Excitement, right here in River City!

Are you ready for an update on my tick bite medical journey? Yay!

Well, last evening about 6 p.m., I developed an excruciating headache. I had, at this point, taken 3 doses of Doxycycline. Two of them on Monday, and one Tuesday morning. It had been about 9 hours since my last dose. Anyway, this headache came on, and it was unlike most of my headaches (and I don't have many). It felt like my brain was going to explode. I felt worse and worse. Since headaches are listed as one of the side effects of this drug, and since it was worse than I ever get a headache I decided to call my doctor for advice. By this time it was about 7 p.m. I called my doctor's office number, fully expecting to get a recording with an emergency number to call. Imagine my surprise when good old Dr. Vern answered in person, and I believe he was eating his supper, bless his heart. Now this is a good old country doctor! That's why I stay with him (since 1989) even though there is a more modern hospital across the street from his little 1960's ranch house turned doctor's office. :)

The good doctor listened to my symptoms and very sensibly told me not to take any more antibiotics until the headache was gone. He said I could try them again and see if the same thing happened again. So, I woke up about 1 a.m. this morning and the headache was gone...thank you, Jesus! BUT, I'm no dummy. I didn't take another dose. Uh-uh!

Wonderful! You might want to click on the photo to make it bigger.

This morning I went to the clinic early and asked if I could talk to the doctor about the medicine. I wasn't in any hurry and I was feeling fine after that not-so-fun evening. As I waited for the doctor in my little examining room I heard a crash down the hall. Remember, this is a little 1960's ranch house. You can hear everything. A nurse comes running down the hall, "Doctor Erickson, we need you now!" Apparently, a poor young man named Mike had suffered some type of heart anomaly. He had come in with chest pains and was waiting to see the doctor. (Dr. Erickson is the only doctor in this little clinic.) I could hear Dr. Vern (Erickson) talking to Mike, "Mike, are you still with us?" and asking someone to call an ambulance. I sat there listening as the ambulance arrived and the technicians got Mike ready for transport...to the hospital across the street. Why didn't Mike go to the emergency room there? Probably trying not to get a big ER bill. Sad but true. I think Mike was okay when he left. Then Dr. Vern walked into my room with his little reassuring smile and said, "Excitement! Right here in River City!" (I'm assuming that most of my readers will get that Music Man reference?) You have to understand that he's a musical guy. He sings in a gospel quartet with his brother and some friends. He's probably somewhere in his late '70's and he has a lot more pep than I do! It might be his vegan diet. He's a Seventh Day Adventist.

So, we had a little discussion about the meds. I told him I wasn't going to take anymore because that headache episode had been really scary. I also said I didn't really want to take anything with a lot of risks when I don't even know if I have Lyme's Disease. He looked at me and said, "You know what? I think we're just going to stop." He meant stop meds and do the blood test to be sure what we're dealing with. I was on board with that suggestion. So, I now have a hole in my elbow pit, and we await results. He told me to watch out for symptoms, but I told him I've had most of the Lymes's Disease symptoms for many years, so it would be hard to pin down. Well, we'll just do the best we can. But I'm not going to take any meds that have side effects that are worse than the disease itself. Sorry, folks!

So, there ya go...

Hey! I just ordered a fermentation kit! It contains a few items you need to ferment veggies, fruits, dairy products and such along with informational books on how to do it. Just something that sounded interesting. A way to preserve foods without having a lot of equipment. I can do just a few jars at a time in my limited space. Anyone else doing this? I heard about it from one of my YouTube folks. I'll link that video below.


 My daughter just took some photos of my granddaughter, Audrey. She turned 6 yesterday! I'll refrain from posting all 22 of them! :)

Well, that's what I'm up to today. Think I'll make a cuppa joe and enjoy my evening. Beautiful day!
Love you all!
Shalom!