Day 1: Lyming It Up
June 5, 2017
When I hear the word "bullseye" I think of two things:
1. A dart, stuck in the middle of a dartboard, and a guy with a potbelly jumping up and down and cheering
2. The horse from Toy Story 2
I tend not to associate 'bullseye' with ticks, but I guess after today- well, there's no going back.
In the midst of graduating from Hingham High School on saturday, to staying up at a senior party in the school cafeteria until 5 in the morning, to having a graduation party with all my closest friends and family, I happened to notice a red bump on the side of my abdomen. Today that bump grew a red circle around it and whoop-dee-doo my first week of freedom is marred by a development of a new disease.
Waiting in the doctor's office, I'll admit I was pretty freaked out. I mean, just the idea of that sort of parasite being on my body made my skin crawl (pun totally intended). Living around woods in New England I've always grown up knowing that those little buggers lurked in the grass, the trees, the pool, my precious dog Neely...
My mom was bit last year. She caught it late, so it wasn't too great or easy for her and she had to go into the hospital.
Being a type 1 diabetic too, all I could think was great "I have to have ANOTHER thing. Nobody's going to marry me now." Because you know, in my mind, the amount of diseases corresponds directly to your eligibility.
Long story short- I had a lot of terrible speculations about lyme disease. So yeah- Rebecca equals freaked out.
Then, I actually got a little lesson on it and primarily, if you catch it early, it's not the end of the world or possible marriage prospects.
This is how it went down okay. The doctor seemed pretty entralled by how 'perfect' my bullseye was, measured it, gave me a couple of sheets and a bit of teaching, got me a dandy little prescription for antibiotics and sent me on my merry way.
The Doxycycline pills are pretty big to be honest, but I only have to take two a day for the next to weeks, so I should be able to manage.
I was scared. I said, that, but I'll say it again: scared. It was the same way I was when I was first diagnosed with diabetes in 2013. However, when you learn more, like how it isn't that hard to get rid of lyme disease and it's very unlikely after the antibiotics for a person to have any symptoms, you can still be scared, but less so.
I say that they go it wrong (whoever 'they' are). Ignorance is not bliss.
Ignorance is tears in your eyes, waiting for the doctor, because the namesake of that cute little horse from Toy Story 2 is slapped on your skin.
All I can say is: Ride like the wind bullseye- to your nearest doctor.
When I hear the word "bullseye" I think of two things:
1. A dart, stuck in the middle of a dartboard, and a guy with a potbelly jumping up and down and cheering
2. The horse from Toy Story 2
I tend not to associate 'bullseye' with ticks, but I guess after today- well, there's no going back.
In the midst of graduating from Hingham High School on saturday, to staying up at a senior party in the school cafeteria until 5 in the morning, to having a graduation party with all my closest friends and family, I happened to notice a red bump on the side of my abdomen. Today that bump grew a red circle around it and whoop-dee-doo my first week of freedom is marred by a development of a new disease.
Waiting in the doctor's office, I'll admit I was pretty freaked out. I mean, just the idea of that sort of parasite being on my body made my skin crawl (pun totally intended). Living around woods in New England I've always grown up knowing that those little buggers lurked in the grass, the trees, the pool, my precious dog Neely...
My mom was bit last year. She caught it late, so it wasn't too great or easy for her and she had to go into the hospital.
Being a type 1 diabetic too, all I could think was great "I have to have ANOTHER thing. Nobody's going to marry me now." Because you know, in my mind, the amount of diseases corresponds directly to your eligibility.
Long story short- I had a lot of terrible speculations about lyme disease. So yeah- Rebecca equals freaked out.
Then, I actually got a little lesson on it and primarily, if you catch it early, it's not the end of the world or possible marriage prospects.
This is how it went down okay. The doctor seemed pretty entralled by how 'perfect' my bullseye was, measured it, gave me a couple of sheets and a bit of teaching, got me a dandy little prescription for antibiotics and sent me on my merry way.
The Doxycycline pills are pretty big to be honest, but I only have to take two a day for the next to weeks, so I should be able to manage.
I was scared. I said, that, but I'll say it again: scared. It was the same way I was when I was first diagnosed with diabetes in 2013. However, when you learn more, like how it isn't that hard to get rid of lyme disease and it's very unlikely after the antibiotics for a person to have any symptoms, you can still be scared, but less so.
I say that they go it wrong (whoever 'they' are). Ignorance is not bliss.
Ignorance is tears in your eyes, waiting for the doctor, because the namesake of that cute little horse from Toy Story 2 is slapped on your skin.
All I can say is: Ride like the wind bullseye- to your nearest doctor.
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