My Daughter Might Have Lyme Disease

This summer was one of the best ever for my family. We checked so many adventures off the summer vacation must-do list: several trips to lakes and the ocean, a Central Park puppet show, two family reunions, and a quick jaunt to Niagara Falls. And then, just as we were squeezing the last sunny drops out of the season, my daughter came down with the telltale rash of Lyme disease.

We had finally made a long-planned pilgrimage to Assateague Island National Seashore. A sandy spit of land off the coast of Maryland, Assateague is home to herds of wild ponies. There were ponies in the road, in the parking lot, and even on the beach. In fact, they seemed so docile, you wanted to walk right up and pet them—except for signs warning you that they might bite and kick.

I have to admit that between the wildlife, crashing surf, and white sandy beaches, I completely ignored the other posted signs about the island being home to ticks.

After years of covering health news, I guess I’ve become a bit complacent about taking health precautions. (Germs and disease are everywhere—get over it!)

So even though we talked about the theoretical ticks, we traipsed on sandy trails without that time-tested tick protection: pants tucked into our shoes. We skipped the pants entirely, in fact, flip-flopping in our swimsuits over the sandy dunes. I gave the kids a cursory once-over at bath time hours later, but I didn’t really check that closely for ticks, which can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

Two days later I was gritting my teeth at my own stupidity. My daughter had a quarter-size rash (see above) on her thigh that looked, well, like a bull’s eye—a red dot surrounded by a paler area and a red ring on the outside. (In fact, it was so bright, I thought at first that she had spilled cranberry juice on her leg.)

I know that a spreading bull’s eye rash—erythema migrans in doctor speak—is a sign of Lyme disease. After a quick call to the pediatrician, we were off to the emergency room for a blood test and her first dose of amoxicillin, the antibiotic that often cures the disease if taken soon enough.

We’re waiting for the test results now. They say that if they come back negative, my daughter can stop taking the antibiotic. But I also know Lyme disease tests aren’t particularly reliable, so I might just keep her on the drugs anyhow.

The rash faded within 24 hours. If only my fear and anxiety would do the same. But the only thing left to do besides wait is to make a commitment to be more vigilant next summer. Lyme disease is one part of summer we’d gladly skip.

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