Mar

29

I Hate Bugs!

March 29, 2004 |

:sun3-ani: It is a beautiful almost spring day here in VT and with that comes those creepy crawlies that I hate the most; bugs. We have a lot of flies that come out of dormancy when it gets warm because we live near a number of farms. The wasps start appearing, as do the hornets. But Jeff made the worst discovery of all yesterday; a deer tick. He had one crawling right up his arm.

I was so upset and freaked out but not because it was a bug and I’m a girlie girl, but because I was bitten by a deer tick last year and ended up with Lyme Disease. I was so sick for days and days with what I thought was the flu and in typical fashion I just kept taking Advil to keep my fever down and keep on working. Then one morning I had a funny sensation on my back and when I looked in the mirror there was a huge ringed rash on my left shoulder blade. It must have been about 7-8 inches in diameter.

I had to wait until that evening to go to the doctors and after he examined me he excused himself and came back with one of his medical textbooks. He told me that while he had never personally seen a case of Lyme Disease before that my symptoms along with the rash were textbook. The worst part with Lyme Disease? You can’t do a blood test to confirm for 4 weeks as it takes that long for antibodies to show up in your system.

So we treated it as though I did in fact have Lyme Disease, I took Doxycycline for 4 weeks and at the end of my medication I had my blood drawn and sent out for testing. The first test came back positive. My doctor told me that the Health Department in the State was going to have a fit about this because Vermont claimed up until last year that they didn’t have Lyme Disease in the state. So he suggested we send the sample out for a more extensive test to confirm beyond a doubt that it’s in fact what I had. Another positive result.

I was contacted 2 weeks later by the State Health Department and was put through a rigorous series of questions that were meant to show that I must have been out of the state when I was bitten. Much to their chagrin though, I hadn’t been out of the state in months. I even recalled getting bit because I remembered thinking I had been stung by a bee in the spot where the rash developed and I was in my backyard.

I obviously recovered and the only long-term effects I have had are problems with my knees and ankles. I have this free floating sensation most of the time around my knee caps and my ankle bones and they get very sore on damp, rainy, snowy days. Apparently I will have that for the rest of my life. My doctor has been trying to find as much information for me as he can but I was the first case that the Medical Center I go to has ever seen.

And now they’re back and one was in my house. I know the chances of the ticks actually carrying Lyme Disease are so rare but I’m so scared that my kids will get bit by one and get sick. We are Frontlining the animals and will be diligent in checking the children but I just can’t shake that feeling that they are crawling all over me.


Comments

7 Comments so far

  1. Bev on March 29, 2004 5:14 pm

    I don’t blame you for being careful! You know first hand how sick you can be with it! :blush:

  2. Michele on March 29, 2004 6:26 pm

    Oh ack! Ticks are just so icky, and I say that from my my girly girl heart.
    You can’t be too careful hun!

  3. Helene on March 29, 2004 7:53 pm

    Wow! I always worry about getting this (we used to do a lot of hiking in our single days). I’m so glad to hear you survived it. Sounds kinda scary.

  4. wendy on March 30, 2004 10:28 am

    Oh yucky. I hate ticks. I’m so sorry you got Lyme disease.

  5. Candi on March 30, 2004 7:49 pm

    That would freak me out too! I hate bugs. Well not all of them, but definately the kind that bite!! Be careful :p

  6. Theresa on March 31, 2004 10:24 am

    That’s scary! I’d be cautious too!!

  7. Andrea on April 4, 2004 5:29 pm

    I hate bugs too. We don’t have too many ticks since we live in town, but I grew up in the country around them all the time. We have a horse pasture across the street from us (in TOWN) that makes the flies AWFUL! We also have mosquitoes. *sigh*

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