I am aware of the fact that I did a post almost 2 years ago about Lyme Disease but since it has revisited our home I decided it should also revisit my blog. Make sense?
Last Thursday evening Eden started running a fever that was around 102 degrees. It seemed really strange since she was still up and playing. I thought maybe the thermometer I had just purchased was faulty but it gave me the same read multiple times. Friday morning she still had fever and was crying that her head and neck hurt. I checked the back of her neck and saw a red rash. I remembered that she had complained about something being in her hair the week before and when I had checked I noticed a small spot but I wasn't positive it was a tick. But I tucked it away telling myself if she started exhibiting symptoms I would call the doctor. Saturday rolled around and she still was crying about her head and neck and the fever lingered on. By Monday morning her fever was lessening and the rash had disappeared. I kept wrestling with taking her to the doctor but felt silly since she seemed to be getting better. Except for the complaining about her neck and the additional complaints of ouchy legs. Coupled with lots of tears all day long over things that normally didn't bother her.
I took her in on Tuesday feeling like a real moron since I had a chipper, happy little girl. I just couldn't shake the feeling in my gut. I asked to see the same doctor that had diagnosed Shane nearly two years ago. While I like all of the doctors at our children's pediatrician practice he seems to not always do things like the text books would tell you to. He agreed that the symptoms were suspicious but unusual that they had started disappearing so quickly. Due to the nature of the disease he wanted to do bloodwork to be safe. We came home and as the day wore on and the crying and tears continued I was more convinced than ever that something wasn't right.
He called yesterday to confirm that the test came back positive so now we begin the 3 week regimen of antibiotics. I would strongly advise you all to check your children daily for ticks. A tick has to be attached to you for at least 48 hours to pass the bacteria and infect you. Good chance if you find a tick and remove it from your body you will be fine. It is the ticks you don't find that eat there fill and drop off that are the culprits. This weekend alone we pulled a tick off of Tristan, Eden, Shane, Judah and myself. Judah found one on him after being outside yesterday again and the school called today to let me know he had found another tick on himself. We are checking really, really good every night at bedtime and hoping that we can avoid any more infected people at this house!
Common symptoms: bulls eye rash, fever, aches, chills, headaches, stiff neck, sensitive skin, joint pain. If you have a combination of any of these symptoms for more than a few days call your doctor and ask for a blood test. We feel extremely grateful that we caught it again in the early stages and are very hopeful to avoid any long term affects. It must be extremely painful based on the tears.
And if you come to visit you may find guinea birds in our yard since they are voracious tick eaters. Nothing says, "Hello and welcome" to our home like poop on the porch!! In all seriousness, educate yourself and stay alert. Deer ticks are so incredibly tiny they look like tiny moles on your skin! You have to go searching to find them. And now I am itching all over and convinced things are crawling on my skin so I must go check. Happy checking everyone!!
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