Dwayne Goode and his daughter, Cindy, both victims of the curious and insidious Lyme disease, are carrying the banner of hope while alerting people to the dangerous nature of the illness.
Dwayne Goode, a pharmacist of long standing in Conway, is distraught because, in his view, people here appear to be unconcerned about the disease. He became infected some years ago during his daily meandering on the grounds of his home known as Eagle Wing in north Conway. His daughter felt the sting of the tick later on.
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Mike Kemp photo
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Dwayne Good rests his head on his hand while recounting the effects of Lyme Disease on him.
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Because of his background in pharmaceuticals, Goode felt compelled to learn of Lyme disease - so named for the town of Old Lyme, Conn., where the first case of tick-borne infection was discovered.
Goode set out to find the most effective means for fighting the disease, seeking treatment from the most knowledgeable medical people extant and almost devouring text books on Lyme disease research.
National conventions and symposiums on the disease found Goode as one of the participants, where he first learned of Dr. Ed Masters, a leading authority on the illness. Masters, a Missouri physician, is widely published and the recipient of the Lyme Disease Foundation's award for "Outstanding Contributions to Scientific Knowledge of Tick-Borne Infections." He has been the mainstay of treatment for Goode.
Lyme disease was not in medical dictionaries in 1975 when two Connecticut home makers alerted state officials to an unusual number of cases that seemed to be similar to arthritis, with bizarre rashes and odd neurological symptoms. Medical experts from Yale University investigated, and Lyme disease was given a medical face in the United States.
"It's interesting to note that I was the only person from Arkansas who attended these national meetings," Goode says incredulously. "I wanted to know everything I could about the disease. Later when Cindy joined me, we were the only two from Arkansas even though the state is considered a place where ticks thrive."
At this point in the year, the tick season in the state is at its highest, and Goode's anxiety is just as high. He is wont to warn everybody about the tick's presence, particularly now when many people are spending considerable time outdoors, often in wooded areas where the insect is at its most voracious state.
Daily checks of the body are essential in fighting the disease, physicians say, since early diagnosis is the best medicine in successful treatment. Children account for about 25 percent of cases, but this is only a statistical guess since the disease is vastly under-reported by parents and doctors.
Lyme disease cases have skyrocketed in recent years. It can affect anyone. Infection usually occurs in the summer months, particularly June, July and August when the tick population is high.
Patients, Dwayne Goode included, suffer stiff necks, fever, chills and muscle aches. And when Lyme disease is not diagnosed in its early stages, the bacteria can affect the heart and joints. Paralysis can result.
Other manifestations include numbness, tingling or weakness in the arms and legs, problems in memory, irritability and an increased need for sleep.
This latter symptom has virtually immobilized Goode. He reports that recently he succumbed to sleep, beginning at 9 Wednesday and sleeping all through the night, all day and night on Thursday, waking at 7 a.m. on Friday. Daughter Cindy experienced a like sleep adventure.
Because of the insidiousness of the disease, the brain can also be affected, as in the case of the Goodes, causing short-term memory loss.
Goode has been tortured in his mind and body since contracting the disease in 1976. He recalls suffering a stiff neck for more than a year after his diagnosis. Slurred speech also became noticeable, Goode said, along with many other symptoms.
"There are many people with the disease who are not aware of it since it mimics other diseases," he said, suggesting its symptoms are similar to multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig's disease.
"Let me say that Lyme disease is a very serious disease," he said. "I will be treated for the rest of my life. Once it affects the brain you'll always have it. It can be sent into remission but we have not reached that point yet. In fact, there is no one who has Lyme disease for an extended time who can ever be cured."
What concerns the Goodes is the belief that there may be a segment that does not want the "truth" of Lyme disease revealed, feeling, Goode said, that reports of the disease could be disturbing to the public and even hurt tourism.
He is worried that the future will see ticks multiply greatly and infect a large percentage of the public.
"I think people don't want to face up to the fact of how serious the disease is," Cindy Goode says.
She notes that because Lyme disease runs across a medical range, it is often undiscovered and patients are sent to several medical disciplines - even sometimes to a veterinarian.
The unreliability of tests to determine whether the tick, which may be a deer tick, has injected strains of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete into a victim creates many misdiagnoses, Goode points out.
Arkansas is the home of many types of ticks - seed ticks, deer ticks, western black-legged ticks, brown dog ticks and Lone Star ticks.
Through all their suffering, the Goodes are determined to pursue the best kind of treatment available despite the enigma of the disease, a bacterial infection that has been called "the great pretender" and a "biological evil genius."
(Staff writer Fred Petrucelli can be reached by phone at 505-1256.)
