Updated: Schumer treated for possible Lyme disease
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- May
- 24
(Updated with clarification from Schumer’s spokesman)
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is undergoing a 21-day treatment of antibiotics for possible Lyme disease.
Schumer said in an interview he thinks he was exposed to a tick carrying Lyme disease while he was conducting a series of news conferences on dangerous dams in the Hudson Valley earlier this month.
In the wake of recent flooding from heavy rain that has filled area reservoirs, Schumer visited the Veterans’ Memorial Lake Dam on Gypsy Trail Road in Putnam County, the Whaley Lake Dam in Dutchess County and Beaver Dam in Orange County with Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, to highlight legislation that would provide money for conducting safety assessments and an upgrade of the aging dams.
Although Schumer wore a suit during the May 7 news conferences, a tick apparently climbed up the sock on the Brooklyn lawmaker’s left leg and picked a location below his knee to engorge itself.
Schumer said he went to a physician to have the tick removed immediately after discovering it. But the three days of antibiotics he was initially prescribed did not stop a reddish bull’s-eye from appearing a few days later.
He then consulted a second physician more familiar with the treatment of Lyme disease, who recommended a more aggressive treatment.
The senator’s spokeman, Josh Vlasto, stressed Thursday that the treatment is preventative. “He doesn’t have any symptoms, and the bull’s-eye is already going down,’’ said Vlasto.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the symptoms of Lyme disease typically include a skin rash, fatigue, headaches and fever, but if not treated it can spread to the joints, the heart and nervous system.
Most cases – especially those detected early – can be treated and cured with antibiotics.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 4:50 pm by Brian Tumulty.
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Good luck Senator Schumer. Most Americans get real sick with Lyme . Then the Infectious Disease Society of America stops our care. Maybe since you are an elected elite you will be able to access what we the little people cannot … ie” adequate care for Lyme Disease.
Sen. Schumer—I hope you are able to get better on the antibiotics. I also hope you will do everything you can to help Lyme sufferers in this country. We need access to Lyme-literate MDs, testing and treatment. We need health professionals to know about Lyme and co-infections. Currently, they are generally uneducated about what is happening. We need people to know about this disease and the other co-infections, and that they are all spreading. We need people to know how to protect themselves and their pets. We need HR741 passed. Thank you for your attention.
Senator Shumer,
I do hope your Lyme Disease is atypical and responds to treatment right away. Your spokesperson is misinformed, as is most of the public and medical establishment. At this point your treatment is not preventative as you already have symptoms of the disease, ie bullseye rash. Also the fact that the bullseye is subsiding doesn’t mean the disease has been stopped, it just following a usual sequence for symptoms. Hopefully, your treatment will eradicate the organisms from your body. If not, other symptoms can be latent and may not show for some time. The IDSA protocol is not been proven adequate once the organisms have gone to the nervous system. Longer term therapy may be required if neurological or other symptoms show up later. We sincerely hope they do not. Hopefully your clinician is aware of other protocols, such as ILADS (longer term therapy) which may be needed if the disease becomes established in your central nervous system. Your clinician certainly should be more open minded about your care than the denials and lack of concern most Americans get from the medical establishment . Its time this disease is recognized for the horror it is. There is no room for politics and debate whether this is real or not. For hundreds of thousands of people this is most certainly real and is way past debate. Best wishes.
I only hope that you have the “pull” to finally make people stand up and LISTEN. This is an Awful disease. Mine didn’t show up for a Year. Now I’m going blind, My brain is being attacked and I’m in PAIN, 24 hours a day. Someone needs to bring this to “the Light of day”.
Best wishes to you. Have someone tell you about the “CWD” bacteria.
Dear Senator,
I’m glad you and your doctors were knowledgble about the relationship of a bug bite, rash and symptoms requiring treatment. I and many others have had experiences where we did not put it all together and over time have had many unusual symptoms and MD’s thought s/s were “just a virus”, ‘flu”, “stress”, “depression”, “fibromyalgia”. I have finally found an MD who recognized the late symptoms but I will probably not ever get over the joint pains, numbness is my feet, memory problems, severe fatigue. Please be in contact with insurance companys to treat us without hassle.