Beware – it’s tick season and they’re out there

“Ticks were born to give you fever,” purred a sultry Patti Page in her megahit, “Fever.” Or “Fevah,” as she pronounced it.

The “Rage,” Miss Patti Page, is still very much alive today. She can still enjoy hearing “Fever” and others of her durable solid-gold hits being played on radio stations, even 50 years later.

Now, however, whenever I hear that song, I don’t think about a steamy love affair – I think about the tick.

I know about tick bites. In the prime of my life – my 50s – I contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite. I most likely got the tick from my cat’s fur after she had ventured into the canyon behind my home in California.

Lyme disease is a vicious bacterial infection of the blood.

I had never even heard of it back in May 1988, and when I saw that strange bull’s-eye blister on my shin, I did not connect it with the flulike symptoms, the fever and the body pains I was having at the time. My symptoms were so vague, and I had always been so darn healthy, it did not even occur to me to go to a doctor.

That’s the insidious thing about Lyme disease – the early stage has no clear-cut symptoms, but if it is not diagnosed and treated in the early stage, its effects become chronic and permanent. It’s another one of those Catch-22s.

Typically, symptoms of the illness will disappear in six to eight weeks, only to return months or years later. This is when the damaging effects of the disease become evident: stiffness, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, severe arthritis in major joints and encephalitis, causing erratic vision, ocular migraines and impaired cognitive functioning.

Fighting off the ravages of Lyme disease was the fight of my life. Giving up and giving in was not a choice – I still had a lot of living to do.

I became very proactive in regaining my health and vitality. I got a little better each year by resting as much as possible, eating healthfully and pushing myself physically and mentally, along with the help of several courses of IV penicillin therapy.

Do you wonder why I am such a crusader for the benefits of exercise and staying active mentally and physically?

I am living proof of the power of determination. At one point in my illness, I was considering a wheelchair and I couldn’t even pass a second-grade math test. If I had given up then, I would not be writing these words today.Are we at risk of Lyme disease here in North Idaho and Eastern Washington?

Dave Hylsky, environmental health specialist with the Panhandle Health District, says, “Lyme disease is extremely rare in North Idaho, but it is still a good idea to be educated about the disease and check for ticks after any outing.”

In their nymph stage, Lyme ticks are no larger than a period at the end of a sentence, but this is when they’re the most virulent. Ticks lay their eggs on a blade of grass; when warmblooded animals walk by, the hatchlings are brushed off onto them.

Lyme disease is an infection caused by a class of bacteria known as spirochetes. If Lyme disease is suspected, a blood test should be done as early as possible because the disease is more readily detectable in this inflammatory stage.

After the initial symptoms fade, these bacteria can evade detection in blood tests due to their tendency to get out of the blood vessels and into the nerves, muscles, heart, brain and synovial fluid of the joints. This is where they silently do their dirty work. A very bad actor indeed.

Late-stage Lyme disease is not, at this point, curable, and the diagnosis can be very, very tricky. Many undiagnosed victims of this disease go to doctor after doctor, trying to find an answer to their suffering.

If you suspect you may have contracted Lyme disease, your best bet is to call a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases. You must insist on being tested for Lyme disease. If your insurance will not cover the test, hock the car or the family sterling, if necessary, but get that test.

Get on the Internet and research this monstrous disease. Arm yourself with knowledge about its prevention and its symptoms.

Outdoor activities are what North Idaho summers are all about. Be tick wary.

“Fevah” is not a good thing.