Posts

Showing posts from August, 2017

Lyme Time At The Fair

Image
Author:  Paula Jackson Jones Orig Published:    08/24/2017 As I sit writing this week’s article, I am 6 days into the Union Fair and oh, what an emotional week it has been.  I truly enjoy talking with people. I always have.  My grandmother used to tell me that I have an old soul. I have a heart for helping people. So, to be surrounded by people at a local fair for an entire week ~ I am in my glory. Paula Jackson Jones and Angele Rice, Co-Founders of MLDSE My Husband ~ my Rock and greatest supporter Me and My Mom Me and Ben Borkowski, one of our valued volunteers!! Love these ladies ~ my Union Fair family! Our booth has been flooded with visitors of all ages, some touched by tick-borne disease and others who want to know more about prevention.  Many avid readers of my column pleased to meet me in person. Many shared old wives’ tales and debunkable myths while others question why isn’t the state of Maine doing more about the tick problem. Many

Find Us At The Union Fair

Image
Author:  Paula Jackson Jones Orig Published:  08/18/2017 We are preparing for a very busy week ahead, when we will be spending the entire week at the Union Fair (Aug 19-26), educating fair goers about ticks in Maine, the diseases that they carry and how prevention is key to staying tick-free. This will be our third year at the Union Fair and we have a great corner booth inside the Exhibition Hall.  You can find us there every day from 10a-4p. We enjoy engaging with the community and helping them to understand what is happening in Maine and how to avoid having a tick encounter, thus lower the fear factor and allowing them to enjoy being outdoors. We share our own experiences and connections to resources to help those struggling find their path back to health and wellness. We also network and grow with opportunities to speak outside the fair.  We still have some weeks left to the summer to play outdoors so as always, I caution you to continue using repellent on your

Engaging In Community Awareness

Image
Author:  Paula Jackson Jones Orig Published: 08/11/2017 As a nonprofit whose mission is to raise awareness, foster education, advocate for change and provide local support to Maine’s Lyme community, we truly enjoy engaging with the communities and hosting or participating in events that help further along knowledge of tick-borne disease. Plain and simple:  We enjoy helping people get better! Tick-borne disease can be confusing to diagnose and even more difficult to treat. With a mindset that a tick bite causes only Lyme Disease, we are conditioned to look for the bulls-eye rash and if/when it does not present, we are left wondering why we feel so horrible. With testing that is unreliable, many continue to walk around infected and don’t even know it. Many have a different tick-borne disease all together or co-infections that were never addressed. It’s during these community times that we get one-on-one connection with people, sharing our experiences, listening to their stor

Prevention Recaps

Image
Author:  Paula Jackson Jones Orig Published:  08/04/2017 As summer stretches into August, our battle with ticks remain strong and so must our attention to prevention practices.  It may seem like repetitive information but as the number of new cases of tick-borne disease continue to climb upwards and the phone calls and emails looking for assistance continue to come in, I will be right here sharing with you all that I know from firsthand experience. Back when I bitten by a tick, I wasn’t thinking about tick repellent or tick checks. I was enjoying my time outdoors without any awareness as to what was lurking right in my own yard. Until I was bit, misdiagnosed repeatedly and my entire life turned upside down, I had no idea of the importance of all of this. But trust me when I say that I hear it daily.  People call, email and Facebook message frantically looking for answers and directions.  People don’t understand why the answer isn’t simple, why there is so much incorrect,