Yeah, the Lyme disease story checks out. My aunt had a mysterious disorder that left her in constant pain for years. She lived in Canada. Then, during one of her visits to us in the Netherlands, one of my uncles (her oldest brother, a neurosurgeon) suggested that her symptoms were very similar to Lyme disease. Even knowing the likely cause of the disease, the first two doctors she visited flat-out refused to have her tested for it and told her that she was just being hysterical.

Note: she was a head nurse and the textbook definition of "walk it off".