On becoming ticked at a tick! Lesson to be learned

My previous H&W Column discussed “SAFETY FROM SUMMER BUGS!” The topic’s last sentence related Ben Franklin’s quote, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” Apparently, even yours truly wasn’t adhering to our great statesman’s words of caution when I, for the past 6 to 7 weeks, walked 3 days weekly with 2 to 3 friends on the edge of the inside path by Wildflower Lake, frequently brushing along the high weeds growing there. Or maybe it was the one night stand spent sleeping in my bed with my beloved Golden Lab granddog, Spike, weeks ago. Not knowing whether a deer tick or dog tick had made contact with me, or how long I had been used as a host, explains the certainty that “I had left my guard down” in checking for these arachnids (in the spider family). 

Instead, I sat impatiently in my dermatologist’s examination room, truly believing that the rapidly growing black spot on my lower back area (very difficult for me to see) was indeed a hideous mole, even convinced that it might be a cancerous one. 

After Dr. Michael Bukhalo immediately diagnosed it as a blood-engorged living parasite, he dismissed himself hurriedly to visit patients with true skin problems, leaving me in the care of his three female attendants. It seems the good doctor just could not believe that this tick, still visible from the outside of my bathing suit, could have survived a multitude of my swim practices without someone recognizing it for what it really was! Nevertheless, after 45 minutes of being doused with Vaseline (used to suffocate the critter) and the chief operating medical assistant making numerous attempts at a tweezers removal of its entire body, “my tick” was finally exorcised and the infected area antiseptically cleaned. It seems that its arrow-shaped head had become encased in my healing skin making the extrication take much longer than the normal 5 to 10 minutes. 

As I still wait for my Lyme Disease blood test results one week later, I am reminded of what I could have done to prevent this occurrence from ever happening. Four major preventative ways I listed in my past article were:  avoiding woods and deer forested thickets, wearing all-body snug clothing, using 20 to 30 percent DEET insect repellant, immediately checking for ticks on all family members (animals included), removing the critters after my possible experiences in their locales, showering, and also immediately putting clothes in a hot dryer for further tick removal. 

In addition, the Illinois Department of Public Health, under the subject of Common Ticks, adds these recommendations: 

If you must exercise on a heavily forested trail, do so on the center of the trail; check your family every two to three hours for ticks (they seldom attach themselves to their hosts immediately); wear light-colored clothing where it is easier to see the darker-colored arachnids that can then be removed with masking or cellophane tape; keep your grass mowed and shrubs trimmed to make your home property less attractive to ticks.

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