The Final Word on my Tick Borne Illness
I don't want to be Debbie Downer so this will be my last blog post about illnesses...at least for a while. Now that I got the final diagnosis of Babesiosis, I want to share with you some of the things I learned during my nearly month-long health ordeal.
Lyme Disease isn't the only thing you can get from a tick. I'm so glad my doctor knew enough to order different blood tests. She knew Babesiosis is a risk in this part of the country and apparently, that's what made me sick. (It's a parasitic infection of red blood cells, caused by deer ticks.)
It's not always a bullseye. The rash that I got looked like a sunburn under my arm.
The tick bite could have happened a while ago. My doctor said I could have been bitten weeks before my fever and aches started.
You may not actually know you've been bitten. I didn't. Sometimes the ticks don't leave an obvious mark. And apparently ticks can just fall off on their own.
Testing is complicated. They took blood from me on two different days and each sample took more than a week getting analyzed. That's why my doctor started treating me with medications before the Lyme/Babesiosis diagnosis was actually confirmed
Fatigue is real and rest is necessary. It's taking longer than I'd like but each day I feel a bit stronger than the day before.
Okay, so that's all I have to say about this illness that hit me out of the blue last month. I'm glad to finally know what it is so it could be treated.
Remember, I am not a doctor but I spent a lot of time talking with my health care team and reading about Lyme and Babesiosis. I hope the above information might be helpful to you in case YOU ever get sick from a tick. My suggestion is if you have a fever, aches, and/or rash that you see a doctor. Better safe than sorry. These tick-borne diseases are best treated when caught early.