Tick Tock

Sunday morning Tom discovered a tick on the back right side of Buby's head. He found it while towel-drying Buby's hair after a shower. The tick was large, full of blood, and really in there good. Having grown up in the northeast we're generally familiar with ticks. We've even brushed a few off our clothes over the years, but none of us have ever seen a fully embedded tick like this before. Man oh man.



My Sweets yelled for me. I grabbed tweezers and my "What to Expect" book, which has a handy dandy section on tick removal. Buby sat on a step stool hugging his daddy's legs. He was so brave. That sucker was not easy to get out. Finally Tom got it, bagged it, and washed the area with soap and water. I spoke with our on-call pediatrician and was given a laundry list of things to watch for. We treated the wound with triple antibiotic ointment and hoped like crazy that it was just a dog tick. Dog ticks do not carry Lyme disease.



This morning I brought the tick to our county's Department of Health for positive identification. Unfortunately it was classified a FULLY ENGORGED, FEMALE, DEER tick. Not what we wanted to hear. The official said it had been sucking on Buby's head at least 48 hours. Maybe longer. We do not know exactly when or where he first came into contact with the tick, but I picked Buby up from school on Wednesday and he was covered in grass stains. He said he rolled down the grassy hill during recess. The playground at his school is in a very wooded setting, though I know now you can find ticks in any yard, wooded or not.



The government does not test each tick for Lyme disease, but they told me any tick with this particular classification is assumed to have the disease. We are sending the tick to a private lab in Massachusetts in the morning to have it tested for Lyme and two other diseases common to deer ticks. We should have results in a week. The tick specialist advised me to call the pediatrician immediately. He said we should proceed as if Buby has the disease, since it is almost certain the tick was infected and it was embedded in Buby's head long enough to transfer any and all bacteria into his bloodstream. Ugh. Given Buby's age, he suggested we get him on treatment right away.



By 2:30 we were in with the ped. She mostly agreed with the environmental health people, showed me pictures, discussed symptoms, treatment, prevention. Initial symptoms of Lyme disease can appear anywhere from 3 to 30 days after the bite and can vary drastically from patient to patient. Some experience an ugly red rash at the site and others never do. Some patients complain of debilitating migraines, muscle/joint pain, fatigue, and fever. So far we have only had the fevers. The doctor said Buby could be totally fine and then wake up 3 weeks from now and not be able to walk his knees hurt so bad. Or he'll have partial, temporary paralysis on one side of his face. Or a migraine so severe he can't sit up. Great. If left untreated, Lyme disease can cause all sorts of damage, heart problems and worse. If caught early it is totally curable with antibiotics.



The pediatrician left the decision up to us but cautioned against starting the antibiotics now for two reasons. 1) Penicillin is the primary treatment in children. Buby is severely allergic to penicillin and therefore would need the alternate antibiotic. If he builds up an immunity to the very few alternates he has at his disposal, his options for future antibiotics will be very slim. 2) Ceftin, the alternate, is still in the penicillin family. There is still a 10% chance he will have an allergic reaction to it. She said we could either fill the prescription and treat him for the Lyme disease now or wait to see if he develops further symptoms.



I discussed it with My Sweets, and we both feel like the benefits outweigh the risks at this time. We can't stand the thought of sending him to preschool for the next month wondering if that's the day he'll fall down in pain. I'd rather be proactive with it now than wish I had later on. Our neighbor had Lyme disease last summer and was totally bed-ridden for months. I'm happy we caught it early and am grateful for the chance to nip it.



Buby has started the antibiotics three times a day for 14 days. I will watch for his usual allergic reaction {massive hives all over his body}, which can appear anytime between now and day 14. Side effects of this antibiotic can include diarrhea, stomach upset, yeast infections, etc., so I will watch for those. Oh, and apparently it tastes bad.



Tick season starts May 1 and goes all summer. Now I have a ton of literature and a daily reminder to check Buby + Bleu when we come inside. Buby's deer tick started out tiny and black, like the size of a sesame seed. We never saw it when we combed his hair. A tick can latch on anywhere, but it loves warm dark spots. Once Buby's tick became embedded and started to feed it got bigger and ballooned with blood, and that's when My Sweets found it. But by that time it had already transferred all of its bacteria to Buby and died.



So to all of Buby's friends and cousins in the northeast, check for ticks every day. If you go hiking wear long pants, long shirts, hats, and socks up over the pants. The pediatrician told us to spray Deet on our clothes. Never the skin, but definitely the clothes when hiking especially. I told her I had an all-natural repellent from Burt's Bees and she just shook her head at me. Only Deet will repel the ticks. For more info on ticks and Lyme disease, go to cdc.gov.