BOISE, Idaho — Isabel Cortez was diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was twenty. Two years later, she says it took everything away from her.
“What I mean by it took everything from me, I mean my body weight, my muscles, my joints, my mental state, it took every single thing from me and now it’s kind of just building from the ground up,” said Cortez. “I’m finally on the uphill, I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That was really hard to see for a long time.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, Lyme disease is an illness caused by borrelia bacteria. People usually get Lyme disease from the bite of a tick carrying the bacteria. Lyme disease is a risk for anyone who spends time where ticks live, including grassy, brushy or wooded areas. Symptoms can be moderate to severe…