Sleep Through The Static

Being sick sucks! Alright, so I'm technically sick, but I don't think of myself as "sick" which makes it worse. During the first week of my Summer Vacation I was asked to golf in a tournament at the course behind my parents house, where I grew up. You think I'd remember to SPRAY with bug spray. I did not. I remembered the sunscreen before we started but no Off. The Tick that got me (I call it le tick) was barely recognizable from a freckle and hid just out of my sightline, under a breast, where it hung on for 2 days before I found him. The day I was leaving for our National Convention, I spied le tick and knew, right then, I was destined to be a Lyme-y. A week went by and the spot of le tick's last stand was red and about the size of a nickel. It was Friday and I was headed to work a 3 day lacrosse camp, so I called the doc and made an appointment for Monday. I thought maybe the bite site was infected, as it was just red, no bullseye appearance. In what should've been a lesson learned, by the end of 6 hours outside (and mostly under a tent) Friday I had a pretty good bullseye rash the size of half my fist. At the end of the weekend, it had doubled in size and was terribly painful to touch.

I consider myself lucky. For many Lyme's sufferers, they don't know they were tick bit and spend months or years trying to diagnose the symptoms. I had no symptoms other than a ginormous 9cm by 4cm rash on my left torso. I took the lesser antibiotic, knowing I had two weeks of outdoor camp coming up and with no other symptoms, this felt like the right thing to keep me as close to normal as possible. 1 week after visiting the doc (on a Saturday - 4th of July, of course) I was fevered, skin hurt to touch, even clothes and sheets, I was dizzy, nauseous and headachey. I crawled into bed and emerged two days later. I called the doc who switched me to 2 weeks of the stronger antibiotic and usual course of treatment of Lyme's.

Turns out "People with Lyme's Disease should stay out of the sun" is more than a suggestion. I tried real hard this week while working football camp to follow the advice given by my doctor. She told me the new antibiotic would make me skin sensitive and I should wear lots of sunscreen to avoid a rash or intense burning. I wore lots of sunscreen (even re-applied, check me out! :) ) and stayed in the shade under the tent as often as possible, but it didn't help. Slowly over the course of the week, the fever returned, headaches have increased and I have tranisent tingling and numbness in my hands and feet. (For 3 days I thought it was the air conditioning, as it only started when I was OUT of the sun in the a/c.)

All of this is why, yours truly is sitting in bed at 8:30 on a Friday night exhausted, just trying to hang on until I can take all my meds and go to sleep! (I have to wait 2 hours after eating to take the antibiotic and then sit upright for 30 minutes after taking it.) No rest for the weary, as I am working a Farmer's Market at some ungodly hour tomorrow morning and the second week of camp begins Monday. I'm just counting down the days! My biggest hope is that after this week of antibiotics and camp, I am feeling somewhat close to normal, so I can enjoy the remaining 2 weeks of my vacation before starting the 10-month whirlwind that is my job. :)

Happy Friday from me and le tick.

-Song by Jack Johnson