Jack Rhea's Site

Here is my first story.

Jack's First Story about the Louisville Cardinals

Louisville Cardinals

Well this is maybe true, but maybe not. I want to tell you that I live in Louisville and I Love the C.A.R.D.S. Well here is a story about them.

Well when I moved down her in August, I heard about the C. A. R. D. S I was really exited so I said “Mom I want to go to a game?” So there I am, living in Coach Rich Pitino’s garden in MockingBird Gardens. So one day I went to his house and I went in and said ‘Hi my name is Jack Rhea and I am your biggest fan’ so I went to his house again and said ‘Can u get me some tickets?’ He said, “sure I can”. But u can get them next year.

So it’s that time of year when I am getting the tickets. After a while I finally got the tickets so I got them so I got them.

I am going to the game on the 30th. So there I went to the game and met him again and I went to his house the day after and I said Coach good game.

SO THAT’S MY STORY, THAT ONE DAY YOUR WISH CAN COME TRUE.

JACK RHEA

(SPORT ILLUSTRADED)

LYME DISEASE

Louisville, KY

Lime’s disease is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a spiral-shaped organism first isolated in 1982 by Willy Burgdorfia of Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, found in Human Diseases and Conditions by Neil Izenberg.

The Lyme disease infection is spread through the bite of deer ticks. The deer tick becomes infected with the bacteria while feeding on deer during the adult part of its life cycle. After feeding on deer and contracting the bacteria, they proceed to feed on other mammals, including humans, birds, and dogs; and spread the disease. The majority of people who contract Lyme disease spend a good deal of time outdoors, and according to Neil Izenberg, MD these are often children and young adults.

Lyme disease is named after Lyme, Connecticut. It gets its name from the city because in 1975 it was brought to the attention of researchers at Yale University in near by New Haven, that many children in the area were being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition not usually found in children. Lyme disease has since been found most often in the northeastern United States (also known as New England), Minnesota, and Northern California.

Unlike dog ticks, which most people are familiar with because they have removed them from their house hold pets at one time or another, deer ticks are incredibly small. Where dog ticks are the size of a pencils eraser or a red bean, deer ticks are small enough to fit on the tip of a newly sharpened pencil. And because of their exceptionally small size, people are often unaware when they are bitten, even though to transmit the disease, the tick must remain attached to their body for up to forty eight hours.

Lyme disease progresses in two stages. In the early stage of Lyme disease, one may experience fever, chills, headache, a stiff neck, body aches, drowsiness, swollen glands, achy joints and skin rashes. Within a week to a month after being bitten, most victims of Lyme disease will develop a rash at or near the site of the bite. The rash will start out as a round red mark and spread outward, usually to a few inches in diameter. But in extreme instances, the rash can expand to the size of a grown mans back. As the rash grows, the center clears and the rash comes to resemble a bull’s eye and is usually referred to as such. If left untreated, the rash, as well as the rest of the symptoms, will subside but the disease has not run its full course. Several months or even years later, Lyme disease may progress to its second stage which is far more serious than its previous phase. If left untreated, Lyme disease can affect you three different ways. The most common illness that is developed is arthritis. Arthritis is the pain, discomfort, and swelling of large joints. Arthritis is either chronic or recurring. It can also attack one joint subside, and emerge in another joint and cause extreme pain and discomfort. About half of the people infected and let untreated with Lyme disease develop arthritis. Lyme disease also affects the nervous system. Fifteen percent of the untreated population with Lyme disease develop nervous system malfunctions. Typically these would be sever head aches, pain, numbness, stiff neck, poor coordination, and temporary loss of control of facial muscles, such as a drooping eye lid or a sagging lip. These symptoms usually last for several months but may subside and recur. In addition, the following symptoms have been linked to Lyme disease: mood changes, poor concentration, difficulty sleeping, and memory loss. The rarest manifestations of Lyme disease are heart problems. Less than ten percent of those left untreated suffer from an irregular heart beat, which causes dizziness or shortness of breath.

Diagnoses of Lyme disease can be very simple when a bull’s eye rash develops. Doctors can immediately tell by the abnormally shaped rash that it’s Lyme disease. In the absence of a rash, Lyme disease is very hard to diagnose because it shares similar symptoms with many common influenzas. For example, Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed as “the flu.” There for being left unchecked and only being recognized as Lyme disease in its second stage. Blood tests are commonly used to diagnose Lyme disease. But they aren’t always the best way because they’re not always conclusive, because these tests commonly have false negatives, and false positives. For example, my little brother was diagnosed with Lyme disease at a very young age. Now when ever he is tested for Lyme disease, the answer always comes up positive only because he has previously had it. Also, if you test less than a month after being bitten, the test results will be negative because your body hasn’t developed the antibodies yet. Referenced from Neil Izenburg’s Diseases and Conditions.

Because it is a bacteria, Lyme disease is easily treated with antibiotics. Naturally, Lyme disease is treated more affective when treated early. Lyme disease isn’t like chicken pocks, where your body becomes immune to it after you’ve had it. Lyme disease may end up relapsing and must be treated again. If left untreated long enough, but still treated, you can develop permanent joint or nervous system damage.

Lyme disease can be avoided, by wearing long sleeves and pants in wooded or in grassy areas. Lyme disease in the best case scenario is a nuisance because you feel terrible and must take a long chain of antibiotics. In the worst case scenario, Lyme disease can leave you with chronic pain and suffering. In either case, this disease shouldn’t be over looked and should be taken very seriously.