Brewer girl’s Lyme disease story is powerful

When Sally Jordan got sick, her parents tried to find answers that were a lot less obvious than they seemed.

Sally had aching joints and was frequently feverish. She experienced numbness in her fingers and arms. She coughed a lot, and got rashes.

For four years, Ralph and Lisa Jordan carted their daughter to doctor after doctor. Tests were inconclusive, though Sally was typically undergoing treatment for suspected rheumatoid arthritis.

Sally got worse. She became largely bed-ridden. She began struggling to spend even an hour at school. She stopped participating in sports and dance.

And finally, the Jordans got an answer to the question they’d been asking since their daughter was 7 years old: “What’s wrong with Sally?”

In December, the Jordans took Sally to a controversial Connecticut doctor who diagnosed her ailment as Lyme disease. That doctor began a treatment regimen that called for heavy doses of specific antibiotics designed to kill off the disease.

Now, just three months later, Sally is dancing. She’s attending school. She’s feeling much better. She’s helping to organize a community “Tick Talk” at her school, which she hopes will educate others and help them avoid the kind of suffering that she withstood for four years.

And she’s smiling.

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll share Sally’s tale with BDN internet readers. The story will also appear in weekend print editions.

A warning: You’ll end up rooting for Sally. You’ll end up liking her. You might decide to attend that “Tick Talk,” which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, at the Brewer Community School performing arts center.

And you might end up shedding a tear or two.

Stay tuned. This is a story I can’t wait to tell.

 

John Holyoke

About John Holyoke

John Holyoke has been enjoying himself in Maine's great outdoors since he was a kid. Today, he's the Outdoors editor for the BDN, a job that allows him to meet up with Maine outdoors enthusiasts in their natural habitat. The stories he gathers provide fodder for his columns, and this blog.