Gem,
Yes, Lyme Disease can be cured ... but only if caught early enough. The doctors and even health news reporters on tv say that if you see a bullseye shaped mark (red ring around the bite site) and/or experience flu-like symptoms, you should be checked. However, the mark often doesn't appear, and the flu-like symptoms are often so slight that they aren't given a second thought, if they happen at all. The bite itself is not painful and, in fact, isn't felt. My friends had no recollection of ANY indication that they'd been bitten.
I was reluctant to say for Dennis and Gail's sake, that if the Disease is not caught early enough, it cannot be cured. This is the case with both my friends. However, there still is an advantage to having found that this is their "root" problem -- it stopped procedures and treatments that were (literally) killing them. The one with the digestive troubles has had several operations. The other was treated for "nervous breakdown", hospitalized for long periods and given meds that have damaged his brain and was also given shock treatments that damaged him further even though he had physical disabilities (loss of use of one hand (curling) and inability to walk well -- obviously NOT symptoms of nervous breakdown or any mental disorder. Both cases are absolutely heartbreaking. At least knowing the cause (the Lyme Disease) has stopped well-meaning doctors and institutions from further damaging them.
Oh, and neither of these men live (or have ever lived) in rural areas. Both live in the suburbs of a large city and both worked IN the city. Aside from mowing their grass and enjoying their yards, they were not "outdoor" types ... and deer would be an extreme rarity to be seen anywhere near where they are. The tics are more prevalent in areas where deer reside, but they are elsewhere as well (often "ride on" mice too) -- so we all should be aware and take precautions against them. The test is a simple blood test -- that's what I request for DH and myself each year when our regular blood work-up is done.
Eve