We

We walked a lot in the woods last weekend, it was warm and beautiful there. But the ticks were out as well, and I was bitten at least three times, two of them serious and embedded bites. I had Lyme Disease a couple of years ago, and it was impressive, and when you have open  heart surgery the health care people get very nervous about tick bites and infections, and a recurrence of Lyme Disease.

Ticks are a complex issue for me, (no need to flood me with warnings and alarms, I have heard them.) I know ticks well, inside and out, they and I have become close in recent years.

When I had Lyme Disease, which was like the flu on steroids, I was given careful instructions by my wonderful Nurse Practitioner Karen Bruce to call her immediately if I was bitten and go on anti-biotics. And soon, she said, within 48 hours of the bit. I didn’t do it, of course, even though one of the ticks was dug in and the other was burrowing in as well when I discovered them.

I’m just not the vigilant type, and like many men, I just always find reasons not to go to the doctor. It almost killed me when it came to my heart, I listened to a bunch of men tell me I was just getting old. (If you have trouble breathing, tell a woman).

Still, to be fair, and in my own defense, tick bites are a part of life up here, as are ticks, and if you want in the deep woods as often as I do,  you will encounter ticks and you will be bitten – count on it.  They are amazingly agile little creatures, they seem to drop down out of the sky and crawl around the most unexpected places.

I don’t want to rush to urgent care or the health center every time a tick bites me. And I can’t afford to.

But the aftermath of these bites was impressive, they were deep and embedded as they say, and I’ve been up for much of the last two nights, unable to sleep as a result of the itching and discomfort and  headaches. So off to the health center this morning.  Karen didn’t even yell at me, which was sweet, but I took a dose of anti-biotics as a preventative against Lyme Disease. Can’t say if the bite is infected or not, it might be, another story. And as of now, I don’t have Lyme Disease.

I think it’s okay, I think I’m out of the woods, so to speak, and I only have to take the anti-biotics for one day as of now. If the Lyme recurs, I’ll be back (none of the tell-tale bulls eyes).

Ticks were not something I had to live with for much of my life, and they are really not avoidable in my current life, not unless you live in a sealed and air-condition room without dogs or other animals.  People tell me to check my clothes and legs after I walk, and I do, usually, unless something comes into my head and I write and I forget about it. Or just don’t see it. It is amazing how such microscopic things can do so much damage.

Climate change has dramatically altered the life of the tick, they don’t die off the way I did when I first moved to upstate New York. The winters were cold enough and long enough to kill them off for five or six months, they don’t quite ever die off now,  they are almost always around. The odds of getting bit are mushrooming, so is the alarm and hysteria.

We are getting some guinea hens in May, that will help, they are great tick-eaters, but they won’t be in the woods, and I won’t give up my walks in the woods. Neither will I wish to or be able to afford rushing to the doctor every time a tick bites me. Part of the dance, I think. I’ll find a balance, take it one bite at a time, and try not to get too ticked off. And I think I’ll have a good sleep tonight.