For many Canadians, Lyme disease is not a concern that is top of mind. If you’re walking through a tall patch of grass or camping with your family, a small alarm bell might go off reminding you to check for ticks that may be carrying Lyme disease. Louis and his wife Rachel are from Hamilton, Ont. where he works as a school teacher and she is an office administrator with Hamilton Health Sciences. They have two healthy and active young boys and in all ways are a loving and typical Canadian family.
Lyme disease is transmitted through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. According to Canada's government website, symptoms can vary from person to person. "They couldn't figure it out. It lasted about a year and a half and then we did blood work and all the testing but they said, 'We don't know what it is,'" Louis recalled. The turning point for the Themeles family came on June 30, 2020 when Louis and his son were walking.
“Everyone just thought maybe it was heat exhaustion and then it wasn't. Things kind of got progressively worse from there.” The experience of the Themeles family is not unique. False negatives in Lyme disease testing are the crux of the issue, according to Janet Sperling, president of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation.
The Themeles family has now relocated to Vancouver in order to get treatment at Yaletown Integrative Medicine. Rachel says her husband's case brings Canadian testing and the treatment of Lyme disease to the forefront, which she says can cause patients to fall through the cracks of the system. Louis says he is in disbelief that anyone would have to go through something like this. She noted that when the COVID-19 pandemic began and testing became a normal part of the Canadian lifestyle, adjustments were made to improve results.