We went berry picking with some friends and were in some pretty deep bush. It was fun and we got a lot of berries. We all dressed warm and we all had on long sleeves and pants, and we put on some bug spray. After berry picking it didn't even cross my mind to look for ticks! Something I will always regret...
A couple weeks later Lucy started acting different. She was really weak and tired all the time, I thought she was more tired because I hadn't been giving her afternoon naps like I usually did. She would fall asleep on the couch around 4pm if I didn't give her a nap. I noticed three red spots on one of her cheeks, looked like bug bites. They turned into a rash that went from one cheek, to her upper eyelid, and to the other cheek in a matter of days. I thought she might be having a reaction to the bug bites? Anyway, shouldn't assume!
She started complaining of frequent body and headaches, especially in her leg bones. Then she got a large single target looking rash on her stomach. We took her to the doctors - this all happened in a matter of like 1 1/2 weeks (but like 2 1/2 weeks after we went berry picking). The doctor said she most likely had Lyme Disease!!! The rash on her face didn't look like the typical Lyme rash, so it was hard to diagnose, but the one on her stomach was classic. We wanted to make sure it wasn't an allergic reaction, so she took benedryl overnight, with no relief and another rash spotted on her calf, so we started her on 21 days of antibiotic - yes - 21 days!!! The day after we started the abx her rash cleared up and she started to feel better.
I have read quite a bit on Lyme Disease and ticks since we found this out - as you can imagine, Cory and I were pretty freaked out! You hear about Lyme Disease and think, "it would never happen to us!"
So I guess from about May-September the tick is in nymphal stage - and so they are very small and hard to detect - the worst time to get a bite!!! The nymph is the one on the left...
they are so disgusting looking! Freaky!
I just thought I'd better inform you all about ticks so we can all be more careful. From now on, if we are in a bushy or wooded area, I am going to check my kids after - it's totally worth a check!!! Here, back East, there is a much higher incidence of tick bites and Lyme disease than some other areas, but it could happen pretty much anywhere!!!
Lucy is doing better now, she did have a bout of fever and headaches again, and throwing up - so I took her to the doctors and she and Logan had Strept throat - so she is recovered from that now and doing much better - Logan is recovering also.
She has only been free from sickness for a couple of days and so I am watching carefully, she complained of her knee aching last night - so I hope it was just growing pains! I read a lot about symptoms returning and causing arthritis and other systemic problems - but I think we got it at a good time.
Thanks to all our family for your prayers on Lucy's behalf!
3 comments:
Holy scary!!! There are so many things that could hurt our little babies... and I didn't even know Lyme disease was still around! Thanks for the warning and hopefully Lucy will recover fully very soon. So sorry to hear this!
I'm so glad that Lucy is doing a lot better! I guess it could have been pretty bad. Thanks for the warning!
Poor Lucy. That is awful. I was always terrified about ticks in Valatie. Alex actually had one in her armpit , we had to pull it out. It totally freaked me out. It was sooo disgusting.
Lucy will be in our prayers.
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