Proof

In the absence of a tick bite, doctors are leery of considering Lyme, even if symptoms are consistent with it.

If it wasn’t for mirrors, I don’t know how any of us could’ve found the sneaky buggers in the first place. They hide in dark places and when they bite they inject a sort of numbing agent, so you don’t feel it. Then they stay put for hours, sometimes days before even getting noticed. All the while getting fatter and more disgusting. Either that, or they fall off after awhile, in the shower maybe, never to be noticed or seen again. 

What are the chances you inspect behind your knees, in your elbows, under your armpits or anywhere on your scalp in a mirror before hopping in the shower? Pretty low.

 It’s a wonder any of us ever find them. 

Doctors should consider all of this. 

But they don’t.

Even though Lyme is the fastest growing vector-borne illness in North America.

You may think this is a small detail, but it’s actually a pretty big realization for me. 

To get someone to take your lyme seriously in the first place is hard enough (how long have I been on that wait list? Since February? Indefinitely? Is it a real list or just like the imaginary one I have in my head with milk, bread and eggs when I go to the grocery store? Is my name actually written down anywhere?) 

Leaving us hanging is their specialty, which is ironic considering the urgency with which most infectious diseases are treated and with which this one is meant to be treated. 

Anyway, the point is that once you take a known tick bite out of the equation, the chances of your getting help (which were already slim) become nil.