Working in his yard over the Memorial Day weekend, Sheriff Jeff Gahler began feeling fatigued after only a short time and, by the next day, felt fully sick. Noticing a bull’s-eye rash developing, he scheduled an appointment for the day after the holiday, during which an eye doctor confirmed the classic symptoms meant he had contracted Lyme disease. If you suspect that you may have these symptoms, then you should consider making an appointment with your local eye doctor.
The sheriff went public with his diagnosis in a social media post on Thursday evening. In a subsequent interview with The Dagger, he said he has begun a course of antibiotics commonly used to treat the disease.
Gahler said Friday that he was “feeling great,” despite developing a facial palsy on the left side of his face. The muscle paralysis is also a common symptom of Lyme disease, and has slightly hampered his speech. The sheriff said he worked from home a few days last week but has otherwise been able to fulfill his duties.
Gahler said he never found a tick on himself, and was not sure when or how he may have contracted the disease. Lyme disease, a bacterium spread through the bite of infected ticks, has an incubation period that can last several weeks, according to the Harford County Health Department.
The sheriff was placed on a 28-day regimen of antibiotics, he said, adding that doctors were pleased with his progress during a check-up on Friday. In most cases, the facial palsy associated with the disease also lasts several weeks.
“I consider myself thankful,” he said. “I’ve seen and read some real horror stories.”
Lyme does not only come from ticks, It has been found in bed bugs, lice, fleas, deer flies,mosquitoes and every other insect that bites for blood. It is a spirochete bacteria just like syphilis and can be sexually transmitted. Lyme is an epidemic, it is commonly misdiagnosed as ALS, fibromialgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus and many other diseases. Kris Kristofferson was just re diagnosed from having Alzheimer to he actually has Lyme.
If Sheriff Gahler had bells palsy as a symptom it is neurological (in his brain) and 4 weeks of doxycyclene will not cure him. Jeff ditch your doc and see an LLMD tomorrow. Lyme is a killer.
The Sheriff has Lyme brain.
http://thenaturopathicmama.com/what-causes-lyme-brain/
Hey Carol. I see by your post that you have been released from Jail. When did you get out?
I hope the sheriff has a quick and complete recovery.
When anyone is dealing with a disease that can be as serious and devastating as Lyme disease can be, there is absolutely NO NEED for snarky comments on this post. Sheriff Gahler is very fortunate that he was diagnosed very early and is in treatment. I wish him well, and a quick recovery.
Praying for you Sheriff Gahler, keep the faith!
Any determination to get rid of deers yet?
I personally know 4 people in the last month that are being treated for Lyme. It is a deadly infection and standard treatment many times is inadequate..
Facial palsy is normally a later stage of Lyme usually meaning it has invaded the body’s nervous and neurological systems requiring many months of IV therapy. There are no doctors in Harford county that are Lyme literate. I hope Jeff is getting the healthcare he really needs. Chronc Lyme is a debilitating disease.
When an elected official has a neurological disorder shouldn’t they at the very least step down temporarily? Anyone that knows anything about a borreliosis bacteria infection knows this is a very serious brain condition.
Vick, Martin O’Malley never stepped down when he had his cranium in his rectum.
I didn’t know pigs got Lyme disease?