Ingleside mom fights Lyme disease, while raising awareness

It started in 2002, when Kimberly Frank began having headaches so bad she'd spend days at a time in bed.

Exhausted and in near-constant pain, the Ingleside woman chalked it up to being a busy mother.

Over the course of the next five years, though, Frank's condition deteriorated, and it was clear something much more serious had taken hold.

Frank saw doctor after doctor - 11 in total - but none was able to figure out what was wrong. They diagnosed her with migraines, depression, flu, cluster headaches, vertigo and multiple sclerosis. She was also told that her health problems were all in her head.

Eventually, Frank was confined to bed. She couldn't eat and lost some of her sight and hearing. Her face was partially paralyzed.

"I just kept praying to God to please take me," Frank said. "It's a horrible feeling knowing that your system seems to be shutting down and yet no one can seem to diagnose (your) condition. I went from hospital to hospital, by ambulance. They kept sending me home, and I would return the following day telling them that something was eating me alive inside and that I was knocking on death's door."

Finally, in 2007, Frank was admitted to Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors figured out the mystery: Frank had chronic Lyme disease.

Two years later, Frank is still recovering. But she's working to make sure no one else has to suffer like she has.

Frank, 45, will join walkers from around the Chicago and suburban area Sunday, Sept. 27, in Libertyville for a fundraiser to benefit Turn the Corner Foundation, which supports research, education, awareness and innovative treatments for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

This first 2.5K (5K optional) walk will take place at Independence Grove Forest Preserve, with registration at 10 a.m. and the walk starting at 11 a.m.

Cost to participate is $25 for adults and $70 for families, with children under 10 free.

Turn the Corner has partnered with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society to start the groundbreaking Physician's Training Program, which provides medical practitioners the opportunity to study with a Lyme-literate health care professional to recognize and treat Lyme disease successfully.

Lyme disease affects thousands of people in Illinois and Wisconsin, including many in the Chicago area. The Centers for Disease Control says that more than 200,000 people may contract Lyme each year. The numbers are an estimate, because so many cases - doctors say up to 50 percent - are misdiagnosed. What health professionals do know is that the threat is growing; the CDC classifies Lyme as an emerging infectious disease.

Raising awareness of Lyme among the public and training medical professionals to recognize and treat it in a timely fashion is of utmost importance, health officials say. Delaying treatment results in early-stage Lyme disease, which is relatively easy to treat and cure, becoming late-stage Lyme disease, which becomes much more difficult and costly to treat, and often hard to cure.

When Frank was finally diagnosed by a Lyme-literate physician, she began her long road to recovery, which is ongoing.

She takes more than 35 pills a day - down from a high of 76 - and still suffers from headaches about twice a month. She's tired and her legs are weak, but she's keeping up the fight.

"I just choose to get up and keep persevering," she said. "I have to, and I have children that need me. I may look OK to everyone on the outside but every day is somewhat of a challenge... I'm very thankful that I can see and walk once again even though I have to keep fighting to get into remission."

Frank will be in treatment for at least the next three years. But the worst part of her ordeal, Frank says, is that through pregnancy she passed Lyme disease to two of her four children. That made getting the right diagnosis even more critical.

"It was a doctor who kept persevering in the end who truly believed it had to be Lyme disease with all the symptoms I was experiencing," she said. "There's so much more to my story but I would literally be writing a book, and maybe one day I will accomplish that."

More about Lyme disease

• Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.

• Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans.

• If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.

• Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics.

• Steps to prevent Lyme disease include using insect repellent, removing ticks promptly, landscaping and integrated pest management. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tick-borne diseases as well.

Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

<p class="factboxheadblack">About Turn the Corner</p> <p class="News">Turn the Corner Foundation is a national nonprofit organization founded by Westchester, N.Y., residents Staci and Rich Grodin in 2002 to fight Lyme disease. It seeks to foster knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and raise awareness in the general public. TTC addresses the medical, psychosocial, emotional and educational concerns relating to Lyme and provides support to the medical community and individuals who are afflicted so that they may have access to state-of-the-art procedures and treatments. To learn more or to get involved, visit <a href="http://turnthecorner.org" target="new">turnthecorner.org</a>.</p>