I had spent the day online, taking a necessary but predictably dull class. As soon as we logged out for the day, I gathered my shoes, my hat, and my kid, and we went for a walk.
First, we walked down the hill to check on the vernal pool I’d discovered, hopping with frogs. We turned left and stopped in front of the lupine patch, which had just hit its peak. My kid posed amidst the flowers just off the side of the road.
We turned into Mullins Head Park, and soon left the dirt road to hike one of the new trails I’ve rhapsodized about before. As we hit the bald rock at the summit, we found an incredible June bounty of wild strawberries. We foraged like little bears, filling our hands and eating the berries, then filling our cupped hands again.
Some of the diagnoses I’ve received have been based on symptoms, not on blood work…
On the way off the trail, I saw that the nodding avens, a wetland flower I’d noticed for the first time a few weeks ago, had gone to seed, creating an extravagant sunburst seed head where the subtle mauve flower had been.
“I’m itchy,” Penrose remarked.
“It’s an itchy time of year,” I countered.
We got back to the house, and Pen flopped onto the couch in the manner of tweens who have been asked to exert themselves. A moment later, she gave a soft yelp.
“Tick!” she said, leaping up to drop the offender into its watery grave. As soon as she sat down, she found another. Then another. I sent her upstairs to change her clothes and check herself over, which yielded another five.
And all evening, she found more. The count before bedtime was 21, including some crawling on the couch and the wall. By the end of the next day, even after a shower, the count went up to 37.
Happily, these were all dog ticks, the larger, less disease-ridden counterpart of Maine’s most evil resident, the deer tick. But our household is no stranger to tick borne illness.
As I write, I am on a two-week course of doxycycline following the discovery of a bullseye rash on my leg. This would be enough, but I only stopped taking doxycycline two weeks ago after discovering a bullseye rash on my leg in mid-May.
I’ve had anaplasmosis twice, as has the dog. Penrose has had Lyme twice and anaplasmosis once. Bill had Lyme, a pretty nasty case. I have friends and coworkers who still suffer from the long-term symptoms of a Lyme infection, and know several people who have lost loved ones, or come close to it, from tick-related heart disease.
Our clinic has developed a high degree of suspicion around tick borne illnesses and treats them aggressively. But as of now, nobody at the town, state, or federal level seems to have any idea what to do about our most prevalent disease.
The University of Maine is certainly working to track cases, but I know I haven’t mailed a tick to the tick lab in years, and some of the diagnoses I’ve received have been based on symptoms, not on blood work, and that is likely the case for many.
The diagnostic blood work can be prohibitively expensive, and insurance providers haven’t caught on how endemic—and debilitating—tick borne illnesses are for Mainers, in particular those of us in the Midcoast. And while I keep hearing rumors of a Lyme vaccine in the works, who knows when it will be available for anyone other than pets, and if any such interventions are planned for anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and the other nasty tick-borne diseases.
I have a hunch most North Haveners have had at least one tick-borne illness, and I think the numbers tell a compelling story that might lead to some action.
I think it’s time to do a little epidemiology, and I have a lot more to say about ticks. In fact, the last time I was this fired up, I wound up co-authoring a whole book.
I’ll be attempting to collect some local data, particularly for North Haven. If you’ve contracted a tick-borne illness on North Haven, whether you live here, summer here, or were just visiting, drop me a note. And in the meantime, do your tick checks, for what it’s worth.
Courtney Naliboff is a teacher, musician, and writer who lives on North Haven. She may be contacted at Courtney.Naliboff@gmail.com.
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