i just wanted yoga + a PSA

It should have been a simple enough day: shower, go to yoga, let my friend's doggies out, go to work, go home.

Except things got all derailed after shower.

I'm about to get dressed when I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I'm hoping I'm wrong, so I do a double take. No luck. There is a tick on me.

More specifically, there is a tick with its' head lodged into my rear end. And since I hadn't been out of the house yet, I likely sat and slept on the thing all through the night before. Ugh.

On one hand, I was quite proud of myself. Most of you know I work with dogs. The facility I work at with said dogs is on 16 wooded acres. So really, I went nearly two years without a tick incident. Not bad. Still, it's a nuisance.

And, despite being trained in how to handle this situation because of said job, all information flew out of my head cuz the tick was on ME.

via - this tick is linked to lots of fun including a red meat allergy. Good thing that's not an issue for me.

I called my husband who couldn't pick up but happily texted back with some innuendo regarding the placement of the tick. Thanks.

I called my mother-in-law who is a nurse and lives a mile down the street. She'd just left for work. Dangit. Like me, she was trained in such things, but rarely actually uses them, so heck if she remembered specifics. She did some google research (thank you, internet) and gave me a quick coaching session.

During said coaching, it became clear the tick was so perfectly placed that I couldn't safely remove it on my own. I was gonna need help. Great. Who do you call in the middle of a workday to pull a tick off your bum?

I ended up calling the leader of my Arbonne team since she was likely to be home and I knew she wouldn't judge me. My mother-in-law was texting me all the way over with extra facts: don't put anything on the tick until its out, put it on tape after drowning it if you want to identify it...

Didn't have tape. Used a band aid. We're ghetto resourceful like that.

Lovely friend removed all she could of the tick and we identified it as a Lone Star tick (first pic in post, the female with the lovely white dot on her back) via the wonderful internet. Yikes. Off to the minute clinic at CVS just to be safe. Showed another person my bum and got antibiotics.

Oh yeah, yoga started half an hour ago. Guess I'm not making that. Time to pick up said drugs and finish the rest of the day.

Thankfully, work ended up not needing me. It sucks to lose hours but at least I didn't feel rushed and got to work out, even if yoga wasn't involved.

Now, onto the PSA. I wasn't the first tick the Nurse Practitioner at Minute Clinic saw this season. She's also seen other nasties so far this season in patients including scabies. Ick! So, here are my courtesy tick tips in hopes that one won't interrupt your yoga plans:

• Bug Repellent. If you spend any time on any wooded acreage, wearing some might be a good idea. I am a huge fan of the natural products made by Badger Balm, which include an insect repellent I think I will be purchasing soon!
• Check yourself (and your pet!). Imagine if I missed it! The Nurse Practitioner told me that after 36 hours, things aren't so pretty.
• Don't put anything on the tick. Really. Vaseline, alcohol, nail polish. There's all sorts of theories. Don't do any of them while the tick is on your person (or pet). It will get pissed off and release saliva into you that increases your chance of infection. On the same note, don't burn it, either.
• Pull straight up, and slowly. Don't twist it or squeeze the belly. You want to get the entire thing out. The head especially. It will hurt, but it's gotta be done.

via

• Identify the tick, and if you are unsure of anything, see a doctor anyway. Something was left in my skin and since I knew what kind of tick I was dealing with, I sucked it up and paid a doctor. Better safe than sorry. Lyme's Disease and other tick-associated ailments are no fun and tend to stick around.

Here's hoping for a tick-free summer for the rest of you!