ya I might be heading to the doctor tomorrow for a serious conversation. Yes they will tell you first there is no lyme in BC, then you can point out data that shows not only is there lyme but the chilliwack/hope areas are considered "high risk hot spots" ... then they will acknowledge around 20% of ticks carry lyme but transmission rate is low if removed properly within 24 hours... then you point you you have been bitten dozens of times and sometimes a few days after you have been home from camping... then they say if you had lyme you'd be virtually crippled and therefor you dont have it dont worry. I have had multiple doctors play the exact same script.
I'll probably point out that the government is issuing warnings about lyme and there is actually a reasonable chance that I (the patient sitting in front of them) have been bitten by more ticks than anyone in BC. Hunters get bit more than anyone. I am curious where I fall on the scale? It must be high up there. I have most certainly pulled more than 50 out of me (and busted hundreds on my skin/clothes) and I have no idea how many I have missed. I know that I have missed some for days but won't elaborate on how and "where" I found them (or parts of them)
I have been sick since Saturday... missed 3 days of work so far. I recall reading something about being suspicious if you have been hit by ticks and come down with something like this in the summer. My ankle is still pretty infected.
Do I think I have lyme disease? Probably not, but it's worth checking into and I'm tired of the BS. No more messing around. Going to tell the doctor what's what.
AND I don't want some 2 week prescription of oral antibiotics as lip service. I am not going to take anything without confirmation. I want testing. Proper testing. It's going to happen.
I have no problem looking a doctor in the eye now and pointing out the government warnings and challenging them to present me a case of any patient who has been bitten more than I have. Heck I have tons of pictures and videos of ticks stuck in me. TBH I think most doctors don't believe reports of being bit. They just think you are a hypochondriac and at most maybe saw one on your clothing. I believe there is pressure for doctors not to acknowledge lyme beyond giving antibiotics as a preventative measure for recent bites, but the government rhetoric versus that of our public healthcare system is very contradictory. I think truth is getting the upper-hand against a health care system that is being squeezed financially and stretched all over as far as service is concerned.
Anyway despite all the warnings about tick populations... I only got bit a few times this year... a fraction of previous years. Not sure what I attribute that to. I was wearing some cheap polyester rain pants that I don't think they liked... perhaps they could not cling onto it easily. The ones I busted hitching a ride would hold up around my stock line. The ones that nailed my I believe either decided to travel down the sock or maybe nailed me shortly after getting changing and leaving things untucked.