Re: OT-Lyme Disease
That's be me - and you didn't dodge a bullet, you got infected as soon as the tick bit you, assuming it was a carrier - they inject enzymes into you to keep blood from clotting so they can feed, that's what carries the Lyme, and being in Gettysburg that's pretty much ensured if it was a deer tick.
Someone on another board recently got bitten too (had bull's eye rash), his doc only gave him 2 weeks of Doxycycline, which is NOT the standard new infection treatment - you need at least 30 days worth, and also need to be tested for co-infections - turned out I had 3 of them, but didn't learn of it until several years after my Lyme diagnosis because the PCR testing wasn't available at the time.
BTW, I never had a Bull's eye rash, just a very faint circular one about a foot in diameter, like a ring. Seriously suggest you go see an infectious disease specialist who is Lyme literate - you can google for LLD's in your area, there's a national database. Skip the ELISA test, have to wait 6 weeks for that, and it's very inaccurate - need PCR and/or Western Blot test pronto - shows RNA of the infections in your body. BTW, your article points out something important - most PCPs do not diagnose Lyme, even other specialists don't - I saw SEVEN different docs over 1.5 yrs (including an idiot infectious disease "expert") before having my knees drained because of swelling so bad I couldn't climb stairs - my orthopedist (finally) diagnosed me by testing the synovial fluid he drained with the Western Blot test - orthos catch more cases of Lyme than any other doctor, by far.
Go see a doctor - not going to tell you to immediately get 30 days of Doxy, but I strongly suggest it - and you absolutely need further testing for co-infections, which require different drugs to treat. I'm disabled because of uneducated doctors, try my damndest to prevent anyone else from going thru the years of hell and misery I was put through!