Not A Good Start to the Week

I woke up as usual this morning, got in the shower, etc., then I was standing in front of the mirror about to dry my hair when I noticed something just above my left hip. I thought it was a mole that was irritated because it was really dark, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was a TICK and it was EMBEDDED in my skin. Of course, M. was already gone for the day, but luckily H. was still asleep. I was surprised at how calm I remained as I went to get a tissue and the tweezers, even though I was freaking out in my head. It was hard to see and reach, because it was just far enough towards my back instead of on my side, but with some maneuvering, I did manage to get the blood-engorged sucker (engorged with my blood!) out of my skin. This was followed by an all-over body check for any more. It was all I could do not to wake H. up and check her from head to toe. (Well, that paragraph should get me some interesting keyword hits from Google.)

Needless to say, I had the heebie-jeebies for the rest of the morning and since I couldn't get a good visual angle on it, I wasn't sure if I had gotten all of it out and whether or not it was a deer tick. Once H. woke up, I had her get dressed right away while I examined her. I was like a mother gorilla checking her for nits. She was clear. I can only guess that the tick found this host on Saturday when H. and I were playing in the yard in the afternoon, including lying in the grass. Which really gives me the creeps, because I changed clothes at one point on Saturday and took a shower Sunday morning. We were out in the yard Sunday morning, too, but just on the swing set, so I guess it could have found me then, too.

I dropped H. off at school, then headed straight to the doctor's office, which opens at 7:30am on Mondays, thank goodness. I pleaded my case and they were able to see me almost right away. The doctor I saw, not my usual doctor, was very nice. I did get all of the tick out, which was good, and it was a deer tick, a female, which was not good (I had saved the tick in a tissue and baggie to show the doctor), but better than if it had been a male. As a precaution, I have to take a course of antibiotics to ward off any potential Lyme disease. What fun! And no surprise, my blood pressure was through the roof when the nurse took it - 154/100! I think I was having a partial panic attack.

My day improved slightly at lunchtime. I dropped my prescription off at Walmart, then had 30 minutes to kill. While wandering around, I found that the Dora dollhouse I had on layaway was marked down $10 (!) and I found a copy of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas on DVD in the bargain bin for $4.88 (hee, hee!) (Note to Christian Slater: It makes me sad to see so many of your movies in the bargain bin.) So maybe I can salvage this afternoon.