KAYCEE (AP) - Illness is never an easy thing to deal with, from the common cold to arthritis, but the tables can turn when the rarity of the disease effects one in four million people. Lyle Lund, 61, a rancher from Kaycee, after suffering terrible complications following a surgical procedure was diagnosed with brucellosis, or undulant fever as it is known in humans. Lund's life had been changed.

Lund has worked hard almost everyday of his life as a rancher and in the oil fields and his toil caused him to develop back problems. It was not until March of last year that Lund saw a physician about his chronic back problems.

"I would work seven days a week until it got too dark to work. Until I went to the doctor last year, it had been 15 years since I had seen one. I was in fairly good health," Lund said.

After several operations to repair discs in his back and nerve damage in his right arm, doctors became baffled at the fact that he was not healing.

"They didn't know what to think at first, so they started running all sorts of tests on him," Dena, his wife, said.

Lund underwent testing in Buffalo and in Casper to attempt to pinpoint the problem and help him start the healing process. Lund did not smoke, nor did he drink, but he said that the doctor asked him how much alcohol he drank a day because his liver was shot.

"My doctor in Buffalo, I believe, stumbled onto the problem. They kept wanting me to have these tests and I told them that I had to work tomorrow," he said.

After the realization that Lund was not healing from his wounds, a physician in Casper sent a sample of his blood to the Mayo Clinic and samples were also sent to labs in Wyoming. After the two entities studied his samples, they diagnosed Lund with undulant fever.

Lund and his wife said that physicians theorized that he had been carrying the disease for many years and that it had stayed dormant until the time of his back-surgery. The disease is transmitted to people from infected cattle and other types of livestock and wildlife, by eating or drinking something that has been contaminated with brucella, the bacteria that causes the disease, inhalation or by a cut upon the skin.

"The doctors looked at the results of my tests and they said I probably got it from drinking unpasteurized milk years ago. The doctors told me there was a one in four-million chance of getting the disease," he said.

Lund has not fully recovered from his back surgeries because of the effects of the disease. He experiences a great deal of pain from the disease, which displays flu-like symptoms along with headaches, weakness and muscular pain.

"The doctors believed that he wasn't healing because the body was confused, it didn't know which way to fight," Dena said.

Since the diagnosis of the disease, Lund has been administered a strong menagerie of antibiotics and pain pills, which he takes every four hours around the clock. He said that his children have come together to help on the ranch and with his oilfield service.

"I'm in a lot of pain. I can't describe how hard it is watching your family take care of you. I've always been a real independent guy, but I guess God has a plan," he said.

Dena said that he started showing some improvement a week or so ago and that his blood count was still the same, but the doctors felt he was doing better.

"We're going to have to see what happens in another six months to a year. He should be able to start therapy as soon as the doctors can get his pain under control. He's getting where I can leave him alone for a few hours, before I had to stay right by his side, and he is able to walk a little, but he has to use crutches or a wheelchair.

"The doctors told us there is no cure for the disease. He can get better, but it is almost like cancer going into remission. He could have flare-ups of this for the rest of his life," she said.

The Lund's children have pitched in to help their parents with the businesses and are trying to keep their spirits up with a great deal of prayer.

"This has brought us much closer as a family. We have had a great deal of help from our neighbors and our children. We believe in prayer and that is how we are going to continue on, with a lot of prayer and time," Dena said.