I'm bored! I've been here way too long. I'd rather be doing ANYTHING else.
I'm sipping soup and wishing the phone would ring. I've been asleep all morning since taking my antibiotic. That helps the time to pass and removes me from my discomfort for a while. I'm waiting to hear from the doctors office. I'm waiting to be told what I already know. I have Lyme Disease.
I know so little about it, but I (thankfully!) took note of the symptoms, apparently. At least I knew to worry. Here's my journey:
I got home from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and my 5th TTouch training on Thursday March 29th. Sometime that weekend (April 1st) I found a tick on my groin. I was pretty freaked about that. Less than a week later I removed a tick from my right shoulder/upper back, that was April 7th. I remember the date of this bite because I was frustrated that I had gotten bitten by 2 ticks within a week and no doubt it was my dogs who transported the little vampires into my vicinity. I shared my frustration on FaceBook, "I really appreciate that modern flea and tick repellants work so great for our pets. I'd really like my own tick repellant, PLEASE!!... I feel so left out... I feel so vulnerable. I'm developing an unnatural reaction to every little itch!"
Both bites itched for about a week, a normal reaction to being bitten by a tick. The first bite on my groin was back to normal after a week with no color or skin disturbance where the bite had been. Whew. But, I continued to monitor it ~ all the while the bite on my shoulder still distracted me with its itch, but I had been bitten there later, so it didn't really register.
(April 14th, seven days later) The bite on my shoulder still itches and is still red and a bit raised, the area is about an inch in diameter. I can feel bumps in the skin around it, like small welts that haven't broken the surface of the skin. They itch too and I assume its contact dermatitis. I mysteriously get poison ivy in this area several times a year thanks to a snugly Dachshund, or scratching an itch while gardening. Since I have an itch in the area I'm pretty sure I've added poison ivy to the mix. So, I'll make it a point to not scratch directly, maybe gently rub through a t-shirt when the area is bothering me... which is frequent.
(April 16th, nine days later). The bite is about the same, though since I can't see it easily, I don't think about it much. It still itches. The dermatitis isn't going away, but I don't expect it too, yet. My knees are terribly sore and aching today and I take several 'breaks' going up or down the steps on the front walk. It must be the rain coming in, my arthritis is going nuts. I decide that I must cut back on sugar & sweets because me knees feel so swollen. I attribute all my aches and pains to the change in weather pressure, arthritis and diet. I'm unusually tired all day and simply help myself to more caffeinated beverages. Than call it an early night for a change. No thoughts of 'a problem' have entered my subconscious.
(April 18th, eleven days later). Today I feel like I'm walking through thick molasses with lead ankle weights. Absolutely exhausted and listless the and more achy than usual. After resting most of the morning, I gather myself up and decide it's high time to give the dogs a bath, they certainly need it, anyway. Nestle has gotten into something. It's bath time!
I can not believe how physically demanding and difficult it is to bathe the dogs! I can barely move! It is surreal, like an out-of-body experience. My limbs are like lead and I can not move without a great deal of effort. It takes me 90 minutes to do the 30 minute job of washing both little dogs, trimming their nails and blow drying them. I've done it a thousand times. I'm astonished at how slow and difficult it was! My subconscious puts on her reading glasses while seated behind her executive desk and begins reciting the symptoms of Lyme Disease to me, "extreme exhaustion, feels like you can't hardly move, body aches and pains...". I look at the bite on my groin, it's history by all appearances. The area looks fine, the one on my shoulder just has poison ivy... I rationalize my thoughts without thinking to take a look at it in the mirror. The thought had begun to trickle in and my subconscious keeps up her symptomatic lecturing as I busy myself.
After cleaning up from the enormously long dog bathing routine, I decide to take a shower. My husband arrives home and comes in the bathroom to greet me. He parts the shower curtain to say hello when he sees my shoulder. "Oh my, Kat. You should have a took at that tick bite...." Oh, my God. The color drains from my face. Lyme Disease. I don't mention my symptoms to him. I must see the bite. I quickly finish my shower.
I turn my back to the mirror once I'm out of the shower and dried off. Wow! An area the size of a silver dollar around the bite is yellowish orange and puffy. Around that is a huge red ring of welts, all told about 4-6 inches in diameter ~ and it itches terribly. Oh my God. That's NOT poison ivy. I get dressed and head to the living room. It's 6:30. The doctor's office won't be open.
My daughter, Sarah, is on her computer. "Sarah, please go to Google Images and look up "Lyme Disease" and compare what you get to this", I turn away from her and pull up my shirt to show her my bite. I catch the hitch in her breath when she sees it. I feel the same way, too.
"Yeah, that's it. Mom." Is all she can say in breathy utter astonishment. I really wished in that moment that the doctors office was open, or that this warranted a visit to the ER. I really don't want to do research on the Internet and learn my fate in this moment so I head off to the kitchen and prepare dinner. I take a moment to post on Facebook. Since no one is sure, it doesn't seem worth worrying about....yet. But folks should know I'm harboring deep worry for my health.
I check on FaceBook after dinner and I'm astonished with the response! I really don't want to believe this is serious. I'm scared. Symptoms are starting to increase and I'm beginning to understand what they mean by "flu like symptoms", the only thing absent is the vomiting and fever. The level of tired is astonishing. Maybe this is why my knees ache so much and the overall discomfort in my bones is increasing rapidly. I'm very uncomfortable and tired. Thankfully the sleep induced tired takes me away from the discomfort and I find the urge to take naps welcoming.
(April 19th ~ twelve days later) I wake feeling fine, but I know that this will end by mid-morning if not sooner. I can't wait to get to the doctor! After dropping off the kids I head straight to Urgent Care and thankfully they're already open and not busy. It won't be a long wait. Already I'm physically uncomfortable with the aching. My hips are still screaming at me from the drive. My knees really want me to go lie down and they join the aching chorus. My muscles feel like noodles. I really want to get this over-with and go home.
Dr. R is his usual chipper self and greets me with a warm, "it's been a while". I smile, I've been healthy and accident free for quite some time and so have the kids. I tell him why I'm there and he has no doubt, he knows I do my homework and my symptoms are spot on. ...Glad we're on the right track but I so wish it were a different train... Dr. R. gives me the option of just going ahead and treating it or getting the test as well. I opt for having the test done as well and he adds that they'll check for Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever in addition to Lyme Disease. Oh yeppie, I hadn't even considered that one.
I'm home by 10:30 and take my first antibiotic. The roofers are much farther along than I had anticipated. I get settled in and scoot out to the back porch to clean up dog poop before the roofers are working over there ~ ick. It needs doing anyway. While in the midst of that, I hear it coming and without a glance I ran like hell. A large sheet of metal roofing is sliding down the roof barreling right towards me! I turned to see if I was clear of it when it slams into the side of my face. My head ducked and my arms deflecting it surely saved the day. I run inside, shocked to see blood and spend the rest of the morning icing my face and doing TTouches to the surprisingly small (though deep) gash on my cheekbone.
Despite all my intentions to have a somewhat productive day, I end up under the covers in bed, fast asleep till it's time to go pick up the kids from school. Thank goodness my daughter can drive and she takes over driving us back home where I nap again till dinner time.
The gash on my face is much better than it has any right to be. I cry fiercely about it. I don't want anyone blamed or to get in trouble. It was an accident and no one knew I was there. I agree with my lawyer husband that the workers need to be more careful about tossing large metal knives through the air and I need to stay inside. I should have needed stitches. It should have been much worse. It should be swollen and painful and bruised. But, it's not. It's very much a 'non issue' to me compared to this disease coursing through my body.
Today ~ April 20th. I'm still waiting for my test results, but I'm without doubt ~no matter the results~ that I'm dealing with Lyme Disease. I'm holding on to the fact that it was caught early and hope deeply that the treatment will work and I'll be fit as a fiddle in a couple of weeks. The ache in my bones is beyond anything I've experienced. Worse than the flu, as far as I can remember. As long as I don't 'do' much, I don't experience the leaden feeling I did bathing the dogs a couple days ago. I'm beyond physically tired. Absolutely exhausted. I'm glad the antibiotics make me sleepy, naps help the day go by and give me a vacation from the ache. The ache. The awful, painful ache.
I stay inside today and just rest. I know the roofers were spoken to about the errant sheet of roofing that hit me. I know they're as horror stricken as I am about how that could have (and frankly should have) played out. I just want to stay out of the way and I want to sleep. I am sooo tired. My flu-like symptoms are much more than they were even yesterday. I really hope it's the drugs doing their job that's causing all this agony. I really hope it stops soon.
 |
| Thursday April 19th. The yellow center is gone and is much less 'bulls-eye' like than the day before. Approximate size is 4" x 6" |
 | |
| This is my gash (pictured 18 hours after impact) from the sheet of metal roofing that came down on me. I was hit hard enough that I should have a black eye and a swollen, heavily bruised cheek. Thanks to a couple hours of TTouch, it looks pretty good and there's very little tenderness. ~Beyond fortunate!! |
No comments:
Post a Comment