Dunmore family suffers ravages of Lyme disease

By Joe Sylvester
STAFF WRITER
Scranton Times Tribune
05/16/2005

Gary Lancia's woodwork graces a number of homes in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including some upscale abodes.

He built a business around his craft. His wife, Helen, helped him run the business.

That changed about four years ago. Now she helps him walk, or he uses a wheelchair, because of neurological damage. He is legally blind with only some peripheral vision. He has memory loss.

Mr. Lancia, who turned 49 on May 6, almost died nearly two years ago.

Their four children -- three with Mr. Lancia -- have had health problems, too. They all have joint pain. Like Mr. Lancia, they all have been diagnosed with Lyme disease.

"We're not the only family that has it like this," said Mrs. Lancia, who believes Lyme disease is more widespread than most people realize. The blood-borne affliction is con- tracted primarily by a deer tick bite; it can be passed on through blood transfusions.

Mrs. Lancia, 49, believes other health problems she has suffered, such as rheumatic fever, were related to the disease, though she can't prove it.

According to the Lyme Disease Foundation, a nonprofit group based in Tolland, Conn., 37,865 cases of Lyme disease have been reported in Pennsylvania since 1980, the third-highest state total behind New York and Connecticut.

Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics. But if not adequately treated, the infected person can develop more serious symptoms, such as unrelenting fatigue, joint or muscle pain, facial paralysis, heart damage, psychological disturbances, stomach problems, neurological disorders, blindness, deafness, even death, according to the Lyme Disease Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, based in Chadds Ford.

According to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, Lyme disease sometimes is misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), seizure, arthritis or other afflictions.

Anthony Lionetti, M.D., of the Tick Borne Disease Center in Philipsburg, N.J., where Mr. Lancia has been treated, said Lyme disease could look like those other diseases, but not always. He said symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, and muscle and joint pains could show up months after a tick bite.

Dr. Lionetti said treatment within 24 hours of a bite could prevent the victim from getting Lyme disease, and it can be cured if caught early.

Mrs. Lancia believes years of misdiagnosis and the lack of proper treatment led to her husband's problems.

Mr. Lancia is believed to have contracted the disease from a tick bite in Marine boot camp in Parris Island, S.C., in 1976. According to Mrs. Lancia and some of her husband's medical documents, which she shared, Mr. Lancia was hospitalized three weeks after boot camp with pneumonia. He later suffered another tick bite during summer training in 1981.

Mr. Lancia now has a painful growth around his spinal cord known as perichordoma, which led to his dependence on the wheelchair and may be related to his Lyme disease, his records show. He also has short-term memory loss and verbal dyslexia.

At times he is lucid. During a recent interview at the Lancias' kitchen table, he teased his wife and made jokes. But he also showed he has a good idea what is happening to him.

"The good thing about not having a good memory is you don't remember how you used to feel," Mr. Lancia said during a more serious moment. "Helen said I was sicker."

If there is any lesson to be learned from her family's affliction, Mrs. Lancia said, it is that society should recognize how important it is to diagnose and treat Lyme disease. She believes there should be regional clinics to treat the disease. A blood and urine test done once a week for 20 weeks is the most accurate way to diagnose Lyme disease, she said.

"If you know you got bit within 24 hours and get treated right away, you can control it," Mrs. Lancia said.