Now, thanks to the warm water and vigorous scrubbing, it had let go—and dropped into her palm.
The rest of the night was a blur of internet searches, frantic phone calls to a 24-hour nurse hotline, and a lot of “What ifs.”
The Aftermath (What We Did)
We didn’t sleep well that night. We didn’t sleep at all, really
Emily was terrified. Ticks carry diseases—Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis. The thought of a tiny creature feeding on her for days, potentially infecting her, was horrifying.
I spent hours on my phone, scrolling through medical websites, trying to determine:
What species of tick was it? (We photographed it and compared to online guides.)
How long had it been attached? (She had showered the day before. It wasn’t there then. So about 48 hours.)
What were the symptoms of tick-borne illnesses? (We memorized them.)
When should we see a doctor? (Immediately, if symptoms appeared.)
We called the nurse hotline. The nurse was calm, professional, and reassuring. “Save the tick,” she said. “Put it in a sealed bag or jar. If symptoms develop, your doctor can test the tick for diseases.”
Emily saved the tick in a small ziplock bag. It sat on the bathroom counter like a tiny, terrifying museum exhibit for days.
The Waiting Game (The Next Two Weeks)
For the next 14 days, we lived in a state of low-grade anxiety
Every headache was a potential symptom. Every ache in her joints was a possible sign of Lyme disease. Every bout of fatigue was cause for concern.
Emily checked herself for rashes multiple times a day. She took her temperature obsessively. She asked me, “Do I look okay?” so often that I started answering before she finished the question.
I tried to be reassuring. “You’re fine. It was probably nothing. We caught it early.”
But I was worried too.
The first week passed without incident. Then the second. No rash. No fever. No joint pain. No flu-like symptoms.
Slowly, the anxiety faded. Emily stopped checking her temperature. The tick baggie got moved from the bathroom counter to a drawer, then to a box in the closet.
We got lucky. The tick was a common dog tick—not a deer tick (which carries Lyme disease)—and it hadn’t transmitted any diseases.
But we learned lessons that will stay with us forever.
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