An interesting article on Lyme disease

..is in this week's New Yorker. As I've written here before, both Sooz and I have been exposed to Borrelia, although neither of us have any symptoms at all.

The article covers both the medical and political issues about the spread of Lyme in the US. It's excellent, and worth a read.

Vaccinations

I posted in November about finding a way to get a booster for my TBE vaccine here in the US of A. Thanks to my company doctor, I found a traveler's clinic in Montreal that could administer the shot.

Last week, I was in Canada on business and made an appointment to get my vaccine. I'm happy to report that everything went well and a very knowledgeable doctor (with a Welsh diploma) administered my injection. Now I'm set for another three years.

Tick Vaccinations

I've posted many times in the past about that scourge of island life, the tick, or more specifically, the diseases the little bastards carry.

Borrelia, or it's more well-known North American cousin, Lyme disease, is the most common illness. In fact, both Sooz and I have been tested positive for exposure to Lyme, which doesn't mean we have symptoms.

There is a more serious disease however: tick-borne encephalitis, or TBE. Once it's contracted, there is no cure. And it is not a disease that one wants to risk having! I have enough problems with my brain, thank you very much. No need for anything extra to deal with there.

We got our TBE shots when we were in the UK, so we're covered. However, a booster is recommended within 5 years, which would be next year for us. When Sooz visited London ahead of our visit last month, she went to our old NHS doctor and got a booster shot. They were very nice, and didn't charge her the non-resident's fee. (Like I've said before, I love the NHS).

However, going to our village in England to see my old doctor isn't an option for a working stiff like me, so I looked into getting the shot here. After a lot of research, I found that wasn't possible. The reason is simple: there is no TBE in the United States. The vaccine can't even be ordered here as an option, as it isn't licensed for American usage.

My plan B was to get the jab in Sweden, but I thought I'd try something else first. I contacted my company doctor with my dilemma. He took the challenge in good humor, and quickly found a good solution: the vaccine is available in Canada. He directed me to a travel clinic near the Montréal airport, and sure enough, I can stop in and get the vaccine there with no fuss.

As luck would have it, I need to visit Montréal for business in the coming weeks, so I'll plan an hour to stop by and get my booster shot.

The things we global residents have to go through....!

Iceman Ötzi

No, not DJ Ötzi, a very cool guy in his own right, but instead a very-well preserved body of a man who lived in the Tyrolean Alps 5300 years ago, and was uncovered in melting ice in 1991.

I watched a National Geographic special about a project to learn from Ötzi's corpse. It's amazing to see how much information can be gleaned from careful study: where he was from and where he lived, what he ate, his health and even his social status. Today, he has his own museum.

However, the most interesting tidbit of news to me was that DNA tests showed that our prehistoric traveler to have also been infected with Lyme disease. Just goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

"The snow may have saved the ticks from the cold"

Found this disappointing news on the SVT website as I was trolling Eurovision clips:

Many hope that the cold will kill ticks and snails. However, insects are safe in the ground and waiting for spring in the insulating blanket of snow lying over the country.

In recent years, mild winters have been favorable for these creatures that many fear. But, to many people's chagrin, not even the cold of winter kills ticks and snails. Lars-Ake Janzon, biologist of the Museum of Natural History, says he gets many calls from people asking if the cold is killing those creatures.

"The snow insulates against the cold, those who were in the ground before the snow came will likely be safe", he says.

In December the whole country was covered with snow, and inland regions are hoping their tick plague may be mitigated in the summer.

"Frozen ticks have managed to keep alive for six years. They are survivors who found their own niche in the wild, "says Lars-Ake Janzon.

Darn.

More on Lyme disease

Two key points for my readership:

• First, there are about a billion Lyme disease websites out there. Most are not happy reading. My favourite quote so far is: "[Lyme] causes functional, chemical, and structural changes to the brain and alters almost every organ system of the body." Lovely. May I offer the same advice I gave Sooz: don't go googling for "Lyme". It's better that way.
  
• Second, in hindsight, I really should have seen the doctor when I originally developed the red spot. I managed to post a photo but not to get treated. Stupid on my part.

Tick diseases

I posted more than a year ago about a tick bite on my ankle; it flared up into a red spot (and blog post) a few weeks later. The spot went away and I forgot about it.

A few weeks ago, 16 months after the bite, I noticed a bulls-eye rash on my ankle, right on the same spot. Since the bulls-eye is a characteristic of Lyme disease (or Swedish, borelia), I visited the doctor to check it out.

My local surgery took some blood and sent it off to be tested. Just in case, they gave me a 2-week prescription for antibiotics.

Yesterday, I got a call from my doctor who told me I tested positive for Lyme antibodies. So it appears that tick bite did indeed carry borelia. Technically at least, I have Lyme disease. Bummer.

The good news is that I have (and have had) no symptoms at all. I feel fine. Sooz isn't too happy, but in a way, I consider it a badge of honor!

There once was a man from Nantucket

...who contracted a nasty tick-borne illness from the island's deer.

The New York times has an interesting article on the problem. There are parallels with life on Aspö, although our island is much smaller and less developed.

Fritz De Quervain

...was a Swiss doctor, who in 1904, first reported a thyroid condition which eventually took his name. Sooz was disgnosed with it yesterday after a number of tests.

The good news is that it's relatively benign, as thyroid ailments go. It should, over time, heal itself, so there will be no need for surgery or medication. In fact, she's felt pretty good the past few days.

One wrinkle is that Sooz was found to have a little nodule growing on her thyroid, which doesn't have anything to do with the de Quervain's. It's possible it has been there for a long time, but her doctor has ordered a follow-up test, to check it out more thoroughly.

Sooz's health

We now know why Sooz hasn't been feeling well- she has been diagnosed with a hyperactive thyroid.

We're deciding the best course of action going forward, which may include surgery or radiotherapy. Sooz has started taking medication, which should treat her symptoms pretty quickly.

I will update on significant events, but I promise not to turn this into a medical blog!

To Stockholm tonight

I'll be leaving this evening after work and Wille is going to pick me up at Marcia and Rutger's tomorrow at 0600 (!) to catch the 0725 boat from Stavsnäs. I'll head straight back to London from Aspö on Sunday evening.

Anders called yesterday and he won't be able to come over Sunday as originally planned. He sent me a combined bid to do the roofs and the deck between the houses. It's more than I can spend right now, so he's going to separate each portion of the work in his quote. I'll also talk to Janne and Willie for their opinions.

Lastly, in medical news, Sooz received results from her blood test and she does not appear to have Borrelia or Lyme, or any other tick-borne diseases, so that's good news.

A little update

• Sooz talked to her doctor this morning and told them of her weekend doctor's visit, and they moved her blood test up to noon today from the original appointment of Wednesday. She's feeling better today, too.
• I talked to Wille and he'll meet up with me at Marcia and Rutger's this Saturday morning and we'll head out to Stavsnäs together. He has a last few things to tidy up, and I have a lot of trash to haul.
• And I talked to Anders about the roof. He will come out and see me on Aspö Sunday afternoon, so I'll have a good idea about when and how we will proceed.
  

Borrelia

Here's a timely opportunity to write about nationalised health and island life in the same post.

Sooz hasn't felt 100% the past few weeks. She especially didn't feel well while she was away in the US, and in fact cut her trip short to return last Thursday night. Her complaint was mostly a headache, feeling tired and achy, and a low-grade fever that came and went.

As I mentioned the other day, Sooz had a doctor's appointment to discuss her symptoms, and she was set up for a blood test and a visit to an ENT specialist later this week. But she had a rough night last night, with a bad headache and another fever. I did some googling and it seemed Sooz had many of the symptoms of borrelia, which is the Swedish equivalent of Lyme disease. (Although she had only one tick bite, and no signature bulls-eye rash, it appears that's no guarantee of not having the disease.) Margaret also weighed in with some practical advice.

So we called the NHS and Sooz went through her symptoms with a nurse on the phone. A doctor called back and arranged for her to come to our local hospital for a quick check and prescription of antibiotics, just in case it is borrelia. We'll know better after her blood test, but there's no harm in antibiotics for now.

And, no money changed hands for today's medical services, except £7.20 for the prescription.

UPDATE: Sooz feels better this morning. She is also worried this post will dissuade visitors for fear of infection. So I remind my readers that we don't know if she has borrelia, and even if she does, it's easily treated. Also, visitors (with the exception of Rutger) won't be put to work in the woods. It's hard to attract ticks sitting on the deck with a G&T!

First Aid

I posted about first aid a while ago, and nothing much since. But we have been thinking about health on the island.

The main point is we'll have only what we bring with us, so if we need a bandage, or sunburn cream, or allergy tablets, or any of a dozen other things, we'll have to had thought of it and brought it along. Of course, we can always run to the neighbors for help in a pinch, and there's the air ambulance for serious stuff. But we want to be well supplied for daily life, and therefore we've been doing lots of shopping and keeping inventories of all our supplies.

Ollie is part of this too; he's had his anti-tick medicine, and I have a contact for a local vet, and a back specialist in Stockholm, just in case.

Info from Margaret

Marg sent an email today with a very important tip:

"I'm particularly thinking of the lumber Don & Grant will be carrying up...if like I you get allergies, the pollen nightmare exploded here yesterday, big time - we went for shots this morning. If you think you'll be affected out there bring pills (stuff from the UK is probably better than Apotek!) and plenty of hankies. Without the shot I'd be sneezing so much I'd never be able to carry anything!

Spring has at least made a first appearance...it's beautiful here - blue sky, warmer temperatures. I'm not quite ready to give up my winter coat, but it is beautiful. Particularly if you like the golden shade of pollen coating everything within sight ; )"

She's right about the allergies; Grant and I are both have pretty decent hay fever. When in the US next week, Sooz plans to stock up on a wide range of supplies from a local Target or Wal-Mart, and she'll be sure now to concentrate on the strongest allergy stuff she can find.

I'm also glad to see her news about the weather. I've become increasingly worried about the Sandhamn forecast, with tonight's low supposed to be -1ºC (30ºF). We managed a day (and night) in the house when it was a bit warmer. I don't think we could handle a week at that temperature! But perhaps a little sunshine will make the stay much more manageable.

The Final Tick Jab

As I had posted last summer, we went for shots to protect us from tick-borne encephalitis, or TBE. This week was the last of the injection series for all of us, so we're protected from that disease at least.

Margaret told me this week that she hasn't had the shots at all, which makes me feel like a bit of a wuss.

Vaccine

Got my TBE shot today; the NHS had to special-order as it's not a normal item here in the UK. Also it cost £35, which is bit of a bummer since each of need three shots to be fully protected. Do the math for three of us and it's not cheap.

It's cheaper than having encephalitis, however!

We'll get our second shot before we go in October, and the final one before next summer.

Tick update

Good news, my ankle spot is shrinking and is no longer worryingly red. We'll keep an eye on it, though. The bad news is that I have my largest ever post-teenage pimple right on my cheek, so everyone I meet thinks I have the bubonic plague.

Shopping in Stockholm

As I posted a few weeks ago, I removed a Swedish tick from my leg. Strangely enough, the spot was quite inflamed this morning. Don't know if it means anything; perhaps the return to the country of origin caused a sort of sympathetic parasitic swelling. We shall see what transpires.

Otherwise, a productive day. We didn't go to IKEA after all, we went to local shops in Fridhemsplan instead and purchased all the housewares, linens, etc., that we needed.

In the evening, we went to see the Dark Knight. Not bad, but a bit OTT as they say in England. Tomorrow is the big grocery shop and movement out to Aspö. Photos from today in the webgallery.

UPDATE: Margaret has been googling my tick symptoms. Overall, although I feel fine, having a flare-up 3 weeks after the bite is not a good sign. I might have a visit from the doctor boat after all. Stay tuned.

A good snake photo

I had posted previously about seeing a snake. That post was illustrated with a photo from a Swedish website. Now I've gone one better with an actual Aspö snake! The photo was provided by Margaret, who writes:

"This is taken last summer...my Mom, Dad, and I were walking back to our veranda after a visit over at Ann & Dave's, and Mom pointed out the snake. It was right outside of our little earth cellar. I bent down to take the photo and as soon as I snapped, the snake shot quickly under the deck of the house."

As long as they don't bother me, they are welcome to live under my house. Same goes for snails. Moose, too, are welcome (not under the house, obviously). Ticks, however, are right out.