neighborhood news

Dear neighbors,
I have several items this time so please read through the whole email. Hope you are enjoying all the colors of spring!

1. Garage sale this weekend! There are 3 homes participating - check out Cambridge Dr. ,  Tanglewood near the corner of Cambridge, and  the cul de sac end of Turnbury. Please come out and shop! Also, if you would like to get your own sale going at the last minute - feel free to put out a sign and see if you get any traffic. We will be publishing the 3 addresses at the sale to encourage buyers to go to all.

2. This neighbor has only one thing to sell...do you need a new chandelier? 
 For sale 200.00   Framberg solid brass Williamsburg style  triple arm chandelier suitable for a  two story foyer. Takes the small candelabra bulbs. 24 bulbs in total.    Contact Judy Masiak at 215 699 8843 or MJMasiak@aol.com

3. Kathy Mignone is looking for someone to come to the house to care for her baby grandson during the day for 2 or 3 days a week. Times are flexible. Please call her at 267-218-4518 if you can help.

4. Thank you to the people who have responded to the request for donations to the entryway fund! Please take the time to mail a check when you can - responding to this email request saves us postage on paper mailings. The entryways are looking great with the pansies, aren't they?

5. Please read the note below from our neighbor, Julia. It has important information about Lyme disease and how it has affected many right in this neighborhood.

Thanks!
Carol Pfister
gwyneddknoll@gmail.com
215-661-8775

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <JuliaFWagner@aol.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 11:03 PM
Subject: can you post to our list?
To: gwyneddknoll@gmail.com

Hello Carol -- I wanted to ask if you would post the following update on our neighborhood list... sorry it has to be a --not so pleasant-- topic... but I know many people in our neighborhood that have been affected including an 11 yr old girl last year who ended up missing half the year of school, and is now doing much better, and another whose husband had a stroke after a doctor refused to even test him, and then his daughter, a vet, had someone else run tests and he had sky high lyme titers -- the wife is currently filing a law suit against the doctor -- unfortunately it is too common that Lyme gets overlooked and ignored.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Hello Gwynedd Knoll Neighbors:  This is an important FYI -- May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month -- in 2009 PA cases of Lyme increased 113% over 2008, with PA making up 27% of all cases in the US.  And, in PA we went from 70% of our counties reporting Lyme to over 90% - it is spreading dramatically. 

 

There are many in our neighborhood affected by Lyme, and in fact, we are forever grateful to the neighbor who got us to their friend whose daughter had been very ill,  and then to our doctor who really saved my life. 

 

Prevention is very important, and early identification and treatment.  Delayed diagnosis and under-treatment can have severe negative consequences making the disease more serious, and more difficult to treat. Knowing how to prevent and how to recognize early symptoms is a must for anyone in our area, especially for those of us with young children and older children playing sports, etc.

 

I, along with a coalition of families affected by Lyme, worked with our Senator Greenleaf last year to introduce a Lyme bill (SB#1199). It was introduced this January and has moved very quickly -- we've found that many senators have people personally affected by Lyme on their staff, and the committee has asked for a public hearing in Harrisburg - it will be scheduled shortly and we expect it to be in May. 

 

For anyone interested in this bill, prevention in PA, and in taking action -- see www.lymeactionpa.com.  Please pass this information on to anyone you know who is concerned about Lyme, or personally affected -- they will want to know.

 

See some quick Lyme facts below along with information links for prevention/symptom recognition:

• multi-systemic - hits every system, often starts out slow, migrating thru different systems over time, symptoms come and go, and can be in remission erupting months or years later
• Columbia University study (Columbia University has the first Tick Borne Disease Research Center in the US) found that presenting symptoms in children/youth were actually neuro-cognitive/ psychiatric NOT the typical flu/joint pains, etc.  This means changes in personality, mood swings, irritability, rage, fatigue, even obsessive/compulsive and oppositional behavior, rigidity. Many children with underlying Lyme are misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD, dyslexia and emotional problems.
• Additionally, Columbia's Brian Fallon, PHD, found that children/youth affected by Lyme disease posted an average 20 point IQ drop -- our own family found our very bright son's IQ drop 26 points, which was restored with appropriate treatment.
• For information about impact on children/youth see: http://www.ilads.org/files/publications_pediatric_school_psych.pdf
• For basic information and information to prevent chronic lyme disease see:  http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/lyme_tips.html http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/about_lyme.html
• Information about symptoms and diagnosis can be found at:  http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines.html (see diagnostic tips link)
• For information about prevention see: http://www.lymepa.org/html/protecting_yourself.html

In late April and May, the award-winning documentary film, Under Our Skin, will be showing in several locations in the region -- get informed -- this is a great way with a film that made it to the Oscar's short-list (unheard of for documentary films).  See www.underourskin.com for more information including screening dates and locations.

 

Thank you for passing this information on, and if so moved, for taking action...

 

- Julia Wagner, Tanglewood Drive, montcolyme@aol.com. www.lymeactionpa.org .