Check for ticks after going to the park, says Montreal woman with Lyme disease
Planning to pass time in Montreal's many parks this summer? Check yourself for ticks, warns one woman who recently contracted Lyme disease.
Jasmine Rochereul, 23, says she spent much of last summer sprawled in city parks, where she believes she picked up the tick-borne illness.
"All we did was hang out in the park, but I didn't know Lyme disease was around in Montreal," she said. "I'd always been told, you know, high grass, very wooded areas."
An infection is usually spotted by a telltale sign: a small rash in the shape of a bullseye.
But Rochereul says she wasn't on the lookout for ticks, as she hadn't been in any forested areas.
In fact, she says she hadn't left the island in the year leading up to the onset of symptoms.
She spent much of her time in the popular, well-maintained lawns at Jeanne Mance and Mount Royal parks, which she says are the most likely infection points.
HOW RARE ARE TICKS IN MONTREAL?
While it may be unusual to spot a tick in the city, the disease-carrying black-legged (deer) tick is found throughout southern Quebec, says McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) infectious disease specialist Dr. Donald Vinh.
But that hasn't always been the case.
Before 2010, "it was in very discrete pockets of Quebec, or maybe even mostly acquired outside of Quebec. But somewhere along the way, probably from a variety of things like climate change and invasion into other ecological habitats, what happens is that you have this tick carrying this bacteria that's endemic throughout Quebec," said Vinh.
Warmer winters allow ticks to survive and thrive, which the province attributes to a rise in Lyme disease cases over the past decade.
The starkest change happened between 2020 and 2021, when cases jumped from 274 to 709, according to provincial data.
That doesn't mean the risk is the same everywhere. Vinh says Quebec's Eastern Townships and Montérégie regions are the hotspots.
HEALTH-CARE HURDLES
In June 2022, Rochereul says she started to feel the flu coming on. She had muscle aches, a tight jaw, and trouble with concentration and memory.
So began a yearlong battle with debilitating symptoms and a frustrating slog through Quebec's health-care system.
She first saw a private clinic doctor, who ran a general blood panel and checked for mono.
"She basically dismissed me and said, 'No, you're fine.' That agitated me. And then she told me to stop being hysterical," said Rochereul.
The disease went undiagnosed for six months, until she visited family in the U.S. and saw a doctor who ran a test for Lyme, which came back positive.
She started taking antibiotics and searching for a specialist in Quebec who could help her.
Rochereul, who does not have a family doctor, says she dealt with a string of cancelled appointments at walk-in clinics until she finally found a doctor who could help, or so she thought.
"He told me he couldn't sign a referral to an infectious disease specialist because I would need a specialist to sign that referral."
That frustrating Catch-22 led her to an infectious disease walk-in clinic, where she had more blood work done.
Weeks later, she got a surprising call from a Quebec health official trying to track where she got the disease.
She was then referred to a new clinic that treats long COVID and Lyme symptoms. But she hasn't been able to get an appointment.
"I heard from the doctors I've seen that they might be already scheduled for December," Rochereul said.
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a blacklegged tick - also known as a deer tick. (CDC via AP)
In May, nearly one year after the onset of symptoms and two rounds of antibiotics, she was told the situation was not looking good.
People treated with antibiotics usually make a quick and full recovery from the disease. However, if it's not detected quickly, it can lead to problems with your joints, heart, and neurological system.
For Rochereul, her next step is intravenous antibiotics, a semi-permanent catheter that she'll need for up to a month.
It's the latest step in a frustrating saga that has impacted nearly every facet of her life, she says.
Rochereul, who had just graduated from university when her symptoms began, says intense fatigue and other symptoms have forced her to take time off work and scale back her social life.
She hopes sharing her story will help others avoid the same situation.
“Do your tick checks. When you go into the park with friends or something, ask them to check behind the nape of your neck or like places you can’t see when you leave the park.”
LOOK OUT FOR LYME
Tick bites are painless and often go unnoticed. If you're bitten, remove the tick as soon as possible.
Not all bites lead to Lyme. A "specific constellation of features" needs to be in place to get infected, says Vinh. Notably, the tick needs to feed on a human for about 36 to 48 hours.
The first symptom is usually a skin rash at the site of the bite that lasts a couple of days.
You're advised to call Info-Sante or see a doctor if the rash is five centimetres in diameter or larger, lasts more than 48 hours, or you're experiencing other symptoms.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.