Tick, Tick, Tick...

When we were at Chico Hot Springs Resort, Ron and I stayed at the resort on Wednesday to recharge. Both of us were suffering from jet lag and the very long drive from Moscow to the resort. We had a nice day doing nothing, and decided in the afternoon to take a walk up to a small reservoir above the resort. The day was pleasant, and the walk was just what we needed.

When we got back to the cabin, Ron noticed what he thought were small spiders on his pants. I immediately identified them as ticks. He removed five of them from his pants, and I told him that we should check for ticks before going to bed. We didn't give any more thought to it. Later that evening my niece told us that she'd removed a couple of ticks from my grand-niece. I urged her to take Gracie to her pediatrician as soon as she got back home.

Ron began having fevers and chills on Friday. At first, he thought it was a cold because one of the kids had a cold. But it was a very odd cold because he didn't have sniffles or anything. I'm not Nancy Nurse (well, Nancy, but not nurse), but even I could tell he had a fever. I didn't connect his fever to ticks, because I thought the incubation period for any of the tick fevers would be longer than a couple of days.

When I really got worried was on Monday, when Ron told me he had a rash. I knew then that he, indeed, had one of the tick fevers. I used my Blackberry to search, and thought it was probably Colorado Tick Fever, or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I didn't think it was Lyme Disease, because it is much less prevalent in the West.

Ron went to see his doctor yesterday, and his doctor diagnosed it as Lyme Disease and put him on a broad spectrum antibiotic. Ron should know in a couple of days if he really has Lyme Disease. In any case, the treatment has started early. His fever has gone away, and we're very hopeful for a good outcome.