ADDED: Just thinking about that story, I hallucinate ticks crawling on me!
IN THE COMMENTS: Tommy Duncan said, "Both my dog and I have had Lyme disease. It was a awful experience for both of us." That makes me want to link to this new NYT story, "Living With Lyme Disease, Stronger With Love/Brian Nicholson thought Brooke Geahan was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. He also knew that she was very ill." It's the "Vows" story of the week (that is, a wedding story). When the 2 met, the woman, who was 40, was already struggling with the disease:
A summer tick bite had dropped Ms. Geahan to a low beyond her imagining. Formerly wildly social, an avid tennis player, and a mainstay of New York City’s downtown literary scene, the illness kept her in her apartment for days at a time. At the Catskills house, she ensconced herself in a “sick fort,” wrapping herself in blankets and nesting into a couch with Paddington, her beloved rescue dog....There's something called "bee venom therapy." She had that, and she also had Salman Rushdie speaking at her wedding. He said: “It takes patience, understanding, determination, passion, tenderness, tough-mindedness, originality, desire, imagination, and love, above all, love.”
Mr. Nicholson felt a tinge smitten, but he was also a realist. “It’s crazy to think of someone that ill out of your league, but that’s what I felt,” he said. Instead he pinned his hopes on a possible friendship.
Ms. Geahan had zero energy for any starry-eyed attachment. “I was older than Brian, miserably sick, and broke from treating Lyme,” she said. “I was not a great catch.”...
One night, Mr. Nicholson exposed deeper feelings, but for Ms. Geahan, a relationship was still untenable. “I was a total freak who didn’t eat regular food, couldn’t drink, couldn’t exercise, couldn’t dance, and was stinging herself with bees every other day,” she said. “I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.”
ALSO: In yesterday's post "Today, the heart of Facebook is blackish-purple," mocking Facebook's promotion of "groups," I wrote in the comments:
I actually am in 2 Facebook groups — both are about the place I lived when I went to high school. I joined them long ago. I considered, just now, joining some other groups. I was especially interested in the one about Wisconsin State Parks, but I considered joining one of the groups about Bob Dylan and one of the groups about anosmia. But the Dylan groups didn't follow the paths of interestingness I want to travel, and the anosmia group required you to request admission and I didn't feel like explaining myself. Actually the Wisconsin State Parks one, the only one I tried to join, requires them to accept you. If I'd realized that, I wouldn't have clicked "join." I don't like asking for acceptance. That's what I like about this blog!Well, I was accepted into the Wisconsin State Parks group and, as a consequence, the first thing I saw was that "nonstop ticks" article. I followed my passion — going for walks in Wisconsin state parks — and the first thing that happened was passion-crushing. Facebook is evil.
Posts
67 comments:
Both my dog and I have had Lyme disease. It was a awful experience for both of us.
Nature is real...
It is good to read before you go. And complain. Camping gets cold too. Bring extra socks if you walk in the woods and your feet get wet.
Rather, have your Sherpa carry an extra pair or two.. hth!
I've picked off 4 ticks from me and one from the dog this year, which is slightly high. Usually the dog gets more and me less. Ticks don't seem to bite me, just walk on and hit telltale force-multiplying body hair.
For dug-in tick removal, a tick spoon is the easiest. In any case pick off tick with kleenex, fold kleenex up and put in envelope from the trash so it doesn't unfold.
Killing ticks is hard. They're crush-proof.
Nature wants to kill you
In NE: Find wood ticks occasionally on our dog, once on a granddaughter (after taking a walk through tall grass - found one crawling on her ear), once a dead one attached to my wife's ear - presumably it came from the dog, and was dying due to the dog's medicine; hard as heck to pull it off.
The wood ticks are the bigger ones with little harm. Watch for the small deer ones ... Very small. No exposed skin or tall grasses without thorough post walk tick checks. Stay on the forest paths otherwise
Burn the ticks once you get them off. If difficult to remove, they are alive, embedded and sucking already. You see one, keep checking... There are more.
Had my first one last Friday. None since.
"Burn the ticks once you get them off."
Click on my "ticks" tag and you can scroll down to find the "tick flick" from the summer of 2009 — The Burning.
If salmon rusdie speaks at your wedding, you likely have too much money . My tips are for those who can't afford to be victimized by disease and choose another path.
Not all men are attracted by victims or weak women who need heroes to marry them.
No need for movies to tell me how to safely dispose of ticks, but thanks for sharing the film
Not so many ticks in Nebraska and definitely not if you canoe Sandhills rivers. The Sandhills are both sandy and semi-arid. Not a good place for ticks.
Face it. Nebraska is the best place in America. A beautiful vacation spot!
One of the functions of government used to be Public Health. This included things like draining swamps to deny mosquitoes their breeding grounds and end the malaria that plagued Boston and D.C. in years past. Today, the full force of government protects the sacred wetlands where mosquitoes thrive.
I've been diagnosed with Lyme three times, was put on a three week regimen of Doxycycline each time. The symptoms were worst the first time, but I think that was because it was diagnosed later. I had a constant dull headache, joint discomfort, low energy, and was missing enthusiasm for the things I always had enjoyed. Thought it was the flu so I delayed going to the doctor.
The bee venom therapy sounds like quackery, but if the usual treatments aren't working I can see why she'd try most anything.
Non stop ticks.
Time is ticking away...
Into the future
"paths of interestingness" - great phrase!
I've already had a round of prophylactic antibiotic this spring due to a tick bite. I had lyme disease a few years ago and it was the worst thing I've ever had. I couldn't even get out of bed for days. Use deet and take a shower before bed. Ticks are sneaky little devils.
To kill the ticks, I put them in my mouth and crush the little fuckers with my canine teeth. My theory is that a little bit of tick juice will enhance my immune system to the Lyme disease. So far so good.
There is a ton of research out about tick borne diseases (my wife works in this field) but the trick is finding a doctor, even an Infectious Disease (ID) doctor, who is up on the literature. Part of the trick is that different strains of the disease require different treatments.
The bestest advice is to save (freeze) every tick so if you get symptoms the tick can be tested for Lyme, Bartonella, etc.... It's about 100x easier to test a tick than a human due to the disease concentration in the blood.
Don't forget to label the date on the ziplock. Testing isn't cheap so you'll want to know what order to do it in.
-XC
and a mainstay of New York City’s downtown literary scene
At which point I lost interest.
To kill the ticks, I put them in my mouth and crush the little fuckers with my canine teeth.
Somewhat grossed out, but I'll ask: How do they taste?
Like chicken. No, I'm kidding. Kinda similar to an apple seed. Remember now, I don't chew them, just crush them.
... and I spit the remains out.
OK Allen. That is enough internet for YOU today! The rest of us are trying to drink coffee and begin to think about breakfast :-)
I've been bitten by tics while deer hunting and never had any effects. Other than ICK get this thing off of me!
Then again, there isn't any tall wet grass in the high desert areas.
When I didn't have a lighter handy, I used to do that too with my front teeth to ascertain if it was a bug or plant organic material picked off the dog. Small hands and fine motor skills help find then through fur.
With dog medicine though, I open the drawer and find the lighter now before putting the potential poisonin my mouth. Easy dispoal with the teeth tho. You don't lose them, the still fast ones ...
Got Lyme Disease 25 years ago. It took multiple visits to doctors and organizations (I'm talking to you, Cleveland Clinic!) to find someone who would treat me (test results then and maybe now are inconclusive). I had six weeks of IV antibiotics at home and it wasn't until the final week that the symptoms disappeared.
Still in remission.
THEOLDMAN
Sorry fellas.
It is not just an old marine trick. It is but wise woodsmanship; keep those lighters handy.
I agree with clint (7:40).
Tick number 5, just now. Left leg mid calf, probably from picking up garbage can in tall grass. Kleenexed and enveloped.
Try the tick spoon, people.
He says it’s crazy to think of someone that ill out of your league. Heh. Isn’t there a game about that?
Most optimistic scenario is you go all in banking on medical science to keep her healthy enough to avoid death and/or becoming the full time caregiver but sick enough she doesn’t get well and trade up.
It's usually a good idea to treat the tick with ether or a flame to get it to let go before pulling it off. Pulling it off only may leave a festering head under the skin.
Those scab up in a few days, Dr Mike and can be peeled off easily. A dead head is no danger under the skin so close to the surface. Don't pull the scab off too early though.
It is kinder to immolate than to suffocate...
"I don't feel like explaining myself"
I think it's simply an introduction. Got to get a gimmick: Althouse is my name, such and such is my game. Too cutesy, cloying?
If you ever cross the Border, you'll have to "present" yourself. Border Patrol will ask you why you're coming into their Country and you'll have to recite your entire itinerary and exact purpose for visiting, and you'd better come up with an answer they like, lest you be detained. Same thing with Airport Security.
I guess that's why you don't do a lot of foreign travel, or airplanes?
Cute little baby wasps eat ticks, so put up a few wasp feeders around the house.
Salman Rushdie spoke at her wedding?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Rushdie has been married four times. He was married to his first wife Clarissa Luard[114] from 1976 to 1987 and fathered a son, Zafar (born 1979).[115] He left her in the mid-'80s for the Australian writer Robyn Davidson, to whom he was introduced by their mutual friend Bruce Chatwin.[116] His second wife was the American novelist Marianne Wiggins; they were married in 1988 and divorced in 1993. His third wife, from 1997 to 2004, was Elizabeth West; they have a son, Milan (born 1997). In 2004, he married the Indian American Padma Lakshmi, an actress, model, and host of the American reality-television show Top Chef. The marriage ended on 2 July 2007.
I had Lyme disease a few years ago after hiking in the Berkshires, caught it early, no big deal. Had a red blotch on my back, first Lyme test was negative, but doc put me on Doxycyclene anyway for 3 weeks. The next day or two I had mild flu symptoms, a week later the Lyme test was positive, but the symptoms had already disappeared.
Walking in parks, danger > climbing Everest.
I’m in the NE and have had dogs and ticks all my life. I know someone who had Lyme last year, whose early symptoms were absolutely debilitating and very painful. Symptoms also changed somewhat - first the hip and lower back then upper back and arms. Doctors stumped until the person insisted on Lyme test. He was put on the 3 wk med and felt 80% better in just a couple days. 100% after 1.5 wks.
I learned a long time ago to listen carefully to anyone complaining about odd symptoms (up and down low grade fever, inordinate healing process, etc) to have them insist on the Lyme test. Many people don’t even know they’ve been bitten!
There was Lymerix
Chickens eat ticks. The years I had 8 free-range roosters (dropoffs) were years without ticks.
Just found 6th tick.
I live in the Mississippi valley near La Crosse, WI. The local family physicians and veterinarians here see lots of Lyme disease and are now quite familiar with tick borne diseases. That said, my (now former) veterinarian misdiagnosed my dog 3 years ago in spite of my vocal insistance that my dog had Lyme disease. My dog suffered for almost a month before I sought out a new veterinarian. Even knowing that Lyme is common here, the diagnosis is difficult and often botched.
I don't like asking for acceptance. That's what I like about this blog!
Comment sections of blogs require a certain level of acceptance. If your comment is always ignored, you are not really accepted. Right? Is that right? Does anyone agree? Or not agree? Anyone??
Sleep in a pen full of chickens.
Hiking in Grass Valley CA, saw a wind-borne tick land on my dog's back. Yes, flying ticks. Seen it.
Picked up a tick just dog walking in our neighborhood, fortunately I got it out quickly as it was a deer tick! Our neighbor was not so lucky walking her dog behind Culvers. Both she and her dog came home full of ticks --she had to take her dog to vet to remove one of the stubborn ones. So imagine what walking or camping in the State Parks will be like. Tickey!
nesting into a couch with Paddington, her beloved rescue dog.
Poseur alert. Why are we told the dog is a rescue? Would the dog have been less beloved if it weren't?
rehajm said...Most optimistic scenario is you go all in banking on medical science to keep her healthy enough to avoid death and/or becoming the full time caregiver but sick enough she doesn’t get well and trade up.
She's in her 40's so he just needs her to stay sick for a couple years and they'll even out.
A few years back in northern Wisconsin a few of us were 4-wheeling through the woods. It was especially dry that late May afternoon and all spring for that matter. We stopped for drink break and falling out of the trees were 100's of ticks landing on us. That was the most I have ever seen them. We have had them every year there but not like that ever before. My dogs get the flea and tick collar every year and since we started that we have never found a tick on them.
Can I buy a human tick collar?
When I was a kid my Dad burned off the ticks with a lighted cigarette. I think he burned me about 50% of the time. Thanks Dad!
Brad Paisley - Ticks
About 2013 I was on the leading edge of this phenomenon. Ended up in the emergency room once for intravenous Benadryl. They had not heard of this before. Other times a couple of Benadryl tablets do the trick.
Darnest thing. Seems to come and go. Had plenty of red meat the last three years but no issues at all. Went for a year before that with no problem but then had some sliders at the Frist and BOOM!
"Alpha-gal syndrome is a recently identified type of food allergy to red meat. In the United States, the condition most often begins when a Lone Star tick bite transmits a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into the body. In some people, this triggers an immune system reaction that later produces mild to severe allergic reactions when they eat red meat.
"The Lone Star tick is found predominantly in the southeastern United States, and most cases of alpha-gal syndrome occur in this region."
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608
The only reason Facebook exists is so you can be told you're wrong by complete strangers.
I live in SouthEastern PA. Some townships have more deer than people (this is suburban Philly, mind you) Ticks are EVERYWHERE. Epidemic proportions of Lyme disease. BUG SPRAY every time you go out. It is just normal now. Carry it in the car, wipes in the purse, by the door. Dogs and cats use Tick repellent, too. Until winter hits, it is bug/tick season. On top of that we have mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus. DEET is your friend. I still hike, just spray, spray, spray.
Oh there ain't no bugs on me.
There ain't no bugs on me
There may be bugs on some of you mugs
But there ain't no bugs on me.
Lyrics by Jerry Garcia & David Grisman
Why are we told the dog is a rescue?
Maybe it's not the little thing's history but his profession. But prolly not...
Katy Perry or Margot Robbie with the runs?
Killing ticks is hard. They're crush-proof.
they take a licking...but they keep on tick-ing
Simple solution to tick problems. Get a can of the insect repellent that says it is for clothing and gear. Spray it on your shoes, socks, pants, shirt and hat. The label says you only need to spray it until clothing feels cool. I give my stuff a good soaking. Let air dry, or put in dryer on law heat. The spray contains permethrin. Ticks either fall off or die and fall off.
Treatments to clothes will last through 3 or 4 washings with laundry soap. Do not spray on skin. Oils in your skin will stop it from drying and it will be absorbed through the skin.
I hunt and fish in areas with high tick populations. I have had 1 tick in the last 5 years.
If your comment is always ignored, you are not really accepted. Right? Is that right? Does anyone agree? Or not agree? Anyone??
CJinPA, it's been my experience that people rarely respond unless you're very funny or very offensive. If they just agree with the comment, they move on unless they have something to contribute.
Tick season must be really big this year to see this. My wife had one on her in southcentral PA and we have to check ourselves regularly.
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM@2:25PM LOL! You so funny....
Movie about Nebraska: The Homesman. First 30 or so minutes are a shocking depiction of 1850s life in that brutal place. Many went back to Atchison or KC or further east. Movie about sickness spreading: Contagion. Don't watch it. Screwed me up good with its spells.
I am going thru chemotherapy and that very low white blood count thing that goes with it. Ticks are in my lawn, woods, and vegetable garden. I suspect a tick bite might be fatal. I see deer on a daily basis yet I can't shoot them.
Showed your analysis of the groups artwork to a Facebook designer who objected to all the interpretation by saying the page was made of standard elements they work on so they will easily go together in new ways. It is important to them that the designs are not offensive to particular people, for example the hair styles which have great meaning to various ethnic groups. So in this instance, the transparent hair was not hair at all but 'just a design'.
I thought your comments were interesting. The designer thought they were defensive and evidence of insecurity. I thought the designer was very defensive.
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