A Twist of Lyme

   To follow up on a hint I made in an earlier post, something interesting (and by that I mean "bad") happened on Sunday night. I wanted to show Dave the best KC had to offer, and the weather was beautiful and the trees blooming, so of course I thought of Loose Park. We took the dogs on a walk for a couple of hours before heading to dinner + ice cream. We had a great time catching up after being out of touch all these years. It was a fun evening. The next morning was not so fun.
   As soon as I woke up I felt movement on my back. Creepy. Stumbled into the bathroom and raised my shirt to find two ticks on my back: one on the right and one on the left. They had me surrounded! I soaked them in alcohol and tried to remove them, but just pulled the body off one and couldn't reach the other. Dave was sound asleep, so I headed to work and went straight to Medical.

   The nurse called me back and I explained the situation. She had me lie down and she meticulously removed the ticks, which were burrowing under my skin. She said, "This might hurt." to which I replied, "I don't care! I want them out!!!" I was so creeped out that I didn't feel a thing. She covered the bites with Polysporin and a bandage, told me to let them know if the bites didn't heal, and sent me on my way.
   I was back first thing the next morning. I woke up with intense itching and pain and when I ran to the bathroom to check it out, I was horrified by what I saw: Large red bullseyes surrounding welts on my back where I had been bitten. I looked like someone was using my torso for target practice. When the nurse saw it, she looked up the number for the closest urgent care and I rushed over there.
   Long story short, I waited over 2 hours; liked the nurse; hated the doctor. He wanted to take a "wait and see" approach and I had to beg him for the antibiotic which my own doctor later confirmed was the correct treatment. Slightly relieved (just slightly), I returned to work.
   Dave called me a bit later to say that we noticed Taylor biting his leg, and he had a tick too. When I got home from work, I removed it. He seemed to be alright, and even days later had no redness or rash. Mine still looked gnarly a week later.
   I hope I caught it early enough to head off chronic Lyme disease. The ticks are bad this year. Check yourselves carefully!