YES THIS IS HAPPENING

Last night I was bitten by a tick. I saw the tick in my armpit at 12:30 a.m., while I was taking a shower because I had just gotten home from swing dancing.

That last was in italics because I just want it on the record that as far as tick bites go, I do not tempt fate. There is no hubris when it comes to me and ticks. I do not hike, or camp. I swing dance and tango, and only in urban places. I am 99.9% urban. The closest I get to nature is a couple of flower beds next to a bricked over patio.

I also walk my dog in an urban cemetery, which is wedged up against the city jail, and also close to something that could be called "woods" but certainly doesn't host any deer. And I didn't take Cleo to the cemetery yesterday, the day I got bitten by a tick. I walked Cleo around city blocks. I spent ten minutes with my nephew in his front yard, next to a traffic-filled street. And I went swing dancing in a room with closed windows and not so much as a potted plant in sight.

And there I was, at 12:45 a.m., putting a tick I'd just pulled out of my armpit into a plastic bag. Then taping the plastic bag to the fridge so no one would throw it out by accident before I could overnight it to Igenex labs.

I stopped taking antibiotics for Lyme a couple months ago. Three weeks ago, however, my symptoms started creeping back and I went back on "containment" herbs. I had been trying to get my head around the idea that after six years of treatment, I apparently still have Lyme. Now I'm trying to get my head around how I got bitten by a tick while swing dancing.

Given that I didn't sleep all that much last night, this might not be the most coherent of posts. But here are some thoughts I've been having today:

Yes, truth is stranger than fiction.

If I believed in an all-powerful God, I'd be his sworn enemy now.

Huh?

This is almost too weird for me to be upset about it.

Thank god I have a good doctor (Marty Ross) who has scheduled a phone appointment for me today, although he normally doesn't see patients on Wednesdays.

Yes, I will buy those really cute but comfortable tango shoes I was thinking were an extravagance.

I'm glad I had some left over antibiotics to take at 12:45 a.m.  I'm glad for Igenex labs and overnight Federal Express.

I'm glad my mom was around (as I'm visiting my parents' right now) to be a generally sane presence for me today.

This tick might not even carry Lyme disease or other illnesses. I will know in about a week.

Deep breathing is good for your immune system.