It's that time of year again... Lyme Disease

In western PA, we're in prime Lyme time. In our household we've dealt with it, with two people. Our daughter A and myself.  A was diagnosed at 2 years old (Sept 23, 2010- which happened to be our 4th wedding anniversary, in the ACMH ER). She had these huge red rings all over herself, not a typical bullseye rash. She was cranky, just not acting herself. I at first thought she somehow got horrible ringworm all over her body thanks to a neighbors cat. But, we took her to the ER, because she had a fever on top of just not acting herself. 

Notice her arm, chest, ect. 

At the ER, A's arm.

She was put on 3 weeks of Ceftin, since she's allergic to amoxicillin.

Fast forward to November 2012. It was after the bad storms that postponed Halloween for our neighborhoods. A started limping, but still wanted to trick or treat (hey, she's 4 years old and was excited for trick or treat night :-P). We checked her feet, ect to see if maybe she stepped on a Lego (common w/ her brother around), and didn't see any cause for alarm, so we let her trick or treat. She did a few blocks and wanted to quit because her "leg hurt".

This is what we found the next day:

Her left knee was hugely swollen. Luckily, daddy was off work so him and I loaded the kids in the car, and went up to the fastER care center, since we thought she twisted her knee or something. We got an X-ray before seeing the doctor, and when the doctor came in he looked at her knee and said he thought it was Lyme Arthritis (he did not know A's prior history of Lyme Disease). We were told to go to ACMH's ER right then and there, so off we went to the ER. We spent nearly all day at ACMH. It was an extremely busy day at the hospital, and my poor 4 year old was hungry and thirsty. They had to strap A to a board and drain some of the fluid out of her knee. (Her crying still is stuck in my head from them doing that to her). The ER doc was very kind to A, and wanted to consult with children's hospital of Pittsburgh because of her age and because he felt like she needed surgery. The nurses brought her snacks, juice, Popsicles for her before they made the decision to withhold food b/c of surgery. And lots and lots of stickers. I think we were stuck in the room they put people in who are having breakdowns, but the padded floor was nice for A to sit and play on, and she could just sit w/o risking a fall. About 5 pm they made the call and we were waiting for an ambulance to take us to children's. ACMH said Lyme arthritis too. So they put in an IV to give her antibiotics and so they wouldn't have to keep poking her for blood draws. But sent her down with transport as "septic knee". We were down at children's at about 6 and in our own little ER pod, so A and I were sitting on her bed watching tv. The ER doctor and nurses were very nice to A and expressed our concerns as well. The ortho doc thought she may have "transient arthritis" and actually wanted to send us home after IV anti inflammatories. But the ER doctor wasn't convinced, and after much discussion with us (my main point being we live over an hour away, what if something happened and we go back to ACMH?), and watching A walk around (cause really, how do you keep a 4 year old still who can't eat or drink and is crabby?), he decided to keep her overnight. She had a surgery time scheduled for the next day, just in case she needed it. We also needed to speak with the head ortho doctor and infectious disease doctor. Luckily after IV antibiotics we were able to avoid surgery, but they diagnosed her with Lyme arthritis too, and we were sent home the next evening on 4 wks of antibiotics. Ceftin at first, but we couldn't get it in her, so she was on 4 wks of doxycycline.

This was her last western blot test from the hospital.

She reacted 10/10 IgG bands and 1/3 IgM bands. Anna had late stage Lyme disease, and we're waiting for the episode of Lyme to surface.

This past June I had a weird rash/bruise looking thing on the back of my knee, it just kept getting bigger and bigger, but I didn't recall a tick bite (with A we didn't either, but she's a tick magnet now).

This was a few days later

It wasn't a "true bullseye", but I just wasn't feeling great. Sluggish, tired, cold chills, ect.  My blood titer came back neg, but with the way this looked, and how it was darker in the center with a ring around it, they have to treat as Lyme since I don't recall being bit, and the blood test often is crap. Lyme is a clinical diagnosis. I was on 3 wks of doxycycline.

Watch tick bite areas, bone up on Lyme disease literature. Geocaching gets you outdoors, which unfortunately leaves you prone to ticks and Lyme. If you notice any flu like symptoms after being bit, get checked out by your doctor. Early treatment is key. It's not fun being sick, and I wouldn't wish what happened to my daughter on anyone.

Safe geocaching!

-Kailey