Daley Ponderings

After we hear others talking about ticks everywhere, we hadn't seen any at all in our yard.  And then Jonathan gets Lyme Disease.  He had a fever and slept all day for two days, and then he was better so we didn't think anything of it.  A few days later, he gets this red rash on his cheek, rather like a sunburn.  But it didn't hurt or itch, so I didn't do anything besides keep an eye on it.  Then last Saturday, he started getting the bulls-eye rashes showing up on his wrist, arm, and leg.  By Sunday several more had appeared.  Talking to a friend about it linked the previous fever to the rashes. Jon went over every bit of Jonathan's body with a magnifying glass, but the culprit had left.  (I'm itching all over just typing this.) I called the doctor's office the minute they opened Monday morning, and got an appointment for just as soon as we could get there.

Dr. Anderson had not seen a case since he started practicing in Pittsburgh, and another doctor came in to look at the rashes as well.  They took blood (which was a miserable ordeal, partly due to not enough time to explain it and partly to Jonathan not trusting Jon that this was the best course of action) to make a conclusive diagnosis.  But we got the amoxicillin right away.  He has been totally fine taking that, and we have a calendar chart next to the fridge that he puts a sticker on each time he takes a dose.

The first day on the medicine wiped him out like those initial fever days, but after that he has been fine.  Today, at Faith's 9 month appointment, Dr. Anderson did a follow up on Jonathan, who was excited to show him that the spots are completely gone.  He listened to his heart and everything sounded fine.  The blood results did come back positive for Lyme Disease.  He reported it to the health department for tracking purposes and we might be getting a call from them.

I asked Jonathan if he felt special being one of the first in this area to get Lyme Disease, and he said, "No." (: