What is up with us lately? We seem to have some seriously shitty Karma to work through.A couple of weeks ago B was swimming at our hotel in Cairo when I noticed this suspicious Lyme-like rash. Luckily I had the presence of mind to take this picture.
When we got back home I took S & B to the pediatrician for a post-dysentery check-up, and while there I mentioned the rash. Apparently the bullseye-shaped rash, the hallmark of Lyme disease, grows bigger with time. It already seemed bigger to me, but just to be doubly sure we marked the edges last Friday with a permanent marker. And my, how it's grown.
great.
The pediatrician said to come in for a blood test, but it's changed enough by now that he said that's not even necessary anymore. There's no mistaking it: B has lyme disease.
He wrote a prescription for amoxycillin for 10 days. LUCKILY I'd done some research this morning and had read that children should take antibiotics for up to 30 days. I asked him about it, and he went and dug out his books and, sure enough, it's a longer cure.
I think I might need a double scotch on the rocks this evening.
15 comments:
Absolutely, Betsy. I'm so sorry that your family has been through so much lately. You all deserve a break.
Wow. What great luck that you saw this and noted it and then knew the correct course of action. If any of these had not happened, things would have been so much worse. I don't know if I would even have noticed a rash, my daughter is always getting rashes. I will think carefully now whenever she develops a new one. I am so glad you discovered it so rapidly: there should be no after effects.
lyme's disease? yikes...don't you get that from tikes? are those in Egypt?
so this is well curable?? is it painful? scratchy?
G in Berlin beat me to it: good thing you caught it so soon and acted so quickly.
Even so, after everything you've been through, that double scotch on the rocks sounds like an excellent idea. Better yet, make it a triple and skip the ice. I'd be happy to join you!
Hi guys! :-)
Yes, Ellen, it's a disease that's transmitted by ticks. I think he probably got it here, though, because the ring typically shows up 3 - 30 days after being bitten.
I only just noticed it in Cairo because he was running around in a swimsuit at the pool.
He says it doesn't itch or burn, or anything-- in fact, at first it was so light and innocuous looking that I wasn't sure if it was the real thing.
Lyme (Borreliosis in het Nederlands, denk ik) isn't dangerous if you catch it in this phase, but can have terrible consequences if you don't.
So I guess I should turn the whole thing around and consider us lucky!
Hi Anno! You're on!
OMG, good catch girl. Very observant. I would have never even known what to look for. I hope the antibotics do the trick. Cipro is even more powerful. I'm sure you have no where but up from here right? One can hope.
Ohmmmm, ohmmmm, I'm sending good vibes your way. Lurking Lisa
Hi again, G! You know, I was thinking about your comment about your daughter's rashes. I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday, because my kids are constantly covered in scrapes, bruises and rashes. And I spent the whole afternoon torturing myself with: "What if I hadn't noticed this?!"
But now that the initial angst has settled I have to say: this type of rash is hard to miss. It started out small and light, but now it takes up a third of his upper back and is pretty remarkable. And it's important to catch it in the early stages, but that can be several weeks.
the scary thing is that some people don't get the rash, though, but we're not going to think about that little tidbit, are we?
Thanks Lurking Lisa! :-D Your vibes are coming in strong and clear!!!
Ay-karamba! You guys are really getting the business this year.
I'm so so SO glad you were informed and that the doc went along with your suggestion for treatment - Lyme Disease is definitely not to be fooled with. Hopefully you've caught it in time and it'll be all cleared up soon with no complications.
Let's hope this is the absolute end of the bad spell.
Ouch. You're a smart Mama, to research on the web before doctor visits. That's what I try to do too.
Around here (southern Germany), I've heard there are lots of ticks. I half-heartedly search our dog after walks in the field, but now I'm going to get more serious about it! *pins dog to the floor*
Betsy
it's a minor detail, but could you refer to me as Goofball, please? I try to keep my real personal data (name, address, e-mail...) restricted to sites where I can control access to my profile and I try to keep my blog anonymous in a certain degree. I probably have loopholes everywhere for people that truly want to find out who I am, but I try to avoid it being evident.
Thanks!
Oops! Sorry, hadn't even thought of that! Of course!
Besty - Wanted to contact you about the lyme disease. I'm a friend of your namesake aunt in the states (NH). Please take this disease very seriously. I'm not trying to scare you, but I've had it for 13 years now and it can NOT be cured. I've been to the best doctors and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has ruined my life. Please go find a doctor that specializes in Lyme. It can be dealt with (cured, if you will) in it's early stages, but once it infiltrates your cells there is no hope. Read all you can about this. Luckily, your son had a rash. Only about 20% of people infected get the rash. Also, it is very important to get checked for other tick borne diseases - Babesia, Bartonella Erliculitis (sp), the list goes on and on. If your son doesn't get the proper dose and stay on antibiotics long enough, he is great danger of contracting this for the rest of his life. Go to lyme web sites - lymenet.org, lymeneteurope.org - are 2 good ones. Please take this as the most important thing to do for your son's health. You can write back if you have any questions.
A friend, with lyme
I didn't know they still made Lime Disease anymore...
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