A Cautionary Tale

Friday I was happily out digging in the garden, here, there and everywhere, never noticing a little irritation on my left ear. Later, while I was at the computer, the irritation got pronounced, so I scratched. I thought there was a scab there -- as I, of course, could not see my ear no matter how hard I tried. Husband said it was a scab.

But later, son looked at it. "Ma, that's a bug!" He removed it with tweezers and looked it up in the encyclopedia, then delivered the verdict. "That was a deer tick."

Since one of our neighbors has been battling Lyme disease for three years, I was instantly concerned. We had already washed the area with alcohol and put an allergy salve on it. To call out the heavy guns? Well, the problem is, I have no health insurance. I have been taking two Ibuprophens a day and otherwise monitoring the progress.

Today, the ear no longer has a fever, and the swelling is all but gone.

Be careful! Even the yard can be a jungle!