Prevention Doesn’t Feel Urgent
When you’re feeling healthy, it’s hard to imagine being sick.
My patient, a college student, brushed off her mother’s reminders to wear long sleeves and check for ticks. She was busy, healthy, and said she “didn’t want to worry about something that probably wasn’t going to happen.” Six months later, she came to my office with fatigue, brain fog, and dizziness. By then, the infection had spread.
Prevention felt unnecessary—until it was no longer optional.
Invisible Risk Feels Like No Risk
Ticks are tiny. Some are the size of a poppy seed.
My patient never saw a tick and never had a bull’s-eye rash. He assumed that meant he couldn’t have Lyme disease. It wasn’t until he developed joint pain and trouble concentrating at work that we realized he’d likely been bitten weeks earlier.
Because the danger wasn’t visible, it was easy to ignore.
We Trust That We’ll Be Fine—Until We’re Not
My patient, a mother of two, told me she never worried much about Lyme disease. Her kids played in the yard daily, and she didn’t think much about repellents or tick checks. “We live in a safe area,” she said.
But one summer, her youngest developed a fever, rash, and extreme fatigue—and was diagnosed with Lyme disease and Babesia. She told me later, “I thought we were fine. I thought it only happened to people who hiked in the woods.”
There’s No Immediate Feedback for Prevention
My patient had always used repellent and checked for ticks, but one weekend she forgot. “I’d gotten a little complacent,” she admitted. That was the weekend she was bitten. And that’s the weekend she remembers every time she takes her antibiotic pills.
With prevention, there’s no reward—unless you stop to imagine what might have happened. And that’s not how most of us are wired.
We’re Wired to React, Not Prevent
We’re taught to fix problems, not prevent them.
My patient, a man in his 40s who worked outdoors, told me he never worried much about Lyme. He figured he’d treat it if it ever came up. But when he developed cardiac symptoms—lightheadedness, palpitations, and eventually a diagnosis of Lyme carditis—he realized he’d been reacting too late.
“I wish someone had told me it could hit your heart,” he said.
The Shift: From Crisis Response to Preventive Mindset
Changing this pattern starts with recognizing it. It starts with hearing stories like these—stories of my patient who wishes he had acted sooner.
The truth is: you don’t want to learn about Lyme disease through personal experience.
Because by the time you know how serious it can be, prevention is no longer an option—it’s the step you missed.
Dr. Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH
Lyme disease clinician with over 30 years of experience and past president of ILADS.
Symptoms • Testing • Coinfections • Recovery • Pediatric • Prevention
