On ticks, balance, and Lyme Disease

To say May was a busy month is an understatement. I’ve been managing to only slightly fall behind on blogging, secured a sponsor to BlogHer, spent several days in NYC, and of course juggled my jobs (writer, blogger, social media consultant) with my duties as a mom, wife, friend, daughter, and sister.

I was hoping 2 days at my parent’s house near the beach this weekend, and some time alone would allow me to relax, and enjoy my family all while catching up on work. You can tell right now those things don’t mesh, right?

In theory I was going to relax, despite the sibling arguments, early mornings, and my youngest running through a screen door on Saturday ending up in the ER. He’s fine, by the way, he has glue holding his cut together, and is now the proud owner of 2 head scars which may someday come in handy when he’s old enough to date.

Since relaxation and 4 kids don’t really go together, I made a plan that involved me coming home early, and I spent nearly 2 days at home alone so I could catch up on housework and work. Instead I found myself reading The Help, and relaxing between spurts of cleaning up the house. I needed that time off, but it’s always tough to get back in the groove after being off.

I knew going into June, with school ending, increased client work, 2-3 times a week physical therapy (for a neck injury I’ve been dealing with for months), and a garden that has dead trees and adult sized thistles, that my blogging schedule would be reduced.

While I long to stick to a schedule, and had planned on it over the summer, we started June with even more bad news than before with a call from our family doctor that my oldest daughter has Lyme disease for the 2nd time.

We have been through Lyme before, and the treatment is fairly standard, but we’ll need some time to adjust which means blogging may be light, as I take care of what’s most important-my family’s health.

Blogging will happen when it can, and I’ll catch up eventually, but by then I might be 95.

I considered creating a post called “F@ck you ticks,” but decided that probably isn’t the best way to present myself, and also I don’t want any ticks to bite me in retaliation.

If you live in an area where Lyme disease is common, please be sure to check your kids for ticks small and large, and remember a bull’s eye rash doesn’t show up on everyone. For more info on Lyme disease-the signs and symptoms check out WebMD, but please don’t self diagnose.

Kelly, who is obsessively checking the kids for ticks every time they come inside.

Photo Source: Public Health Image Library (PHIL). Michael L. Levin, PhD. Available online: http://phil.cdc.gov

About Kelly

Kelly Whalen is the founder of The Centsible Life, a blog where motherhood and money meet. Her goal is to help readers live well on less. Kelly is a mom to 4, and loves that she can stay at home with her kids, and still pursue her passions for writing, personal finance, and social media. You can often find her on twitter and Facebook talking money and motherhood.

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Tagged as: blogging, health, Lyme disease

everydaytips

I got Lyme Disease last summer while vacationing in Washington DC. I was very lucky and just had to take Doxycycline for a few weeks and was good to go after a little while longer. (Those antibiotics can kill you though.) I will say though that I am hesitant to go in the woods now.

Your poor daughter getting it twice- how awful. How is she doing?

My intent is not to spam, but I did write a post about my experience with Lyme's and a picture of the rash I developed (which sent me racing to the doctor the minute I saw it.) If you are interested in further reading, this is the site with the article:
http://everydaytipsandthoughts.com/health-and-f…
http://dcfink.blogspot.com/ Dr. Josh

I'm glad the Lyme disease got caught in the first place, it's so often missed completely due to the “fuzzy” nature of its symptoms.

I've been at war with ticks for years. Creepy little buggers. I salute your endeavor to educate the masses about them!!