Morning Situation

Well, it has been a somewhat eventful morning! Garrett woke me up to tell me that he had found a tick on the desk, engorged. He had gone outside for a cigarette, and was beginning to work on something for his job at the computer, when he felt something crawling in his hair. He shook his head a bit and lo and behold, a tick fell onto the desk. I saw it, and yes, the little jerkface was there, in all of its disgusting glory. We managed to place it in a Zip-Loc bag with a cotton ball. Thankfully, there are no bull's-eye marks on Garrett, and he wouldn't have been able to just shake the tick off if it was burrowed into his skin, so that is a good sign. Still, I urged him to go to the ER right away, to get tested. You really can't be too careful with this. He is there now, and he brought the tick with him. I'm thinking the tick maybe bit another animal--hopefully not Anna, and it just fell onto Garrett after. I wanted to go with him to the ER, but he said that is fine (still in my pajamas, and a little dizzy and groggy). It just goes to show you that these parasites are truly everywhere. Sometimes I am even afraid to go outside, and I won't walk Anna on the grass. I kind of keep to the sidewalks. I was telling Garrett that as much as I love dogs (golden retrievers particularly), we are getting a cat after Anna passes. There are just too many risks associated with having a dog. I know, it sounds crazy and a little neurotic to people who haven't been through this, but you have to take every precaution necessary. After I have had this for so many years, I will be damned if anyone else in my family gets this. I was half tempted to squash the tick myself. Just seeing it made me so angry. However, we both want to have it tested for disease. I'm thinking maybe it had attached itself to a bird or a dog around here, and again, hopefully that dog wasn't Anna. It's never a dull moment, that's for sure!
The Lyme doctor called me last night, and wanted me to take a break from the doxycycline for now, as I am having some worrisome symptoms, and he/she wants to see if they continue while I am off the medication. I told him/her that I had some of them before the medication, but he/she wants me to call him/her this afternoon anyway, just to check in, and if I get worse, he/she wants me to come in on Monday. He/she wants me to eat lots of fruit and yogurt, so it's a good thing Garrett got a container of Greek yogurt as well as raspberries and strawberries (love summer fruit!)
Ok, now getting a text from Garrett saying that it wasn't a tick but a beetle. Hmm..yeah..I'm still not sold on that one. It looked just like a tick to both of us, especially compared to the pictures we've seen online, and from what I know. Well, I am just glad he is alright anyway. Now on three..1...2...3....huge sigh of relief!! :-)