Dr. Nananda Col is an internist who lives in Georgetown, Maine. She is a staunch believer in the Empowered Patient movement. As a physician and a patient she believes that patients who take control of their own health and collaborate closely with their physicians have the best outcomes.

Col loves to forage for mushrooms. Last summer, she was bitten by a tick and contracted both Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis. She’ll be giving a talk about her personal experience with ticks, tick-born diseases, and preventing tick bites on Thursday, May 21 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Boothbay Fire House. The Boothbay Region Health & Wellness Foundation is sponsoring Col’s talk. Dessert will be provided.

Here is Col’s tick story and some of her conclusions:

“When we started foraging for mushrooms last summer I would not have believed that it would have ended this way. At first we simply looked and prodded, then we dissected and sporulated; eventually we ate them. Soon, Chanterelles and Black Trumpet mushrooms were a staple of every meal. After weeks of intense foraging (and gorging), I got sick. Really sick. Achy, fever, chills, the works. It felt like a really bad flu, but it was August, not even close to flu season.

“In the back of my mind I was thinking ... the mushrooms? We were really careful but did I make a mistake? The hoped-for quick recovery did not come, and instead I grew progressively worse. Only two days later — when I noticed a small red rash encircling my navel — did I think ticks and start myself on antibiotics while I waited to see my own physician (remember, 'the doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient').

“After many blood tests, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis. Warned to avoid the sun while on high-dose doxycycline, I was told of a patient who ignored this advice and then lost all her fingernails. In the following four truly miserable sun-less weeks, I scoured the medical literature on tick-borne disease.

“At first I thought I must have been incredibly unlucky to have contracted two diseases from a lousy tick. Instead I learned that my situation was not only probable but also inevitable, given the amount of time I was spending in the woods without taking precautions. I also learned that there are many widespread misconceptions on the Internet and in the news. Here are some things I wish I had known that I’d like to pass along to those who want to safely frolic in the woods.

“Deer ticks are nearly everywhere in Maine in high numbers and most of them harbor one or more diseases. This is new and getting exponentially worse every year. The numbers are staggering and frightening. A single Maine tick can carry up to four different diseases: Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis and Powassan. These are all very serious and sometimes fatal diseases. Powassan has no treatment and recently caused the death of a woman from Camden.

“The good news is that with the exception of Babesiosis, the other three are all effectively treated with Doxycycline or other antibiotics (such as amoxicillin). The sooner Lyme disease is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat. If caught early (within days), it can be treated with oral antibiotics for 2-4 weeks. If it is caught late, it often requires IV antibiotics and hospitalization.

“If you spend time outdoors in Maine and do not take precautions, you will likely get Lyme disease and/or other tick borne disease because diseased ticks are everywhere in Maine. In informal discussions I discovered that about half of the Maine guides have had Lyme disease. No one is immune; they affect anyone and everyone. All you have to do is go outdoors.

“Expect full recovery from Lyme disease if it is detected early and properly treated. The disease can make you really sick (for about a month), and the treatment has a lot of annoying side effects (sun sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, reflux). The good news is that antibiotics are the only effective treatments, and they are very effective.”

Come to Col’s talk on May 21 at the firehouse, and ask her any questions you have about tick-borne diseases, how to prevent tick bites, and/or about how to become an empowered and engaged patient.