Jack thinks he has Lyme disease and wants to find a doctor. Who can he ask?

Jane was bitten by a tick and has heard about Lyme, but hardly knows anything. Does she have Lyme?

CALDA set up online support and information groups for all the states. iF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY A MEMBER OF YOUR STATE GROUP, HERE'S HOW TO FIND IT:

All are set up the same way with YOUR state name and lyme run together as one word, LIKE THIS:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/newyorklyme
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/iowalyme

South Carolina is the only one with a hyphen between the statename and lyme, e.g.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/southcarolina-lyme.

A few of these sites do not accept members but will refer you to another site which is not in the CALDA network, for instance TXLyme.

Why join your state group?

* State health departments count the number of reported cases in your state. Different states use different kinds of reporting forms for Lyme and different criteria for what Lyme is. Health departments may do press releases and provide educational materials for healthcare professionals in your state.

* State medical boards are the official bodies that may prosecute your LLMDs for overtreatment and overdiagnosis.

* State legislatures pass laws that govern state medical boards, insurance companies, the health department.

* State resources are likely to be more convenient to state residents than resources outside the state. Doctor referrals are an obvious benefit. If you get to the stage of organizing rallies or events, patients on the online state group will be your volunteers and activists. Organizers may use the state online group to get a support group going. Or what about creating a state Lyme nonprofit? You might start with people in your online state group.

The state group helps people come together, meet each other and discuss issues. Join yours today. Use the formula above or go to http://www.lymedisease.org/resources/support.html