LYME DISEASE TO A GRAND SLAM FINAL

Tuesday 8 June 2010

LYME DISEASE TO A GRAND SLAM FINAL

Much has been in the news recently about Sam Stosur being in the tennis final but many newspapers report about her comeback from suffering with a debilitating case of Lyme Disease.

Lyme Disease Action on their website posted the following.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/releases/lda_41.pdf

From Lyme disease to a Grand Slam final...
Saturday’s French Open ladies tennis final will crown an incredible comeback from Lyme disease for Australian Sam Stosur. A late-blooming success, Stosur was struck down by the debilitating illness – which is caused by the bite of an infected tick and can affect the joints,
the heart and the nervous system - for ten months in 2007.

She’s recovered though, to such an extent that after beating Serena Williams and Justine Henin en route, she’s now the favourite to secure her first Grand Slam title against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.

Stosur’s newfound fame should bring Lyme disease further into the limelight – with regular mention of the problem appearing in recent national newspapers and BBC news articles on the Australian.
Says Stella Huyshe-Shires, the Chair of Lyme Disease Action: “This is a remarkable achievement for someone who was once so weakened by Lyme disease she could barely complete the most menial task.”

Talking to the Press Association, Sam Stosur admits she never could have imagined she would reach a Grand Slam final when she was battling the Lyme disease, which could have ended her career. “When I was out, I never let myself doubt the fact that I would return. Obviously, I had no
idea what was going to happen."

Stosur has come a long way since the illness gripped her three years ago but confesses “I'd never wish to go through any of that ever again. I think I'm pretty fortunate that I was able to come back and be healthy so quickly. It was a long time, but relatively quickly compared to a lot of other stories
I have heard.”

Lyme Disease Action (www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk) is a UK-registered charity striving for greater awareness of Lyme disease and associated tick-borne diseases.
Ends June 2010
Press: Issued by Lyme Disease Action’s press office (www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk).
For more information, or to speak to Stella Huyshe-Shires, the Chair of Lyme Disease Action, please contact
Sue Ockwell or Camilla Colley via email - press@lymediseaseaction.org.uk - or ring 020 8891 4440.
A Lyme disease poster, showing how to remove a tick correctly, and leaflets on Lyme disease, are available
for publication if required or for readers to take to their own local GP or veterinary practice

2 comments:

Renee10 June 2010 at 00:40
I just saw a video about her today....did not take her long to get back ....she must have gotten diagnosed quickly..
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Joanne10 June 2010 at 08:48
Renee Yes she clearly responded well to treatment but as you say she may have been treated quite early on. Many of us have been ill many years before we get diagnosed and on treatment and even then it is difficult. I hope she goes a bit more public on her treatment. i guess she has access to treatments not usually available to most people. Yes I just saw a video interview of her.
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Lyme Life written in 2009

I started suffering with arthritis in mainly my large joints especially my knees 6 years ago. The symptoms varied and I remember saying that every joint was affected except my elbows to one doctor. I was told it would be hormonal and to take the usual supplements cod liver oil or glucosamine ( I would certainly recommend buying shares in the companies producing these supplements) They had no noticeable affect.

All my symptoms deteriorated significantly over a few weeks,4 years ago. Hips shoulders and knees being the worst and I started with muscle weakness in upper arms and upper legs. I had difficulty standing and walking across a room. I was unable to walk upstairs and my husband was making plans to convert to a downstairs bedroom. I had seen 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists and put on steroids for Poly Myalgia Rheumatica diagnosis. I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS.

I have X rays and scans showing signs of osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. ( later note.- the X rays done some years into treatment showed my hands completely normal no signs of inflammation or RA confirming how they felt - normal) I have been retired early from the Civil Service having lost my job not to mention my earning potential. My illness seemed to progress through my body not affecting the same joints left to right at the same time. I had bursitis in left hip, right hip, left elbow. I had synovial thickening in both wrists. At that time I could not lift and hold a magazine so lifting a kettle I could only do if a third full and with two hands. Each joint in my hands fingers feet and toes were affected. I had swallowing difficulties and many other symptoms. None of this describes the endless and awful pain whenever I moved or the tiredness but inability to get quality sleep.

Two years ago my GP gave me Amoxicilin for a sinus/throat/chest infection. All my arthritis symptoms improved. The course ended the symptoms deteriorated I started a second course the symptoms improved. The improvement was more significant than when I had started taking steroids. This led my GP to suspect Lyme Disease. I laughed because we do not travel abroad but she said they had had other cases in the surgery in the early stages of tick bite and Erythma Migrans rash. She said but you have not had a bite. I said oh yes I have I had two on my ankles with rashes, March 05 this was confirmed on her computer when I had seen a locum doctor. My worst symptoms were waking up feeling rigid and having to painfully flex every joint in my body before struggling to get up. The only other time I had experienced this was in May 2003 during a flu like illness like no other I had ever experienced. At that time I had a bite and similar rash on my right foot which lasted like the other rashes about four weeks. I had also consulted the surgery and it was dismissed as a virus. I walked our dog daily in the woods adjacent to our house where the deer roam, prime tick area. Thus started my very lengthy search about Lyme Disease leading me through Lyme Disease Action to a doctor who specialises in this illness. He confirmed my GP's suspicions. I never had a positive blood test but then they are antigen tests and there is much research that shows they are unreliable. In my case the year of steroids and many weeks antibiotics could have affected the results. So with a clinical diagnosis and following ILADS International Lyme and Associated Disease Society guidelines I continued on antibiotics for two years. Both my doctors continued to treat me despite of Health Protection Agency advising against long term antibiotics. I am now nearly 100% recovered I have no pain or muscle weakness. I can walk upstairs something I could not do for three and a half years. I can garden do house work and live a normal life. I still need to pace myself and with only a few months to 60 will not be looking to return to work. Life is such a joy. Sadly there is much controversy about Lyme Disease and doctors in UK are taught that it is so rare. Well where I live in Guildford I have been in contact with a dozen other people with it so perhaps not so rare as HPA would like us to believe. I am in touch with nearly 2000 other patients through a chat line Eurolyme most had been misdiagnosed with several other illnesses. Look at UK charity Lyme Disease Action if you want to read more about this illness. There are many MP's taking an interest in the problems surrounding diagnosis and treatment see above charity links into a recent meeting at the House of Commons.

Thank goodness there are some thinking doctors around who have courageously treated me against opposition and I have made such a miraculous recovery albeit rather a lengthy one. One day there will be many more people who are helped with their chronic illnesses when IDSA starts taking note of what our courageous LLMD’s are doing following ILADS Guidelines.

ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Poly Myalgia Rheumatica, Arthritis, Bell’s Palsy, MS,MN, ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Heart Block, Stroke, Psychiatric, gastric problems the list is endless. Not all suffering from Lyme Borrelia but how many are even properly assessed for it.

UPDATE

UPDATE 10 January 2012