An Okotoks family who picnicked and hiked in the idyllic New England states almost a decade ago are fighting a disease not well known in Alberta as a result.
Christina Sprinkhuysen and two of her eight children have been diagnosed with Lyme disease – about 10 years after the entire family visited one of its members in the New Hampshire and Connecticut area where he was studying,
“We did a lot of hiking and camping there and we had some horrible tick experiences,” Sprinkhuysen said. “One of the priests we were hiking with also got Lyme disease, so we are pretty sure that is where it happened…So far myself and two of the kids have tested positive (for Lyme disease.)"
A GoFundme page has been started to help the family with expenses to fight the disease.
Lyme disease is an infectious disease passed on by ticks. It is more common in the northeastern United States.
The Alberta government webpage states: “Most tick species in Alberta do not carry Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in people. However, there is evidence that tick species capable of carrying the bacteria are expanding their range in Canada.”
Sprinkhuysen said because the symptoms are random and the disease is rare in Alberta, that may have led to her not being diagnosed quicker.
“At first, it feels like you have flu or something, you may not know you have been bit,” Sprinkhuysen said. “It can sit dormant until something triggered it.”
She said for her things kicked in after she worked in a mouldy building.
“I started not being able to say the right words and having a brain fog, painful rashes,” Sprinkhuysen said. “Then I started getting arthritis, chronic fatigue, chronic infection, inflammation, it all just seem to get worse and worse – it snowballed.”
She said a common denominator for her two now adult-aged children was the brain fog, depression, anxiety and others.
“Everybody started feeling like we were 80 year olds,” she said.
Sprinkhuysen went to the Ananta Health Clinic in Calgary where she was diagnosed with the disease. The holistic clinic took samples of Christina’s and two of her children's blood and the samples were sent to Germany to be tested – at $1,200 a shot.
The blood tests came back positive for Lyme disease,
They hope to fight the disease through the Anita Clinic. However, the treatment is not covered by Alberta Health Insurance.
The GoFundMe page states the cost of the treatment is approximately $2,600 for three months. The treatment could take up to two to four years.
She has a concern that all the members of her family may have contacted Lyme disease. A goal of the GoFundMe page is to see the status of the entire family.
“I’m hoping to at least get everybody tested,” Sprinkhuysen said. “Then if I could start treatment of at least more than one of us – or at least to help my older ones who can’t afford it.”
She also wants to raise the awareness of Lyme disease.
“There are so many people who are being told it is all in their head, or they have been misdiagnosed, or have given up because they can’t get help,” Sprinkhuysen said. “I just really think the information needs to get out.
“We are way behind (in Canada).”
To see the Sprinkhuysens-Lyme disease webpage go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/family-of-lyme
For information about Lyme disease in Canada go to https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/lyme-disease/risk-lyme-disease.html
