A School Nurse has written the info below — good enough to share –
And it really works!!
I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great , because it works in those places where it’s sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.
Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the
soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on it’s own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I’ve used it (and that was frequently), and it’s much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can’t see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor’s wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn’t reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, It worked! Please pass on everyone needs this helpful hint.

Day 6, still no sign of Lyme disease.  I keep waiting for the (1) circular rash around the bite, (2) headaches, or (3) muscle / joint aches, but so far, so good.  Apparently, it feels like the flu, but if left untreated, goes on to really mess some people up.  Some people aren’t really affected, though.

up to a year?  well what if Trent goes for a hard day bouldering followed by a heavy nights drinking, and wakes up with muscle and joint aches and a headache?  That’d be two of his three symptoms - how will he know the difference?!!

last time I had a tick I ended up with a red mark at the site.  My doc wasn’t sure, so he offered me the drugs.  I took them just in case.

Apparently the red mark is pretty standard - it’s not Lyme disease, but rather the result of a animal shoving a barbed probe into you.  The first tick bite I had turned red and hard for a couple of weeks, this one seems to be going away without any real complications.

I think Lyme disease symptoms can show up much later, but it’s pretty rare.  The rash and aches are pretty symptomatic.  However, I wonder if lots of people don’t get it and it never shows up - the bacteria simply exists at levels too low to do any real damage.  It’s hard to say, we don’t really know that much about Lyme Disease in general.

Anyway, I’m not going to worry about it.  If symptoms show up, I’ll go in and get antibiotics.  I’ve got bigger things to worry about… like getting into some kind of shape before the climbing season ends (arrives?), finding a place to live, getting my research finished…

T.

Trent,

You can live in my workshop. I’ts walking distance from my new bouldering area, which I am heading out to right now.

All you have to do is feed my horses and clean up poop. Great deal eh.

Workshop comes with a climbing gym.

Cheers