SOME STATES HAVE SCORPIONS OR RATTLESNAKES. MAINE HAS ITS OWN DEADLY MENACE

[Islander]

The day began with an omen and just got worse from there. I got up, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth at the sink, looked down to see a new freckle on my thigh. Wait, it's... black! Peered at it and then scratched it with my fingernail. It didn't come off immediately but I did get it and dropped it on the white counter. Just a tiny black spot… I had to get my reading glasses and a magnifying glass to determine that it was in fact a tick… Yup, a live deer tick. And it had been feeding.

No panic, everyone knows that one doxycycline dose will take care of it. Except that this was Saturday, all doctors offices are closed. I got connected to the after hours nurse who seemed unable to find the doctor on call, and she herself wasn't authorized to write prescriptions. She did insist that I seek a prophylactic prescription within 24 hours. OK, but where? No one's available! An Urgent Care clinic, said she. Where will I find one? No idea, she's in Houston or Toledo or Kansas City, not local.

So I use my Google fingers and guess what? There are about 9 in my general area, all but one closed for the weekend. The open one, a 45 minute drive away, has a wait time of an hour and a half. Well no wonder, if everything else in a 100-mile radius is closed!
It was then that I decided to contact my doctor. You should know that I have the world's best doctor and I made him promise never to leave the state of Maine until after I'm dead. I texted him with a summary of the problem; within a few minutes he replied that he would make that call for me, just needed my pharmacy and birth date. Told me to stand by because they are sometimes hard to reach on weekends. About a half hour later he texted back that the deed was done. I never had to leave my chair!

About an hour later I got a text from the pharmacy that my prescription was ready. By now it was already about 1:30 so I hopped in the car only to find that the pharmacy was closed. WHAT? But you just texted me! No no, the pharmacist is on lunch break, come back at 2. So I stepped over to the Chinese restaurant, ordered the $5 lunch, boxed up half to take home, came back and picked up my Doxy. $2.18 to save my life!
And that was most of my day... gone.
I hope your Saturday was not something to write about... except in a nice way!

[Maurya]

Wow! Just wow!

[Pattypans]

Islander, I'm so glad you were able to get that prescription! I had no idea that there's a drug to ward off tickborne diseases once you've been bitten. It's a good think you saw and recognized it. Sorry you lost your Saturday, but you could have lost a whole lot more days--and we could have lost you! Big hug!

[Islander]

I saw my wonderful doctor today to get a referral to physical therapy for my back, which was the cause of my hip pain for anyone who's been following this saga. He was appalled to learn that no one was on call from his office; he was quite sure that someone was covering that, and intended to talk to the head of the practice about the failure of the after hours nurse to find a doctor who could have prescribed for me.

But yes, Patty, one prophylactic dose of doxycycline within 24 hours of the bite is the customary procedure here. And everywhere, I guess. The trick is to know when you've been bitten. You often feel nothing, and you certainly don't feel them walking around in your hair or your ears or other invisible places, which is especially difficult when at the end of the day you don't have a partner to look over your back and in other areas that you can't see for yourself. Showering won't wash them off once they've become attached. We have no poisonous snakes in Maine, but I never anticipated death-dealing insect! Thanks again, climate change!

[Julieanne]

Glad you are feeling better now. If this had been Australia, I don't know what would have happened, as apparently we don't have Lyme Disease, despite there being several support groups for the condition! I doubt anyone would have received the treatment you mention. though I can't be sure about that.

We also don't have wild deer - is the deer tick different, or worse than other ticks?

" a referral to physical therapy for my back, which was the cause of my hip pain" So does this mean you will not be getting a hip replacement?

[Islander]

Julie, the deer tick is the carrier of three diseases (Lyme, Borrellia and Powassan) and is just a microgram larger than the period on a printed page... so yes, worse.

And yes, the orthopedic surgeon said that my hips were in relatively good shape; the pain was coming from my back and affecting my hips. So no hip replacements on the agenda, just physical therapy. Yay!