This commentary is by Melinda Moulton, a resident of Huntington.
Two weeks ago, a tick tucked itself high on my husband’s thigh in his groin. We did not notice it because it was hidden — nestled in and so deep.
It took quite a bit of twisting and pulling to get it out. The tick was engorged and bloody. The mark that remained was a dark purple red spot the size of a dime.
I suggested that we call the doctor and get Rick on the prophylactic treatment of two antibiotic pills at one time, but he refused. He refused because the last time he took a prophylactic treatment of doxycycline, he had a two-month case of hives all over his body. The itching drove him crazy and caused him sleepless nights and agony. Rick had developed an allergy to doxycycline.
Back to this current tick bite. After a week, the bite had faded and was barely visible and no lingering rash or bullseye. However, Saturday morning, Rick woke up to heavy sweating, muscle and bone aches, an extremely high fever (103) and chills. The doctor agreed to see him and prescribed amoxicillin because of Rick’s allergy to doxycycline and asked him to come back in on Monday so they could draw blood.
Over the next 30 hours, my husband’s condition grew worse, with continued elevated temperatures, chill, and shaking so bad he could barely hold a glass of water. He had profuse sweating, muscle and bone aches, and an inability to do anything but sleep.
We figured the amoxicillin had not yet settled in. On Monday morning, I dragged his exhausted body back to the doctor, who drew a blood sample and told us that we should give it another day or two for the amoxicillin to kick in. However, if things got worse, he encouraged me to take Rick to the emergency room.
We returned home, Rick fell back into bed and then things got weird. Rick lost his hearing and his cognizant ability to speak. He could not form words and, when he walked, he shook all over and had serious dizzy spells. Tuesday morning his temperature was 103.7.
Instantly, I maneuvered him into the car and drove him to the UVM Medical Center’s emergency room. He could no longer walk well enough to make it to the door, so they came out and brought him in by wheelchair. I called our grown children to alert them about their father’s condition and the family was on high alert. I honestly thought we might lose him.
It took a few hours, but finally we were given a bed. They gave Rick a saline drip and the highly professional team of technicians and nurses began their work of hooking him up to machines and drawing blood. His blood was so coagulated in his veins that it was difficult for them to fill a vial with his blood. It took several tries. His blood pressure was high, as was his pulse, and he could barely keep his eyes open.
When Dr. Wendy arrived, she explained that the blood test would not be conclusive for at least a day, and she needed to do deeper research and talk to the CDC to try to determine what tick-borne illness she was dealing with. At least a dozen tick-borne illnesses cause human sickness.
Within a couple of hours, Dr. Wendy returned to tell us that she believed Rick had anaplasmosis and based her diagnosis on his symptoms. Because he could not take doxycycline, she prescribed rifampin and assured us that it would work for anaplasmosis.
Fast-forward 10 days. Rick’s health is back to normal. He lost 5 pounds and is still tired and needing rest. But all other symptoms are gone. The doctor says his weight and strength will return.
We have seen firsthand how dangerous tick bites can be. We have developed a deep and profound respect for ticks, and we have both changed our habits.
When we go outside, we spray ourselves with Nantucket Spider Spray. When we come in from the outdoors, we take off our clothes and immediately put them in the washer and dryer. We do full body inspections every night with our reading glasses on, and we scrub ourselves with a loofa and Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Liquid soap.
We make sure our mini-dachshund Milo is wiped down before entering the house – and every morning we give him a light spray of half-apple cider vinegar and half-water to keep the ticks off him.
Being outdoors in Vermont is a highlight of living here. We just need to ensure that ticks are not part of that experience.
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Melinda Moulton: Ticks and humans are a dangerous mix — our personal story - vtdigger.org
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