Instead, I thought we could have a little chat about the fact that Lyme, like most other illnesses, doesn't discriminate. You can get it when you're five, you can get it when you're twenty-five, you can get it when you're ninety-five. You can be born with it, or you can get it from a bite. You can get it if you're a boy, and you can get it if you're a girl. You can get it no matter where you live. You can get it no matter what you do for a living, and no matter how you live your life. If you have blood, your blood can get sick.
You know who also has blood? Famous people. Celebrities. Actors. Authors. Athletes. Politicians.
Ashley Olsen and Avril Lavigne have recently publicized their Lyme battles. But did you know that there is a long list of other people, in the public eye for one reason or another, who have struggled with Lyme?
1. Amy Tan--the author of "The Joy Luck Club"
2. Debbie Gibson--singer/songwriter
3. Daryl Hall--of the band Hall and Oates.
4. Yolanda Foster--reality TV star
5. Richard Gere--actor
6. Ben Stiller--actor
7. Jamie-Lynn Sigler--actress
8. Jennifer Capriati--tennis hall of fame athlete
9. George W. Bush
10. Rebecca Wells--author of "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."
11. Alice Walker--author of "The Color Purple"
12. Christy Turlington--model
13. David Letterman--talk show host
And, I'm sure there are even more than that out there who haven't talked about their fight publicly. But I think that list is more than long enough. And more than scary enough.
While I was researching for this post, I read quite a few quotes from the people on the list regarding their Lyme. But the one that stood out to me the most was from David Letterman.
He has had shingles, a quadruple bypass, and anaplasmosis/ehrlichiosis (a Lyme co-infection) within a few years. He was quoted on his show as saying that his Lyme/ehrlichiosis was "the worst of the three. I was praying for the swine flu."
...I'm just going to leave you with that.
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