About Me


I am a survivor of late stage neurological Lyme Disease complicated by four co-infections (Babesia, Bartonella, Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever and Erlichiosis) that was misdiagnosed for over 18 months before I connected with a Lyme literate provider ~ she was doctor #24 and she forever changed my life. 


I began a journey that I didn't understand but quickly learned and discovered that I have a passion for supporting and educating others. In May of 2014, I co-founded and became the President of Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education, which has been a full-time, year-round job for me. I enjoy sharing my personal experiences and what I have learned on this journey with others, afflicted by or looking to prevent tick-borne disease exposure.

I have overcome many hurdles in my lifetime from domestic violence to addiction to chronic illness and I have chosen to use my experiences to help others, revealing my scars, sharing my personal story and showing them that they too can overcome.

I am a dog-loving, optimistic #Lymestrong extrovert who can do anything she puts her mind to and I love connecting with people!!


~ Paula

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Tick Bites and Rashes

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Author:  Paula Jackson Jones Published:  07/15/2017 “But I never saw a tick” and “I never got a bullseye rash” are two very common comments I get when I talk to people who tested positive for a tick-borne disease. So why is that? The most simple and straight forward answer would be that most tick-borne diseases are transmitted by ticks in the nymph stage, which are no larger than a poppy seed and not all tick-borne diseases produce the bullseye rash, in fact most do not. Photo: Tick Encounter Resource Center My 2009 tick bite looked like someone took a paintbrush and painted the side of my torso. Nothing even remotely close to a bullseye! The Maine CDC reports that over 50% of all ticks in Maine carry a tick-borne disease and only 50% of positive reported cases recall a rash. Should you find and remove a tick from your body, you cannot tell simply by looking at that tick what it is carrying.  You can identify the species but there are no indicators wh
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Resolutions: It's Time For Change!

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  Author:  Paula Jackson Jones Orig Published:  12/21/2017 As 2017 nears its end, many reflect over the past year, embracing the good times, thankful that the difficult ones have past and consider some necessary changes for 2018. I have been known to make a resolution or two, as I’m sure have many of you and most of those either never came to fruition or fizzled out. It wasn’t because my heart wasn’t in it. Maybe it was because I was more comfortable with the way things were that I couldn’t bring myself to commit to the idea of change. Change can be hard, even painful at times. Change requires a different mindset. You must stop thinking of things the way you always have and start thinking in the way you want to see come about. You must commit to something that hasn’t yet happened but that you have a great desire to bring to fruition. The definition of Resolution is as follows: 1) a firm decision to do or not do something; 2) The action of solving a probl
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Marred Expectations

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Author: Paula Jackson Jones Orig Published: 12/13/2017 There are times in our lives when our expectations are marred by the reality of the situation. Take the holidays for example. Children behave as best they can, sit on Santa’s lap and leave milk and cookies, in hopes of finding a new bike, Xbox, pony or puppy under the tree Christmas morning. For some, those expectations are met. For others, the expectation is marred by circumstances whether it be due to financial issues or some other issue beyond the comprehension of the youngster. Beyond comprehension is where Lyme patients reside. They don’t feel well so they go to their medical provider with the expectation that they will be treated and returned to good health in a quick fashion.    Back in 2009, I had the expectation at that initial visit with my medical provider that I would find answers and get better and when that didn’t happen, visit after visit, provider after provider, I began to lose hope of ever feeling be
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