

Some time after her run she became aware of a red lump in her pubic area. In the middle was something black, which she was able to pick out. She didn’t give the matter much thought after that, but a few days later noticed a bull’s eye rash in the affected area.

“The (bulls eye) rash is characteristic of a tick bite, but may only appear in 70 per cent of actual tick bites,” she said. “At the time, I had no idea what it meant.”

In June of 2007 Sheri became ill. A bout of vomiting and dizziness - similar to flu like symptoms - persisted in June, culminating in a few cases of momentarily blacking out.

“I found myself exhausted, even before going for a run,” she said. Trying to continue her routine was becoming more and more difficult.

“I felt like I was ‘bonking’” - a term used by endurance athletes to describe exhaustion - “and couldn’t figure out what was wrong, never associating the symptoms with a tick bite.”

Sometime in November of last year, Sheri happened to come across pictures of the bulls eye rash on the internet.

“It looked exactly like the rash I had,” she said. She thought she had come up with an explanation for her problems, but that was before she tried to convince the Canadian medical establishment.

“I went to a specialist,” she continued, “who told me there was no Lyme disease in B.C.”

Apparently the specialist wasn’t aware that voluntary testing of dogs for Lyme through a handful of veterinarians had found four dogs with the disease, two of which were from Oliver.

Sheri was still working as a teacher at this time, but was now experiencing excruciating joint pain in her wrists. The pain spread to her ankles by September.

“I began getting forgetful - with stupid, simple things,” she said. “I’d be in the middle of a class, and suddenly have to ask my students what we were doing next.”

Other symptoms resulted in two separate ambulance trips to the hospital where the emergency room physician diagnosed ‘panic attacks.’

“I accepted the diagnoses,” she said

She had to stop working at the end of October last year.

“I stopped all exercise. I had no energy, and at one point was bedridden for three months,” she continued. “In January of this year I was diagnosed with rheumatic fever.”

The doctor prescribed a lengthy treatment of penicillin.

“Within three days I was out of bed,” she said. She began feeling better, but when the dosage was cut in half, symptoms began to return.

“Every time I went off the full dose, my symptoms would return,” she said, “ so I self prescibed.”

Sheri’s research into Lyme disease continued to convince her that she was a victim of it. She heard of a lab in California known as IGENX. They were highly reputable and were industry leaders in Lyme disease detection. She applied for, and ultimately received, a test kit.

“A local lab drew my blood and sent it off, with my doctor’s approval,” she said. The lab report confirmed what she was already quite sure of - the test came back positive for lyme.

“My doctor was convinced, but when he called the infectious disease doctor in Kelowna to report his findings - as Lyme is a reportable disease - he was told by the infectious disease doctor that because I had tested negative for ELISA, I don’t have Lyme,” she explained. Her doctor told her that Lyme treatment - long term use of antibiotics - is too controversial, so doctors avoid the diagnosis.

“I’m totally frustrated,” she admitted, “ I’ve been tested for everything, and nothing fits but Lyme, but the doctors don’t want to admit it.”

Her doctor helped Sheri to find someone to treat her in the United States, and since then she has been making regular trips to Seattle (every two months) for treatment which is starting to strain the family’s abillity to pay.

“I’m not acknowledged to have the disease in Canada, so there is no medical assistance available,” she explains. The family motorhome and their Honda Pilot are being sold to finance her treatments.

Sheri, is feeling better these days. The excruciating pain she was experiencing has subsided, but she is still struggling with cognitive problems.

“It’s a slow process,” she says, “but at least I know I’m getting better. Had I known what the bull’s eye rash meant, I would have been able to get earlier treatment, which would have saved me two years of my life.”

Please turn to page11 for more information on Lyme Disease.