The Gnarly Tick

Saturday Night was set for the perfect evening. The group of us planned to meet others up at the 19th annual variety show in Boonville. The drive is up along mountain house road through beautiful green valleys, moss covered oaks and redwoods. We stopped at Sarah's house which is perfectly situated at the top of mountain house road looking toward the sunset over an incredibly picturesque valley. While at her house Roby and Andy played with Jalepena (the dog) out in the yard and Sarah warned everyone to check themselves because it was tick season. I specifically walked on the sidewalk and told everyone I was not going to go out in the yard and come in contact with any ticks. Little did I know. We drove to the variety show and enjoyed the local entertainment. During intermission Roby and I headed out to the car to relax and get off our feet. We were standing the entire time and at our age after two hours we could not take it anymore. Unfortunately we needed to pee so we figured it was safe to go outside next to the truck. It was dark and protected from anyone's view. The thought of ticks never entered my mind when I went to squat in the long wet grass. Stupid!! The problem was I had no clue I had been bitten. My radar being off I went back into the variety show. Partly through the second act, my abdomen started hurting. I just figured it was the result of my run earlier. It felt like muscle soreness. Still clueless. Came home still feeling it but took off my clothes and put on my pj's and went to bed. The next morning I thought "wow that run was pretty good". For some reason after we pulled our clothes off the clothesline I decided to check. I pulled up my shirt and under my right boob was a big red swollen spot with this black object with hairy legs sticking out of me. I screamed and it finally came to me I had a tick sucking my blood and it had a full belly. God knows how long he had been there. First thing I thought was lyme disease and yelled to Roby we needed to get this thing off of me. We ran into the yurt and both being complete novices got on the internet to find out what to do. I could not concentrate and all I could read was to pull it out straight and make sure you get the head. We rummaged through the sparsely equipped first aid kit and luckily there was a tweezer in it. Roby set up his surgical table and put the tweezer to it. He grabbed the bugger and pulled gently. It would not let go and kept digging his head in deeper. I am trying to remain calm but freaking out on the inside. After three tries he snapped off the body but left the head. According to the internet it said to see a doctor if you did not get the head. It being Sunday and no local medical help, we ran into Ukiah to the hospital. I am half laying in the car because it was difficult to sit up due to its positioning on my body and the pain was a bit excrutiating. It just kept getting redder and more swollen. Thankfully when we arrived it was not busy and I was seen immediately. The physician assistant came into the room, took a look at it and said we won't go and dig around in there. Just let the head come out on its own. I felt like an idiot making such a big deal out of it after he told me tick bites are as common as mosquito bites in Mendocino County. He gets them everytime he goes camping. He said to put some antibiotic cream on it and watch it to make sure a ring does not develop on it because that would be the sign of lyme disease. Based upon the time period he thought the chances were limited I would contract it. The only useful knowledge I got from the visit was a technique on how to remove it if I got another one. With my tail between my legs I got dressed and asked him if he would give me a pass and not charge me since I was clueless and didn't need to come to the hospital. No such luck-the great American medical system. I checked out and had at a minimum my $150 deductible for a 60 second consultation. He did not even put on any antibiotic cream. Where is that health care legislation when you need it!!

All is good-No Ring.