Lyme Island

The first time I went to the obgyn after I found out I was pregnant, they asked me if I had any pre-existing conditions.  I told them about chronic Lyme disesase and they neglected to acknowledge it or write it down.  Months later, one of the doctors decided that it was important enough information to at least include in my medical history.  But that was the last mention of anything Lyme related. Yet, while most mothers to be worry about whatever it is they worry about, Lyme is the first item on my list.  I worry about cord blood, cord blood banking, getting the baby tested, infecting my child with Lyme infested breastmilk, not breastfeeding, whether I willl crash back into my symptoms after the pregnancy hormones subside, what happens to infants who contract Lyme Disease congenitally, how to treat it if that happens...  I do not worry about whether I will be a good parent, whether I will bond with my child, the lack of sleep or economics. Unlike these problems, Lyme has no solutions, and at times it is just  very lonely and isolating to have to think about such things.

So you can imagine the level of anxiety when I woke up this morning and discovered a tick attached to my boob. 

I called my doctor (who actually takes me seriously) and scheduled an appointment to get a script for some antibiotics.  I half expected to fight another battle to get what I needed, instead I just needed to guide the pros.  For example, the protocol now is to offer Doxycycline for 3 weeks.  When the nice lady, not my usual doctor, suggested this, I suggested in return that pregnant ladies cannot take doxycycline...but wouldn't amoxicillin be nice?  To my surprise, she had to leave the room to figure out what to prescribe. This made me sad.   For one, I guess not a lot of pregnant people come in and request antibiotics for a tick bite.  It seemed like I was the first one to do so.  And also in an area where Lyme and other tick borne illnesses are so prevalent, you would hope the doctors would be a little bit more in tune with how to treat or prevent the disease.    But I digress.  My point is that I got to be the ambassador for tick-bitten pregnant women at my doctors' office today.  I hope it serves someone else well.

Meanwhile, my dog got a Lyme vaccination today.  I just don't understand.

So today I started up some probiotics and chased them with a lovely local yogart smoothie.  Tomorrow I will start some amoxicillin to keep the bad guys at bay, and I will try repeat as a mantra, a phrase from my coworker, "Most of what we worry about never comes to pass."