One of my mentors in a trade got a tick bite in 82’, and for years couldn’t stand or walk, or fully close his hands. Never again could he fully close his hands, having to hold hammers and chisels with his thumbs only, making them extremely exhausting to use.

The nerve damage is still getting worse, and now his only goal is to wrap up all his final projects before he physically can’t use his hands at all anymore.

They scare the shit outta me

The scary part about this is that he likely has zero actual support from any kinds of disability, because chronic Lyme disease isn’t officially recognized in the medical world. Or rather, they recognize that there is a correlation between Lyme and long-term impairment, but they have no treatment nor palliatives for it. So they just sort of say “deal with it. Most people can return to work after a few weeks, so you can too.”

Sort of like how long COVID affected (and still continues to affect) a sizable part of the population, but government disability in America didn’t recognize it as official so patients with long COVID had to keep going to work even when they were dealing with debilitating long-term symptoms.

I have several friends with this syndrome. Has led to them introducing me to some fine vegan cheeses!

Several?

Are you in a naked backcountry hiking club, or something?

I guess I’m near an epicenter. The people I know who have are actually related, but don’t live in the same house: my friend, his sister and her husband and two kids.

Hmm. I wonder if they all got it on the same trip, or at least in the same spot.

No I don’t think so. It’s legitimately spreading fast in some areas, including mine (VA).

That you actually should know

I’d rather not know of these terrors.