11.17.2006
The Tick that Doesn't Stop Ticking!
That damn tick we woke up with on Thursday has done a number on us.While waiting to go to the Doctor, I took a picture of the tick bite on Jeff. As I went to download it to my computer with a new card reader - my hard drive crashed. Crashed and burned. And it wasn't until now that I copied an additional operating system on my puter. I will have to have a hard drive recovery firm recover some of the important files from the damaged drive (or whatever) but at least I am back online and can get back to work - even though I missed a very important deadline for a magazine I had submitted something to that I had only saved to my c: drive. Note to self: create a back CD of EVERYTHING that is of any importance. SO I missed out on the $500 little paycheck too. THAT SUCKS - damn tick.
Then comes the medication incident. Jeff was prescribed a very potent antibiotic to take as a prophylactic measure until we find out if this damn tick was carrying Lyme Disease or any other things that can be toxic to humans. About an hour and a half after his first dose, Jeff started twitching. And sniffing. And feeling very congested. At this point we were giggling about it, and wondered what was going on. And then his eyes were watering and his face was puffy and very red. Then he started this weird foam/spit thing from his mouth. It wasn't very funny anymore. Poor Caci started to cry and I told her to go upstairs and to keep the boys there. I wanted to call 911, but Jeff was insistent that I wait a few minutes. I called the doctor, called a nurse friend, and had my parents come over in case I had to take him to the ER. The episode stopped as fast as it started. No one knows what it was from, and I was told to watch him. There was nothing they would do at the hospital except to run tests that he can do at the doctor.
So I stayed up ALL NIGHT listening to him breathe (and snore) until I fell asleep from about 3:00 - 4:30 A.M. I nudged him, and he said he was fine. I looked at his rash from the bite and it was almost gone. THANK GOD! I didn't go back to bed though. I was still a fret with worry about it. It really scared the living crap out of me - I have never seen Jeff lose control in a way that he had no control over whatsoever.
I am glad to report that he is fine, though and the Doctors think he shouldn't take anymore of the meds, and just come in for some testing after 14 days. So glad they are on top of things and not worried about it. I am still worried - even though the tick was in him for less than 24 hours, and you can only see the swollen blood vessel from where the tick had embedded itself.
Oh - I guess I can blame this damn tick for one more thing - I broke a tooth after sort of falling off my chair trying to fix this computer!
NICE!
Labels: doctors, family, husbands, Lyme Disease
link | posted by editor at 4:50 PM
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11.16.2006
A Scary Thing Happend This Morning!
Hubby woke me up this morning and proceeded to tell me that he didn't sleep well last night, and how it felt like he was hit with a baseball bat on his side. I looked, and he had a welt there - with a large black spot in the middle, resembling a scab. He thought something may have bit him.Upon a closer look, I realized it was a tick. A deer tick.
I immediately got out the tweezers and pulled it away from his skin. The sucker was so embedded in there, I couldn't believe it. It was like pulling off a large scab. Well, I only got about 3/4 of out intact.
I saved it, and called the doctor. While they seemed more concerned that we had a remaining $5 balance on his account from a few months ago, I wanted to get Jeff to them. They said the nurse will see him at 3:15, and if need be, he will be able to see a doctor then.
WTF???
The nurse?
Does she have Lyme disease-carrying deer tick removal skills???
Ooh, he will see the doctor, I will make sure of that.
I am also hoping that they start him on some medication right away.
I have removed a few ticks from him and one from Johnny before, and they left nothing behind. This is nasty, and it looks like the bulls eye thing already. Maybe I will take a picture, and chronicle it - for safety sake.
I will update after the doc, so don't worry, Ma - Jeff tells me you read this everyday!
I hope this teaches Jeff to stop looking around in the woods (in which he was wearing long sleeves, long pants, a fleece vest, and a hat - and it still managed to find it's way to him) - but I guess it can happen anywhere.
Labels: doctors, family life, husbands, Lyme Disease, woods
link | posted by editor at 9:57 AM
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