Raising Our Awareness Of Lyme Disease

To the Editor:

Hats off to the women and men of the Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force for their dedication and persistence in continuing to educate our community on the awareness of Lyme disease. This grassroots organization is at the forefront of pioneering the way to alerting our town, local government and doctors of the dangers and debilitating effects of this disease.

Every seat at the “Seminar on Lyme Disease” the NLDTF organized was taken last Monday evening at the Fireside Inn by a very concerned audience, and I was truly impressed by the wealth of information that was at my fingertips to take home with me. The primary speaker that evening, Dr Brian Fallon, was remarkable in his knowledge, dedication, and concern to inform and treat those with this insidious disease.

I was also grateful for the support of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Health Director Mark Cooper, the support and sponsorship of the Rotary Club, and the attendance of First Selectman Herb Rosenthal.

But I must say I was very disappointed in the attendance of the local physicians in our area. I believe that all were notified of the importance of the knowledge they could acquire at this seminar and unfortunately I only recognized one or two of the doctors in the Newtown/Danbury area.

I am under the impression that the doctors of this area (Newtown being one of the highest-rated hot-spots for Lyme disease) are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to educating themselves on Lyme disease (this was evident by their absence last Monday night). Their attitude is one of denial; if we cannot cure it, therefore it does not exist. They continue to label people with this crippling disease as sufferers of fibromyalgia, lupus, MS and rheumatoid arthritis and have not researched each individual to find that indeed many have really been afflicted with untreated Lyme disease.

I say this as a casualty of this disease myself and my personal experience with the doctors in this area. It took six months of living in excruciating pain and no less than 20 doctors to finally diagnose me correctly.

If we cannot count on our primary physicians to treat us and our children and depend on them to educate themselves on the symptoms/treatment of Lyme disease, then we as a community need to put the pressure on our government, local officials, doctors, and schools to recognize the epidemic we are facing here in Newtown and to start to educate our community on this horrible disease.

I implore you not only for yourselves but for the future of our children to step up to the plate, do the right thing and contact the state governor,  first selectman and those who hold a seat in office that can make a difference and continue what the NLDTF is doing. Ask them what indeed they are doing to eradicate this disease and to support funding to find a cure. This is one problem that no one can say does not affect them in their own backyard.

Thank you Maggie Shaw, Vicki McColl, Patricia Campbell, Debbie Green and Mary Beth Olah for getting the attention of a sleeping community.

Sincerely,

Lora Maguire

Golden Pond Road, Newtown                                      April 14, 2001