It's Time for Lyme

First, it was my baby, when he was only a year old. This summer, it has been both of my daughters. Despite tick checks every single time we come in from outside. Despite making them cover up. And since it is definitely the season, you should be on the lookout for it, too: the dreaded bullseye rash caused by the deer tick bite carrying Lyme Disease.

Yes, you too can earn yourself (or your children can earn themselves) a full month's worth of antibiotics to get rid of the bacteria. Though, frankly, we count ourselves among the lucky, in that all of my kids actually GOT the bullseye rashes. According to our pediatrician, that doesn't happen all the time, and the long-term health effects of Lyme are much more likely when the infection goes undetected. All of my kids got prompt treatment, and while I don't enjoy giving the kids a month's worth of antibiotics that I myself am allergic to (and the metric ton of yogurt to try and ward off unwanted side effects of said drugs), I am quite grateful that such drugs exist and are effective.

Here in the DC metro area, the deer tick that transmits Lyme Disease is abundant. We live in the woods. I'm not going to make my kids stay in the house for fear of ticks. It's just a matter of time before my other child gets it, though that isn't a goal we're aspiring to.

Original DC Metro Moms post. When she's not administering antibiotics to her kids or searching their bodies for a tick the size of a pinhead, Mary/FishyGirl blogs at The Fish Pond.