Lyme Disease Strikes Iowa City Man

By Mark Geary, Reporter

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By Mark Geary

Story Created: Jun 29, 2009 at 8:02 PM CST

Story Updated: Jun 29, 2009 at 9:23 PM CST

IOWA CITY – A small little insect causes a lot of trouble around this time of year. We're talking about ticks. Some of them can carry Lyme Disease.

Dan Wolfe started getting all kinds of different flu-like symptoms last month. He went to the hospital four different times, but it took doctors about five weeks to realize that he had Lyme Disease.

Dan Wolfe looks forward to hunting mushrooms every summer. Last month, he left with more than just a bag of mushrooms...a tick attached itself to his stomach.

"I never saw the tick,” Wolfe said.

Johnson County Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley said, "Tick bites are usually painless. So, if you're bit by one, you're probably not going to know it."

Soon after, Wolfe developed a rash.

"It didn't hurt. It was just red. It was about the size of a pancake,” he said.

He started to get worried when the symptoms intensified.

"If I coughed, my eyes...my vision would go completely black. I couldn't see anything for a couple of seconds,” Wolfe said.

It took four trips to several different hospitals before doctors realized Wolfe had Lyme Disease. During that time, the disease paralyzed half of his face.

"It was like Novocain had been shot in one side of my face. I couldn't move it at all,” Wolfe said, "I couldn't blink. I had to tape my eye shut at night to sleep."

Wolfe is getting married in a few weeks and worried he wouldn't be able to smile on his wedding day.

"She's been perfect throughout it, but I was going crazy,” he said.

The Johnson County Health Department says ticks are typically a problem this time of year.

"The weather's warmed up. People are out in the woods tramping around. So, the exposure to ticks is greater,” Beardsley said.

Wolfe will be able to smile on his wedding day, but continues to feel weak and tired. Doctors aren't sure how long he'll continue to feel the effects of the bite.

Johnson County has had fourteen confirmed cases of Lyme Disease this year, which is up slightly from previous years.

Wolfe told me he wishes doctors would have realized it was Lyme Disease sooner, because it would have spared him a lot of pain.

But, despite this experience, he's still not willing to give up mushroom hunting.

According to the CDC, the common symptom of Lyme Disease is a circular, bull’s-eye shaped rash around a tick bite. But, that does not always occur.

Patients also may have fatigue, chills, fever and muscle and joint pain. However, the CDC says the symptoms of Lyme Disease vary from person to person.

So if you've had a tick bite and any other symptoms, get to a doctor right away.

E-mail Mark Geary at Mark.Geary@kcrg.com or follow him on Twitter.

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